The LoHud Yankees Blog

Hello, Yankee fans. With Chad taking a deserved day off today, I have plenty to share from today’s workout/media session at Yankee Stadium. It’ll include ring thoughts, audio from Opening Day starter Andy Pettitte and a few sad thoughts on the old ballpark next door, which, as Joe Girardi said, “looks like ruins.”

First up though, here’s a look at what you’ll be interested in from tomorrow’s schedule of events:

10:10-11:10 a.m.: Yankees take BP
11:00 a.m.: Gates open to ticket holders
11:10-11:50 a.m.: Angels take BP
12:30-12:44 p.m.: 2009 World Series ring ceremony begins
12:44-12:54 p.m.: First and third baseline introductions
12:54 p.m.: Introduction of the giant American flag, unfurled by West Point cadets
12:55 p.m.: Presentation of colors by the West Point Cadet Color Guard
12:56 p.m.: The National Anthem will be performed by Kristin Chenoweth, along with a U.S. Navy Fighter Squadron Composite Twelve (VFC-12) flyover
1:01 p.m.: Ceremonial first pitch by Bernie Williams
1:04 p.m.: Umpires and managers to home plate
1:06 p.m.: Yankees take the field
1:08 p.m.: First pitch
1:08.30 p.m.: Roll call begins

OK, I made that last part up. Everything else is legit, of course.

I’ll be back with more in a bit.

UPDATE, 4:45 p.m.: A couple updates from the Yankees to answer your questions. The flag will be unveiled during the ring ceremony. And, yes, Hideki Matsui will be involved.

The Yankees played pretty good baseball their past two days in baseball, and now they’re coming home. Yesterday the Yankees won their second straight against the Rays, giving them four of six games on this season opening road trip. They’ll play the home opener on Tuesday.

Speaking of home, I’m on my way there right now. I had an early morning flight out of Tampa — if everything worked correctly, this post went live while I was in the air — and I’ll spend the day trying to find my way around my apartment. The Yankees are holding an optional workout at the Stadium, and Josh will be checking in with the details.

See you Tuesday. Until then, enjoy the day off. The rings are coming!

That’s the Associated Press photo of Curtis Granderson’s sliding catch yesterday. It was ruled a hit, but Granderson clearly caught it.

These pictures are from the Associated Press, taken today at Yankee Stadium.

Pick your inning for A.J. Burnett. Was the first inning the key, when he kept a rocky start from becoming a terrible start? Or was the sixth inning the key, when he stranded the bases loaded after a bizarre infield single off the Tropicana Field catwalk?

After two singles, two stolen bases, a sacrifice bunt and a walk in the first inning, pitching coach Dave Eiland went to the mound with a simple message.

“He’s got good stuff,” Eiland said. “We’re still in the game. Continue to attack. Don’t pick. Take charge.”

Burnett said he didn’t think his stuff was very good today, but Eiland and Jorge Posada told him otherwise and he trusted them. When Burnett attacked with his fastball, he got out of trouble. That included the sixth inning when Evan Longoria singled off the catwalk and Carlos Pena walked to load the bases. It was a two-run game at the time, and Burnett got B.J. Upton to pop up to end the threat.

“He didn’t turn (the first) into a huge inning, that gave us a chance to come back,” Joe Girardi said. “He made his pitches when he had to in that (sixth inning) situation. The interesting thing is, when Longoria hits that ball, you think you’re out of the inning. And then you’ve got to turn it back on again.”

Here’s Burnett talking about his outing, and talking a little bit about getting home for Tuesday’s ring ceremony.

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And here’s Girardi talking about the game and the road trip as a whole.

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• When Longoria’s ball hit the catwalk, Girardi argued that it hit in foul territory and should be ruled foul. The stadium ground rules say that particular catwalk is in play, making Longoria’s ball live. “It’s not a baseball stadium,” Jorge Posada said. “You can’t have balls going all over the place. It’s sad.”

• Posada said he remembered five changeups from Burnett, and he expects even more as Burnett continues to get used to the pitch. “It’s a swing-and-miss pitch, it really is,” Posada said.

• Someone asked Burnett whether he wears his Marlins World Series ring. “No,” he said. Will he wear his Yankees ring? “Absolutely.”

• A loss today would have meant a split of the opening road trip. Instead, the Yankees took four of six against their top competition in the division. “You try to win every series,” Girardi said “That’s our goal going in. I don’t think you can be satisfied being even. Some people might say you hung in on a tough road trip, but our goal was to win both series.”

• Joba Chamberlain had a bit of a rocky inning. I believe the scoreboard here had him at 93 mph — that’s the fastest I noticed, anyway — and he allowed a run on two hits and a walk. Girardi said some of that can be attributed to Chamberlain haven’t not pitched in a while.

• “They outplayed us once again,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said.

• Brett Gardner and Curtis Granderson are tied for the league lead with three stolen bases apiece.

• Tomorrow’s an off day, with the Yankees working out at the Stadium in the afternoon.

Those are Associated Press photos. The first is obviously Burnett. The smaller photo is Girardi talking to crew chief Wally Bell after the Longoria single.

Here’s a little bit of inside baseball.

Nick Swisher swings a 31-ounce bat. He’d never used anything else in a major league game until his last at-bat this afternoon. Swisher had been out front all game, and in an split-second decision, he thought a 34-ounce bat might slow him down just enough.

He hit his first home run of the season.

Swisher has a 34-ounce bat for the offseason, batting practice and the on-deck circle. He gets used to that weight, then feels stronger when he uses a lighter bat in the game.

“When you get that lighter bat, you get that feeling of dominance,” he said. “It feels like a toothpick.”

He was swinging the 34 ounce bat on deck in the eighth inning and decided to take it with him to the plate for the first time. He doesn’t expect it to be a permanent change, but it’s an in-game adjustment he might make again at some point.

The Yankees have played pretty good baseball the past two days, and they wrapped up their season-opening road trip with a 7-3 win this afternoon at Tropicana Field. A.J. Burnett struggled through the first few hitters but dialed it in to pitch very well in the shadow of CC Sabathia’s near no-hitter. Nick Swisher and Jorge Posada homered, Alex Rodriguez and Curtis Granderson drove in runs and the Yankees will head home having taken four of six on the road.

That’s the Associated Press shot of Posada and Cano celebrating Posada’s home run.

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 (0-0, 5.40)
Career vs. Rays

RAYS
Jason Bartlett SS
Carl Crawford LF
Ben Zobrist RF
Evan Longoria 3B
Carlos Pena 1B
B.J. Upton CF
Pat Burrell DH
Dioner Navarro C
Sean Rodriguez 2B

RHP James Shields (0-0, 4.50)
Career vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 1:40 p.m./YES Network and TBS

WEATHER: Tampa, you’re something sort of dome-ish.

UMPIRES: HP Laz Diaz, 1B Vic Carapazza, 2B James Hoye, 3B Wally Bell

LAZY SUNDAY: No sense in a pregame notes post considering there really are no pregame notes. There was absolutely nothing going on here this morning, just some more talk about CC Sabathia’s start last night and a lot of talk about finally going home. The coaches. The players. The writers. We’ve all seen plenty of Tampa. The team is flying to New York after the game.

WHEN WINN? Still no Randy Winn in the lineup, but Joe Girardi said he’s trying to decide when to give him a start. “It started looking at that today,” Girardi said. “But I only looked for about two minutes.”

RANDOM NEAR-NO-HIT NOTES: According to Elias, CC Sabathia was the first pitcher to lose a no-hitter in the eighth inning or later on a hit by a former battery-mate since Nolan Ryan on September 30, 1989. On that day, Brian Downing singled with one out in the eighth. Downing had caught Ryan 10 years earlier… Two hits tied for the fewest the Yankees had ever allowed against the Rays… It was the Yankees 16th shutout against the Rays.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Today is Mark Teixeira’s 30th birthday.

UPDATE, 1:23 p.m.: Here’s the Girardi pregame audio. A lot of CC Sabathia talk, but there was also a discussion — some of it with media relations director Jason Zillo — about Tuesday’s pregame ceremonies. No one seems to know whether Hideki Matsui will get his ring during the ceremony. He’ll definitely get one, just not sure he’ll get one on the field Tuesday.

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UPDATE, 1:50 p.m.: Play of the game just happened in the second deck behind home plate. A guy caught a foul ball with his right hand while holding a baby with his left. Very impressive. Better than the Zobrist catch.

UPDATE, 2:02 p.m.: Burnett just doesn’t look sharp today. I realize that’s not groundbreaking analysis, but it’s the truth. Things have not started well, and I can’t really understand Zobrist bunting after the first two batters singled.

UPDATE, 2:06 p.m.: That inning could have spiraled out of control, but Burnett did an OK job of limiting the damage. I kind of thought that inning might get real ugly.

UPDATE, 2:27 p.m.: When he’s on, James Shields is pretty darn good. And he’s been pretty darn good so far today.

UPDATE, 2:49 p.m.: Posada fouled off four pitches before taking that walk. Brought Granderson back to the plate with runners at first and second in the fourth.

UPDATE, 2:59 p.m.: With that Longoria pop up, Burnett has retired the past nine batters. He’s turned it around after that shaky start… Make that 10 straight with the Pena grounder.

UPDATE, 3:07 p.m.: Didn’t look like the best call on the Gardner strikeout. Gardner was not especially pleased.

UPDATE, 3:14 p.m.: Not the best birthday for Teixeira. Three at-bats, three strikeouts.

UPDATE, 3:20 p.m.: Pat Burrell got a hit and still managed to be a liability to the Rays.

UPDATE, 3:22 p.m.: Not the best route, but Granderson made the play. Two putouts and an assist for him that inning.

UPDATE, 3:29 p.m.: Here comes the lefty Choate to face Posada and Granderson. Shields was plenty effective, but he had already thrown 101 pitches.

UPDATE, 3:32 p.m.: And just like that, the Yankees have the lead. Good thing Posada was catching this game, huh?

UPDATE, 3:42 p.m.: Singled off a lefty, stole second base, took third on Swishers slow roller and scored on a wild pitch. Granderson manufactured that run all by himself.

UPDATE, 3:53 p.m.: From my seat in the press box, it’s impossible to see the part of the catwalk in question. The Yankees are saying the Longoria popup hit a catwalk in foul territory and bounced into play. The rules here at Tropicana Field are that the second catwalk — the one the ball might have hit — is in play and a ball that hits it is in play. Not sure whether that rule changes if the moment of impact occurs in foul territory.

UPDATE, 4:08 p.m.: After that Rodriguez two-run double, Cano very nearly got the ball out of the ball park. Nice running catch by Crawford. He really covers a ton of ground out there.

UPDATE, 4:18 p.m.: No one argued it, but that was clearly a catch by Granderson.

Back to the regular lineup this afternoon.

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

CC Sabathia was four outs away from a no-hitter, and things might have gotten interesting had he gotten within three outs. The Yankees had decided Sabathia was facing his last hitter — no matter what — when he allowed a two-out single to Kelly Shoppach in the eighth inning.

He lost the no-hitter, but the Yankees won the game easily, 10-0.

CC Sabathia was obviously the story of the day, but there was a lot happening this afternoon in St. Petersburg: The Yankees were scoring 10 runs, their defense was making huge plays and their 24-year-old catcher was earning his stripes.

Francisco Cervelli never had the kind of prospect status of Jesus Montero or Austin Romine, but he’s always been terrific behind the plate, and this afternoon he helped guide Sabathia within four outs of a no-hitter. Had Sabathia come out of the game with the no-hitter intact, Joe Girardi might have had a harder time breaking the news to his catcher.

“I think I would have had to calm him down more than CC,” Girardi said. “He was really into it, which is great to see. I think it gives a young catcher a lot of confidence. I think when Jorge caught David Wells’ perfect game it’s just, wow. It gives you a sense of confidence back there. You know what you’re doing, and you have a plan and you’re able to follow the plan.”

Cervelli called Sabathia’s outing “perfect” but downplayed his own two-run double.

“That’s my job here to catch and be good with the pitchers,” Cervelli said. “When I’m hitting I concentrate on my offense, but the first thing for me is catch, catch, catch and catch.”

Here’s Cervelli.

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On offense and on defense, the Yankees were terrific, and much of that spotlight belonged to their big first baseman. Mark Teixeira made a no-hitter-saving catch in the sixth inning. He also finished 3-for-4 with his first three hits of the season.

“During your career you always aim for milestones,” Teixeira said. “So I made sure I went 0-for-17 to have a personal best. After that I wanted to make sure I got a few hits.”

Robinson Cano, Alex Rodriguez, Curtis Granderson and Brett Gardner each had two hits. The top six Yankees hitters scored a run. The bottom three combined for five hits, four RBI, two runs and two stolen bases.

As for the defense, Robinson Cano made a nice charging play in the eighth inning — when the no-hitter was still on the line — and Alex Rodriguez made two great plays at third, one to get Evan Longoria out and the other to nab B.J. Upton and keep Sabathia on track.

“Alex’s play was incredible,” Teixeira said. “That was one of the best plays your going to see all year. When you make a few plays like that, and the way CC was throwing the ball, you thought it could happen.”

Here’s Teixeira.

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• Girardi on the eighth-inning play when Sabathia tried to catch the ball with his bare hand: “He bare-hands every ball from Alex, but I would prefer that he doesn’t bare-hand them from hitters. He has some pretty big mitts though.”

• Give some credit to Dave Robertson: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K.

• Brett Gardner has started three games and has three stolen bases.

• Teixeira is friends with Kelly Shoppach and Shoppach caught Sabathia while the two were in the Cleveland organization: “That was the first thing I thought of,” Teixeira siad. “He just messed up his buddy’s no hitter.”

• So far so good for Robinson Cano batting fifth. He hit his second home run today and he’s batting .381 with six RBI.

• Sabathia last threw a no hitter in high school.

• Cervelli said he caught two no-hitters in a week back in Single-A. Both were multiple pitchers.

• Ramiro Pena pinch ran in the ninth, meaning the Yankees have now used every player on the roster except Phil Hughes. Pena and Cervelli were the only position players who hadn’t gotten in a game. Sergio Mitre pitched yesterday and was the last reliever to get in a game.

• Really bad news on Christian Garcia’s elbow. He has a torn ligament.

Those are Associated Press photos of Cervelli talking to Sabathia, of Teixeira getting his first hit and of Rodriguez making the play to get B.J. Upton out in the seventh.