The LoHud Yankees Blog

Jerry Hairston Jr. “felt a pop” in his left wrist while taking a practice swing in the seventh inning. That’s why he came out of the game.

Hairston said he felt a sharp pain. He has been been having wrist issues on and off since diving for a ball while playing for Cincinnati earlier this season. He disclosed that he had an MRI about 10 days ago and then received a cortisone shot to try and calm some inflammation.

“I’m just hoping it’s some scar tissue breaking up,” he said.

Hairston will have another MRI tomorrow. We should hear more then.

Hairston is hitting only .235 for the Yankees but his value comes in being able to play multiple positions, pinch run, get a bunt down or play late-inning outfield defense. His absence from the postseason roster would be damaging. Not fatally, of course. But the Yankees are better with him than without him.

The Yankees could replace him with Ramiro Pena. But Pena, while versatile, does not have major league experience in the outfield.

Pending the result of tonight’s Boston-Kansas City game, of course.

The 97-56 Yankees lead the Red Sox by 6.5 games in the division and the Angels by 6.5 games for best record. With nine games left, they can take care of business during the upcoming homestand.

The best story about Joe DiMaggio is that when he accompanied Marilyn Monroe to visit the troops in Korea, she came back to the hotel and exclaimed, “Oh, Joe, you never heard such crowds.

“Yes,” DiMaggio said, “I have.”

Back in a bit with clubhouse reaction.

YANKEES (96-56)
Jeter SS
Hairston 3B
Teixeira 1B
Matsui DH
Duncan RF
Cano 2B
Cabrera LF
Gardner CF
Molina C

Pitching: RHP A.J. Burnett (11-9, 4.22).

ANGELS (90-61)
Figgins 3B
Aybar SS
Abreu RF
Hunter CF
Morales 1B
Rivera LF
Kendrick 2B
Matthews RF
Napoli C

Pitching: LHP Scott Kazmir (9-8, 5.08).

TIME/TV: 3:35, YES.

STATE OF THE ‘STRIPES: The Yankees beat the Angels 6-5 last night, scoring a run in the ninth inning on a sacrifice fly by Alex Rodriguez. The Yankees clinched a playoff spot last night. They lead the Red Sox by six games in the American League East and the Angels by 5.5 games in the pursuit for home-field advantage.

END OF THE ROAD: The Yankees are 2-3 on a road trip that ends today.

HOMER HAPPY: The Yankees have 231 home runs with 10 games left. The team record is 242. That was set in 2004.

CLUTCH-ROD: Alex Rodriguez has 89 RBI this season. 33 of them have come from the seventh inning on with 14 of those either tying the score or giving the Yankees the lead.

HE’S NO ANGEL: A-Rod has 67 homers and 151 RBI on 171 career games against the Angels. He has homered in each of the first two games of the series.

MATSUI MASHES: Hideki Matsui has four home runs in his last six games and 12 RBI in his last nine.

CAPTAIN SPEED: Derek Jeter has stolen 27 bases, the most since he swiped 34 in 2006.

BURNETT TRIES AGAIN: A.J. Burnett pitched well against Seattle on Friday, allowing one run in seven innings. He he is 1-5 with a 5.60 ERA since Aug. 1.

NOT YOU AGAIN: Scott Kazmir is 6-4, 2.53 in 14 appearances against the Yankees in his career. He allowed four runs on 11 hits in 13.2 innings against the Yankees this season while with Tampa Bay. He is 1-1, 1.42 in four starts with the Angels since being traded.

ON THE iPOD RIGHT NOW: Desperados Under the Eaves by Warren Zevon.

Back with more later on.

UPDATE, 1:31 p.m.: No lineup yet.

UPDATE, 2:39 p.m.: I’m sure there many questions/outright anger regarding the lineup. But there are reasons:

• A-Rod hasn’t had a day off in a while. Resting him today gives him two days off in a row as the team is off tomorrow.

• Posada fouled a ball off his right foot in the fifth inning last night and he is getting x-rays to make sure nothing is broken.

• Swisher fouled a ball off his leg last night and was limping around.

UPDATE, 3:00 p.m.: Posada’s x-rays were negative.

UPDATE, 3:06 p.m.: It’s a scorcher here with temperatures close to 100.

UPDATE, 3:27 p.m.: We’re about to get underway here. Enjoy the game.

UPDATE, 3:37 p.m.: 95 degrees at first pitch.

UPDATE, 4:41 p.m: That’s a good aggressive send by Rob Thomson. It just didn’t work out. Rivera made a perfect throw.

With RISP-phobic Cano up, it made sense.

UPDATE, 4:46 p.m.: Look at that, Cano got a two-runs single with two outs and two runners in scoring position. The odds were against that. Or maybe be was due.

UPDATE, 5:01 p.m.: The Good A.J. Burnett is back from his summer vacation. His last 11 innings: 10 hits, 1 run, 5 walks, 14 strikeouts.

Just in time, too.

UPDATE, 5:23 p.m.: Trouble here for Burnett as the Angels put runners on second and third with nobody out and the heart of the order up. He’s do well to allow only one run here.

UPDATE, 5:25 p.m.: Good work by A.J. there, limiting the damage. Yankees lead 3-1 after five.

UPDATE, 5:46 p.m.: We’re in the sixth and A.J. has whiffed 11. The Angels have six hits and have drawn two walks but they’ve had a ton of poor swings.

UPDATE, 5:48 p.m.: The Richter Scale is shaking here in California as Shelley Duncan just flung himself onto the warning track vainly trying to catch an RBI double by Matthews. Yankees lead 3-2.

UPDATE, 5:52 p.m.: Burnett did not want to come out of the game there. But on a 95-degree day and with him over 100 pitches, Girardi is doing the smart thing. Plus Figgins was 3 for 3 against Burnett.

This is the issue with A.J. and always has been. It’s hard for him to get deep in games because he throws a lot of pitches. The strikeouts, while impressive, are not economical.

UPDATE, 6:11 p.m.: Jerry Hairston Jr. was injured after seeing one pitch but it’s not clear what is wrong with him.

UPDATE, 6:25 p.m.: After having the runs for two days, Phil Coke now trying to keep any from scoring. … Just wondering, but how quickly should the Yankees DFA guys like Albaladejo and Ramirez after the season? I’d say seven minutes tops.

UPDATE, 6:40 p.m.: Big spot for Ian Kennedy, who makes his majors season debut with a one-run lead pitching in relief. He’s a SoCal kid, too. Probably has some family and friends here.

UPDATE, 6:47 p.m.: Obviously Girardi will not use Hughes today. Boy, Dave Robertson gets more valuable every day. It also appears they’re fresh out of use for Brian Bruney.

UPDATE, 6:56 p.m.: You have to be happy for IPK there. He has come all the way back from aneurysm surgery to pitch in the majors and get three huge outs in an important game. Good for him.

Angel Stadium is a great place to watch a game and the Rally Monkey is part of it. When the home team is trailing, the scoreboard shows clips of famous movies with the Monkey suddenly showing up.

Yesterday, the Monkey appeared in the shower scene from Psycho and then scared Will Smith in I Am Legend.

The writers all crack up and Derek Jeter admitted after the game last night that he does too.

“It’s funny to watch,” Jeter said. “We tried to have nobody look at the screen before, but that didn’t work. Now you just laugh at it.”

The Monkey certainly beats the usual montage of fervent locker room speeches or clips from Rocky you see at most parks and arenas when the home team is losing. The crowd gets into it, too.

“Every time that monkey comes out, they score,” Jeter said.

As I was talking to Phil Hughes after the game, I asked him about winning at Angel Stadium for the first time this season.

“It’s good to get the monkey off our backs,” he said. “Especially that Rally Monkey.”

Our next live video chat will be Thursday at 4 p.m. I will be joined by Sam Borden from the newsroom of The Journal News to discuss the upcoming Red Sox series and whatever else you would like to talk about.

Go to www.LoHud.com/protalklive to participate and ask questions.

A few other matters to make you aware of:

• My last day covering the Yankees will be Sept. 29. Sam Borden will take over the blog at that point and coverage of the team through the end of the season. Sam is an award-winning columnist and the former Yankees beat writer at The Daily News. You will be in good hands.

• The Journal News is aggressively moving to hire a new beat writer and make the transition a smooth one. I have every faith that they will hire a great person. This blog will not be going anywhere.

• If you have any questions, concerns or comments, feel free to drop me an e-mail.

The Yankees are back in the playoffs after beating the Angels last night.

Dave Robertson is getting closer to a return. This notebook also has updates on Phil Coke and a special visit from one of the Supremes.

Mark Teixeira’s consistency has made his transition to New York a smooth one.

The Yankees clinched a playoff berth tonight and they did a smart thing afterward:

They took a shower, got dressed and left Angel Stadium.

Not one bottle of champagne was popped. Joe Girardi gathered his team in the clubhouse, congratulated them on achieving the first of their goals and told them there was a lot of work to be done.

The Yankees knew weeks ago that they would be in the playoffs. Celebrating a wild-card berth they won’t even be using would have been pointless. Beyond that, they have a day game against the Angels and Scott Kazmir later on today.

“I’m glad we did it that way,” Phil Hughes said. “We have bigger things to celebrate. The division is something to celebrate and hopefully we can do that home with our fans.”

Said Nick Swisher: “We followed the what the team leaders wanted to do and they wanted it to be low-key. I think we all agreed. If we do what we’re supposed to do, we’ll have our fun later on.”

To me, clinching a playoff spot was the least meaningful thing that happened today. Beating the Angels in the ninth inning at this stadium was far more significant. There’s a decent chance these two teams will be right back here on Oct. 19 for Game 3 of the ALCS and the Yankees need to have confidence they can win a game here.

Plus it was the way they did it. Hughes struck out Vlad Guerrero and Torii Hunter to keep the score tied in the eighth inning. Then Brett Gardner did it to the Angels again, stealing second, moving up on a bunt and scoring on a sacrifice fly by A-Rod.

As Alex said later, “Today was a good team win. A lot of good things happened. We gave up the lead, Gardner gets on base, steals second on a 1-1 pitch, a pitchout, then Johnny Damon wins the game with his bunt. That was huge.

A-Rod on Gardner: “He’s huge. Anaheim seems like they have five or six Gardners over there. He’s an absolute pain in the ass. We’re very glad to have him on our team.”

The facts and figures:

Division: The Yankees are six games up on Boston. The Yankees have 10 games left, the Red Sox 12. It would take some manner of cataclysm for the Yankees not win the division.

Home field advantage: The Yankees lead the Angels by 5.5 games. A victory in the final game of this series would just about wrap that up. Mike Scioscia said before the game that he values giving his regulars rest far more than trying to chase down the Yankees.

“Not much sense in getting the pole position if you have a flat tire when you get there,” he said.

The AL playoffs will be the Yankees against the Tigers or Twins and the Red Sox against the Angels. The best thing to root for now is for the Tigers and Twins to expend all their energy getting to the postseason.

Clearly this photo is doctored. Joe Torre would never have hugged Alex Rodriguez.

Nonetheless, the magic number is 6.

We’re up over 1,100 comments, seems like we should break up the game post.

It’s the bottom of the eighth inning with the score tied at 5-5.

It could be a long one.

UPDATE, 1;14 a.m.: Hughes gets out of the jam with the score tied. Will Girardi use Mo in the ninth? His history suggests no.

UPDATE, 1:19 a.m.: Gritty, Gutty Brett Gardner has to steal second one would assume.

UPDATE, 1:21 a.m.: Not even a pitch out can defeat Brett Gardner.

UPDATE, 1:24 a.m.: Damon to face Darren Oliver. Yankees need a run here to get Mo in the game.

UPDATE, 1:28 a.m.: Slap in the face to Alex, walking Tex to get to him.

UPDATE, 1:30 a.m.: Alex continues a huge night with a sac fly. Yankees lead again, 6-5. Mo getting ready.

UPDATE, 1:46 a.m.: Mo gets the job done. Man, that was torture The Yankees are just celebrating like it was a regular win.

YANKEES (95-56)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Posada C
Cano 2B
Swisher RF
Gardner CF

Pitching: RHP Chad Gaudin (1-0 3.68).

ANGELS (90-60)
Figgins 3B
Izturis 2B
Abreu RF
Guerrero DH
Hunter CF
Morales 1B
Rivera LF
Aybar SS
Mathis C

Pitching: vs. RHP Ervin Santana (7-8, 5.43).

TIME/TV: 10:05, MY9/MLB Network.

STATE OF THE ‘STRIPES: The Yankees have lost six of their last 10 and are 1-3 on a road trip that has two games left. They lead the Red Sox by five games in the division and the Angels by 4.5 games for best record in the AL and home-field advantage.

HOUSE OF HORRORS: The Yankees are 0-4 at Angel Stadium this season, getting outscored 34-20. They are 5-18 here in the last five years in the regular season.

GODZILLA ON A RAMPAGE: Hideki Matsui is 19 of his last 45 (.422) with four homers and 13 RBI along with seven walks.

MR. CLUTCH: Robinson Cano is hitting .364 (157 of 431) without runners in scoring position. He is hitting .208 (36 of 173) when there are runners in scoring position.

MELKY’S MESS: Melky Cabrera is 1 of his last 19.

BRUNEY’S BATTLE: Brian Bruney has allowed 28 hits — six of them homers — and 15 walks in his last 21.1 innings.

NO. 5 WITH A BULLET: Gaudin is 1-0 with a 3.68 ERA in eight appearances for the Yankees. He does not have a decision in four starts but has a 3.20 ERA over 19.2 innings and the Yankees have won all four of those games.

ON THE iPOD RIGHT NOW: California Love by Tupac and Dr. Dre. Listening to the California mix.

Back later with more.

UPDATE, 7:04 pm.: Robertson throwing in the pen now.

UPDATE, 8:02 p.m.: Robertson said he felt fine and hopes he’ll need just one more bullpen session before he can get back in a game. That’s a positive for the Yankees.

UPDATE, 8:53 p.m.: 5-0 Kansas City after three with Greinke on the mound. The magic number could be seven in a few hours.

UPDATE, 9:46 p.m.: Boston is down 5-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning in Kansas City as Grienke works on a two-hitter. Looks like the Yankees will have a chance to chop their magic number down to six. That is unless Krazy Kyle Farnsworth somehow gets in the game.

Yankees will be starting up soon.

UPDATE, 10:34 p.m.: It’s truly astonishing how the Yankees are a different team here. So far they’ve managed to leave four runners on base — three in scoring position — in the first two innings.

UPDATE, 10:45 p.m.: THE MAGIC NUMBER IS …

Who else but Mickey Charles Mantle?

Three things that are great about Mantle:

1. His actual name was Mickey.

2. He had a career OPS of .977. That’s 12th all time.

3. This story:

Mickey took Billy Martin hunting one day in Oklahoma and told him to wait in the car while he went and asked a friend of his who was a farmer for permission to hunt on his land.

The farmer agreed, but asked Mickey for a favor. He had an old cow that needed putting down and asked Mickey to do it for him because he didn’t have the heart to. So Mickey decided to play a trick on Billy.

Mickey came back to the car, pretended he was mad and got his rifle. “That son of a gun won’t let us hunt,” he said. “I’m going to shoot his cow.”

So Mantle when into the barn with Billy trailing behind. Bang! He shot the cow dead.

Suddenly he heard two more shots. Bang! Bang!

He turned around and there was Billy with a smoking rifle. “I got two of his horses, Mick,” he said. “That’ll show him.”

I have no idea whether this story is true. But I once heard Mickey tell at a banquet and it was just about the funniest thing in the world the way he told it with that drawl.

UPDATE, 10:53 p.m.: Holy cats, A-Rod loves to hit here. That ball was rocked to center and hit the rocks. Yankees lead 2-0.

UPDATE, 10:54 p.m.: Hey, look everybody, the Yankees are back. Posada goes deep and it’s 4-0.

UPDATE, 10:59 p.m.: Wasn’t it interesting that just a few minutes after the Boston loss was put on the scoreboard, the Yankees scored four runs? It’s like they breathed a collective sigh of relief.

UPDATE, 11:06 p.m.: Chad “The Man” Gaudin has a shutout through three innings. I hear Nebraska is lovely in October. Maybe Joba can catch a few football games.

UPDATE, 11:44 p.m.: Nice salary drive by Matsui. He’s up to 28 homers and 88 RBI. Somebody will want him next season. Bet it’s not the Yankees, however.

UPDATE, 11:52 p.m.: Good news. The FBI has freed Alfredo Aceves from his captors and he’s warming up in the bullpen.

UPDATE, 11:56 p.m.: That final out this inning proved elusive to Gaudin. Cost him a chance at the win, too. Alfredo Aceves in.

UPDATE, 12:12 a.m.: That monkey is warming up.

UPDATE, 12:25 a.m.: Great play by A-Rod to snare that ball down the line. That’s two runs if it gets past him. Yankees are lucky Vlad can’t run.

UPDATE, 12:38 a.m.: They just showed the shower scene from Psycho and when Janet Leigh opened the shower curtain it was the Rally Monkey. Funny stuff.

UPDATE, 12:46 a.m.: Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuughes.

UPDATE, 12:52 a.m.: The Rangers have lost, the Yankees are in the playoffs for the first time since way back in 2007.

UPDATE, 1:00 a.m.: Hughes getting no help from his defense. Angels never go away, do they?

UPDATE, 1:04 a.m.: New game post has been started.