The LoHud Yankees Blog

YANKEES (38-29)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Posada C
Cano 2B
Swisher RF
Cabrera CF
Berroa 3B
Burnett RHP

Pitching: A.J. Burnett (5-3, 4.46).

MARLINS (33-36)
Coghlan LF
Bonafacio 3B
Ramirez SS
Cantu 1B
Uggla 2B
Hermida RF
Ross CF
Baker C
Johnson RHP

Pitching: RHP Josh Johnson (6-1, 2.76).

TIME/TV: 7:10 p.m., YES.

STATE OF THE ‘STRIPES: The Yankees start the day two games out of first place. They are 4-5 in their last nine games and 5-5 in interleague play.

BURN, BABY BURN: A.J. Burnett is 3-1 with a 3.18 ERA in his last four starts. He has allowed 20 hits over 22.2 innings with 14 walks and 24 strikeouts.

MIAMI NICE: Burnett was 28-17, 3.20 in his 64 appearances at Joe Robbie/Pro Player/Dolphins/Tony Montana Real Estate/Land Shark Stadium.

ROAD KINGS: The Yankees are 17-15 on the road. The Angels (18-17) are the only other team in the AL with a winning record on the road.

AND HE ACTUALLY DREW A WALK LAST NIGHT: Robinson Cano is 13 of his last 28 with seven runs scored, seven RBI and six extra-base hits.

MILESTONE WATCH: Jeter’s double in the first inning yesterday gave him 424 in his career. That tied him for fourth place in team history with George Herman Ruth. Don Mattingly is third with 442 with Bernie Williams in second at 449. The record belongs to Lou Gehrig with 534.

Andy Pettitte’s start last night was his 356th as a Yankee. Only Hall of Famers Whitey Ford (438) and Red Ruffing (391) have made more.

PITCHING UPDATE: The Yankees have a 2.05 ERA in their last five games. The bullpen, meanwhile, has allowed one earned run over the last 16.1 innings.

Back with much more later.

UPDATE, 5:49 p.m.: Xavier Nady played five innings in the outfield in extended spring training and was 0 for 4 at the plate. But he made several throws and felt no pain and according to Joe Girardi, was able to hit the cutoff man. Nady will take tomorrow off, play Monday and then possibly start a rehab assignment.

Jose Molina (quad) is still rehabbing and at least a week away from a minor-league game. Same with Damaso Marte, who played catch for the 1,235th time since he went on the DL. He’s the Florida State Playing Catch champion.

UPDATE, 6:13 p.m.: Mark Teixeira just left BP after fouling a ball off that glanced off the cage and caught him in a bad place. No word on whether he’ll stay in the lineup yet.

UPDATE, 7:10 p.m.: We’re underway here in Miami. Teixeira remains in the lineup. I guess you can say he’s showing a lot of … um … fortitude.

UPDATE, 7:30 p.m.: The Journal News has learned that Francisco Cervelli is wearing a Mission Impossible-style Jorge Posada mask and has caught these last two games. What else could explain why the Yankees have allowed one run over the last 10 innings and Hanley Ramirez getting thrown out at second. After all, Posada is finished.

UPDATE, 8:18 p.m.: Can’t blame Berroa for that error. Frank Hiward used to always catch those high throws back when AB was with the Senators.

Meanwhile, A.J did the Joba fist pump when he fanned Ross for his seventh whiff in four innings. Marlins 1-0 as Johnson is making the Yankees look silly.

UPDATE, 8:39 p.m.: Josh Johnson has allowed three balls out of the infield and two are by Burnett. He had a broken-bat single in the third inning and a fly ball to center in the sixth. The only other batter to get the ball part the dirt was Cano, who flew to right.

Johnson has recorded 11 outs on the ground. Great performance by him so far. Burnett and the Yankees trail 1-0.

UPDATE, 8:48 p.m.: Tough night for the “Posasa is washed up” crowd as he guns down another runner. Meanwhile, A.J. is getting a little wild, having walked two straight. He could use a double-play here to conserve pitches.

UPDATE, 8:52 p.m.: The official scorer here, Ron Jernick, is one of the worst in baseball. He just gave Cantu a double on that ball. The ball hit Damon’s glove.

Jernick didn’t even look at a replay before calling it a double. Pretty bad.

A.J. is having a rough inning. But he should have two outs and a runner on first.

UPDATE, 9:04 p.m.: They just changed that call to an error. Justice is served. But the Yankees still trail 2-1.

46,427 here tonight. Third-largest regular-season crowd in the history of this stadium.

UPDATE, 9:06 p.m.: Runners on the corners, two outs for Swishalicious. Big spot for him.

UPDATE, 9:09 p.m.: Swisher’s single makes it 2-1. That error really hurts now. If Melky gets on, Girardi has to use A-Rod for Berroa, doesn’t he? Or at least Matsui.

UPDATE, 9:16 p.m.: Now it’s in the hands of the bullpens.

Johnson: 7 3 1 1 2 5. 103 pitches / 67 strikes. If the Yankees can hold it at 2-1, I think they’ll find a way to win. Big spot for Phil Coke, who has been lights-out lately.

UPDATE, 9:26 p.m.: Yankees taking their shot here. Matsui hits for Berroa, A-Rod on deck for Coke. Then Jeter. 2-1 Fish.

UPDATE, 9:27 p.m.: The crowd goes wild as Alex comes to the plate. Let Gardner steal and give him a chance to tie it?

UPDATE, 9:37 p.m.: Yankees had it set up, first and second for Jeter. But he grounds into his second double play of the night. Now it’s a runner on third for Damon. He will face lefty Dan Meyer.

Johnny needs to make up for that error somehow. A two-run homer would do that.

UPDATE, 9:49 p.m.: Great job by Phil Hughes. The bullpen has been terrific lately. Now the Yankees will see what they can do with Matt Lindstrom. Heck of a game here.

A-Rod is getting roasted on the south Florida airwaves and in some papers for not playing last night. Apparently there is some conspiracy afoot. One writer called it a “stunning” decision. It seems he owed it to the hometown crowd to play.

Either that or he’s hitting .145 in June with no power and the Yankees were tired of having a clean-up hitter who wasn’t able to clean anything up.

Because of his checkered past, no issue is ever black and white with Alex. There are myriad shades of gray. But in this case, he’s wrongly accused. He’s slumping, he’s worn down and the Yankees are giving him a rest. Period.

It’s too bad it’s here, but the Yankees have to be concerned about the Yankees, not entertaining south Floridians.

It’s funny how things work sometimes.

On Sept. 26, 2005, A.J. Burnett ripped the Marlins after a 5-3 loss against Atlanta. “We played scared. We managed scared. We coached scared,” he said. “I’m sick of it, man. It’s depressing around here. A 3–0 ballgame, I give up one run and leave guys on base, it’s like they expect us to mess up. And when we do, they chew us out. There is no positive, nothing around here for anybody.”

The Marlins sent Burnett home the next day, suspending him for the rest of the season.

Burnett was scheduled to start on Sept. 30, 2005. Instead the Marlins had a 21-year-old September call-up named Josh Johnson make his first Major League start. He pitched well, allowing two runs over 5.1 innings for the win.

Burnett signed with the Blue Jays that winter and is now with the Yankees. Tonight will be his first start against the Marlins since he burned every bridge on his way out town. A.J. is second in team history (to Dontrelle Willis) in wins, starts, innings and strikeouts.

The guy he’ll face tonight? Josh Johnson. He is 25-12, 3.33 in his career including 6-1, 2.76 this season. He’s the best pitcher the Marlins have developed since Burnett was pitching with Josh Beckett.

In the tumultuous career of Allan James Burnett, tonight is a very interesting game. He’s probably going to be either very, very good or very, very bad.

When Alex Rodriguez returned from his hip surgery, the Yankees spoke glowingly about the work his surgeon and rehab specialist were doing. To listen to them talk, Dr. Marc Philippon and Dr. Mark Lindsay are the two best at what they do.

Based on all available information, that seems to be exactly the case. They are the best.

According to Rodriguez, the plan put in place by Philippon and Lindsay was for him to take 5-8 games off during his first 45 games back with the team. Not 45 days, 45 games.

But over the first 38 games he was back, A-Rod sat out zero games. He started every one of them, 35 of them at third base. Day games after night games, rain-delayed games, every single game.

A-Rod said he fought to stay in games, which is what he supposed to do. Knowing him, I’m sure that’s exactly what he did. But why didn’t the Yankees stick with the plan their doctors drew up? All of a sudden a third baseman with a high school education knew better than the two best doctors in their respective fields? Of course Alex said he wanted to play. What else would he say?

Joe Girardi admitted yesterday that he should have given Alex more days off than he did. It appears that Brian Cashman finally forced the issue yesterday. But he should have made that call a week ago. A-Rod has been struggling for three weeks now. His June slugging percentage is .291. Teams have been intentionally walking other players to get to him.

Now they’re going to sit the guy down for two days and hope that rejuvenates him. It’s the Philippon/Lindsay plan in a condensed version.

Tom Verducci had a great stat yesterday: Alex is hitting .246 since he turned 33 last July 27. If you look at those numbers more closely, he has an .880 OPS. That’s pretty good compared to most players. But he was at .969 before that. He also has stolen only five bases in his last 96 games.

Whether it’s his hip, his age, his use of PEDs for three years, his personal issues or whatever, Alex is in a steep decline and the Yankees have to figure out a way to stabilize that and get something out of him. Otherwise that $258 million they owe him through 2017 is going to go down as the worst contract in sports history.

Maybe it already is.

The Yankees sat A-Rod down saying his slump was because of “fatigue.”

Andy Pettitte added to the offense — and pitched well as the Yankees beat the Marlins.

Yankees head athletic trainer Gene Monahan missed the game on Friday.

He had a very good reason. “Geno” was in San Antonio being honored with the “Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer Award” by the National Athletic Trainer’s Association at their annual convention.

Monahan has been with the Yankees for 47 seasons and has been the head trainer for 37.

Congratulations to him.

Those who think the skewed dimensions of the new Yankee Stadium aren’t a factor should ask Andy Pettitte what he thinks. The lefty has a 5.77 ERA at Yankee Stadium in nine starts. In six starts on the road, it’s 2.35. He has allowed nine home runs in the Bronx, two elsewhere.

“I might have given up three or four (home runs) tonight at home,” he said after holding the Marlins to one run over seven innings. “For the most part, that’s it right there. I’ve given up a few more long balls at Yankee Stadium. … I need to figure something out at home.”

The other pitchers, for the most part, feel the same way. While the new Lil’ Stadium helps the hitters, it’s causing havoc among the pitchers. They’re pitching away from contact, giving up more home runs, etc. Over the course of time, it’s detrimental to maintaining mechanics and confidence.

Pettitte helped himself tonight with an RBI double in the second inning. He then scored. Those two runs he helped produce gave him a 5-0 cushion and he cruised from there.

Pettitte has not taking much batting practice because of the lingering soreness in his lower back. But when he got a fastball from Sean West, he belted it down the left-field line.

“You don’t expect to do that. But I got in a situation where I really had a good idea he was throwing a hitter. I was guessing. I tried to slap it the other way and got a base hit,” Pettitte said.

When I covered the Mets, Tom Glavine maintained that a pitcher who fielded his position well, got bunts down and was able to come up with an occasional hit could get himself two or three extra wins a year in the National League. Pettitte, who played for the Astros from 2004-06, was proof of that tonight

“I know how important it is. I’ve had to drive in runs, score runs, bunt a guy over or do a hit-and-run,” he said. “That can become a huge spot in the game. It’s serious business. You can do things to help your team win.”

————-

Thanks to everybody for reading tonight.

YANKEES (37-28)
New lineup
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Posada C
Swisher RF
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF
Berroa 3B
Pettitte LHP

Pitching: LHP Andy Pettitte (6-3, 4.52).

MARLINS (33-35)
Coghlan LF
Helms 3B
Ramirez SS
Cantu 1B
Uggla 2B
Paulino C
Hermida RF
Ross CF
West LHP

Pitching: LHP Sean West (2-1, 3.00).

TIME/TV: 7:10 p.m., YES.

HERE WE GO AGAIN: The Yankees are facing a losing team with a 23-year-old rookie starter they have never seen before. Obviously they have no chance whatsoever.

INTERLEAGUE ISSUES: The Yankees are 4-5 against the National League this season and 14-13 over the last two years. They are 24-21 over the last three years and 34-29 over the last four years.

SLUMPING: The Yankees have lost two straight and five of their last eight.

HOMECOMING: Outside of two exhibition games in 2008, Miami native Alex Rodriguez has not played at whatever they call the stadium the Marlins play in these days. Maybe that will help him get a few hits. Here is the breakdown of his slump:

• 8 of 55 (.145) in June.

• Last 10 games: 3 for 34 (.088) with a .262 OBP.

• 2 for 21 on the last homestand.

• Four extra-base hits in his last 19 games, a span of 66 at-bats.

• His season average is down to .212. But he does have a .370 OBP thanks to 29 walks in 38 games. But at what point will teams stop walking him?

PITCHING PROGRESS: Last four games: 35 innings, 27 hits, 9 earned runs, 14 walks, 34 strikeouts.

BULLISH ON THE BULLPEN: Last five games for the relievers: 14.1 innings, 9 hits, 1 earned run, 3 walks, 16 strikeouts.

SWISH STOPS SKID: Nick Swisher’s two hits last came after an 0-for-18 streak.

OFFENSIVE WOES: The Yankees scored seven runs in the last three games, two in the last two.

Back with more later.

UPDATE, 3:32 p.m.: This being South Florida, rain is coming and they’re putting the tarp down. But it always rains here in the late afternoon then it clears out.

UPDATE, 4:01 p.m.: Talked to Brett Gardner. He’s still woozy and has a headache.

UPDATE, 4:39 p.m.: BREAKING NEWS: A-Rod out of the lineup. Will sit the next two days. More to come.

UPDATE, 4:54 p.m.: Alex was in the lineup. Then it was decided he was “fatigued” and needed two days off. Girardi admitted he should have given him time off before this.

UPDATE, 5:25 p.m.: Berroa at third.

UPDATE, 5:37 p.m.: Angel Berroa? I have no idea why. … Meanwhile, Alex told us that he went to see Girardi after the game last night and asked for time off. But he was in the lineup today. Then, after a conversation that included Brian Cashman, not only was he out of the lineup today, he’s out tomorrow as well.

A-Rod has been told to do nothing. But he will be available to pinch hit.

Alex spoke to the media for longer than he has all season after going over what he was going to say with the media relations director. He said the original plan was to take a day off once a week when he returned but that he asked to stay in the lineup. A-Rod also talked about missing spring training. “That’s a holy time for me,” he said.

“You can’t forget I was on crutches two months ago,” he said. That isn’t exactly true. He started workouts in Tampa on April 14 and took batting practice that day. He was on crutches three months ago.

The general idea, it seems, is that the Yankees hope the time off will renew Alex’s energy and improve his swing. Hitting coach Kevin Long said that of Alex’s last 70 swings, 50 were “reaches.” That compact swing he has when he’s going well is missing.

UPDATE, 6:04 p.m.: Here is Alex’s pre-game session with reporters:

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UPDATE, 7:17 p.m.: We’re underway in Miami. 1-0 Yankees already, much to the delight of the crowd. Mostly Yankees fans here.

UPDATE, 7:33 p.m.: The well-rested Angel Berroa just ripped a double to the gap in left. Seems like Joe Girardi is a genius. This is a big night for Berroa. All his friends from Del Boca Vista (Phase II) are at the game.

UPDATE, 7:34 p.m.: And Pettitte with an RBI double as well. That’s what the Yankee offense needed, Berroa and a pitcher at the bottom of the order. Or course.

UPDATE, 7:40 p.m.: Sean West didn’t get the secret plans for rookie pitchers on how to beat the Yankees apparently. Now it’s 4-0 and they have eight hits.

UPDATE, 8:05 p.m.: Big (relatively speaking for this market) crowd here and they all seem to be Yankees fans. That has to be a weird feeling for the Marlins.

UPDATE, 8:30 p.m.: Andy putting together a nice outing. Meanwhile Sean West has fanned seven including six of the last nine batters he has faced.

Yankees lead 6-1.

UPDATE, 8:41 p.m.: Intentionally walking Melky to get to Berroa? The nerve of those Marlins.

UPDATE, 8:43 p.m.: Oh, that NL strategy. Berroa pops up and now Pettitte is up. It’s such a different game.

UPDATE, 9:15 p.m.: Aceves warming up. Pettitte has allowed three hits over six innings and still appears strong, however.

UPDATE, 9:30 p.m.: That’ll probably be it for Pettitte. 7 innings, 1 hits, 1 run, 0 walks, 7 strikeouts.

UPDATE, 9:50 p.m.: Every Yankees starter has at least one hit. … Update on Xavier Nady: He played four innings in right field and went 2 for 3 with a walk during a minor-league exhibition game across the state in Clearwater. He reported no problems. This was his first action in the outfield since he hurt his elbow.

The scowling image of Alex Rodriguez took up most of the sports section front page in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel today. “Hometown hero?” was the headline.

The accompanying story quotes several of A-Rod supporters including his high school coach.

Alex gets booed pretty much everywhere he goes, even Yankee Stadium lately. But Miami is the place he calls home and where he grew up. If there ever is a crowd that will welcome him, it should be here.

The Marlins, who usually draw flea-market sized crowds, are expecting 100,000+ this weekend for the Yankees. It’ll be interesting to hear how Alex is received.

Yankees amateur scouting director Damon Oppenheimer was at the Stadium after the draft and told me about a great event being planned for Aug. 16 at Fenway Park.

The Yankees and their scouts are assembling a team of high school stars (rising juniors and seniors) to play a team assembled by Red Sox scouts. Most of the players will be from the Northeast, but a handful will be from different places around the country.

The Yankees will have Bryce Harper on their roster. Harper is the 16-year-old super prospect who was a Sports Illustrated cover story earlier this month. Damon has developed a good relationship with the Harper family.

“When I asked Bryce about playing for us in that game, he jumped at it,” Oppenheimer said. “He was excited.”

The event will be held for charity. Damon is hoping the game will be played at Yankee Stadium next summer. Obviously it will be a great opportunity for those players and for the teams to get a first-hand look at them against great competition.

Once I get details about tickets, I will pass them along.

As for Harper, he is reportedly planning to attend junior college so he will be eligible for the 2010 draft. There would seem to be little chance he ends up with the Yankees. But you never know.