The LoHud Yankees Blog

Hal Steinbrenner likes what he sees from the Yankees, who walked off winners last night.

Chien-Ming Wang suffered a setback. This notebook also has updates on Damaso Marte, Hal’s thoughts on the Stadium and HOPE Week.

Sam Borden writes that Yankee Stadium should be used all year long.

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Happy birthday to CC Sabathia. He is 29 today.

How about those smiles? Here are a few random stats and notes for you:

• The Yankees have won three straight games by a 2-1 score. That last happened July 11-13, 1991 at Anaheim. The Yankees provided us bad information there. It was the first time the Yankees won three in a row scoring two runs or less since 1991.

• That’s nine walk-off wins, as many as they had all of last season. “It never gets old,” Mark Teixeira said. “If that happens to me 100 more times in my career, I’ll go crazy every time.”

• Chien-Ming Wang said the pain is in the front of his shoulder and that he did not cut his workout short, he threw 30 times as planned. He’s worried, but not overly so. Still, he will do nothing until Friday when he tries to play catch again.

• Andy Pettitte’s eight strikeouts were a season high. He threw his cutter more than he has all season, which was part of the reason. Baltimore didn’t expect it.

• Yankees pitching the last four days: 36 innings, 6 earned runs, 32 strikeouts. The team ERA is down to 4.40.

• Hideki Matsui had a lot of fun throwing his helmet and getting the pie-in-the-face treatment from A.J. Burnett. “That would be unusual for Japan,” Godzilla said with a smile.

Finally, watch the Mike Mussina Yankeeography on YES tonight. Radio legend Sweeny Murti, the pride of the Upper East Side Mark Feinsand and I are among those who were interviewed along with George King, who covered Mike in Little League.

Thanks to everybody for reading. We’ve had just over 2,000 comments today and it’s only going to get better on the blog as the pennant race heats up.

Wow, three straight 2-1 victories and another walk-off.

Back later with reaction.

YANKEES (54-37)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Cano 2B
Hinske RF
Cabrera CF
Molina C

Pitching: LHP Andy Pettitte (8-5, 4.85).

ORIOLES (41-50)
Roberts 2B
Markakis RF
Jones CF
Huff 1B
Mora 3B
Scott DH
Reimold LF
Wieters C
Izturis SS

Pitching: RHP David Hernandez (2-2, 3.94).

TIME/TV: 7:05, YES.

STATE OF THE STRIPES: The Yankees have won three straight since the All-Star Break and are 16-5 in their last 21 games. They trail the Red Sox by one game in the East. The Red Sox open a series in Texas with John Smoltz facing the inexplicably successful Kevin Millwood.

PETTITTE AND THE BIRDS: Andy Pettitte likes facing the Orioles. He’s 25-6, 3.73 in 35 career starts against Baltimore, 10-2, 2.76 in the Bronx. He is facing them for the first time since last Sept. 21. Aided by all that is right and holy, he beat the Orioles in the final game at the Old Yankee Stadium, allowing two earned runs over five innings.

PITCHING POWER: The line for the last three games: 27 innings, 20 hits, 5 earned runs, 12 walks, 24 strikeouts.

YEARS FROM NOW, WE’LL LEARN HE WAS AN ALIEN LIFE FORM. OR MAYBE A ROBOT: Mariano Rivera has converted 38 consecutive save opportunities at home going back to 2007. He has thrown 13.1 scoreless innings in his last 13 appearances, allowing four hits with one walk and 12 strikeouts.

HEADING FOR NEW HEIGHTS: The Yankees are 17 games over .500. They have not been 18 games over .500 since the final day of the 2007 season when they were 94-68.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM: A-Rod has five homers in the last six games and one in each of the last two games. He is at 19 for the season (remarkably, only 20 players have more) and 572 for his career. He needs one to tie Harmon Killebrew for ninth place all-time. Of Alex’s 19 homers, 10 have either tied the game or given the Yankees the lead.

OBLIGATORY “PHIL HUGHES IS THE MAN” NOTE OF THE DAY: The Franchise has thrown 16.2 scoreless innings in his last 13 appearances, allowing nine hits with three walks and 21 strikeouts.

HOME COOKING: The Yankees have won 23 of their last 32 games at home.

SLIP SLIDING AWAY: Got these stats from an observant reader:

Melky Cabrera’s first 128 at-bats: .328/.374/.492

Melky Cabrera’s last 128 at-bats: .234/.310/.367

If you recall, this is pretty much what happened last season, although he went in the tank earlier. Given the state of Old Aches and Pains Damon, this is not a good sign. By no means whatsoever am I advocating the arrival of Austin Jackson (.320/.387/.444 in 85 games at AAA), but he could well become a viable option in September if Melky doesn’t figure it out.

A-Jax is whiffing enough (81 times in 322 at-bats) to cause you to wonder how he would fare against big-league pitching. But he hits lefties pretty well. If nothing else, you can use that 40-man spot that is open to get him up here in September.

ON THE iPOD RIGHT NOW: This Land Is Your Land by Bruce Springsteen. Live on Sept. 30, 1985 from the Los Angeles Coliseum. Bruce and the ESB are in Italy this week. Would love to be there for that. The European crowds are amazing.

Back later with much more.

UPDATE, 4:01 p.m.: Chien-Ming Wang is playing catch right now. … They’re about to announce the Notre Dame-Army game. Hal Steinbrenner and Charlie Weis in the house along with Randy Levine and Lonn Trost.

Game will be Nov. 20, 2010.

UPDATE, 4:17 p.m.: The field will go from center field to home plate. Trost said the team also hopes to host a hockey game.

UPDATE, 4:48 p.m.: Wang felt pain. Shut down until Friday. Girardi mentioned rotator cuff issues. At this point, Girardi admitted, anything they get from him is a bonus.

Girardi said that Aceves would be easier to return to the rotation than Hughes as he is more stretched out. Girardi said he is concerned about their rotation depth.

UPDATE, 6:08 p.m.: Here is Hal Steinbrenner:

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He talks about what he thinks of the team, the “looseness” of the team and what his expectations are.

UPDATE, 6:15 p.m.: Here is Joe Girardi’s pre-game interview session. He talks about assorted issues including Chien-Ming Wang, the bullpen, etc.

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UPDATE, 6:28 p.m.: Damaso Marte to AAA tomorrow. … Hal met with Girardi today. … Jennifer Steinbrenner Swindal in town as well as part of HOPE week. …

UPDATE, 7:09 p.m.: We’re underway on another beautiful night. … So Markakis homers into the Yankees bullpen. Somebody flips the ball into the crowd and the bozo throws it back on the field. It rolls around, delaying the next pitch until Hinske picks it up and flips it back into the crowd. So of course people start chanting, “Throw it back.”

The “throw the ball back” stuff is played out. It was moderately amusing when they did it at Wrigley Field decades ago. Now it’s just stupid. If you’re such a wonderful fan that you can’t stand to have a ball the other team hit, give it to a kid.

Anyway, 1-0 going to the bottom of the inning.

UPDATE, 7:20 p.m.: Bad news for bartenders on the East Side. The A’s placed The Big G on the disabled list.

UPDATE, 7:31 p.m.: Do you think his Little League coach ever told Cano “A walk is as good as a hit.” I’m guessing no. He has fouled off ball four twice.

UPDATE, 7:32 p.m.: And he lines to center. Robbie and RISP never a good combination.

UPDATE, 7:42 p.m.: Hinske with your best shot! It’s 1-1.

UPDATE, 8:33 p.m.: If I had more updates, I’d post them. Pretty nondescript game so far. 1-1 and the teams have combined for five hits. Petitte and Hernandez are pitching well.

UPDATE, 8:58 p.m.: Can’t ask for more from Andy. 7 4 1 1 2 7. Hernandez is done and the Yankees will face Mark Hendrickson, who should have stuck with basketball.

UPDATE, 9:11 p.m.: Dicey spot for Coke, runners on second and third with one out in the 8th with Markakis up.

Girardi might have pushed it a bit with Andy but he was pitching well.

UPDATE, 9:14 p.m.: Good throw and a great tag. Molina is so good. He reached across the plate and slapped his glove in the exact right spot. This would be huge to get out of this jam.

UPDATE, 9:16 p.m.: Wow, Jose Molina. Another fantastic play. Roberts never touched the plate. Unreal.

Yankees have to win this game now. Somebody hit a home run and get this over with.

A reader suggested this would make a good topic to generate discussion. Let’s find out.

If you were the commissioner of baseball for one day, what would be your first order of business?

Let’s not make this too complicated. Give us just one thing you would do. It can be a rule change or some other decision that would benefit the game. Let’s pretend for a second you have the cooperation of the owners and the MLBPA.

Here’s mine: I’d change the draft. Instead of just the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, the draft would encompass the world. There also would be a mandated salary slot system to control the costs, much like the NBA draft.

What would you do?

As the Yankees define it, HOPE stands for Helping Others Persevere and Excel. For the players, it also repesents their chance to give back this week.

Starting today, every player on the team will take part in at least one event away from the Stadium designed to recognize an individual, family or organization worthy of recognition and support. The team hopes their efforts will help raise awareness and funds.

Joe Girardi, Mariano Rivera, Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera will be in Washington Heights this afternoon to recognize the work of Marco and Jennifer Chiappetta. In 2006, Marco started spending time in his local schoolyard, helping kids get involved in sports. Within a month, the Chiappettas were hosting children at their home. They eventually formed Patchwork Of Young Leaders Society.

The Yankees will distribute athletic equipment and food vouchers to the organization. The Chiappettas, some of the teenagers and a group of parents will take in the game tonight.

You can go to http://www.patchwork.bbnow.org for more information.

If you’re inspired to serve yourself, go to www.serve.gov.

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You’ve probably noticed the Yankees being a lot more active in this sort of thing than they used to be. There has been more interaction with fans, more charitable appearances and now HOPE week.

George Steinbrenner wrote a lot of checks to a lot of worthy people and organizations over the years and that was great. But there is a lot to be said for ballplayers taking time to go shake somebody’s hand and provide the kind of support that comes from building relationships.

Kudos to media relations director Jason Zillo and his hard-working staff for organizing these events. It should be part of the standard player contract that every player from every team has to be active in the community and with fans. Many players are, some to extraordinary means. But many are not. This week, hopefully, will inspire all of the players to do some good beyond the ball field.

Tonight: RHP David Hernandez (2-2, 3.94) vs. LHP Andy Pettitte (8-5, 4.85), 7:05, YES

Tuesday: LHP Rich Hill (3-2, 6.92) vs. RHP Sergio Mitre (season debut), 7:05, MY9

Wednesday: RHP Jason Berken (1-7, 6.44) vs. RHP A.J. Burnett (8-4, 3.81), 1:05, YES

Joba Chamberlain came back from Nebraska looking like his old self.

It was a special Old Timers’ Day for Mike Mussina and Don Zimmer. Jake Thomases has the story.

Mark Teixeira is starting to heat up. This notebook also has updates on two hot relievers.

Tonight: I’ll be on WFAN at 11:05 p.m. with Lori Rubinson talking some Yankees.

Monday on YES: The Mike Mussina Yankeeography will debut at 11 p.m. Those interviewed include the Moose, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Jorge Posada, Willie Randolph, David Cone, Joe Girardi, Joe Torre, Tino Martinez, Brian Cashman, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, Mike’s parents, Mike’s brother Mark, Stanford coach Mark Marquess and Jim Palmer along with a few no-account sportswriters.

Tuesday on HBO: The latest edition of Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel debuts at 10 p.m. ET. One of the segments will be on Jorge Posada and the progress Jorge Jr. has made after repeated surgeries for craniosynostosis. Jorge Jr. is nine years old now and doing very well. The piece also details some of the work done by Posada’s foundation to help families dealing with the condition.

It would seem that Nebraska is a great place to clear your mind. Who knew?

Joba Chamberlain said that getting away for four days helped him become more focused today on the mound. He was aggressive in the strike zone, more emotional and stuck to the game plan he had with Jorge Posada.

You saw the results. One run over 6.2 innings, 3 hits and 8 Ks. It was the deepest he has gone in a game since June 1 and most strikeouts he has had since May 5.

The fifth inning was telling. After Roberto Clemente Swisher played a single into a triple, Joba hit Placido Polanco. No problem. He got the the dangerous Miguel Cabrera to pop up before fanning Marcus Thames on a 97-mph fastball. In all, Chamberlain retired the last seven batters he faced.

Here is Joba talking about it:

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Today is the big game for the Yankees on several fronts. They’re now a game out of first, they swept a good team and maybe the kid with the big arm has remembered just how good he can be when he sets his mind to it.

“People think it’s easy,” Phil Hughes said. “It’s not. We’re 23, we’re still learning. But I bet Joba remembers this game.”