The LoHud Yankees Blog

This is just amazing.

Robinson Cano with runners in scoring position: 24 of 117 (.205).

Robinson Cano without runners in scoring position: 94 of 264 (.356).

A 151-point differential? How is that even possible? Maybe the Yankees should have their runners duck down so he can’t see them.

Meanwhile, and I’m serious about this, Cano is playing a Gold Glove-caliber second base. Joe Girardi said last night that he has never seen a second baseman go to his right better than Cano and I’d agree. His ability to make that play is amazing.

Cano is an interesting player. You can make a good case either way for loving him or hating him,

The Yankees waited out the rain and extended their win streak by beating Oakland.

As the trade deadline draws closer, the Yankees are a little thin with their rotation. Brian Cashman claims a trade will be tough.

Chien-Ming Wang got a second opinion on his sore shoulder and a third is coming.This notebook also has updates on Brian Bruney, Andrew Brackman, Damaso Marte and a unique one-hitter in the minors.

The stats for Brackman: 1-11 with a 6.72 ERA in 18 starts in low A ball. He has struck out 79 over 85.2 innings. But he also has walked 64, thrown 22 wild pitches and given up 89 hits.

Can the Yankees trade him to the Knicks? Maybe David Lee can pitch.

Here’s what kind of guy Mariano Rivera is.

When the Yankees arrived today, they each had a ball in a glass and cherry wood display case waiting for them in their lockers. It was a game-used ball from the June 28 game against the Mets when Mo picked up his 500th save.

Each ball was signed and under Mo’s meticulous signature it said “500th save, 6/28/08.”

Not only did Mariano give a ball to every player, all of the coaches, trainers, security people and other staff members received one as well.

————

Meanwhile, will Phil Hughes be Mariano’s successor one day? Hughes has taken to the bullpen like he was born to do it and he certainly has the demeanor you want in a closer.

His stats are ridiculous in relief: 17 games, 24.1 innings, 11 hits, 2 earned runs, 5 walks, 28 strikeouts.

I’ll stick with what I believe: Hughes should be a starter in 2010. He’s too good not to be. But for now, he’s filling a need and doing it just about perfectly. But retiring six hitters on a crappy team after midnight with a three-run lead is nothing to get too excited about. Any good starter would have done the same. There is no magic in a save in that situation.

When asked tonight if getting his first career save was a big deal, Phil literally shrugged. “No difference, same thing,” he said. “It was just one more inning.”

Meanwhile you might wonder how CC Sabathia killed time during the 2:43 rain delay. “I played Nintendo the whole time,” he said. “Nobody has beaten me in weeks.”

By now you have heard of HOPE Week. What’s going on right now is pretty special.

The Yankees today are hosting a group of kids and teenagers from the XP Society’s Camp Sundown in Craryville, N.Y. Xeroderma Pigmentosum is a rare genetic disorder that prevents individuals from going outside in sunlight. Any UV light causes burns and most patients do not live beyond the age of 20.

The kids and their parents watched the game from a suite and for most of them, it was the first big-league game they had ever seen. Now the the group is taking part in a carnival right on the field.

There’s food, a bouncy castle, PlayStation on the big scoreboard, Whiffleball games, soccer games, etc. A bunch of Yankees — including Jorge Posada, A.J. Burnett, Jose Molina, Alfredo Aceves, Brett Gardner and Cody Ransom — are on the field taking part. I also noticed Brian Cashman, Lonn Trost and others there along with Jason Zillo and his staff.

It’s 1:48 a.m. For XP patients, this is the only time of the day they can be outside. They’ll leave the Bronx in two hours to make sure they get back to their camp before sunrise.

The Yankees are really distinguishing themselves as an organization this week. These activities go beyond community service, this is really caring about other people.

Have to say, never thought we’d see that this season.

17 relief appearances: 24.1 innings, 2 earned runs. Amazing.

Back with clubhouse reaction later on.

YANKEES (57-37)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Posada C
Cano 2B
Hinske RF
Gardner CF

Pitching: LHP CC Sabathia (9-6, 3.66).

ATHLETICS (40-53)
Davis RF
Cabrera SS
Hairston CF
Holliday LF
Garciaparra 1B
Suzuki C
Cust DH
Crosby 3B
Ellis 2B

Pitching: RHP Vin Mazzaro (2-6, 4.09).

TIME/TV: 7:05, YES.

STATE OF THE ‘STRIPES: The Yankees have won six straight and 19 of their last 24. They have a two-game lead on Boston in the American League East. The Red Sox are idle today. Tonight’s game is a makeup of the postponed game in April.

BENEFICIAL BREAK: The Yankees are 6-0 since the All-Star break thanks to a 2.17 ERA. Their pitchers have allowed only 13 earned runs and 44 hits over 54 innings.

WINNING THE CLOSE ONES: The Yankees have outscored the opposition only 23-14 in their six-game win streak. They have played three one-run games and three two-run games.

MIGHTY MO: Mariano Rivera has converted 97 of 101 save chances since April 21, 2007. He has not allowed a run in his last 15 appearances, a span of 14.2 innings. He has given up only four hits while striking out 15 in that stretch. His ERA has dropped from 3.38 to 2.18.

PHIL ‘ER UP: Phil Hughes has an 0.81 ERA in 16 relief appearances. He has not allowed any runs in his last 14 appearances. Hughes has struck out 22 in his last 17.2 innings.

GETTING STRAIGHT A’S: The Yankees are 7-1 against Oakland over the last two seasons, outscoring the Athletics 38-25.

BAD, BAD BRUNEY: Brian Bruney’s last eight appearances: 7 innings, 11 hits, 8 earned runs 8 walks, 6 strikeouts, 3 home runs. Right-handers are hitting .345 against him this season.

SWISHERROR Nick Swisher has committed six errors in right field. Only Justin Upton of Arizona (7) has more at that position.

MELKY’S MISSING: Melky Cabrera is 2 for 20 since the break and 29 of 130 (.223) since June 1 with a .299 OBP and 15 RBI.

HEATING BACK UP: Alex Rodriguez is 6 of 18 with 5 RBI, 4 runs scored, 2 home runs and 2 stolen bases in the last five games. The Yankees are 44-22 since Rodriguez was activated off the disabled list.

Back with more later.

UPDATE, 4:20 p.m.: Girardi just said Mariano Rivera is not likely available tonight.

Chien-Ming Wang sought a second opinion on his shoulder. They’re waiting on the results.

Girardi also said that Joba’s innings limits are a concern in terms of rotation depth. He still has concerns there. Not “go get Halladay” concerns, but concerns.

UPDATE, 5:38 p.m.: Here is Brian Cashman’s pre-game session with reporters. He talked mostly about pitching:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

UPDATE, 5:43 p.m.: Here’s the latest on the weather. It’s pouring and the tarp is on the field. That’s all I can really tell you. No word yet when or if they’ll call it.

UPDATE, 6:06 p.m.: No improvement for Wang since the other day. He said he is “worried.” Yankees are expected to issue an update before the evening is out.

UPDATE, 6:36 p.m.: Still raining. The game will not be starting on time. The skies look a little brighter, I can report that much. But were a long way away from baseball tonight, if we have a game at all.

UPDATE, 7:13 p.m.: Obviously we’re in a rain delay. This could be a long one, too, as the Yankees do not want to play a doubleheader. They don’t have a day off coming any time soon, so a DH would require finding a starter. So unless you want Kei Igawa taking the hill …

UPDATE, 7:17 p.m.: Trenton had five pitchers combine on a one-hitter. They were Jason Stephens, Kanekoa Texeira, Wilkins Arias, Grant Duff and Jose Valdez. Trenton beat New Hampshire 4-0.

UPDATE, 7:31 p.m.: Yankees just announced they hope to play but do not know when.

UPDATE, 8:21 p.m.: The rain is letting up. Tarp is still down. They’re going to wait this out, seems like.

UPDATE, 8:55 p.m.: They just announced that would make a decision at 9 p.m. Not sure what difference a few minutes makes either way.

UPDATE, 9:07 p.m.: Tarp is being pulled up. There will be baseball, looks like. Long night, folks.

9:40 first pitch. Get some Red Bull.

UPDATE, 9:48 p.m: First pitch. CC warmed up to Magnificent by Rick Ross and John Legend.

UPDATE, 10:05 p.m.: There goes the perfect game for Sabathia as Garciaparra singles up the middle. … Based on the cheering, fair amount of Vin Mazzaro fans in the house.

UPDATE, 10:16: Inauspicious start for CC. 2-0 Oakland in the second. Meanwhile, two good points via Twitter:

From Mark Feinsand (@BloggingBombers): The rain delay (2:43) lasted longer than Mark Buehrle’s perfect game (2:03).

From Tyler Kepner (@TylerKepner): Mazzro is from New Jersey pitching for Oakland and Sabathia is from Oakland pitching for New York.

UPDATE, 10:31 p.m.: Cano breaks up the perfect game with a single to left and Holliday throws him out at second by 10 feet

Somebody needs to explain to Cano that he’s not fast. Meanwhile, Vinny from Jersey has fanned five of the first eight batters he has faced.

UPDATE, 10:46 p.m.: Damaso Marte update: 1 inning, 1 hit, 0 runs, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts. 9 pitches, 8 strikes.

UPDATE, 10:54 p.m.: Mark Teixeira is wearing out that second deck. 3-0 fastball down the pipe and he crushed it. 3-2 Oakland.

UPDATE, 10:57 p.m.: Yankees are hiding the Wang news. What a stunner. They’re going to “confer” when Dr. James Andrews then “discuss his status” with the media.

Meanwhile, it’s 3-3 as Posada doubles in A-Rod. The good times seem done for Vinny from Jersey.

UPDATE, 11:05 p.m.: It’s astonishing how bad Cano is with RISP.

UPDATE, 11:07 p.m.: Hey, Hinske got a hit and it wasn’t a home run. But it was an RBI single and the Yankees lead 4-3.

UPDATE, 11:29 p.m.: It was fun while it lasted for Vinny from Jersey. Now he’s down 5-3 with two in scoring position and nobody out for A-Rod. This could get out of hand in a hurry.

UPDATE, 11:38 p.m.: Good at-bat for Cano there with the bases loaded as he fouled out to the catcher. Odds were that he would ground into a double play.

Yanks got two there, should have been more. 6-3, still very much a game.

The Athletics will be starting 22-year-old Vin Mazzaro tonight. He was pitching for Rutherford High in New Jersey four years ago and grew up a Yankees fan.

The right-hander from Hackensack was taken in the third round of the 2005 draft after going 7-1 with an 0.27 ERA as a senior. He was in AAA by 2008 and made his major league debut on June 2, pitching 6.1 shutout innings against the White Sox.

Mazzaro is 0-5, 6.48 in his last five starts, however.

“I’m sure I’ll have a few butterflies, with the family there,” Mazzaro told the San Francisco Chronicle. “Pitching in Yankee Stadium is going to be awesome, special.”

Oakland also has OF Rajai Davis, the pride of New London, Conn. He’ll have a bunch of people at the Stadium, too.

Yes, I am aware it’s supposed to rain this evening. No, I do not know whether they will play the game or not.

I can tell you this: I’ll let you know what the Yankees are saying as soon as they say it. Best I can do.

I’m fresh out of things to tell you, so let’s do a poll.

The Yankees are riding high. They’re 57-37 and have won 19 of their last 24 games. Only the Dodgers (61-34) have a better record and that’s a total fluke because Joe Torre doesn’t know what he’s doing. Oh, wait, maybe he does.

Anyway, how do you think the season ends for the Yankees? World Series winners? Out of the playoffs? Or somewhere in between?

Vote in our latest poll over to the right. I’m sticking with what I predicted in April: Yankees win it all.

The latest LoHud.com live video chat will be about the Giants and the Jets. Yes, the NFL season is coming.

It’s today at 1 p.m. over on LoHud.com/ProTalkLive. So go check it out. I may go on myself and ask whether the Patriots will be eight games better than the Jets or maybe nine.

Our chats are sponsored by Friedrich Air Conditioning.