The LoHud Yankees Blog

Javier Vazquez made his home debut last night and was booed off the mound. Vazquez allowed four runs — one scored after he left the game — and the Yankees lost 5-3, having been overwhelmed by Angels starter Joel Pineiro.

With the series split, the Yankees will try to win it tonight when Phil Hughes makes his season debut. The notebook also has items on Joe Girardi’s World Series ring, Nick Swisher’s fake ring and the return of Angels starter Scott Kazmir.

I got a few emails asking for a picture of the now famous “fake ring” given to Hideki Matsui and Nick Swisher, but the best I could come up with is this shot from someone trying to sell the thing for 125 bucks.

Swisher, by the way, still doesn’t know who put the fake ring in his box. Mariano Rivera finally gave him the real one, but the prankster is still a mystery. “I need to do some undercover stuff and hire some people (to find out who did it),” Swisher said.

It’s a little easier to find pictures of the real thing. The Associated Press moved these photos this afternoon.

Javier Vazquez didn’t pitch especially well this afternoon, but the boos that serenaded him as he walked off the mound in the sixth inning seemed to have more to do with his 2004 postseason struggles than his first home start of 2010.

“As soon as he can get a win here, I think it will be best for all of us,” manager Joe Girardi said. “Fans, they remember. His next start will be on the road and it would be nice to get him a win and on a roll. Today we didn’t score many runs. He could have won that game as well if we would have scored some runs today.”

Vazquez called it “disappointing” to hear the boos, but said he was also disappointed in himself. After being asked about it several times, Vazquez final said he didn’t think it was fair to be booed so early.

Derek Jeter, of course, managed to defend both his pitcher and his fans.

“The bottom line is, they’re Yankee fans,” Jeter said. “They want to cheer for you. They come here to cheer for you. Everyone has been booed at some point. You can’t let it affect you. If Javy gives up three runs every time he pitches, he’s going to have a pretty good year.”

Here’s an earlier part of Jeter’s postgame interview.

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.

• Girardi on the key at-bat of the game, Torii Hunter’s lead-off double in the fifth: “Javy didn’t throw a bad game,” Girardi said. “I thought the key at-bat in the game was when he was ahead of Torii Hunter 0-2 in the sixth and Torii wound up getting to 3-2 and hitting a double. I thought that was the key at-bat in the game. Up until that point, he had thrown a pretty good game.”

• Nick Swisher on Joel Pineiro: “I can remember him from back when he was with Seattle,” Swisher said. “He was a power guy. Threw really hard. Now he’s still got that power in there but he’s using it more for movement. He threw some great sinkers today. Just when you think it’s going to be in the zone, it falls off the table.”

• Vazquez on the reaction from the crowd: “It was a little disappointing,” Vazquez said. “It was my first game back. I don’t think they’re forgetting from ’04. Hopefully I’ll get some W’s in the stadium, and hopefully they’ll forget that.”

• Vazquez had some trouble putting away hitters with two strikes, and both he and Girardi blamed some of that on command. That said, both Girardi and Vazquez said his command was better this game than it was last week against Tampa Bay.

• Joba Chamberlain was getting into the mid-90s with his fastball.

• Robinson Cano continues to be a bright spot for the Yankees. Two more hits today. He has a hit in all eight games this season, with more two-hit games (5) than one-hit games (3).

• Scott Kazmir will come off the disabled list to make his season debut against the Yankees tomorrow. Phil Hughes will make his debut for the Yankees.

Both pictures are from the Associated Press.

What can you say? Joel Pineiro was simply too good today. He got 21 outs: 11 on the ground, seven on strikes and only three in the air. One of the three was a foul popup to third. Aside from Nick Swisher’s RBI triple, the Yankees had no chance against him, and he didn’t hurt himself either. Zero walks for the Angels starter in a 5-3 Yankees loss.

That’s an Associated Press photo of Alex Rodriguez after one of three strikeouts against Pineiro.

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 Javier Vazquez (0-1, 12.71)
Career vs. Angels

ANGELS
Erick Aybar SS
Bobby Abreu RF
Torii Hunter CF
Hideki Matsui DH
Kendry Morales 1B
Juan Rivera RF
Maicer Izturis 2B
Jeff Mathis C
Brandon Wood 3B

RHP Joel Pineiro (0-1, 4.50)
Career vs. Yankees

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

WEATHER: A little breezy, with temperatures in the 60s. I can’t see a single cloud in the sky. It’s a nice day in the city.

UMPIRES: HP Dan Bellino, 1B Jerry Layne, 2B Mike Winters, 3B Hunter Wendelstedt

COMFORT ZONE: Javier Vazquez has faced Torii Hunter 40 times and allowed just eight hits, good for a .205 average and .225 on-base percentage. Vazquez has been less successful against Bobby Abreu, who’s hit .282 with a .746 slugging percentage against the Yankees right-hander. None of the other Angels have faced Vazquez more than four times.

ANGEL MOVES: The Angels have placed LHP Brian Fuentes on the disabled list and optioned Bobby Cassevah to Triple-A. Speedy outfielder Reggie Willits has been added to the roster, as has reliever Francisco Rodriguez.

CANO CAN: Robinson Cano has a hit in all seven Yankees games this season. This year and last year, Cano has a .366 batting average in April. Before last season, Cano’s career batting average in April was .237.

WELCOME BACK: According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Nick Johnson is the first player to go six or more seasons between Yankee home runs since Ruben Sierra. Johnson homered yesterday, his first with the Yankees since September 23, 2003. Seirra homered for the Yankees in 1996 and again in 2003.

UPDATE, 1:23 p.m.: Javier Vazquez seemed to be missing up in the zone early in the first inning, but he also seemed to settle in after a visit from Dave Eiland. Either way, no damage done. At least, not so far.

UPDATE, 1:43 p.m.: Ruled a double for Cano.

UPDATE, 2:02 p.m.: Posada ends the inning, but Vazquez does not look sharp. Again.

UPDATE, 2:09 p.m.: Pineiro has faced 10 batters. Five have grounded to second.

UPDATE, 2:23 p.m.: Pineiro is simply a different pitcher since he spent that time in St. Louis. Dave Duncan did some good things with this guy.

UPDATE, 2:43 p.m.: One of the last two batters in the Yankees lineup just tripled. Guess which one.

UPDATE, 3:00 p.m.: Another rocky outing for Vazquez. A team can certainly win when its starter allows three runs through 5.1 innings, but the Yankees were obviously hoping for a huge bounce-back game and didn’t get it.

UPDATE, 3:41 p.m.: A hit here and a hit there, but ultimately the Yankees haven’t been able to do anything against Pineiro. Tough to win a game like this.

UPDATE, 3:52 p.m.: That’s it for Joel Pineiro, seven terrific innings. The Yankees now have two innings to try to make something happen against this Angels bullpen.

UPDATE, 4:10 p.m.: Nick Johnson hit the deck in a hurry going from second to third on that fielder’s choice. He is, it seems, not at all interested in being hit in the face by a thrown baseball.

UPDATE, 4:12 p.m.: With Fuentes on the DL, Fernando Rodney is getting loose in the Angels bullpen. Looks like he’ll be the guy in the ninth.

When the clubhouse opened to reporters this morning, Dave Robertson was one of the few Yankees sitting at his locker. He was his usual self, friendly and eager to make small talk on the morning after he allowed a grand slam to Bobby Abreu, the only blemish to an otherwise brilliant home opener.

“I don’t want a guy that’s down on himself,” manager Joe Girardi said, “because baseball comes around every day.”

Girardi said he was happy with Robertson’s demeanor this morning and he wouldn’t hesitate to use him in a big spot this afternoon. He thought Robertson did a bad job reading swings yesterday, and remembered an 0-2 curveball that should have been buried but was instead thrown for a hitable strike. Those are fixable mistakes, and Robertson called today a new day. That’s the kind of memory you want from a reliever.

Here’s Girardi’s pregame 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.

• Girardi said his kids took his World Series ring out of the box yesterday and “really studied it, which was really neat to see.” He got some of the fake rings — the kind given to Nick Swisher and Hideki Matsui as a joke — for his kids.

• Swisher said he was shocked when he opened his box and saw his ring yesterday. The players immediately laughed and it was Mariano Rivera who finally gave him the real ring after the pregame ceremony. “I had that fake ring on the whole time,” Swisher said.

• Javier Vazquez will be trying to move on from his disappointing season debut. Girardi said Vazquez rushed last week again Tampa, causing his arm slot to drop. “His fastball was running too much back across the middle of the plate,” Girardi said.

• After all of the fifth-starter debate this spring, Girardi said he’s excited to see Phil Hughes finally get on the mound. “I think he’s much more physically and mentally prepared” than he was in 2008, Girardi said.

• With the opening road trip out of the way and the rings distributed, Girardi said it finally feels like the regular season is in full swing. “I do feel like now the season will get back to normal,” Girardi said.

• The Yankees are facing Joel Pineiro today. “He’s the kind of guy  that balls are going to be put in play, and they’re probably going to be on the ground,” Girardi said.

• At the end of his press conference, Girardi was asked how many rings he’d like to win. “Yogi’s got 10 and I’m sure Yogi would like another one,” Girardi said.

The Angels are going with the same lineup as yesterday, but with Maicer Izturis as second in place of Howie Kendrick.

Erick Aybar SS
Bobby Abreu RF
Torii Hunter CF
Hideki Matsui DH
Kendry Morales 1B
Juan Rivera RF
Maicer Izturis 2B
Jeff Mathis C
Brandon Wood 3B

That’s an Associated Press shot, by the way.

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 Javier Vazquez

The Yankees re-opened their new stadium on Tuesday, beating the Angels in a game that brought back memories of the old, ruined place across the street. Andy Pettitte got the win, Mariano Rivera got the save, Derek Jeter hit a home run and Jorge Posada doubled twice.

It was a day of celebration, and the first ring naturally went to The Boss. Sam wrote about the private ring ceremony just for George Steinbrenner.

As Brian Heyman wrote, the other star of the show was Hideki Matsui, who returned through a lucky bit of scheduling to be a part of the pregame ring ceremony. And, of course, the Yankees had a little fun with him.

Jerry Hairston Jr. also returned, as did ill trainer Gene Monahan. The notebook also has items on a terrible incident at the Angels team hotel, a record crowd at the stadium and Posada’s new place in Yankees history.

You can see more pictures from opening day right here.

From The Associated Press, here are a few images of today’s pregame activity. For moments like this, the behind-the-scenes members of the Yankees organization really are at the top of their game. I thought it would be tricky figuring out how to include Hideki Matsui in the ring ceremony, but the Yankees nailed it. The whole thing was very well done.

During his postgame interview this afternoon, Yankees manager Joe Girardi choked up one time. Not when he was asked about Hideki Matsui. Not when he was asked about George Steinbrenner. Girardi had to fight tears when he talked about longtime Yankees trainer Gene Monahan, who’s been away from the team while fighting cancer.

“Knowing what he’s going through, it was really emotional,” Girardi said. “We’re all thrilled to see him.”

Monahan got the first ring during the on-field ceremony. He was first member of the staff to come onto the field, and the rest of the Yankees gave him a standing ovation from the dugout. The crowd at Yankee Stadium seemed to respond as he waved from near first base.

“It probably more to us than to him,” Derek Jeter said.

Here’s Girardi’s postgame interview.

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.

• As emotional as he was about Monahan, Girardi said his pregame visit with Steinbrenner was “one of the best parts of my day.”

• The Yankees gave Hideki Matsui and Nick Swisher fake World Series rings. It was apparently Jeter’s idea to replace the real rings with the fake versions given out before the final spring training game in Tampa. Matsui got the real thing when Girardi was introduced pregame.

• Nick Johnson’s choice of at-bat music — Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus — was chosen for his daughter, who loves Cyrus. For those of you who know my obsession with music, you can imagine how appalled I was to hear it. But Nick gets a pass for the daughter thing. Maybe someone can introduce her to some Allman Brothers.

• Girardi said he was happy with Chan Ho Park, who got pitched exceptionally well except for the home run to Kendry Morales. “He made one mistake,” Girardi said.

• Speaking of great pitching, Andy Pettitte was outstanding. His biggest pitch was his last, the double play to end the sixth inning. “I don’t know if I made a good pitch that whole inning until I threw that ball right there,” Pettitte said.

• Brian Cashman, Randy Levin, Lonn Trost, Reggie Jackson and members of the Steinbrenner family were also in George Steinbrenner’s suite when Girardi and Jeter gave The Boss his ring. Cashman said the whole thing was a surprise for Steinbrenner.

• Alex Rodriguez said he was more nervous to get his ring than he was to play in the playoffs last year. “It was really a dream come true,” Rodriguez said. “I felt like a 10-year-old boy.”

• Jorge Posada hit his 345th double, moving him past Mickey Mantle for seventh place on the Yankees all-time list. He then hit his 346th.

Those are Associated Press shots of Monahan during the pregame ceremony and of Rodriguez showing off his ring postgame.