The LoHud Yankees Blog

Yankees win 5-2. Guess he was due.

Back later with reaction.

We go to extra innings tied 2-2. So let’s start a new post.

UPDATE, 10:02 p.m.: Girardi always goes by the book — always — so he used Mariano in the ninth inning. But after seeing Hughes fan the side on 14 pitches, why not leave Phil in for the ninth then you have Mo for the 10th? Hughes has been so rarely used, after all.

Now they’re left with Brian Bruney and assorted others for extra innings.

UPDATE, 10:11 p.m.: Tex, A-Rod and Matsui to face Randy Williams. It ends here.

UPDATE, 10:15 p.m.: Thought that was it. Lots of warning track action tonight.

UPDATE, 10:21 p.m.: Cano is certainly due with RISP, right?

YANKEES (79-48)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Texeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Swisher RF
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF
Molina C

Pitching: LHP CC Sabathia (15-7, 3.59).

WHITE SOX (64-64)
Nix 2B
Beckham 3B
Thome DH
Konerko 1B
Dye RF
Quentin LF
Rios CF
Ramirez SS
Castro C

Pitching: LHP Mark Buehrle (11-7, 3.92).

TIME/TV: 7:05, MY9.

STATE OF THE ‘STRIPES: The Yankees start the day six games up on the Red Sox in the American League East and 3.5 games up on Los Angeles for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Yankees have lost three of their last five.

STATE OF THE SOX: The White Sox have won only 10 of their last 23 games and have fallen four games out in the American League Central with 34 games left to play. The Men of Ozzie lost three of four in Boston before winning last night and have dropped four of their last five.

THAT’S CC AS IN COMPLETE CONTROL: Carsten Charles is 5-0 with a 2.65 ERA in his last five starts. Over 37.1 innings, he has allowed 28 hits, struck out 39 and walked only five.

AUGUST ACCOMPLISHMENT: CC has won 11 straight decisions in the month of August. He is 33-9, 3.16 in 51 career starts in August

CC VS. THE SOX: Sabathia is 15-4, 3.77 in 27 career starts against Chicago.

CC FOR THE CY: Sabathia leads the AL in wins and innings. He is eighth in ERA and strikeouts, third in WHIP. third in opponents batting average and tied for fifth in opponents OPS.

CC AT HOME IN THE BRONX: Others whine about Yankee Stadium. CC is 5-2, 3.62 in the bandbox and has allowed only five homers in 77 innings. When your stuff is that good, it doesn’t much matter where the fences are.

COKE IS NOT IT: Phil Coke has a 8.10 ERA since the All-Star break.

FREE PHIL HUGHES! FREE PHIL HUGHES! My friends at River Ave. Blues have a good post on the disappearance of Phil Hughes.

HEADING FOR A HUNDRED: Mark Teixeira has 97 RBI. He leads the American League. Only Prince Fielder (115), Ryan Howard (108) and Albert Pujols (107) have more.

HOME COOKING: The Yankees have won 16 of their last 20 at home.

DAMONIC: Johnny Damon is 9 of his last 20 and is up to .288.

HOMERLESS: Yesterday was one of five home games this season when the Yankees did not hit a home run. The FBI is looking into it.

ON THE iPOD RIGHT NOW: Listening to an early 60s mix. Double Shot (Of My Baby’s Love) by The Swingin’ Medallions is on. They were sort of a precursor to Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, only less soulful.

Back with more later on.

UPDATE, 4:21 p.m.: Gates are open, they will try and play. Bring a book with you.

UPDATE, 4:30 p.m.: Joba Chamberlain will be in the rotation moving forward, meaning he will pitch every five games. They decided he needed to pitch more regularly. The innings limit hasn’t changed. Some starts will be less than five innings.

UPDATE, 5:51 p.m.: To clarify the Job situation:

He will start Sunday and every five games (not days, games) moving forward.

The first few starts will be cut short at a pre-determined amount.

Then he will be built back up toward the end of the season.

The innings limit has not changed. This is just a different way of getting there.

He has pitched poorly in recent outings and the hope is that getting back to a regular routine will help him. Once the rosters expand on Tuesday, they’ll have a large enough bullpen to cover the gaps.

UPDATE, 5:58 p.m.: Here is Dave Eiland talking about it:

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UPDATE, 6:30 p.m.: The tarp is coming off the field. Looks like an on-time start.

UPDATE, 6:47 p.m.: Serena Williams is here to throw out the first pitch. She’s wearing a mini-skirt and black and pink Nike high-tops. She’s in the dugout now getting photos taken with different players.

UPDATE, 7:01 p.m.: Starting to rain. Umpires are talking. Could be trouble.

UPDATE, 7:02 p.m.: Lineup cards being exchanged. Looks like they will start the game.

UPDATE, 7:06 p.m: Serena threw the ball way over the head of Jose Molina. Funny.

CC warming up to Big Poppa by Notorious B.I.G. He’s a true player.

UPDATE, 7:11 p.m.: We are underway. 67 degrees and rainy but they’re playing. Hope you enjoy the game. CC looking good so far.

UPDATE, 7:13 p.m.: Carsten Charles, yo.

UPDATE, 7:16 p.m.: Derek Jeter blow up a 1-2 pitch and drills it out to center. That’s 17 for the Captain. Mark Buehrle must be saying, “Here we go again with this team.”

UPDATE, 7:28 p.m.: Hey, look, Melky doesn’t communicate and take charge of a ball. That is at least the third time that has happened this year.

If Brett Gardner hits once he comes back, he could become the postseason starter. Melky is melting down just like he did last season.

UPDATE, 7:34 p.m.: CC picks up Melky by striking out the side.

UPDATE, 8:00 p.m.: Yankees should offer Damon a deal now. He’ll hit 20 homers a year playing at this park no matter how old he is. Yankees 2-0 and it could be more. Much like yesterday.

UPDATE, 8:02 p.m.: Robbie Cano, don’t you know … that he can’t hit with runners in scoring position. He’s 30 of 148 (.203).

UPDATE, 8:32 p.m.: Yankees 0 for 6 with RISP. They’ve let Buehrle off the hook time after time. CC has to stay sharp. Not much wiggle room up 2-0.

UPDATE, 8:42 p.m.: In CC Sabathia, you are seeing a man at the top of his game right now. This is really impressive work, the way he commands his fastball.

UPDATE, 8:57 p.m.: Now CC has some issues. First and second and nobody out. This is where the poor job with RISP hurts them. He’ll have to do some real work here to retain the lead. CC needs a GIDP.

UPDATE, 9:02 p.m.: One more to get and it’s Nix, who has two hits off CC already. CC trying to hold a 2-1 lead and he’s at 102 pitches.

UPDATE, 9:05 p.m.: CC had his chances to keep the lead and missed it. He was ahead of Nix 0-2 and had Beckham 3-2. That kid is an impressive player.

UPDATE, 9:15 p.m.: Can’t believe Swisher made that great a throw. He never does that. The Yankees need a run to get CC a win. Hughes will come out for the eighth.

UPDATE, 9:23 p.m.: I’m checking the roster to see who this No. 65 is. Looks pretty good. Can’t recall seeing him pitch before.

UPDATE, 9:27 p.m.: Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuughes. Three swinging Ks. Philthy.

UPDATE, 9:42 p.m.: That’s it for Hughes. Mo for the ninth. If the Yankees are to win this one, it’ll be their 11th walk-off win of the season. Rain is coming down here pretty decent, too. Better win soon.

UPDATE, 9:57 p.m.: Girardi must really not want to use Posada. He did not pinch hit and nobody ran for Molina.

UPDATE, 10:00 p.m.: Extra innings, time to start a new post.

The tarp is down, there won’t be BP on the field but it’s not really raining at the moment. The Yankees, we’re told, will endeavor to play.

We will keep you posted, as always.

Mark Buehrle is an accomplished Major League pitcher. He is nearly 40 games over .500 for this career. He has been an All-Star four times, a World Champion and has both a no-hitter and a perfect game on his resume.

So why does he stink out loud against the Yankees?

Buehrle is 1-6 with a 6.84 ERA in nine career starts against the Yankees. In 50 innings, he has put 85 runners on base via hit or walk. It happened again on Aug. 2 in Chicago when he allowed seven runs on 12 hits over 4.1 innings. The Yankees, down 4-3, won 8-5.

Buehrle faces the Yankees and CC Sabathia tonight. CC has been terrific of late and is 6-0 in 10 career starts against Buehrle. Makes for an interesting game.

Ellie Greenwich was not a celebrity on the level of Michael Jackson, but her death on Wednesday caused some reflection.

Greenwich was one of the great songwriters of the 1960s. Working with Jeff Barry, Phil Spector and others, she helped come up with such memorable songs as Do Wah Diddy, Be My Baby, Chapel of Love, Leader of the Pack and the fantastic holiday song Christmas Baby Please Come Home that Darlene Love recorded.

She was one of the many influential people in the music business who worked at the Brill Building in Manhattan. As Bruce Weber of the Times wrote today, it was the center of pop music in the early 1960s. She also discovered Neil Diamond, which may or may not be a good thing depending on your taste in music.

For more, check out her Wikipedia page or the obit in the Times.

The music of those times, even if it was bubblegum, influenced a lot of artists that followed. When the Jackson Five did ABC, for instance, you can hear a lot of the same techniques. Springsteen did a song called Sherry Darling that was a throwback to the fraternity rock days. The early 60s stuff got overwhelmed by the British Invasion and the metal of the 1970s. But you can’t deny the listenability.

Bet you anything that if you grew up in the 70s, you listened to those songs when you dug through the records that your parents had.

(By the way, if you aren’t reading the obits in the Times, you really should. You can learn a lot every day.)

This press release from YES:

The YES Network will premiere its special 90-minute George Steinbrenner Yankeeography on Wednesday, immediately following the network’s Yankees-Baltimore postgame show.

Among those featured in the show: George Steinbrenner, Hal Steinbrenner, Jessica Steinbrenner, Jennifer Steinbrenner, Hank Steinbrenner, Reggie Jackson, Yogi Berra, Goose Gossage, Ron Guidry, Derek Jeter, Joe Torre, Joe Girardi, Brian Cashman, Don Mattingly, Mariano Rivera, Dwight Gooden, Paul O’Neill, Gene Michael, Darryl Strawberry, Rudy Giuliani and Bob Knight.

Topics include:

• George Steinbrenner’s father’s influence on him, and George Steinbrenner’s influence on his children
• The numerous hirings and firings of Billy Martin
• The Yankees’ marquee free agent signings in the 1970s, including Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson, Goose Gossage, Dave Winfield
• George Steinbrenner’s emotional appearance at the 2008 MLB All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium
• George Steinbrenner’s place in pop culture: Saturday Night Live, Seinfeld and the Miller Lite and Visa commercials
• The construction of the Yankees’ 1977 and 1978 World Series championship teams, as well as the Yankees dynasty of the late 1990s.

Tonight: LHP Mark Buehrle (11-7, 3.92) vs. LHP CC Sabathia (15-7, 3.59), 7:05, MY9

Saturday: TBA vs. RHP Sergio Mitre (2-1, 6.82), 1:05, YES

Sunday: RHP Freddy Garcia (0-1, 6.75) vs. RHP Joba Chamberlain (8-4, 4.34), 1:05, YES/TBS

Note: Saturday will not be Jake Peavy, who is starting in Triple-A.

A.J. Burnett lost the perfect game, the no-hitter, the shutout and the lead just like that as he and the Yankees were beaten by the Rangers.

Jorge Posada’s bruised finger will be an issue. This notebook also has an update on Brett Gardner.

Junichi Tazawa through four innings tonight at Fenway Park: 10 hits, 9 earned runs, 85 pitches. The Red Sox are trailing John Danks and Chicago 9-0.

But at least Tazawa only cost the Red Sox $3.3 million. The K-Man was $46 million. Does Cash for Clunkers apply to Japanese pitchers?