The LoHud Yankees Blog

As is usually the case with these sorts of matters, there are two stories being told about Alex Rodriguez’s ejection in the fifth inning.

First, a timeline:

Bottom of the fourth inning: A-Rod strikes out looking on a 2-2 pitch to end the inning, leaving the bases loaded. Replays showed the pitch was off the outside corner of a plate but not egregiously so. Umpire Marty Foster calls it a strike.

Top of the fifth inning: Alex plays third base, Baltimore goes in order. He then goes into the video room next to the Yankees dugout to review the pitch. Returns to the dugout and starts yelling at Foster.

Bottom of the fifth inning: As Hideki Matsui steps to the plate, Foster ejects Rodriguez. Joe Girardi flips and is ejected too.

Now the comments:

A-Rod: “I knew it was a ball and then when I went inside and confirmed it, I got more upset. It’s just one of those things. It was a big game for us. We wanted to get back in a winning form. It’s a 2-2 pitch, bases loaded and it’s a not a good pitch. He took the bat out of my hands.

“He kept chatting with (Baltimore catcher Chad) Moeller all through my at-bat. He kept talking to him prior to the inning starting and I said, ‘Yeah, keep talking to him.’ No warning, he just threw me out.

“No warning. I thought in that situation when we need a win today, for him to take it into his own hands with no warning, I thought it was very unprofessional. I just said. ‘Keep talking to Moeller” in frustration. I was upset, I was upset at the situation. I didn’t think I put myself in a situation to get thrown out.”

Marty Foster: “He was ejected for arguing pitches from the dugout. I let him argue at the time. Nothing to get ejected for there, I calmed that down. During the next inning, he argued from third base then right before the (bottom of the fifth) inning started he was screaming from the dugout. He was ejected for arguing balls and strikes. I let him go, I let him go, but there has to be an end of it. I can’t let him argue with me all day.”

Joe Girardi: “To me these games are extremely important to us. I just thought he could have warned him. He could have said, ‘That’s enough. If you say another word, you’re gone.’ I don’t think what Al said warranted getting throwing out of the game. He just told him where the pitch was, a couple of balls outside. I just think in the game of baseball there’s a lot of emotions. When I came up, players always got warned. You know? They always said, ‘That’s enough, say one word, you’re gone.’ Today he tossed him what I thought was prematurely.”

So Girardi confirmed Foster’s side of the story. Obviously Alex did argue balls and strikes from the dugout. But it does seem that Foster acted rashly.

Foster looks bad here because he made that bad call against Derek Jeter in July. But Girardi said he didn’t think that was a factor.

Bottom line: Alex needs to stay in that game. You can’t give the umpire the opportunity to throw you out. But Foster did get carried away.

It all worked out and the Yankees won. No big deal. But it wouldn’t surprise me to see Girardi suspended for a game. He had a five-star nutty there, throwing his hat and getting physically restrained from going after Foster. MLB won’t like that too much. General Joe has been ejected four times this season.

YANKEES (91-52)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Posada C
Cano 2B
Swisher RF
Cabrera CF

Pitching: LHP CC Sabathia (16-7, 3.40).

ORIOLES (58-83)
Roberts 2B
Izturis SS
Markakis RF
Reimold LF
Wigginton 1B
Wieters DH
Turner 3B
Moeller C
Fiorentino CF

Pitching: RHP Jeremy Guthrie (10-13, 4.96).

TIME/TV: 1:05, YES.

STATE OF THE ‘STRIPES: The Yankees have lost two straight and are trying to salvage the last game of the series. They lead the Red Sox by 7.5 games in the AL East and the Angels by five games in the race for home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

UGLY DOINGS: The Yankees have been outscored 17-7 in the series by the hapless Orioles so far in the series. The Yankees are 12-5 against the Orioles this season.

THREE TIMES NOT A CHARM: The Yankees have not lost three straight since July 30-Aug. 1 in Chicago. They have not lost three straight at home since the pre-Alex Rodriguez days when they dropped five straight at home from May 2-7 against the Angels, Red Sox and Rays. There was panic in the streets back then.

THAT’S CC AS IN COOL CUSTOMER: Sabathia is 6-0 with a 2.31 ERA in his last eight starts.

NOT YOU AGAIN: Sabathia is 3-1 with a 2.63 ERA in four starts against the Orioles this season. He has not allowed a home run against the Orioles in 27.1 innings.

FINISHING STRONG: The Baltimore starter is 3-1 with a 1.33 ERA in his last four starts. But he is 1-3 with a 4.68 ERA in four starts against the Yankees this season.

MR. SEPTEMBER: A-Rod is 17 of 40 this month with six runs scored, 13 RBI and four extra-base hits over 10 games.

WE WANT RAMIRO: Derek Jeter is 6 of his last 25 (.240).

MIGHTY MO: Mariano Rivera, who has not pitched since Tuesday, has allowed one run in his last 30 appearances. It’s amazing the Rivera has as many RBI (one) as earned runs allowed (one) since June 16. His line since then: 31 14 1 1 7 32. That’s just insane.

ON THE iPOD RIGHT NOW: Musta Got Lost by the mighty J. Geils Band. The live version.

Back with much more later.

UPDATE, 10:41 a.m.: Not much news this morning. Damon feels better and returns to the lineup after missing two days with a bad back. Beyond that, all is quiet for now.

The guys were all discussing college football. Jeter is thrilled Michigan beat ND. Swisher is bummed about Ohio State. Girardi’s Northwestern Wildcats are 2-0.

UPDATE, 1:08 p.m.: We are underway in the Bronx on a beautiful day. Enjoy the game.

UPDATE, 1:35 p.m.: What a great teammate CC Sabathia is. To make A.J. Burnett feel better he’s pitching a terrible second inning against Baltimore after being handed a 1-0 lead, too.

But at least it’s 2-1 and not 6-1.

UPDATE, 2:02 p.m.: A-Rod’s approach with RISP has been very good this season. He’s not trying to do too much. Everything is up the middle and his pitch selection has been great. He seems so much more at ease at the plate.

He’s at .306 with RISP with 18 walks and only 15 strikeouts.

UPDATE, 2:13 p.m.: And there it is, the dumbest play of the year. Damon thought there were two outs and Turner scored from second on a fly ball.

If the Yankees lose this game by a run he’s going to get slammed.

UPDATE, 2:19 p.m.: Don’t you get the feeling that Damon will get up this inning when men on base?

UPDATE, 2:22 p.m.: 3-3 in the fourth inning at home with no outs and two on and Jeter wants to bunt. By the way, Derek, YOU HAVE THE MOST HITS IN THE HISTORY OF THE FRANCHISE.

I just don’t get it. I just don’t. It makes no sense.

UPDATE, 2:25 p.m.: Here we are, Damon up with a chance to atone.

UPDATE, 2:28 p.m.: Damon walks, Tex fans with the bases loaded, now it falls to A-Rod to try and give them the lead.

UPDATE, 2:32 p.m.: Alex fans looking. Yankees should have gotten a whole lot more than two runs out of that. They are 3 for 11 with runners in scoring position today. Guthrie is walking a tightrope. He has allowed eight hits and two walks in four innings and only three runs. Yanks have stranded seven.

UPDATE, 2:42 p.m.: Girardi just got tossed before the first pitch of the inning. It has to do with A-Rod.

Alex struck out looking to end the last inning on a close pitch. He was agitated but didn’t seem to get too crazy. Then as Matsui went to the plate, Alex and umpire Marty Foster were jawing and out came Girardi, who got tossed right away.

Alex was tossed too, which led to Girardi getting run.

That was as hot as I have ever seen Girardi. He had to be held back at one point. That could earn him a suspension.

UPDATE, 2:46 p.m.: That’s irresponsible of Alex to get tossed out there. At some point you have to let it go. Now it’s 3-3 and they don’t have their clean-up hitter.

UPDATE, 2:47 p.m.: The good news is the Yankees always win when Girardi gets ejected.

UPDATE, 2:48 p.m.: The pitch Alex was called out on was a hair outside but it wasn’t a terrible call.

It was Foster who called Jeter out stealing third base on July 6. Jeter said at the time that Foster told him he was out only because the throw beat him. The crew chief, John Hirschbeck, actually defended Jeter that day.

Clearly the Yankees have issues with Foster and they bubbled up today. The bottom line: Eric Hinske is now playing third base. There’s an error waiting to happen.

UPDATE, 3:08 p.m.: Nice day for Tex, 0 for 3 with a HBP. He has grounded out to the catcher and struck out twice with runners in scoring position.

Now Hinske, not A-Rod, is up.

UPDATE, 3:11 p.m.: Bases loaded for Godzilla as Hinske walks. Guthrie has lived to tell the tale so far. He has out 15 runners on base in 5.2 innings and allowed only three runs so far.

UPDATE, 3:12 p.m.: Godzilla strikes with a two-run single to right. Yankees had been 3 for 15 with RISP before that big hit.

Now Sean Henn — yes, that Sean Henn — is in to pitch for Baltimore.

UPDATE, 3:20 p.m.: Robbie Cano is just not the same hitter with men in scoring position: 35 of 168 (.208). He is hitting .361 otherwise. Obviously it’s in his head.

UPDATE, 3:40 p.m.: Nice work by CC as he allows three runs over seven innings, two that were his fault. How it’s Phil Huuuuuuuuuughes for the eighth inning and a well-rested Mo waiting for the save.

UPDATE, 3:44 p.m.: That is the fifth time in 285 career starts CC has gone at least seven innings and struck out only one batter. It last happened in 2004.

UPDATE, 3:48 p.m.: Hughes does the job. Now to Mo.

UPDATE, 3:53 p.m.: If ever there was a time for a suicide squeeze, this is it.

UPDATE, 3:56 p.m.: You’re gonna miss Matsui when he’s gone. That’s 24 homers and 81 RBI for the DH this season. Now we’ll get Bruney instead of Mo.

UPDATE, 4:13 p.m.: The Yankees have blown the game open, leading 13-3. Back with a brief recap later on.

A.J. Burnett stayed in a rut as the Yankees were again beaten by the Orioles. But at least he liked the music.

Derek Jeter had an uneventful day after. This notebook also has an update on Johnny Damon and word on a call from George Steinbrenner.

The Baseball Beat recounts a late-night press conference after Jeter’s milestone on Friday.

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In the game story today, I wrote that A.J. Burnett is 1-5 with a 6.14 ERA since July 27. Among American League pitchers with at least 40 innings since the All-Star break, only Trevor Cahill of Oakland and Chris Tillman of Baltimore have a higher ERA.

In his column for the Post, Joel Sherman adds these numbers:

• Burnett is tied for the most walks in the majors

• Burnett has thrown three times more wild pitches than any other pitcher.

• Burnett has allowed 21 stolen bases, tied for fifth worst in the majors.

• Burnett has allowed a career-worst 24 homers.

This is all pretty much what most objective analysts feared when the Yankees signed him. There’s a lot to like about Burnett but a lot that scares you.

Triple-A Scranton beat Gwinnett 12-3 tonight to win the best-of-five first round of the International League playoffs in four games.

Zach McAllister allowed three runs in 5.1 innings in his first AAA game. Kevin Russo drove in three runs.

Scranton will play the Durham-Louisville winner for the IL title. The series is tied 2-2 with the final on Sunday afternoon.

Also, Tampa won Game 1 of the Florida State League championship series. The Yankees beat Charlotte 5-2. That’s a best-of-five series.

Joe Torre told reporters in San Francisco tonight that he texted Derek Jeter to congratulate him for breaking the Yankees hits record.

“I communicated with him. I didn’t call him,” Torre said. “I heard back. I texted him. That’s his favorite thing. I’ve got to get into that young stuff.

“He’s a special kid. The person he is, to me, means a great deal. That’s really something to be proud of, the respect he has for the game and his teammates. He’s a leader but not that ‘rah, rah.’ He’s a lot of things in that clubhouse. His consistency, if you’re a manager, you count on (it). … Just the tenacity, the determination. He’s not afraid to win.”

A Dodgers-Yankees World Series would something to see, wouldn’t it?

Here is some unexpected good news: Ian Kennedy pitched in a game tonight.

The Yankees activated Kennedy off the minor-league disabled list today and placed him on the roster of Single-A Tampa. He started against Charlotte in Game 1 of the Florida State League championship series.

IPK went two scoreless innings, allowing one hit and recording a strikeout. Ian is coming back in stages after having surgery to remove an aneurysm from his shoulder in May. He is ticketed for the Arizona Fall League but any innings he can get now will help him next season.

The Yankees could theoretically have Ian next pitch for Scranton in the International League championship series next week, assuming Scranton advances. Scranton can advance tonight and leads Gwinnett 2-0 in the third inning.

———-

Thanks to Chad Jennings for the info.

Among American League pitchers with at least 40 innings since the All-Star break, only Trevor Cahill of Oakland and Chris Tillman of Baltimore have a higher ERA than A.J. Burnett’s 5.23.

Joe Girardi candidly admitted that Burnett’s location needs improvement, saying that good stuff isn’t enough for a pitcher to survive.

Burnett dismissed all concerns, however.

“You eliminate your mistake, you keep your team in it and we’ll be all right,” he said. “I’m not looking at what’s in front of this team; I’m looking at the next start. Yeah, I was on a good roll and I’ve had some bumps here and there. But I feel good, I’m throwing the ball where I want to for the most part.”

Burnett is a trick-or-treater. If you divide his season into roughly three parts, here is what you get:

First nine starts: 2-2, 5.28 ERA.

Next 11 starts: 8-2, 2.08 ERA.

Last nine starts: 1-5, 6.14 ERA.

Which guy shows up in October? Thats the biggest issue with the Yankees right now. You pretty much know what CC Sabathia will do and Andy Pettitte will be a gamer. But Burnett is the wild card.

At any rate, the game was quick (2:38) and the post-game was quicker as everybody wanted to get home and get some rest. That’s my goal, too. Catch you tomorrow.

YANKEES (91-51)
Jeter SS
Hairston LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Swisher RF
Cano 2B
Duncan DH
Cabrera CF
Molina C

Pitching: RHP A.J. Burnett (11-8, 4.19).

ORIOLES (57-83)
Roberts 2B
Fiorentino CF
Markakis RF
Reimold LF
Scott DH
Wieters C
Wigginton 3B
Aubrey 1B
Andino SS

Pitching: LHP Brian Matusz (4-2. 5.26).

TIME/TV: 1:05, YES.

NOTES: The magic number remains at 14 as the Red Sox were rained out yesterday. Boston hosts Tampa tonight and then has a doubleheader tomorrow. … Derek Jeter, as you may have heard, passed Lou Gehrig on the franchise career hits list last night in a game that ended close to 1:30 a.m. … A-Rod hit his 25th home run, the 13th time he has reached that plateau including each of the last 12 seasons. … Robinson Cano has 60 multi-hit games this season. Only Ichiro (64) has more in the majors. … The Yankees had a 10-game win streak against the Orioles snapped last night.

Back with more later.

UPDATE, 12:00 p.m.: Damon (back, hamstrings) remains out but could pinch and is expected to start tomorrow. … Girardi dismissed the idea of Jeter getting a day off, saying he had one on Thursday. … The players did not have to report until 11:30. Jeter rolled in at 11:23, which was early compared to most of the guys. … Girardi said he gave Derek the lineup card from last night and got a signed copy for himself. … Nick Swisher said he had never heard a crowd as loud as he did last night. “I can’t tell you how much I love playing here,” he said. “It’s incredible how the people are.” Swisher was at the plate after Jeter got the hit and he didn’t know what to do as the crowd cheered. “I stepped out and they never stopped,” he said. “I kept looking around.” Jeter twice motioned to Swish to get in the box. “No way,” Swisher said. “I wanted to let that moment go on. It was too cool.”

The tarp is back down but it’s not raining and the teams are warming up in the outfield. We’ll keep you posted.

Just a reminder, if you haven’t listened to the audio files from last night, I urge you to. What Jeter, Andy, Jorge and A-Rod said will be very interesting to you if you’re a Yankees fan who cares about the history of the team.

UPDATE, 12:11 p.m.: Here’s a prediction for you: Shelley Duncan goes deep today.

UPDATE, 12:26 p.m.: Tarp is off the field. Play ball.

UPDATE, 12:58 p.m.: In a nice departure from the usual lack of effort the, Yankees had Jon Secada sing the national anthem. He did a good job, too.

UPDATE, 1:06 p.m.: A.J. warming up to Coming Undone by Korn. Unfortunately Korn does not have a song called Fastball Command.

UPDATE, 1:07 p.m.: We are underway.

UPDATE, 1:15 p.m.: Standing ovation for Jeter as he comes to the plate.

UPDATE, 1:16 p.m.: And a base hit, right up the middle. He just keeps on keeping on.

UPDATE, 1:20 p.m.: Tex delivers the sac fly and the Yankees lead 1-0. That’s 107 RBI for Tex. Yankees 58-17 when they score first.

UPDATE, 1:25 p.m.: First home run for the O’s since last Saturday. They had gone 42.2 innings without a homer. The Yankees once went 42 minutes, I think.

UPDATE, 1:33 p.m.: I’m sure that Girardi will start Burnett in Game 2 of the playoffs because that’s what the rotation is supposed to be and he will not want to pitch the lefties back to back.

But this guy is untrustworthy. It should be CC and Pettitte. The idea of Burnett starting his first-ever playoff game should scare the heck out of Yankees fans. Sure, he’s capable of throwing a three-hitter and fanning 10. But he’s way more likely to do what we’re seeing now.

The Orioles, a team that checked out a few weeks ago, lead 6-1 in the second inning.

UPDATE, 2:09 p.m.: We have reached the part of the game where A.J. pitches well for four innings. This will allow Joe Girardi to say, “Golly, it was just that one inning. He really has pitched well for us.”

Never mind that, you know, he hasn’t.

UPDATE, 2:20 p.m.: Roberts should have kept going to third, best chance for the cycle there. He has 51 doubles, tying his own team record. He’s the kind of player who would put a contending team over the top.

UPDATE, 2:41 p.m.: Burnett has retired 14 of the 16 batters he has faced since the grand slam. The excuses are getting polished up. With the bottom of the order up, he’ll probably pitch another scoreless inning, too.

Yankees seem to be in a hurry to get home and catch up on their sleep, don’t they? They’re making Brian Matusz look like Mike Cuellar.

UPDATE, 3:02 p.m.: Some life from the Yankees as Shelley Duncan singles and Melky Cabrera walks with one out in the seventh. Posada hiting for Molina.

UPDATE, 3:03 p.m.: Posada strikes out swinging. Jeter to try and keep the inning alive.

UPDATE, 3:07 p.m.: Jeter fans, too. Impressive start for Matusz. He’s only 22 and this will make him 5-2 with a 4.63 ERA. Good sign for the future for the O’s.

UPDATE, 3:14 p.m.: Burnett has a 6.14 ERA in his last nine starts. He has put 85 runners on base in 55.2 innings and allowed nine homers.

UPDATE, 3:44 p.m.: No quit in those Yankees as they scored two in the ninth against Jim Johnson. Top of the order up with two outs and a runner on.

UPDATE, 3:45 p.m.: And that is that. Yankees have lost two straight and some are sure to panic. No reason to.

Back in a bit.

Derek Jeter made history passing Lou Gehrig on the franchise career hits list as the Yankees fell to the Orioles.

Johnny Damon was out last night with a bad back. This notebook also has updates on David Robertson, the Sept. 11 ceremonies and additions to the Arizona Fall League.

Fans have enjoyed seeing Jeter scale the heights. Mike Dougherty has that story.

————

It’s dry (for now) at the Stadium, the gates are open and the tarp is coming off the field.

If you have time now, I urge you to listen to these two audio files. If not, make it a point to listen tomorrow. If you’re a Yankees fan who appreciates the history of your team, you will enjoy it.

First is Derek Jeter, who talks about his milestone and what it means to him:

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This second file is Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte and Alex Rodriguez, who were interviewed together. They tell stories about seeing Derek for the first time when he was a skinny 18-year-old kid and what he means to them. The emotion that show and genuine respect for the guy stands out.

Ballplayers often tell large group interviews what they think people want to hear. What these guys said tonight seemed to come from the heart. Give a listen:

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That’s it for tonight. Derek wins, Yankees lose. Magic number sticks at 14. But those pesky Angels are only 5.5 games back now.