The LoHud Yankees Blog

ESPN is reporting that the Rockies, Giants and Marlins are interested in Brad Penny, who will become a free agent once he clears waivers.

He has been put on release waivers by the Red Sox. It is unlikely that any team will claim Penny off waivers given they would have to absorb the remainder of his contract — roughly $1 million. By waiting until he’s a free agent, Penny can be had for the prorated minimum for the rest of the season.

The Post reported that the Yankees have an interest. The Yankees claimed Penny off trade waivers earlier this month, but that could have been a blocking move.

Penny seems like a classic type of pitcher who would fare far better in the NL than the AL. But he could represent an upgrade over Sergio Mitre, who starts Saturday.

Joe Girardi, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez all said the same thing: A.J. Burnett was as good as they’ve seen him this season. The 12 strikeouts he recorded in six innings were a season high.

“Outstanding,” A-Rod said.

But Burnett took the loss and is now 0-4 in his last six starts with a 6.03 ERA. Right now, you’d want Andy Pettitte in Game 2 of a playoff series.

Burnett was perfect through 3.2 innings, Then walk, walk, home run. That was that as the Yankees never mounted much of an offense..

Here is Burnett talking about it. You might need all the volume you can muster because he was pretty quiet:

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The Yankees had not lost a series at home since June 16-18 against the Nationals. They recovered from that and they should be able to recover from this.

The Yankees have lost three of their last five and have dropped a series for only the second time in 12 chances since the All-Star break.

They were 2 for 12 with runners in scoring position and left 12 runners on base today.

It’s hardly time to panic. The Yankees lead the division by 5.5 games pending the result of the Red Sox game this evening.

Back in a bit with clubhouse reaction.

YANKEES (79-47)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Swisher RF
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF
Molina C

Pitching: RHP A.J. Burnett (10-7, 4.08).

RANGERS (70-55)
Borbon DH
Young 3B
Hamilton CF
Cruz RF
Kinsler 2B
Murphy LF
Teagarden C
Davis 1B
Andrus SS

Pitching: RHP Dustin Nippert (4-2, 3.95).

TIME/TV: 1:05 p.m., YES.

STATE OF THE ‘STRIPES: The Yankee have won five of their last seven. They start the day with a six-game lead in the American League East.

SERIES STREAK: A victory today would give the Yankees victories in 11 of the last 12 series they have played.

THE BURNETT BLUES: A.J. Burnett is 0-3 with a 6.32 ERA in his last five starts. He has allowed 36 hits and 14 walks in his last 31.1 innings.

THE JETER METER: Derek Jeter is 39 of 102 (.382) this month with 16 RBI and 20 runs over 23 games. He is 30 of 61 (.492) in his last 15 games with 12 RBI and 15 runs.

BRING BACK BRETT: Melky Cabrera is hitting .209 with a .258 on-base percentage since Brett Gardner went on the disabled list.

LONG GONE: There have been 191 home runs hit in 61 games at Yankee Stadium this season. There were 160 hit in 81 games last season.

FREE PHIL HUGHES: He has thrown a grand total of eight innings this month.

MATSUI MASHING: Hideki Matsui is 14 of his last 40 with 18 RBI over nine games. That includes going 8 of 23 with 12 RBI in the last five.

GET OUT IN FRONT: The Yankees are 51-15 when they score first.

HOME COOKING: The Yankees are a Major League best 42-19 at home.

CANO CONNECTS: Robinson Cano is 8 of his last 17 with four RBI and four extra-base hits.

STOP SIGN: Cano is 16 of 36 in his career in stolen base attempts.

SWISHER SWATS: Nick Swisher is 12 of 46 with eight extra-base hits and seven RBI. Oddly enough, he has gone 49 plate appearances since his last walk.

TEXAS TROUBLE: Michael Young has a 13-game hit streak, the longest current streak in the majors. He is 23 of 54 (.436) with 14 RBI and six extra-base hits in the streak.

ON THE iPOD THIS MORNING: Uptight (Everything’s Alright) by Stevie Wonder.

Back with more later.

UPDATE, 10:22 a.m.: Late report for the fellas today. In the house so far: CC, A.J., Joba, Hinske, Coke and Molina.

UPDATE, 11:07 a.m: Brett Gardner will hit off a tee today for the time since he fractured his thumb. He’s hopeful of starting a rehab Monday.

UPDATE, 11:55 a.m.: Here is Joe Girardi’s pregame interview session:

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He talked about Jorge Posada’s injury, what A.J. Burnett has to do today, Brett Gardner and other topics.

UPDATE, 12:05 p.m.: The Yankees ruin more careers than fast women and hard liquor. The Rangers DFA’d Jason Jennings after his performance last night (1 3 3 2 0 1) and called up RHP Pedro Strop.

UPDATE, 12:50 p.m.: Via Howard Rubenstein, here is a statement said to be from George Steinbrenner:

“Ted Kennedy and I were friendly for many years and I was honored to have him as a guest on my farm in Florida. Of course we talked baseball. He was a die-hard Red Sox fan. That never stood in the way of our friendship. It was a good natured rivalry. He understood competition and winning but he also he had a great sense of humor and sportsmanship. Our relationship was probably stronger because we were on opposing sides in sports, but still respected and admired each other.

“What impressed me most about Ted Kennedy was his commitment and never-quit attitude. He was focused on using his position to help those who needed it the most even against great odds. He was a warrior in that. And you had to admire the courage and strength he displayed throughout his life right up until the end. He’ll really be missed.”

UPDATE, 1:10 p.m.: We are underway at the Stadium on a perfect day for baseball. 73 degrees and just a few white clouds floating around. Stay tuned for plenty of updates. A.J. Burnett is even throwing strikes.

UPDATE, 1:14 p.m.: Three up, three down. Three first-pitch strikes. 12 pitches/10 strikes. Who’s the guy wearing No. 34?

UPDATE, 1:16 p.m.: Every time Jeter comes up, I enjoy the dichotomy of hearing the recorded voice of 97-year-old Bob Sheppard announce him while 50 Cent is rapping Get Up in the background.

What’s really funny is Jeet, Shep and Fitty hang out all the time downtown.

UPDATE, 1:19 p.m.: What’s even funnier is that Mark Teixeira, the only player in the history of baseball who shaves every day, comes to the plate to Twisted Sister.

UPDATE, 1:35 p.m.: Cano lines one the other way and still can’t get a knock with RISP. He’s 30 of 146 (.205).

Yankees made Nippert throw a bunch of pitches but all that produced only one run.

Still, they are 51-15 when they score first.

UPDATE, 1:43 p.m: Six up and six down for A.J. 27 pitches / 18 strikes. Obviously Jose Molina is a genius. It has nothing whatsoever to do with fastball command.

UPDATE, 2:00 p.m.: Nine up and nine down for A.J. Five strikeouts. First-pitch strikes to seven batters.

UPDATE, 2:10 p.m.: Yankees have put seven runners on base in three innings and scored one run. They’re 1 for 6 with RISP and have left six on base. Nippert has been let off the hook so far. They’re a walk and a big fly away from trailing and with A.J. that is never more than five pitches away.

UPDATE, 2:20 p.m.: So much for perfection. Burnett walks Hamilton with two outs in the fourth inning, curveball that got away.

UPDATE, 2:25 p.m.: Bad A.J. has arrived here in the fourth inning as he walks Hamilton and Cruz and gives uop a rocket to Kinsler on the first pitch.

A.J. is inexplicable at times. There are two outs and he threw over to first several times to keep Josh Hamilton (8 for 11 on SBs) close. Who cares if he runs? Deal with Cruz. Then he walks Cruz after losing focus, then serves up a meatball to Kinsler.

People who think the catcher has anything to do with how this guy pitches aren’t paying attention. He makes the same mistakes regardless.

UPDATE, 2:33 p.m.: Ron Washington must want to strangle Dustin Nippert. They get to Burnett, take the lead and he walks a non-hitter like Melky Cabrera to start the bottom of the inning.

UPDATE, 2:35 p.m.: No problem, Molina GIDP. But they’d be much better off with him catching every day, right?

UPDATE, 2:37 p.m.: Nippert has walked six in four innings at Yankee Stadium and leads 3-1. How long can that last?

UPDATE, 2:44 p.m.: Not long. Tex’s second RBI single of the day makes it 3-2. Nippert is out after a dreadful effort.

Somehow, I don’t think it’s ending up 3-2.

UPDATE, 2:47 p.m.: Jason Grilli? There’s a good chance A-Rod is going to hit something hard somewhere.

UPDATE, 2:49 p.m.: Or tap it back weakly to the mound as the crowd boos.

Yankees down 3-2 after four.

UPDATE, 2:59 p.m.: Burnett’s inning-by-inning pitch count: 12-15-16-31-9.

Good A.J., Good A.J., Good A.J., Bad A.J., Good A.J.

UPDATE, 3:02 p.m.: It would be sort of fitting given his career for A.J. to throw a one-hitter, strike out 17 and lose 3-2, wouldn’t it?

UPDATE, 3:10 p.m.: Burnett closing in on 100 pitches.

UPDATE, 3:12 p.m.: Putting two guys on base for Ian Kinsler again. That didn’t work so well the last time.

UPDATE, 3:13 p.m.: Here is how this goes: Kinsler walks to load the bases, Marte comes in for the lefty and Murphy gets a two-run single. Or Burnett K’s Kinsler and walks off shaking his head wondering why he didn’t do that last time.

UPDATE, 3:15 p.m.: Second scenario it is. Yankees down 3-2. Burnett has fanned 12.

UPDATE, 3;17 p.m.: Burnett is at 105 pitches. He has thrown only 36 of his last 62 pitches for strikes, You run him back out there for the seventh inning?

UPDATE, 3:23 p.m.: Burnett is done and Coke is it. … Meanwhile, Jason Grilli managed to retire seven straight. Big spot for the Seton Hall product.

UPDATE, 3:25 p.m.: Burnett’s line:

6 innings
2 hits
3 runs
3 earned runs
3 walks (two of them scored)
12 strikeouts
105 pitches
63 strikes

He fanned every Ranger at least once except for No. 9 hitter Elvis Andrus, who grounded out twice.

A loss today would leave Burnett 0-4 in his last six starts.

UPDATE, 3:27 p.m.: Phil Coke isn’t exactly a rocket scientist. A-Rod is right there with the bunt in front of him. But Coke picks it up and throws high and off-balance, allowing the runner to be safe. Yankees in trouble as Texas has runners at first and third.

UPDATE, 3:28 p.m.: Big trouble as Davis dumps a cheapie into the right field stands. Yankees down 6-2.

UPDATE, 3:31 p.m.: Coke has a 5.12 ERA. He is at best a one-batter lefty specialist and I’m not even convinced he is that moving forward. He is very hittable. He has allowed nine homers in 51.2 innings.

Coke gets booed off the field as Robertson comes in. Ill-tempered crowd today.

UPDATE, 3:42 p.m.: Damon’s single and an error by Andrus gives the Yankees runners on first and second with no outs for A-Rod. Down 6-2, they can get back in it in a hurry here.

UPDATE, 3:44 p.m.: Huh, no error. Just a fielder’s choice. Nevertheless, same situation.

UPDATE, 3:44 p.m.: Alex swings and misses at a 2-2 pitch low and inside, right where he can’t reach it given how close he stands to the plate. Great pitch by Wilson. Yankees 2-9 with RISP.

UPDATE, 3:46 p.m.: Matsui K’s on three pitches. Up to Swisher to salvage the rally.

UPDATE, 3:48 p.m.: Swisher K’s looking. Yankees 2 for 11 with RISP. Bad day today. But they have two innings left to try and come back.

UPDATE, 3:57 p.m.: Kinsler again, again to left and this time off Robertson. Rangers lead 7-2 and the people are fleeing the Stadium. I’ve never understood leaving a game early. You never know what you might see or what will happen. What’s the hurry? It’s New York, there’s going to be traffic regardless. Watch the game.

UPDATE, 4:13 p.m.: The LoHud Yankees Blog Pitcher of the Game is Alfredo Aceves. Congrats to Alfredo.

This summer is a lot different than last for Andy Pettitte. He and the Yankees beat the Rangers last night. Josh Thomson has the story.

A.J. Burnett is seeking answers to his slump. He starts today in the series finale. This notebook also includes updates on Jorge Posada and Johnny Damon.

This is Josh with a quick recap of the postgame.

First off, sorry for the misinformation. Here’s a recap of the news:

— Jorge Posada was hit in the left ring finger in the eighth inning and left the game. He re-aggravated an injury suffered a couple weeks ago during the now infamous three wild pitch game against the Jays.

X-rays on Posada’s finger were negative and Joe Girardi said he is day-to-day. I wouldn’t expect him to play tomorrow, given that Girardi already said it was likely Jose Molina would catch A.J. Burnett with the day game following a night game.

Posada said the staff is working on something he can wear to protect the finger. Don’t expect it to solve the problem. “I don’t think it’s going to heal until the season’s over,” he said. “The joint is bruised. There’s not much I can do.”

— Alex Rodriguez fouled a pitch off his left foot during the eighth inning and left the game to start the ninth. Girardi said he made the move based solely on the score. After the manager originally said A-Rod would receive X-rays, the information was corrected. A-Rod did not receive any X-rays. He has a bruised left foot, but further tests were unnecessary.

— Andy Pettitte pitched seven innings of two-run ball. He tied Lefty Gomez with 189 wins as a Yankee. It is third all-time in club history behind Whitey Ford and Red Ruffing. All three are in the Hall of Fame.

— The Yankees retracted the fact that Pettitte’s 49 2/3-inning homerless streak was the longest of his career. However, he had not allowed a homer in six starts. He last went this many starts without allowing a homer in 2002. That streak lasted 10 starts.

— Pettitte is now 3-0 with a 2.84 ERA this August (five starts). He went 1-3 with a 5.84 ERA last August and had a terrible second half.

The difference? His health. Pettitte pitched through shoulder pain in the second half. At 37, he is pain-free and rolling, having pitched six innings or more in all but one start (the last one, vs. Boston) since the break.

“I had never had shoulder problems in my career until last year,” he explained. “I couldn’t get the ball to go where I wanted it to. The shoulder is nice (now). It’s nice not to have it hurting. Hopefully I feel good the rest of the way.”

YANKEES (78-47)
Jeter SS
Swisher RF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Posada C
Cano 2B
Hairston LF
Melky CF

Pitching: LHP Andy Pettitte (10-6, 4.25).

RANGERS (70-54)
Kinsler 2B
Young 3B
Hamilton CF
Cruz RF
Rodriguez DH
Davis 1B
Teagarden C
Murphy LF
Andrus SS

Pitching: LHP Derek Holland (7-7, 4.72).

TIME/TV: 7:05 p.m. YES/ESPN2.

STATE OF THE ‘STRIPES: The Yankees have hit a little lull. They are 4-4 in their last eight games after falling 10-9 last night. They lead Boston by six games in the East.

HOMER HAPPY: Robinson Cano joined the 20-home run club last night, giving the Yankees six members. That makes the 1961 and 2004 teams. The Yankees could end up with seven or maybe even eight if Derek Jeter (16) and Jorge Posada (15) get there.

WALK AWAY: Jeter snapped a streak of 113 plate appearances without a walk when he walked to lead off the game last night. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the streak was the longest active such streak in the American League and the fourth longest in the Majors behind NL pitchers Jason Schmidt (167), Doug Davis (165) and Kip Wells (149).

Jeter has multiple-hit games in 11 of the last 13 games he has started.

GODZILLA AT WORK: Hideki Matsui has 17 RBI over his last eight games. Eight of his last 13 hits have been for extra-bases. Seven of them are homers.

DANDY ANDY: Andy Pettitte should be the No. 3 starter in the playoffs. He is 2-1 with a 2.82 ERA since the All-Star break. Over 44.2 innings, he has allowed only 38 hits and struck out 47 thanks to rediscovering his cutter.

That’s it for now. Thanks to Josh Thomson for calling in the lineup. I’ll be driving back to New York during the game and blogging while driving is generally frowned on by the paper.

Josh will take you through the rest of the day.

Enjoy the game.

UPDATE, 6:10 p.m.: Josh here. Not much to report from the clubhouse. Here’s what I can tell you…

Johnny Damon said his knee is fine. He attributed the day off to his struggles against Holland on May 27. He went 0 for 3 and struck out twice against Holland despite the Yankees roughing up the young lefty. Damon’s only other career AB against Holland was a strikeout. “Hairston would probably do a better job than me,” Damon said.

A.J. Burnett didn’t really want to rehash his last start but he is eager to return to the mound tomorrow. He was frustrated with himself in the wake of allowing nine runs in five innings against the Red Sox, not Posada. “That’s not him. That’s my preparation,” Burnett said.

Joe Girardi told us it’ll be good for Burnett and Posada to put a good start together, if for no other reason than to end all the chatter. A couple minutes later, however, he revealed his intention to catch Jose Molina tomorrow. It’s a day game after a night game, the manager said. “It’s just kind of the way the schedule fell,” Girardi said.

If you want instant news updates after the game, follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jthomson22.

I’ll have much more here tonight. Enjoy the game.

UPDATE, 7:24 p.m.: Jack Nicholson is in the house — ever so conspicuous — wearing a purple shirt and sitting directly behind home plate.

UPDATE, 7:43 p.m.: Wow, a lot of star power for a Wednesday night in August. Paul McCartney is seated behind the plate tonight as well.

The former Beatle was treated to the three-run homer by Posada, who staked the Yankees to a 3-0 lead. Remember: Anytime you question his game-calling skills, don’t forget the stick. Joe Mauer and Victor Martinez are the only catchers with more than Posada’s 17 homers. And he has done it in 308 ABs.

UPDATE, 7:53 p.m.: That was A-Rod’s ninth steal of the year. He needs one more to avoid tying his career low. He had nine steals in 2002.

Of course, Rodriguez was promptly thrown out at home on a terrific play by Elvis Andrus. A-Rod saw Andrus field the ball on the slide. Why not turn around and go back to third?

UPDATE, 8:28 p.m.: Maybe the hair and beard of his idiot days weren’t just for show. Damon decrees Hairston will do better, and so it is.

Seriously though, Hairston has been a terrific pickup. He is 11 for 34 with two HRs, five walks, seven runs scored and seven RBI.

UPDATE, 8:54 p.m.: The home run by David Murphy snapped the longest homerless streak of Andy Pettitte’s career: 49.2 innings.

UPDATE, 9:33 p.m.: I’ll have an update on Posada as soon as possible. With the Yanks up 9-2 in the eighth, it could just be for precaution.

Yes, it’s only four games and three of them were played at Fenway Park. But nevertheless, the Yankee have allowed 39 runs on 52 hits in their last four games.

Andy Pettitte, your mission is clear tonight. You, Hughes and Rivera. Maybe Coke for a batter or two. Get this under control.

Hideki Matsui has his left knee drained on Aug. 16 in Seattle.

Godzilla is 8 of 27 since with six runs scored and 12 RBI. He has five extra-base hits including four home runs.

It was either getting his knee drained that helped or having a good chuckle at that botched story about his wife having a baby. Either way, he’s mashing.

Brian Cashman got a lot of grief when he elected not to trade Phil Hughes and other prospects to Minnesota for Johan Santana after the 2007 season.

What many people did not understand was Cashman had two levels of reluctance. He did not want to part with the players and he did not think it made fiscal sense to give Santana the huge contract extension needed to get him to agree to a deal. It cost the Mets six years and $137.5 million.

Santana is 29-16 with a 2.78 ERA for the Mets. Over 401 innings, he has allowed 362 hits and struck out 352. That’s impressive.

But he started the season with elbow issues and now his season is over because of surgery to clean out bone chips. As Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports pointed out, here’s the average speed of Santana’s fastball:

2007: 91.8
2008: 91.0
2009: 90.6

Meanwhile, the Mets owe him $98.5 million over four more seasons. Santana will be only 31 at the start of next season, so the odds are with him in terms of making a successful comeback from surgery. But will his stuff get back to where it once was? Nobody knows.

Odds are good that Santana will again be an effective pitcher in the National League, probably even an ace. But given his injuries and his diminishing fastball, would Santana be an ace in the American League East? Maybe, maybe not. $25 million a year is a lot to pay somebody trying to get by on guile.

It took time to prove it, but Cashman made the smart play.