The LoHud Yankees Blog

Joba Chamberlain has some time off to think about another shaky performance as the Yankees fell to the Mariners.

Derek Jeter broke a record held by a Hall of Famer. This notebook also has updates on Hideki Matsui’s knee and a day off for Melky Cabrera.

Here we are at the Downtown Freddie Brown International Airport and Coffee Shop in Seattle. I’m waiting on a flight to Oakland.

The Seattle airport is uniquely Seattle. There is a “Meditation Room” near the check-in counters and lots of bearded dudes in their 20s with backpacks, sandals and skateboards.

There are also containers labeled “compost.” Please forgive me being environmentally ignorant, but what does that mean? I thought compost was that pile of grass cuttings, leaves and orange peels my dad has in the backyard near his garden. What sort of compost are people carrying around? I’m confused.

As for the Yankees, nobody seemed particularly upset about the loss. When a team has won 12 out of 13, a loss is coming. It’s just a matter of how. Seattle scored every run with two outs today as Joba, Aceves and Gaudin were unable to make pitches when they had to.

Joba never gained control of his slider today. After getting seven outs in a row to start the game, he needed 65 pitches to get through the next 2.2 innings as he put 10 runners on base and allowed four runs. His line in the last three games:

16 innings, 18 hits, 12 earned runs, 12 walks.

Now he has nine days to think about it and try to get better.

The other issue of the day is the status of Hideki Matsui’s left knee. He had it drained during the game and was limping afterward. He will not play tomorrow and is day-to-day after that. Matsui had the knee drained in April, so hopefully this latest procedure will get him through the rest of the season. He didn’t seem too concerned.

Beyond that, not much else to report. We will be back here next month, which seems a little strange. But Safeco is a great place to watch a game.

Anyway, my flight will be boarding soon. Off to Oakland and more baseball. Check back tomorrow.

He had his left knee drained during the game. Out tomorrow then day-to-day.

YANKEES (74-43)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira DH
Rodriguez 3B
Posada C
Swisher 1B
Hinkse RF
Hairston CF
Pena 2B

Pitching: RHP Joba Chamberlain (8-2, 3.85).

MARINERS (60-57)
Suzuki RF
Branyan 1B
Lopez 2B
Griffey DH
Gutierrez CF
Hannahan 3B
Johjima C
Langerhans LF
Wilson SS

Pitching: LHP Doug Fister (0-0, 0.00).

TIME/TV: 4:10 p.m., YES.

STATE OF THE ‘STRIPES: No complaints on the blog today, people. The Yankees have won five straight, 12 of 13 and 36 of 47. They are 23-6 since the All-Star break, the best record in franchise history.

SERIES SWEEP? The Yankees are looking for a four-game series sweep, having outscored Seattle 20-5 over the first three games. The Yankees are 5-1 against the Mariners this season.

HISTORY IN THE MAKING: Derek Jeter needs one hit to tie Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio for the most hits ever by a shortstop with 2,673. Those are hits by a player when he was playing shortstop. Jeter has 2,685 overall, Aparicio had 2,677.

I’LL TAKE THE PEN IS MIGHTIER: Yankee relievers have allowed no runs in their last 12.2 innings, one in their last 19.2 innings and three in their last 30.1 innings. They have whiffed 31 in the last 30.1 innings and given up 22 hits.

MONUMENT PARK AWAITS: The great, great Jerry Hairston Jr is 9 of 26 with three extra-base hits and six RBI as a Yankee.

CONSISTENT CANO: Robinson Cano has a 13-game hit streak, going 24 of 57 with nine extra-base hits and 10 runs scored. He has 51 multiple-hit games this season.

TUCKERED OUT: Melky Cabrera has played every inning in center field since Brett Gardner broke his left thumb. He is 6 of his last 48 at the plate and is down to .269.

PITCHING POWER: Yankee pitching in the last four games:

38 innings
34 hits
7 earned runs
12 walks
46 strikeouts.

SEATTLE STUMBLES: The Mariners have scored seven runs in their last 50 innings. They are 3 for 20 with runners in scoring position in this series.

WILL THE REAL JOBA CHAMBERLAIN PLEASE STAND UP? Joba was 3-0, 0.83 in his three starts following the All-Star break, allowing eight hits over 21.2 innings and striking out 19. He regressed to nibbling, jittery Joba in the last two starts, allowing eight runs on 11 hits and nine walks over 11 innings.

THE JETER METER: The Captain has four home run his last eight games.

ROAD WARRIORS: The Yankees are 33-26 away from the cozy confines of Yankee Stadium. They have won six straight.

ON THE iPOD RIGHT NOW: Affection by The Lost Boys. Picked this up off The Sopranos soundtrack. The Lost Boys are a garage band fronted by Steven Van Zandt. Great guitar work on this tune. Highly recommended.

Back later with much more.

UPDATE, 2:09 p.m.: Hideki Matsui has fluid on his left knee and is day to day. … Girardi said he may not have Mariano Rivera today. He wants to rest him.

UPDATE, 3:33 p.m.: Melky Cabrera is getting a day off as is Robbie Cano. This way they can keep each other company on the bench. … Girardi wants to stay away from Dave Robertson today if he can. … Did you see the story in the Post about Hideki Matsui’s wife having a baby? One little problem, it was Chien-Ming Wang’s wife. Oops.

UPDATE, 4:07 p.m.: Joe Moser, a World War II veteran and fighter pilot, just throw out the first pitch. A Washington native, Mr. Moser was shot down over Europe and was sent to the Buchenwald concentration camp to be executed. Rescued by Luftwaffe officers, they were sent to a prison camp and later survived a forced March to another camp as Allied troops approached.

All these years later, Mr. Moser received a huge ovation from the crowd. Nice to see.

UPDATE, 4:10 p.m.: We’re underway and Derek Jeter just singled to tie Luis Aparicio for the most hits ever by a shortstop with 2,673.

UPDATE, 4:18 p.m.: Fairly big start here for Joba in that he’ll get eight days off afterward. You want to go into a break like that feeling good about things if you’re a pitcher. His last two starts were shaky and he needs to get himself back on track.

UPDATE, 4:40 p.m.: How about that? Pesky little Ramiro Pena bunts for a single then scores from first when Ichiro has trouble finding Jeter’s double down the line. Good base-running by El Nino.

Jeter now has the SS hit record alone.

It must make Girardi feel good when he uses the bench and those guys produce.

UPDATE, 4:49 p.m.: Joba was bopping along. Now he’s in trouble. First and third, Ichiro up, one out.

UPDATE, 4:51 p.m.: That wily Ichiro tried to slap one the other way and A-Rod caught it. Now Joba has a chance to escape.

UPDATE, 4:56 p.m.: Joba is either real, real good or real, real not so good. This is the bad Joba. He’s close to 30 pitches this inning.

UPDATE, 4:59 p.m.: 47 pitches, 27 strikes. Five first-pitch strikes to 13 batters. His stuff is just too good to screw around like that. Joba is forever repeating that old cliche, “Strike one is the best pitch in baseball.” But he doesn’t always seem to remember it.

UPDATE, 5:03 p.m.: It’s Swishalicious on the road again. Twenty jacks, 17 away from the Boogie Bown. Yankees lead 3-2.

And he hacked at a 3-0 pitch. Might as well, the Yankees can do little wrong these days.

UPDATE, 5:05 p.m.: Red Sox lose again. Yankees up eight games pending the outcome of this one.

UPDATE, 5:09 p.m.: The Red Sox have won 11 of their last 28 games. Yikes. Could they stay home and the Yankees will get the wild card winners? Would you rather face Texas or the AL Central winner?

UPDATE, 5;11 p.m.: Swisher gives Joba the lead, he falls behind the first two hitters he faces in the bottom of the inning. Throw strikes young man.

UPDATE, 5:40 p.m.: Nice effort by Joba. He has given up seven hits and three walks in five innings and four runs against a team that had scored seven in its previous 50 innings.

The 0-2 pitch to Gutierrez was horrendous.

90 pitches in five innings and first-pitches strikes to only 10 of 25 batters.

UPDATE, 5:46 p.m.: And Joba is finished after a poor five innings.

His last three starts: 16 innings, 18 hits, 12 runs, 12 earned runs, 12 walks, 12 strikeouts. So much for him having figured it out after the break.

UPDATE, 6:09 p.m.: Doug Fister has retired nine straight as he faces Hairston and he’s at 90 pitches here in the seventh.

UPDATE, 6:11 p.m.: Cano pinch hits and bloops in a single to extend his hitting streak to 14 games.

UPDATE, 6:15 p.m.: Isn’t it about time for somebody to hit a home run and break Seattle’s heart? Fister must be getting tired. Next pitch is No. 100.

UPDATE, 6:17 p.m.: Johnny nearly beat that. Would have tied the score. Now the Seattle bullpen has to try and hold on.

UPDATE, 6:21 p.m.: Hairston started back on that ball. Had he started in he might have caught it.

UPDATE, 6:33 p.m.: The Yankees were due for a stinker and they’re getting it. Aceves just hit a batter to force in a run. But, it’s only 5-3 Seattle. If Chad Gaudin can hold them here, the Yankees very much have a chance.

That run broke a streak of 13.2 innings without a run for the bullpen.

UPDATE, 6:36 p.m.: And that could cook the Yankees. 8-3 now. Bad day for the pitchers.

They’ll take three out of four here and move on to Oakland. Please do me a favor and ignore the panic stricken commenters. They’re not worth your time.

I promise, last post about Ichiro this weekend. But it’s hard to resist passing on this note the Mariners have.

Ichiro last went consecutive games without a hit on Aug. 13 and 15, 2008. He has gone 150 games since. That’s the longest streak in the majors since Stan Musial went 174 games from 1943-44 and the longest streak in the American League since Doc Cramer went 191 games from 1934-35.

Ichiro is 27 hits shy of recording 200 hits for the ninth straight season. That would be an all-time record.

Richard Sandomir of The Times, whose work I admire, wrote an interesting piece Saturday on the Yankees and how they are assisting a program that donates unused food from sporting events and concerts to charity.

George Steinbrenner wrote a lot of checks to charities and individuals in need over the years and that was a good thing. But here is yet another example of the Yankees demonstrating their concern with actions and effort, not just money.

Jenny Steinbrenner and the people involved in the team’s charitable foundation deserve a lot of credit.

Sergio Mitre solidified his hold on a job with some help from the bullpen as the Yankees beat the Mariners again.

Brian Bruney is looking like his old self. This notebook also has updates on Alex Rodriguez, Damaso Marte, Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano.

Jerry Hairston Jr. has fit right in with the Yankees since being acquired from the Reds.

Joba Chamberlain will get some time off after he starts today and it makes perfect sense.

————

When I first started at The Journal News in 1999, I did a series of stories on a local high school basketball star, Ben Gordon. He’s now with the Pistons and one of the best scorers in the NBA. He was back in his hometown over the weekend giving back to the community. It’s nice to see.

Ben and the Mount Vernon Knights used to make extra money for team trips by working at concession stands at the old Stadium. Almost any time you see Ben, he has a Yankees cap on.

There are approximately dozens of Japanese reporters covering this series. Having Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui in the same series is a certified Big Deal for Japanese baseball fans.

Matsui didn’t play tonight, so the attention was focused on Ichiro. He went his customary 2 for 5 but inexplicably tried to steal third with two outs and a 2-0 count on Russell Branyan in the seventh inning with his team down 4-2.

The dumb play helped the Yankees as Phil Coke got to face Branyan again in the eighth inning. So instead of facing a lefty and two righties, he got two lefties and a righty.

The Japanese media sent a strong force into the Yankees clubhouse to quiz Jose Molina on his having gunned down Ichiro. Jose, who has a good sense of humor, looked over the crowd gathered around his locker and grinned.

“Ichiro sucks!” he said.

Everybody laughed. That’s how it’s going for the Yankees these days. Seattle lets a fly ball drop in during the second inning and four unearned runs come across. Ichiro makes a mistake and a possible rally is thwarted.

Then there’s Sergio Mitre, who allowed one earned run in 5.1 innings. He’s 2-1 and the Yankees are 4-2 in his six starts. You’d like to see him go a little deeper and give up a few less hits. But you can’t ask for much better from the No. 5 starter.

Without further ado … Sergio Mitre audio!

Follow this link: http://lohud.com/audio/yankees/Mitre0815.mp3

Sergio Mitre audio? What has the world come to?

Thanks for hanging in there tonight. Yankees go for the sweep tomorrow with Jobamania on the hill. It’s an afternoon game, so come hang out.

I checked this twice to make sure. But it’s true

Yankee relievers have allowed only one run over the last 20.2 innings. April and May sure seem like a long time ago. Of the 11 outs they recorded tonight, eight were by strikeout.

Back in a bit with some reaction.

YANKEES (73-43)
Jeter SS
Swisher RF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Posada DH
Cano 2B
Hairston LF
Cabrera CF
Molina C

Pitching: RHP Sergio Mitre (1-1, 7.04).

MARINERS (60-56)
Suzuki RF
Gutierrez CF
Lopez 2B
Griffey Jr. DH
Branyan 1B
Hannahan 3B
Johnson C
Wilson SS
Langerhans LF

Pitching: LHP Luke French (1-0, 6.97).

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

STATE OF THE STRIPES: The Yankees have won four straight, 11 of 12 and a ridiculous 35 of 46. They have taken the first two games of the four-game series against the Mariners.

HEADING FOR A RECORD: Derek Jeter has 2,670 hits as a shortstop. The Major League record of 2,673 is held by Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio.

SPEAKING OF GREAT YANKEES: Mariano Rivera has converted 30 straight saves, one shy of his career record et in 2005.

PITCHING, PITCHING, PITCHING: The Yankees have allowed six earned runs and struck out 27 in their last 29 innings. That’s a 1.86 ERA for you slow kids.

THE MITRE MATTER: The Yankees are somehow 3-2 in the games Mitre has started. He has allowed 38 hits (four of them homers) and six walks in 23 innings and committed three errors.

RUN, ROBBIE, RUN: Cano has a 12-game hit streak (22 of 53) that includes nine extra-base hits.

NO BULL: Yankee relievers have allowed one run in their last 16 innings.

BRUNEY’S BACK: Brian Bruney’s last four appearances: 5 innings, 3 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts.

MEASLY MARINERS: Seattle has scored five runs in the last 43 innings.

SUCCESS IN SEATTLE: The Yankees are 28-18 at Safeco Field. … They are 4-1 against Seattle this season.

That’s it’s for now. More to come later.

UPDATE, 7:43 p.m.: Damaso Marte’s 30-day injury rehab assignment ended yesterday. The Yankees today announced that he has been indefinitely excused from the team for “personal reasons.”

This comes 24 hours after Joe Girardi said that Marte wasn’t ready to pitch in the majors because of erratic velocity. The Yankees did not specify what those personal reasons were, but it seems likely those will serve to keep him off the roster.

UPDATE, 8;36 p.m.: A-Rod tried some swings in the cage and said he was recovered enough to play. “Good enough. We’ll strap it on,” he said.

He did say he had “some little neck stuff” a day after experiencing back spasms. But regardless, he’s playing third base and hitting cleanup.

UPDATE, 8:48 p.m.: Just checked with Brian Cashman, Marte remains on the 60-day DL.

UPDATE, 10:05 p.m.: Gonzaga basketball coach Mark Few — who really knows his stuff — threw out the first pitch.

UPDATE, 10:06 p.m.: They play the Law & Order theme music when the umpires comes out.

UPDATE, 10:10 p.m.: We are underway at beautiful Safeco Field on a perfect night for baseball in the Northwest. Hope you enjoy the game.

UPDATE, 10:15 p.m.: Wow, they really hate A-Rod here. The earthy crunchy Seattle fans booing loudly and some throwing fake money in the air as he comes to the plate. Booing all through his at-bat, too.

UPDATE, 10:17 p.m.: Hold everything, its real money they were throwing. Some of it just fluttered into the press box. It has an advertisement stuck on it by emailbroadcast.com “Results so good even YOU can afford the Material Girl.” It says.

Funny.

UPDATE, 10:27 p.m.: No hometown scoring here in Seattle. Cano gets an error on a ball that would have bene called a hit in a lot of places, especially Florida.

UPDATE, 10:36 p.m.: 13-game hit streak for Cano.

UPDATE, 10:42 p.m.: The Machine is cranked up again. Single, error, single, sac fly, two-run jack by Swisher. Yankees 4-1.

Swisher has hit 19 homers — 16 on the road — and 62 RBI.

Once again, they seriously traded Wilson Betemit to get this guy. Wilson Betemit.

UPDATE, 10:54 p.m.: Posada must be laughing, or crying. He drilled a bomb to the wall in center in the first inning then just hit a line drive right at the chest of the third baseman. He’s 0 for 2 and nobody on the team has hit it harder.

Meanwhile, Luke French isn’t long for this game. He has put eight men on base and we’re in the third inning.

UPDATE, 11:02 p.m.: The Yankees are up 4-1 on a team that has scored six runs in the last 43 innings. If Sergio Mitre can’t give them six innings tonight, he never will.

UPDATE, 11:09 p.m.: If I lived in Seattle, I’d get season tickets in right field just to see Ichiro play 81 times a year. That was a great catch. He does something fun to watch every day.

UPDATE, 11:50 p.m.: Melky Cabrera (6 for 47) really needs a day off. He has done admirable work since GGBG was injured. But he looks beat.

UPDATE, 12:05 a.m.: Mitre still has yet to go deeper than 5.2 innings in a start. He leaves a big mess for Dave Robertson to try and clean up.

UPDATE, 12:12 a.m.: Robertson got away with one there. That pitch was low but C.B. Bucknor punched out Langerhans to end the inning.

I’m telling you, he’s going to be around a while. He throws strikes.

UPDATE, 12:36 a.m.: Phil Coke did what he had to do there and fanned Griffey. Now he gets another lefty in Branyan.

Be interesting to see who pitches the eighth with a lead. Could be Aceves instead of Hughes, who threw 28 pitches last night.

UPDATE, 12:39 a.m.: I love Ichiro but that is a Dumb play. Notice the capital D. Whatever advantage gained there with two outs is hardly worth the risk.

Running on a 2-0 pitch? Branyan has 68 RBI, too. Bad baseball there.

UPDATE, 12:46 a.m.: Leaving Coke in. Nobody warming up, so apparently he has the inning.