The LoHud Yankees Blog

The Yankees finished off a sweep of the Texas Rangers on Sunday. Andy Pettitte didn’t feel great early, but he finished with another terrific start, getting the ball to Mariano Rivera for the closer’s fifth save of the young season. Josh has the story in today’s paper.

Starting in place of Derek Jeter, Ramiro Pena did his part with a two-run single. Josh’s notebook also has items on Nick Johnson’s approach at the plate and Brett Gardner’s speed on the bases.

With that, I’m on my way to the airport to spend most of my day on a plane heading west. I’ll try to check in when I land in California, but we’ll also have a few updates throughout the day while I”m in the air.

The Yankees leave for a nine-game road swing that begins in Oakland on Tuesday. They’ll bring little metaphorical baggage with them, not after a 9-3 start that is their best since 2003.

My game story tomorrow will focus on how Andy Pettitte found himself in the middle of eight strong innings, entering what he called survival mode and coming out with his second win of the season. The fitting finish for Pettitte kind of epitomizes the Yankees’ start. Almost all is right in their world, even at some moments when it seems it’s not.

• We’ll start the postgame with Pettitte. He said he scuffled early because of mechanical issues. Jorge Posada thought Pettitte finally loosened up in the middle innings, leaning on his experience to overcome a rocky stretch that was softened by the defense of Mark Teixeira.

Here’s Pettitte discussing how he felt fortunate to escape with such a strong outing and why the joy of winning here and competing for another championship brought him back:

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• The afternoon included a small dose of self-perseverance for Teixeira, too. He slugged his first homer in 40 at-bats this season, his longest stretch without a long ball to open a season since 76 homerless at-bats to kick off 2007. Teixeira said he didn’t feel relief, quipping, “I had a pretty god feeling I was going to hit one this year.” Last year’s co-AL home run champ said “I’ve never hit 1.000, never will, and you always want to try and get better.”

• That question was now asked of Nick Johnson, who went 0 for 4 and earned a hat trick by looking at three different stirke threes. Johnson said he’s working in the batting cage on his lower half, which has been coming out from under him, but he also admitted the need to turn more aggressive. “I’ve been too passive, but I have to just go to the cage and keep working,” Johnson said. Joe Girardi disagreed. “We talk about him getting on base and he’s doing that,” Girardi said. “The hits are going to come.”

• I’ll have more tomorrow on Javier Vazquez, who will start Tuesday in Oakland in an attempt to regain his form of a year ago. But even with Vazquez, Yankee starters finished the homestand 5-1 with a 2.17 ERA in 37.2 IP. They allowed just 27 hits and 15 walks and struck out 36.

• Mariano Rivera recorded his fifth save. He is now just one shy of Eric Gagne’s record streak of 51 straight games saved at home, which Gagne accomplished from 2002-04 with the Dodgers.

• Here’s a listen to Girardi’s postgame, where he discusses Pettitte, Jeter, Johnson, Teixeira and more:

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When he turned and saw a swarm of reporters, Derek Jeter flashed a bemused smile. He couldn’t quite understand what the big deal was of him sitting out for the first time this season. It was just a cold.

“It’s really not a big deal,” Jeter said.

The captain has a head cold that he has been fighting for the last two or three days. He was removed late in Saturday’s game despite picking up three more hits, including a homer, to extend his season-opening hitting streak to 11 games.

Jeter was asked if he wanted to play today. He answered the question with one of his own: “Whadda you think?” His response was implied.

With tomorrow off, the Yankees fly to Oakland, where they’ll begin a nine-game road trip on Tuesday night. Jeter was asked if he’ll return to the lineup then.

“Yeah,” he said. “I could’ve played today, but you have two days, so that’s pretty much it.”

With that, the examination was over.

His replacement, Ramiro Pena, put the Yankees on top for good in the third inning. He lashed a two-run single to right with two outs. Pena said the ball was inside but that he had to swing because home plate ump Mike DiMuro had called inside pitches for strikes.

“I tried to get a good pitch,” Pena said. “I didn’t hit it that good exactly, but it was still a hit.

“It felt good. I got the opportunity to play and I just tried to do my job, that’s it.”

YANKEES
Gardner LF
Johnson DH
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Cano 2B
Posada C
Granderson CF
Swisher RF
Pena SS

LHP Pettitte (1-0, 0.75)
Career vs. Rangers

RANGERS
Andrus SS
Young 3B
Hamilton CF
Guerrero DH
Cruz RF
Garko 1B
Murphy LF
Treanor C
Blanco 2B

RHP Harden (0-0, 2.79)
Career vs. Yankees

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

UMPIRES: Mike DiMuro HP, Tim Welke 1B (crew chief), Tim Timmons 2B, D.J. Reyburn 3B

WEATHER: It’s already a beautiful, sunny day here at the park. However, today’s forecast calls for mostly cloudy skies with a 20 percent chance of isolated showers. Highs will be in the mid 50s. Winds are out of the NW at 10-15 MPH with gusts as high as 25 MPH.

I’m in for Chad today. More to come from the clubhouse in a bit…

A-NOTHER SPOT TO CLIMB: Alex Rodriguez hit his 584th home run yesterday, moving him past Mark McGwire and into sole possession of eighth place on MLB’s all-time home run list. A-Rod snapped a 41 at-bat homerless streak, the third-longest of his career and longest since 49 homerless at-bats in 1995. Now, Rodriguez needs just two more homers to tie Frank Robinson for seventh on baseball’s most storied list.

CAN’T CURB THIS CAPTAIN: Derek Jeter has hit safely in all 11 games this season and is batting .380 (19 for 50). The Elias Sports Bureau said it is Jeter’s highest average through 50 at-bats since 1999 when he batted .440. Jeter will not start today because of a head cold.

ON THIS DATE IN YANKEE HISTORY…: Yankee Stadium opened its doors for the first time ever. It was April 18, 1923, and the Yankees beat the Red Sox 4-1. The guy they say built the place, Babe Ruth, belted the park’s first home run, a three-run shot in the third inning. Ironically, 46 years and a day later the Yankees dedicated a monument at the Stadium to Ruth, who passed away the previous August.

UPDATE, 12:24 p.m.: I’m back with a few pregame notes —

• Jeter will not start for the first time in 2010. He is suffering from the same head cold that supposedly plagued him yesterday, although the captain picked up three more hits, including a homer. Joe Girardi said he held off on posting the lineup because he wanted to check on Jeter. Obviously, he didn’t like what he heard. (Girardi said he wouldn’t take the word of Jeter, who never wants to sit out, but judge if his shortstop felt better by the sound of his voice.) Ramiro Pena will start at short and bat ninth. He replace Jeter yesterday because Jeter was ill.

• Girardi expects a better start from Javier Vazquez on Tuesday in Oakland, saying he was encouraged by the improvement Vazquez showed in his second start. I’ll have more on this in the paper, online and on the blog tomorrow, but Vazquez said the issue is his mechanics. His arm’s been late, causing his ball to sail rather than sink. He’s not concerned about his velocity being a touch off. Last year he played winter ball and competed in the World Classic and said that made his arm stronger earlier in the season than it is currently.

That’s all for now. Time for lunch. Enjoy the game and let me know if you have any questions.

UPDATE, 1:03 p.m.: The Yankees take the field.

UPDATE, 1:09 p.m.: After watching Granderson fight the sun for that fly out by Elvis Andrus to start the game, I just want to mention something leftover from Friday. I wasn’t there for this, but Granderson told some reporters that the sun was tough during the day games last Tuesday and Wednesday. He said he discussed it with Torii Hunter of the Angels, who agreed that center was a tough sunfield at the new stadium.

Anyway, I found that interesting. We’ll see if it comes into play. This is one of those Sunday afternoons that gets John Sterling reaching for adjectives.

UPDATE, 1:24 p.m.: Gardner just stole his sixth base of the year. Texas could’ve had him, but Matt Treanor made a bad throw to second, one-hopping it on the first-base side of the bag. Gardy remains a perfect 6 for 6.

UPDATE, 1:32 p.m.: Yanks lead 1-0 after one thanks to two hit batsmen and a walk from Harden, who had this to say prior to today’s start. Uh oh, Rich.

UPDATE, 1:55 p.m.: That’s a one-out RBI double by Andrus, who pulled an inside pitch just past the glove of a diving A-Rod. The ball bounced around in the corner and slipped by Gardner, but Treanor would have scored no matter what. The game is tied 1-1.

UPDATE, 2:03 p.m.: The Rangers lead 2-1 in the middle of the third, but it could’ve been worse. The inning was on the brink until Teixeira snared that line drive off the bat of Hamilton, who pulled one that was born an RBI double. Pettitte escaped the inning on a pop out by Vlad, but credit Tex. Another outstanding play.

UPDATE, 2:05 p.m.: There is is, your first Teix message of 2010. It was a no-doubter into the second deck. Teixeira had gone 41 at-bats without a homer to start the year, the second-longest stretch of his career. The game is tied 2-2.

UPDATE, 2:09 p.m.: Correction on Tex. It was a 40 at-bat homerless streak, not 41.

UPDATE, 2:16 p.m.: The bases are juiced for Swisher. After the third conference already this game, Texas will stick with Harden. There’s been no serious activity in the pen yet.

UPDATE, 2:20 p.m.: The first hit of 2010 for Ramiro Pena is a big one, a two-out, two-run single to right. It’s 4-2 Yankees. Who needs Jeter? (kidding)

UPDATE, 2:40 p.m.: That as a rough start for Harden, who performed his finest Oliver Perez impression, looking unhittable occasionally but mostly just plain wild. The task now falls to Dustin Nippert. Yanks are just 5 for 19 against Nippert with zero extra-base hits.

UPDATE, 2:53 p.m.: They just showed Tanyon Sturtze on the big board. It should be noted that he raised his left arm to waive to the crowd. (Thanks, Joe.)

UPDATE, 3:01 p.m.: That’s just 82 pitches through six for Pettitte, who has now retired 11 of 12 beginning when Tex snared the line drive that would’ve scored a runner in the third.

UPDATE, 3:08 p.m.: Three more trips on base today for Gardner, who just easily picked up his seventh steal of the year. 7 for 7.

UPDATE, 3:26 p.m.: So far, so quietly, the old Yankee guard — who really will fall off, someday before they turn 50 — is off to another tremendous start. That solo homer by Posada was his third of the year. He’s nearing .400. As I mentioned earlier, Jeter is off to the second-fastest start of his career. And Pettitte is cruising along. In fact, the Yankee pen is quiet, so I think Andy’s coming out for the eighth.

UPDATE, 3:43 p.m.: Assuming it’s over, that was an outstanding in-game comeback by Andy Pettitte. He looked lost in the third inning, but rebounded to retire 17 of the last 19. In fact, the Rangers don’t have a hit in that span. Their last was a single by Michael Young with one out in the third. Yanks lead 5-2, middle of the eighth.

UPDATE, 3:46 p.m.: Gardner has now reached base seven times and stolen three bases in the last two games. That ground ball to second was ruled a single, perhaps because Joaquin Arias made such a bad play he never touched it.

UPDATE, 3:50 p.m.: Oops, make that 7 for 8 for No. 11, who was picked off at first base and will be credited with a caught stealing. Now that play was executed well by the Rangers in order to catch the speedy Gardner at second base.

YANKEES
Derek Jeter SS
Nick Johnson DH
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada C
Curtis Granderson CF
Nick Swisher RF
Brett Gardner LF

RHP A.J. Burnett
Career vs. Rangers

RANGERS
Julio Borbon CF
Michael Young 3B
Josh Hamilton LF
Vlad Guerrero DH
Nelson Cruz RF
Chris Davis 1B
Joaquin Arias 2B
Taylor Teagarden C
Elvis Andrus SS

RHP Scott Feldman (1-0, 2.57)
Career vs. Yankees

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

UMPIRES: HP D.J. Reyburn, 1B Mike DiMuro, 2B Tim Welke, 3B Tim Timmons

WEATHER: Yesterday’s game was washed out after six innings. The Weather Channel says there’s a 10 percent chance of rain at the time of today’s first pitch, and that chance never gets higher than 20 percent all afternoon.

REACHING 200: Joe Girardi has 199 wins as the Yankees manager. One more gives him an even 200.

REACHING FIRST: Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano have a hit in each of the Yankees first 10 games, making them baseball’s first shortstop/second baseman combo of the modern era to get a hit in their team’s first nine or more games.

REMEMBERING THE VOICE: It was 59 years ago today that Bob Sheppard called his first game at Yankee Stadium. It was also Mickey Mantle’s first big league game.

UPDATE, 12:17: This is Brian Heyman pinch hitting for Chad today. Joe Girardi had his usual pregame meeting with the media and there wasn’t much in the way of news. He thinks Mark Teixeira is a little off mechanically at the plate, as his .083 average would indicate. But a slow start obviously isn’t a new thing for him. Girardi said Boone Logan can be used for situational matchups or an inning, and that he’s confident in the lefty reliever against lefties and righties. The manager is happy with A-Rod’s at-bats even though he has yet to hit a homer in his first 10 games, the first time that’s happened since 2001. And he has no plans to turn Francisco Cervelli into CC Sabathia’s personal catcher.

UPDATE, 2:00:  Finally, a contribution from Teixeira. He began the season 0 for 17 and he just ended another 0-for-17 slide in the second with his bases-loaded, broken-bat RBI single that second baseman Joaquin Arias stopped on the outfield grass, wide of first. A-Rod popped to center to leave them loaded. So the Yankees are up 2-0 after two but have stranded five, three in scoring position.

UPDATE, 2:17: Quick hook by Ron Washington, hoping not to let this game out of hand. He pulled Scott Feldman with one out here in the third and runners on second and third, and the Yankees up 2-0.

UPDATE, 2:26: Well, that didn’t work out too well for Texas – 6-0 Yankees, heading for the fourth. Derek Jeter capped it with a two-run homer. The captain now has hit three long balls already.  By the way, Jorge Posada’s single that ignited the four-run rally was his 1,500th hit, making him the 19th Yankee to reach that mark and only the fourth whose primary position is catcher (Yogi Berra, Bill Dickey and Thurman Munson are the others).

UPDATE, 2:39: There goes another milestone. A-Rod just hit No. 584, passing Mark McGwire for sole possession of eighth place on the all-time homer list. It snapped his 41 at-bat homerless streak to start the season, his longest since he went the first 48 at-bats of 1995 without one.  7-0 Yankees after four. A.J. Burnett has allowed just one infield hit.

UPDATE, 4:11: Yankees win, 7-3. Joba finished with a 1-2-3 ninth. The Yankees are now 4 for 4 in taking series with one to go in this one. Burnett allowed no runs, six hits and two walks while fanning seven over seven to move to 2-0. The only negative for the Yankees was Alfredo Aceves serving up a three-run homer. The team is 8-3 with three straight victories.

UPDATE, 7:56: Can you guess when the Yankees last won their first four series in a season? We’ll get back to that.

Joe Girardi couldn’t be happier with how his team is playing. The only one who really hasn’t joined in yet is Mark Teixeira, but he will. His broken-bat RBI single was his only hit in four at-bats, so his average is now up to .100, at 4 for 40. There really isn’t much to complain about otherwise. This team is able to win with home runs and small ball. The Yankees have put up 10 infield hits the last two days. This is their best 11-game start since they were 9-2 in 2003.

“I don’t necessarily always remember how you start,” Girardi said at his postgame press conference. ”You remember how you finish, and that’s the important thing. But it’s nice to win four series, and we have a chance to sweep the series tomorrow.”  

There was much postgame talk about Brett Gardner beating out three infield hits. A-Rod said he’d never seen that before. Texas manager Ron Washington said the Yankees now have their own version of Ichiro. A little hyperbole. But Gardner did have a major impact on the first two rallies with his speed. ”I’d like to be hitting line drives, but definitely for me, it’s more positive when I put it on the ground,” Gardner said.

Rodriguez said he had been getting teased by teammates over his wait for homer No. 1. ”It’s good to get the first one out of the way for him,” Girardi said. A-Rod’s average is up to .279 after a 2-for-4 day.

The answer to when was the last time the Yankees won their first four series: That would be 1926 when they took their first five.

YANKEES
Derek Jeter SS
Nick Johnson DH
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada C
Curtis Granderson CF
Nick Swisher RF
Brett Gardner LF

RHP A.J. Burnett

Before we left tonight, Mark Teixeira was the last man to emerge in the locker room. He remained upbeat despite another 0-for-3 night that included a first-inning double play but said the time to break out has come.

“My teammates have been picking me up so far,” Teixeira said. “Now it’s time for me to start picking them up.”

Teixeira, who is now batting just .083, is still without a home run after tying Carlos Pena for the AL lead last season. But his confidence received a boost on Thursday when he went 0 for 2 but drew three walks. He believed that was a sign that his pitch recognition remains sound.

“I just have to stick to my plan and this will turn around,” Teixeira said.

Other notes:

• Chan Ho Park (right hamstring) went to the 15-day DL today for precautionary reasons. Joe Girardi was told Park could have been ready to pitch as soon as next week in Oakland but the club decided to take a conservative approach. Park injured the same hamstring — albeit a different area of it — last September with the Phillies.

• Park’s spot was filled by LHP Boone Logan, who had allowed just four baserunners in 6.2 innings with Scranton so far. I was told Logan arrived at the park at 7:25. Obviously, he’ll be available tomorrow.

• Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano each had a hit, extending their hitting streaks to 10 straight to start the season. They are the first tandem in club history to reach base in so many games to begin the year. Jeter was told of this. Let’s just say he better get a hit tomorrow or someone’s in trouble. “Thanks for telling me,” Jeter joked. “Now you jinxed it.”

• Tonight as the first rain-shortened Yankee game since Sept. 2, 2006 against Minnesota, a 6-1 loss that was called in the bottom of the eighth. Their shortest previous game was a 1-1 tie at Camden Yards on Sept. 18, 2003 that was called after five innings due to Hurricane Isabel.

• The 7-3 start is the club’s best since 2003 (9-1).

• Who said this park was homer happy? This was already the second game without a homer. There was only one such game in 2009, June 18 vs. the Nats. (A game I also covered. Apparently, I bring the pitching.)

• Here’s Girardi, talking about Sabathia’s six strong innings, Cano and Jeter, Cervelli’s solid play, whether or not Tex is pressing and what he knew about the rain before it fell:

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With rain falling at the Stadium and washing out the last three innings of the Yankees’ 5-1 win, Joe Girardi never had the chance to lift CC Sabathia. But if you listen to the main men in the Yankee clubhouse, the big lefty may have pitched even better tonight than last Saturday’s 7 2/3 no-hit innings against the Rays.

“That’s about as good as we’ve seen him,” Girardi said. “Seventy-three pitches and 58 strikes? It seemed like his first 10 or 12 pitches were all strikes. He was outstanding tonight.”

Throw out a couple questionable hits in the first inning and CC could’ve delivered another no-hitter at least into the fifth, when Joaquin Arias looped a single to center. Sabathia was outstanding from the moment Vladimir Guerrero flew out to center to score Michael Young in the first inning right until Guerrero flew out to right to end Texas’ half of the sixth.

Sabathia retired 11 straight Rangers at one point, including six straight by strikeout. He struck out nine total and didn’t issue a walk.

I asked Francisco Cervelli — catching CC for the second straight game — whether he was as good tonight as he was last week.

“I think he pitched better today,” Cervelli said. “He was throwing nasty pitches today.”

Although there wasn’t enough time or space to delve into it for tomorrow’s paper, the blossoming relationship between the two batterymates is an interesting one. As I said on Twitter before the game, Cervelli feels like Sabathia treats him as an equal. “Since Day 1, he’s open with me. He always tells me, ‘Call the game, I’ll follow you,’” Cervelli said. “He never treats me like a rookie, you know. He treats me like a veteran catcher.”

And that was before the game. Afterward, he joked about how easy catching came to him tonight. “He did everything,” Cervelli said. “I put the glove there and that’s it.”

Sabathia enjoys pitching to Cervelli because they have a constant flow of communication, whether he has the ball that night or not.

“We talk a lot. We do a lot of talking, even when he’s not playing and I’m not pitching,” Sabathia said. “We talk about what we would throw here, and different things like that. I think our communication is great and that’s why we work so well together.”

I’ll have more postgame notes in a bit. First, here’s CC on CC, how the Rangers helped him pitch so well tonight and how he and Cervelli work so well together:

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YANKEES
Jeter SS
Johnson DH
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Cano 2B
Swisher RF
Thames LF
Granderson CF
Cervelli C

LHP CC Sabathia (1-0, 3.46)
Career vs. Rangers

RANGERS
Borbon CF
Young 3B
Hamilton LF
Guerrero DH
Cruz RF
Davis 1B
Arias 2B
Teagarden C
Andrus SS

LHP C.J. Wilson (0-0, 0.00)
Career vs. Yankees

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

UMPIRES: HP Tim Timmons, 1B D.J. Reyburn, 2B Mike DiMuro, 3B Tim Welke (crew chief)

WEATHER: It doesn’t look so hot. A chance of thunderstorms and an 80 percent chance of rain. Lows in the lower 50s.

MILESTONES AT STAKE: Several Yankees could reach personal of club milestones this series. Joe Girardi needs just two wins for No. 200 as a manager. Derek Jeter is just two doubles shy of Don Mattingly (442) for third on the club’s all-time list. Jorge Posada is just two hits shy of 1,500 for his career. And Alex Rodriguez needs one home run to pass Mark McGwire (583) for sole possession of eighth place on baseball’s all-time list.

I’m in for Chad today and will have more from the clubhouse in a bit…

UPDATE, 6:10 p.m.: It just started raining here at the Stadium. The Rangers are taking BP at the moment.

Hang tight. I’ll have news and notes in a bit.

UPDATE, 6:22 p.m.: As you may have read on Twitter, Chan Ho Park (right hamstring) was placed on the 15-day disabled list. The Yankees promoted LHP Boone Logan, who, according to Joe Girardi, may or may not be down in time for the game. (He said it depends on traffic — no joke.) Park said he expects to rest for three or four days but should be fine after that. An exam by the doctor led to an MRI, which revealed a low-level strain. It is the same hamstring Park injured last season with the Phillies but a different area. He had no problem with the club DL-ing him to be careful. “When you get to my age, you have to be careful,” Park said.

Park joked that he wanted to be clear about one more thing: “It’s not diarrhea.” And if you don’t know what I mean, YouTube it.

On more serious matters, the Yankees expect they can use Logan for as many as 40 pitches in one outing. He pitched 2.1 IP on Thursday for Scranton. And the club has faith in him, even if Logan didn’t make the team out of camp. “What’s unfortunate for him is that we have a very deep bullpen,” Girardi said. “I think he would have made a lot of other clubs.”

Francisco Cervelli will start in place of Jorge Posada tonight. Girardi didn’t mention Cervelli’s success with Sabathia during Sabathia’s near no-hit bid as a reason. He said Posada caught three days in a row and is unlikely to catch four straight so early in the season. “That’s probably not something we’ll do a lot of early on,” Girardi said.

Let me know if you have any questions. I’ll be around.

UPDATE, 7:05 p.m.: CC is on the bump and we are about to begin. It is very bitter out. The wind is blowing in toward home plate and is quite strong. (Translation: I should’ve brought a bigger jacket.)

UPDATE, 7:17 p.m.: Rangers lead 1-0 in the middle of the first. I think it’s safe to say Brett Gardner would’ve played Josh Hamilton’s “double” a little better in left. That said, I think the wind held that ball in the park.

UPDATE, 7:20 p.m.: Jeter now has a 10-game hitting streak to start the season.

UPDATE, 7:24 p.m.: Yankees tie it 1-1. That was scored a passed ball. Agree?

UPDATE, 7:36 p.m.: That’s four straight K’s for Sabathia. He looks sharp and could very well have tossed up two more hitless frames there were it not for so-so defense.

UPDATE, 7:41 p.m.: Apparently, everything’s a base hit tonight.

UPDATE, 8:04 p.m.: Sabathia has retired 11 straight now. Only one of the last 10 has hit the ball out of the infield.

UPDATE, 8:09 p.m.: A Yankee record? You betcha. Cano just hit safely in his 10th straight game to open the season. He and Jeter became the first pair of Yankee teammates to accomplish that feat in club history.

UPDATE, 8:17 p.m.: Yankees now lead 3-1 midway through the bottom of the fourth. All four runs have scored tonight without the help of a hit.

UPDATE, 8:18 p.m.: Oops, I spoke to soon. Cervelli’s RBI single makes it a 4-1 Yankee lead.

UPDATE, 8:38 p.m.: The game is official.

UPDATE, 8:46 p.m.: Sabathia has now tossed just 72 pitches through six. He has thrown a remarkable 57 strikes. Does someone not want a visit from the manager tonight, hmm?

UPDATE, 8:57 p.m.: That was a perfect time to steal for Brett Gardner. Don’t take the bat out of Granderson’s hands when an extra-base hit would score Gardner from first. But after Grandy struck out, Gardner had to run. The Yankees could use an insurance run, even with CC humming along.

UPDATE, 9:01 p.m.: The rain has really picked up here. Was that really a hit by Jeter. Me thinks not. The players are lucky I’m not scoring this game.

UPDATE, 9:05 p.m.: After the last out in the sixth, the tarp is on the field. We’re going to a rain delay. Yanks lead 5-1.

UPDATE, 9:25 p.m.: As it pours here at the Stadium and fans duck for cover (or leave), here’s my rain-delay related question to ponder:

When you’re watching a Yankee game on Ch. 9 (or, if you’re unlucky, a Mets game on Ch. 11), the network always switches to reruns to kill time. What’s your favorite rain delay show?

To begin the discussion, here’s mine: Cheers, Kirstie Alley/Woody Harrelson years, of course.

UPDATE, 9:47 p.m.: No update yet. We’re still in a rain delay here. They were showing Devils-Flyers on the scoreboard. Most fans booed. The video people since switched to a “Rain Delay” graphic.

There are several jokes in there.

UPDATE, 10:10 p.m.: Cue Sinatra. The game has been called. Yanks win 5-1. The rain delay was 1:05.

I’m off this weekend, but Josh will be keeping you company tonight. Enjoy the game. Here are the matchups for the series against Texas.

Friday: Yankees LHP CC Sabathia (1-0, 3.46) vs. Rangers LHP C.J. Wilson (0-0, 0.00), 7:05 p.m.

Saturday: Yankees RHP A.J. Burnett (1-0, 3.75) vs. Rangers RHP Scott Feldman (1-0, 2.57), 1:05 p.m.

Sunday: Yankees LHP Andy Pettitte (1-0, 0.75) vs. Rangers RHP Rich harden (0-0, 2.79), 1:05 p.m.