The LoHud Yankees Blog

There is nothing funny about taking a fastball in the head and having to go on the disabled list.

But the new batting helmet David Wright is trying out does look a little … well … dorky. Paint it green and he’d look like The Great Gazoo of Flintstones fame.

But get used to it. The Rawlings S100 will be required in the minors next season and big-league teams will be trying them out this season. The new helmet will supposedly resist pitches of 100-mph and is safer than the current models.

I would imagine that any player who has been hit in the head will be happy to wear the new helmet. We’ll keep you updated on any Yankees trying it out.

Mark McGwire once told Congress he would campaign against steroids use and got all weepy about it. Seen him lately?

But Alex Rodriguez has stayed true to his promise. He was at a school in Baltimore yesterday delivering an anti-PED message to young athletes.

Alex asked that the media not be allowed in, which I believe attests to his sincerity.

You have to give Alex credit, he has managed to blend in, stay out of the news and generally avoid the clownish behavior that marked his first few years with the Yankees. That the team is on pace for 100+ wins probably isn’t a coincidence.

Nick Swisher homered again and of course it was on the road. His blast — and four others — helped the Yankees overcome the Orioles and an A.J. Burnett stinker.

Mike Dunn took a twisty road to the big leagues. This notebook also has updates on Sergio Mitre, Brett Gardner, Derek Jeter and the other roster moves.

————-

Two loyal readers blogged about attending our outing in Scranton on Sunday.

First off we have Christina from Al Leiter’s Bullpen Catcher. Her report includes plenty of photos. Fortunately, none of me.

Rebecca from This Purist Bleeds Pinstripes also has a report.

Rebecca, Christina and Brent at one point did a three-person roll call of the players. Now that is dedication. That could have used the help (and voice) of Bald Vinny.

Thanks to Rebecca and Christina for their reports. If anybody else out there blogged the outing, let me know.

Mariners 2, Angels 1.

Yankees lead Los Angeles by 5.5 games in the race that really matters at this point, that for home-field advantage in the playoffs.

Doug Fister pitched well into the eighth inning for Seattle.

Baseball is unique in that the writers have access to the clubhouse three and a half hours before the game. There is no pre-game access in the NFL and it’s somewhat limited in the NBA.

Part of my job is gather enough information for a Yankees notebook that is filed back to the newspaper before the game starts. That involves tracking down the news of the day for the most part. With the Yankees, there is always something going on.

Once that is finished, I try and use the time to have conversations with the players about different things with an eye on using that information to develop a story down the road. If nothing else, you build up relationships. Because their season is so long and their games are often so slow, many baseball players are good conversationalists. It is true of almost every player that they are more candid speaking one-on-one then they are in a group setting, especially when the television cameras are on.

I found myself talking to Nick Swisher this afternoon about the wide discrepancy in his numbers on the road as opposed to Yankee Stadium.

Swish was honest, admitting that it bothered him.

“I feel like the walls are right on top of on the road and they seem a mile away at Yankee Stadium,” he said. “It’s frustrating. I sort of have to remind myself that I’m having a good season anyway.”

I took a few notes, wished Swish well in the game and went about my business. Then — ka-boom — Swish hits a two-run homer to win the game and instant story.

Swisher is hitting .283 with 20 homers and 52 RBI on the road. He’s hitting .200 with three homers and 20 RBI in the Bronx.

“It’s mind-boggling,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “It’s hard to understand, but baseball can be hard to understand. … I don’t try and figure out anything with Swish.”

Meanwhile, A.J. Burnett was, well, A.J. Burnett again. He has a 6.54 ERA in his last seven starts and doesn’t have a win since July 27. Girardi said he wasn’t worried. But unless Burnett gains some consistency, sending him out to the mound in the postseason will be a nerve-wracking experience. Keep in mind, Burnett’s next postseason game will be his first. How is Andy Pettitte not the Game 2 starter at this point?

Then we have Jorge Posada, who twice lost track of the count when he was at the plate tonight. But he did hit two home runs for the first time since Sept. 4, 2007.

The Yankees are 84-48 with 30 games left. If they merely go .500, they’ll win 99 games. You have to figure they do much better than that. Raise your hand if you had them winning 103 games this season. Anybody?

YANKEES (83-48)
Jeter SS
Damon DH
Teixiera 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Posada C
Cano 2B
Swisher LF
Hinske RF
Cabrera CF

Pitching: RHP A.J. Burnett (10-8, 4.10).

ORIOLES (54-78)
Roberts 2B
Pie LF
Jones CF
Markakis RF
Reimold DH
Scott 1B
Mora 3B
Wieters C
Izturis SS

Pitching: RHP David Hernandez (4-6, 4.24).

TIME/TV: 7:05, YES.

STATE OF THE STRIPES: The Yankees have won four straight, five of six, 21 of 27 and 32 of 43 since the All-Star break. They lead the AL East by 6.5 games and lead the Angels by 4.5 games for the best record in the AL.

STATE OF THE ORIOLES: Pretty grim.

BALTIMORE BLAST: The Yankees are 10-3 against the Orioles this season and have won eight straight.

BURNETT ON THE SKIDS: A.J. Burnett is 0-4 with a 6.03 ERA in his last six starts. He was 5-0 with a 2.01 ERA in his six starts prior to that. Burnett is 9-1, 4.61 against Baltimore for his career.

FOR THE BIRDS: Robinson Cano is 22 of 48 with five homers and 15 RBI against Baltimore this season.

MO MILESTONES: Mariano Rivera is five strikeouts away from 1,000 and one game away from tying Cy Young for the 20th most appearances all-time.

A-ROD CLOSES IN: Alex Rodriguez needs two hits for 2,500 in his career.

HUUUUUUUUGHES: Phil Hughes in his last nine outings: 8.2 innings, 5 hits, 0 runs, 3 walks, 11 strikeouts.

THEY’RE HOT: Johnny Damon has a seven-game hit streak. … Melky is 6 of his last 15 … Damaso Marte has not allowed a hit in 2.1 innings since he returned. … Cano has 11 RBi and seven extra-base hits in his last eight games.

THEY’RE NOT: Brian Bruney has put 14 runners on base in his last 8.2 innings. … Phil Coke has a 10.64 ERA in his last 14 outings.

ON THE iPOD RIGHT NOW: Are You Gonna Be My Girl? by Jet.

Back with more later including the call-ups. It’s the return of Francisco.

UPDATE, 3:40 p.m.: Here are the call-ups: Francisco Cervelli, Ramiro Pena, Edwar Ramirez, Mark Melancon and LHP MIke Dunn.

UPDATE, 5:02 p.m.: Mitre bumped on Thursday. Gaudin to start.

UPDATE, 5:41 p.m.: Jonathan Albaladejo was supposed to be called up but got hit in the eye with a ball yesterday. He’s day to day and he’ll be with the team within a few days. … They’ll consider other additions once the IL playoffs are over. … Jeter was nominated by the team for the Roberto Clemente Award for his community service.

Best news of the day comes from Colorado. The Big G is back in the majors!

UPDATE, 6:27 p.m.: A reader named Max just came up to the front of the press box and asked for a shout-out on the blog. So … Hey, Max. Thanks for reading. Don’t get arrested.

UPDATE, 7:01 p.m.: This from the AP:

ESPN and Major League Baseball have agreed to switch the starting time of a Yankees-Red Sox game to avoid conflicting with Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar.

ESPN told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the Sept. 27 game was returning to its original start time of 1 p.m. EDT. It had been changed to 8 p.m. to accommodate ESPN’s schedule; Yom Kippur, a day of fasting and atonement, begins at sundown that evening.

“I am pleased we were able to resolve this sensitive issue that impacted many baseball fans and are able to move the game at Yankee Stadium to 1 p.m.,” Commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement, crediting ESPN for helping to “solve this conflict.” ESPN will still televise the game.

Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., had sent a letter to Selig and ESPN President George Bodenheimer urging the game be returned to its original afternoon start time.

“There’s no reason why the largest Jewish community in the country should be punished for a last-minute scheduling swap,” Weiner wrote in the letter.

Weiner told the AP that he had spoken with Selig earlier in the day. “He said he agreed, and that he had heard from his own rabbi, that this was a problem,” Weiner said. “He said he was riding ESPN to change their position.”

UPDATE, 7:06 p.m.: We are underway at 7:05 p.m. Perfect night for baseball. Enjoy the game.

UPDATE, 7:13 p.m.: Big start for A.J. Burnett tonight as he looks to get himself in gear for the playoffs. Be interesting to watch. He likes pitching here, so we shall see.

UPDATE, 7:24 p.m.: A.J. gives up a dinger to a guy named Pie. That makes sense I guess.

UPDATE, 7:28 p.m.: Cano stays hot with a two-run homer. That’s 13 RBI and eight XBHs in the last nine games.

UPDATE, 7:32 p.m.: Here is the audio of Joe Girardi’s pre-game media session:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

He talked about the call-ups mostly. We asked a lot about Dunn.

UPDATE, 7:53 p.m.: Posada does deep to right, continuing his comeback season. Yankees up 3-1.

UPDATE, 8:10 p.m.: The Bad A.J. is back. Two walks and a double. He has become troublingly unreliable in recent weeks.

UPDATE, 8:15 p.m.: Yankees back to work on Hernandez.

UPDATE, 8:40 p.m.: Boy, that Jorge Posada is killing A.J. Burnett. All he has done is hit two home runs, score three runs and drive in three.

UPDATE, 8:55 p.m.: Yankees go up 2-1, A.J. loses the lead. Yankees go up 5-3, A.J. loses the lead. What’s the postseason mantra at this point? CC and Pettitte and then forget it?

UPDATE, 9:09 p.m.: Yankees are in business against the Baltimore bullpen. If they take the lead back, does Girardi dare send Burnett back out there?

UPDATE, 9:19 p.m.: Posada with another RBI opportunity.

UPDATE, 9:20 p.m.: Tied up with three innings against the Baltimore bullpen? I like their chances — if they can hold Baltimore at six and that’s questionable with Burnett still out there. He has allowed 10 hits and walked two.

UPDATE, 9:27 p.m.: How did Tex not catch that?

UPDATE, 9:36 p.m.: Cano 25 of 51 against the Orioles this season.

UPDATE, 9:37 p.m.: You know what that is? It’s Swishalicious.

UPDATE, 9:37 p.m.: Hinske with your best shot. The LoHud Yankees Blog delivers again. The Yankees better hope the Orioles never get rid of Chris Ray.

That’s five jacks for the Yankees and just like that, they lead 9-6.

UPDATE, 9:41 p.m.: Swish has 23 homers and 72 RBI with a month left to play. And they got him for Wilson Betemit. Think Brian Cashman would do that again? Holy smoke.

UPDATE, 9:56 p.m.: Swisher has four homers here and three in the Bronx. How crazy is that? Meanwhile, Damaso Marte is now officially more trustworthy than Phil Coke.

UPDATE, 10:36 p.m.: Mo for the save. This appearance ties him with Cy Young for 20th in history with 906.

Back later with clubhouse reaction.

Via Chad Jennings:

Shelley Duncan was named MVP of the International League and Austin Jackson the Rookie of the Year.

Well-deserved in both cases. Congrats to those guys.

Mariano Rivera has allowed one earned run since June 16. His line since then:

28 innings
13 hits
1 earned run
6 walks
29 strikeouts

Opponents have hit .135 against him during that stretch. The man throws one pitch, is 39 and had shoulder surgery last fall. If years from now it was learned he was some sort of advanced alien life form, would you really be surprised?

Meanwhile, Nick Swisher has not hit a home run at Yankee Stadium since June 8. He has hit three in the Bronx all season, as many as he has at Camden Yards this year.

The Yankees are 35 games over .500. That’s their best since they finished the 2004 season 101-61.

Plenty of people fired verbal darts at Brian Cashman at the trade deadline when he did not trade for Jarrod Washburn.

Washburn is 1-2 with a 6.81 ERA in six starts for the Tigers. He has allowed 11 homers in 37 innings. Oh, by the way, Seattle wanted Austin Jackson for him.

A few other notes:

• Nice to see good guy Aaron Boone back with the Astros after heart surgery. He will be activated today.

• Don Zimmer is having back surgery and will be laid up for a bit. Good luck to him.

• A-Rod is now saying there’s an 80-percent chance he won’t need a second surgery on his right hip. This contradicts what Rodriguez and his doctor said in March. At that time, the “hybrid” surgery he was having was only a precursor to a complete repair of the bone deformity that caused his torn hip labrum. According to his surgeon, the surgery in March was designed only to get him through the season with a minimal loss of games.

It’s fortunate for Alex that the hybrid surgery worked so well. But will this injury return? Given that Rodriguez is signed through the end of the 2017 season, the Yankees could be dealing with his issue for a long time.

The rosters expand today and the Yankees will start the process of deciding which 25 players they will go to the postseason with.

The tough decisions will come in putting together the bullpen. Let’s examine it:

No doubters: Mariano Rivera, Phil Hughes, Alfredo Aceves.

Probably in barring disaster: Phil Coke, Dave Robertson.

Long reliever candidates: Chad Gaudin, Sergio Mitre.

Borderline: Brian Bruney, Damaso Marte.

Minor-league longshots: Jonathan Albaladejo, Anthony Claggett, Edwar Ramirez.

Intriguing kids: Mike Dunn, Mark Melancon.

The left-handed Dunn is interesting. He has struck out 99 in 73.1 innings and allowed only 58 hits. But he also has walked 46. Dunn has shown improvement with his control lately. Girardi loves having two lefties in the pen. It could come down to Dunn or Marte.

The Yankees also will have to decide whether they keep an extra position player or reliever. Jose Molina and Jerry Hairston are locks. If Brett Gardner comes back, he’ll be there. Do you then keep Eric Hinske or an extra pitcher?

It’ll be interesting to speculate on as this month goes on.