The LoHud Yankees Blog

When you try to pick an MVP for the Yankees from tonight’s win, there are a few options: Curtis Granderson is certainly at the top of the list, with Chan Ho Park and Andy Pettitte among others worthy of consideration.

But how about Steve Donohue?

Donohue is the Yankees longtime assistant trainer and he joined Joe Girardi in rushing on to the field after Pettitte collided with Jacoby Ellsbury at first base on the first hit of the game. Pettitte gutted through the rest of that inning but then retreated to the clubhouse, complaining of “whiplash,” he said, that left him with a nasty headache and stiff neck.

Donohue didn’t hesitate. First he started massaging Pettitte’s neck to loosen him up, and then he gave the pitcher “a few pills,” according to Pettitte, that softened his headache. Although Pettitte was “in survival mode” for a few innings, by the third inning he said the headache had improved and he was able to stay in the game and match John Lackey pitch-for-pitch. Six innings, one run in heat so bad that Pettitte needed ammonia water towels wrapped around his head between innings to stay cool? That’s a legit outing.

It was a gritty performance from a 37-year-old whose body may well be barking at him tomorrow morning, and it wouldn’t have been possible without Donohue, who is leading the training staff in place of the ailing Gene Monahan. On this night, the Yankees might not have won without him.

“I wasn’t coming out of that game,” Pettitte said. “There was no way I was coming out. I wanted to pitch. Stevie did a great job.”

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Courtesy of Chad, here are some other post-game notes:

• Joe Girardi and Derek Jeter each said John Lackey did not intentionally hit Jeter in the sixth inning. “It’s a 1-0 game,” Girardi said. “I don’t think he was hitting him on purpose, that’s for sure. Especially when you’ve got two strikes.” Jeter said Kevin Youkilis actually joked with him that Lackey was going to hit him as retribution. “When (Youkilis) got hit in the head, he said they were going to hit me,” Jeter said. “He was joking around and then… They hit me.”

• Girardi’s plan was to use Chan Ho Park for no more than two innings tonight, but his pitch count was low enough that Girardi sent him back for a third inning. Park had been fighting a stomach virus the past two days — he went into fairly graphic detail to explain it — but Girardi was confident he could pitch multiple innings. “That’s one of the thing that made him so attractive to us,” Girardi said.

• Solid point from Alex Rodriguez: “We won two out of three, and Tex and I really didn’t do much to help out,” he said. “The bottom of our lineup did a great job all three games. They came up big for us.”

• It’s only three games into the season, but Nick Swisher and his hit-for-a-better-average approach seems to be working. He tied the game tonight with a two-out single and he hit .364 this series.

• Both Robinson Cano and Jorge Posada hit .417 this series.

• Jeter on Granderson: “Curtis is a good guy. I played with him in the WBC so I got a chance to get to know him a little bit. Outside of the fact that he’s a good player, he’s a good person, so he fit in perfectly. And he’s done that so far.”

• Rodriguez on Park: “Chan Ho was great today. Threw the ball very well. Threw four pitches, all for strikes. Great rhythm. Great slide step. He’s going to be a big asset for us, too. That’s a big key for us, pitching and defense. Yesterday Ace was outstanding for us to help us win that game, and today Chan Ho was huge.”

• Here’s Granderson talking about his game winner and his first series with the Yankees.

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Great job from everyone tonight and all series. Lots of comments and passion, which is excellent. Off day tomorrow while Chad heads to Tampa, then back in action on Friday night from The Trop. Thanks for reading.

There is one player in baseball who has more than one regular-season home run off Jonathan Papelbon. He’s the new Yankees center fielder.

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

LHP Andy Pettitte (14-8, 4.16 in 2009)
Career vs. Red Sox

RED SOX
Jacoby Ellsbury LF
Dustin Pedroia 2B
Victor Martinez C
Kevin Youkilis 1B
David Ortiz DH
Adrian Beltre 3B
J.D. Drew RF
Mike Cameron CF
Marco Scutaro SS

RHP John Lackey (11-8, 3.83 in 2009)
Career vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 7:10 p.m./YES Network and ESPN2

WEATHER: A few clouds in the sky, but this has been another beautiful day in Boston. It’s hard to believe, but Tampa will have a hard time beating the weather we’ve had here the past few days.

UMPIRES: HP Paul Schrieber, 1B Rob Drake, 2B Joe West, 3B Angel Hernandez

COMING UP SEVENS: The Yankees won last night after being tied at the end of the seventh inning. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Yankees have won 16 straight games in which they were tied after seven innings. That ties the 1906 Giants for the longest streak of winning such games.

ACE IN THE HOLE: Alfredo Aceves improved to 11-1 with last night’s win. That’s the best start by a Yankee — at the start of his career or with prior decisions with other teams — since Bob Wickman from 1992 to 1993. Wickman went 14-1 when he started his career with the Yankees. The last pitcher to start his career 11-1 (with any team) was Matt Capps. Jesse Crain was the last to start his career 12-1.

CANO CAN: Robinson Cano has a hit in each of his past 13 games against the Red Sox. It’s the Yankees longest individual streak against Boston since Derek Jeter had a hit in 18 straight from 2007 to 2008.

UPDATE, 7:24 p.m.: Not sure anyone is going to be happy about Andy Pettitte being knocked to the ground on his first play of the season, but it’s hard to fault Ellsbury for that play.

UPDATE, 8:08 p.m.: Nice little play by Teixeira. Nothing too fancy, but an in between ball like that could get tricky.

UPDATE, 8:19 p.m.: The AP just moved a picture of the first-inning play at first base.

UPDATE, 8:49 p.m.: As you probably imagine, the crowd here at Fenway was not psyched when Youkilis was hit by a Pettitte fastball. The TV broadcast here in the Boston, the one showing in the press box, immediately cut to Joba Chamberlain. Of course.

UPDATE, 8:57 p.m.: Both benches have been warned, but no one seems too upset about it. Jeter’s having some fun with it, giving Youkilis a shove at first base.

UPDATE, 9:10 p.m.: Tomorrow’s headline: Mark Teixeira avoids being impaled; completes double play.

UPDATE, 9:15 p.m.: John Lackey is out after six scoreless innings. Welcome to the rivalry, John. Pettitte has been terrific, but he’s at 94 pitches and there’s action in the Yankees bullpen. That AP shot is Pettitte’s reaction after the Ortiz strikeout in the fifth.

UPDATE, 9:28 p.m.: Swisher didn’t draw a walk and he didn’t hit a home run, but he got the hit the Yankees needed. Of course, it helped that Drew’s throw was up the line and Martinez couldn’t hold onto it.

UPDATE, 9:29 p.m.: Chan Ho Park in for the Yankees.

UPDATE, 9:48 p.m.: Nice work by Park in these two innings. Here comes Papelbon.

UPDATE, 10:07 p.m.: Park survived a tightrope of hard-hit balls that inning, but he got out of it with the game still tied. Three scoreless from Park. That’s big.

UPDATE, 10:10 p.m.: That was pretty Grandish.

There are two Yankees relievers whose availability was questionable tonight.

Chan Ho Park sat out last night’s game because he had been sick the day before, but he’s available again tonight.

“That little flu has been kind of a two-day thing for everybody,” Joe Girardi said.

Joba Chamberlain is less likely to get in tonight’s game. Chamberlain threw more than 30 pitches in Sunday’s season opener, then he pitched again last night.

“I’m not afraid for him to go back-to-back at this point,” Girardi said. “But I’m not real comfortable – depending on how he feels – with him going three out of four days yet.”

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• The Yankees have held David Ortiz hitless through the first two games. “We have a plan of how to approach him,” Girardi said. “That doesn’t always mean you’re going to be able to execute every pitch. So far, we’ve done a pretty good job against him.”

• Girardi as able to pinpoint the exact day Robinson Cano became a better No. 5 hitter: “It really started with about two weeks to go in spring training,” Girardi said. “His approach got a lot better. It was after the game that he faced Brett Myers in Kissimmee, he’s done everything that you’d want from a fifth hitter… The patience. Getting your pitch. If they’re not going to throw you a pitch to hit, you might have to let the next guy do it. He’s been extremely selective.”

• Cool Girardi quote about Cano: “Robbie Cano is a guy I always thought wanted to be great.”

• Despite his strange spring training when he was rained out over and over again, Andy Pettitte will be on pretty much the same sort of pitch limit as the other Yankees starters. Girardi said Pettitte would be able to throw about 100 pitches. “I really liked what I saw from Andy in the games he pitched,” Girardi said. “I thought he threw the ball really well.”

• The Yankees made their claim of Chad Huffman official. He’s been optioned to Triple-A. Baseball America ranked Huffman as the Padres’ No. 21 prospect. The magazine acknowledged his power but said he’s pull-happy and has trouble with offspeed pitches. He was labeled an “adequate” defender. “He looks like a future regular on his best days and a part-timer on his worst,” BA wrote.

• Huffman played football at Texas Christian: “I know he can throw a football,” Girardi said. “But we have to see about a baseball.”

That’s an Associated Press photo taken after the last out on Tuesday.

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

LHP Andy Pettitte

RED SOX
Jacoby Ellsbury LF
Dustin Pedroia 2B
Victor Martinez C
Kevin Youkilis 1B
David Ortiz DH
Adrian Beltre 3B
J.D. Drew RF
Mike Cameron CF
Marco Scutaro SS

RHP John Lackey

• Confirmed the Buster Olney report that the Yankees claimed 1B/OF Chad Huffman off waivers from the Padres. Huffman has options remaining and will be sent to Triple-A.

The first question to Andy Pettitte yesterday was – naturally – what the weather looked like for tonight’s game at Fenway Park. Pettitte, who pretty much had his entire spring training washed out by rain, smiled broadly and reported that he’d actually just looked at the forecast and – in a shocker – saw that it was supposed to be sunny and warm.

Sitting in my hotel room, I can report that it is, in fact, a lovely day out so it seems likely that the veteran lefty will have pristine conditions as he begins his 16th season in the majors. At this point, Pettitte has pitched essentially the equivalent of a whole season just against the Red Sox, and he’ll take a 18-9, 3.74 ERA against Boston to the mound tonight.

As in years past, there have already been rumblings that this will be Pettitte’s last season. I wouldn’t be surprised, but I’ll also believe it when I see it. Either way, it’s amazing what he’s been able to do over the past few years and it’ll be intriguing to see if he can continue to succeed for one more go-around. If you get a chance, check out Pettitte’s audio; there’s some interesting stuff, particularly when he’s asked if he still gets excited for his first start.

Not wanting to seem jaded, Pettitte hesitated, hemmed and hawed, and then finally, said, “I guess I need to say ‘yeah.’”

Honest Andy. Take a listen below.

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After Tuesday’s game, A.J. Burnett made a point of pulling Jorge Posada aside and thanking him for blocking some early curveballs that were thrown in the dirt.

“When he’s blocking 57 footers early, you keep throwing them, absolutely,” Burnett said.

The two worked well together on Tuesday, and Burnett’s curveball became a better pitch later in the game.

“Really going out of his way to make me feel good, I appreciate that,” Posada said.

Clearly the Yankees felt there was some sort of disconnect last season. At the very least, they preferred Burnett’s connection to Jose Molina. It never seemed to be a personal issue, but Burnett and Posada have worked to get past whatever on-field communication issues might have existed a year ago.

“I was so at ease out there, just working with him,” Burnett said

Here’s Burnett’s postgame audio.

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Here’s the Posada audio. He started talking about Burnett but went into Joba Chamberlain’s outing and the Boston pitching staff.

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We all know how long it took for the Yankees to get their first win over the Red Sox last year, and this year they took a considerably shorter amount of time. Chad has the story from last night’s victory at Fenway Park.

In my column, I looked at the Yankees middle relief situation. Mariano Rivera is still the given, but the Yankees aren’t committing to much beyond that even though last night’s formula is probably a pretty good indicator of the ideal procession.

Marcus Thames got his first start of the season against lefty Jon Lester, and it will be interesting to see just how Joe Girardi utilizes his available outfielders. Last night, Thames played in place of Brett Gardner but Girardi said that may not be the case every time. The notebook also has items on A.J. Burnett and Jorge Posada, Joba Chamberlain and a nice record for the “core four.”

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Beautiful day here in Boston with unseasonably warm temps. Should be a great night for the series finale. Keep checking back all day for updates.

It’s pretty rare to see professional athletes get excited to meet someone, but Joba Chamberlain was positively giddy when he noticed John Smoltz (now with MLB Network) in the Yankees clubhouse earlier today. Chamberlain (like many of us) grew up seeing a lot of the Braves on cable and tried to act natural as Smoltz talked to several other players. “I tried not to be star-struck,” Chamberlain said. “I don’t get starstruck very much.”

Finally, Chamberlain went up and talked to Smoltz, and the two ended up having a long conversation about how a pitcher can adapt to different roles. Smoltz was an All-Star as both a starter and reliever, and as Chamberlain said, “If I don’t take (something) from what that guy told me, I probably won’t listen to anybody.”

Among the pieces of advice Smoltz offered was that Chamberlain should try to treat relieving as though it was a “one-inning game.” Certainly it inspired Chamberlain tonight, as he looked absolutely devastating in striking out Adrian Beltre and J.D. Drew. The fastball to get Beltre hit 96 mph, and he used a nasty slider to get the last two strikes on Drew.

“It’s just getting back in the routine, getting comfortable with what I do down there,” he said. “When it’s all clicking, it feels right.”

Joe Girardi wouldn’t commit to sticking with Chamberlain in the eighth – he actually said he had considered leaving Dave Robertson in for the whole inning if things had gone differently – but it seems obvious that’s the direction the Yankees would like to ultimately go. “I’ll say this,” Girardi said. “We liked what we saw.”

Here’s Chamberlain talking earlier in the postgame session with the media (the Smoltz stuff came later, after the recording ended).

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Courtesy of Chad, here are some other post-game clubhouse notes:

• As he did all spring, A.J. Burnett went out of his way to give credit to catcher Jorge Posada. He said Posada’s ability to block his curveball early in the game gave him the confidence to keep throwing it late. “My first couple of hooks aren’t exactly 60 footers,” Burnett said. “They’re more like 56 and a half.”

• Interesting story from Posada: “When (Mike Cameron) got hit by a curveball, I went out there and told him, get on top of the curveball a little bit more and he did it right away,” Posada said. “And his curveball then was biting the way it should, and it kind of helped him with everything else. The location of his pitches were a lot better after that.”

• Interesting quote from Nick Swisher: “I’m really just taking this, for the first time in my career, like a job. Show up, I do the work, make sure I’m doing everything the right way and it’s really working out. Maybe I’m just a little more focused.”

• Joe Girardi said he didn’t want to use Chan Ho Park because Park felt a little sick yesterday.

• Girardi said it was possible that Dave Robertson would have stayed in for all of the eighth inning had he not allowed that lead-off single, but Girardi didn’t give a firm comment on his plans for the eighth. My own opinion: Chamberlain looked pretty good.

• Nick Johnson has yet to get a hit for the Yankees, but he’s been on base five of the 10 times he’s gone to the plate. He’s walked four times and been hit by a pitch. “That’s why we went and got this guy,” Girardi said.

• The Yankees seemed universally pleased with the way Burnett pitched. Burnett said he would only take away the two mistakes to Victor Martinez. “I thought the only pitches that got away from me were the two to the same hitter,” he said. “The results weren’t what I wanted, but I felt like myself tonight.”

• Girardi on what he’s seen out of Robinson Cano’s two games as the No. 5 hitter: “His approach has been outstanding.”

Great job from everyone tonight. Make sure to check back throughout the day tomorrow as we’ll be all over the last game of the series.

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

RHP A.J. Burnett (13-9, 4.04 in 2009)
Career vs. Red Sox

RED SOX
Jacoby Ellsbury LF
Dustin Pedroia 2B
Victor Martinez C
Kevin Youkilis 1B
David Ortiz DH
Adrian Beltre 3B
J.D. Drew RF
Mike Cameron CF
Marco Scutaro SS

LHP Jon Lester (15-8, 3.41 in 2009)
Career vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 7:10 p.m./YES Network and MLB Network

WEATHER: Overcast, but the rain has held off so far and there’s only a 20 percent chance of rain during the game. Temperatures are in the 50s.

UMPIRES: HP Angel Hernandez, 1B Paul Schrieber, 2B Rob Drake, 3B Joe West

SOMETHING SORT OF GRANDISH: Curtis Granderson was the first player to hit a home run on opening day in his first play appearance as a Yankee since Jim Wynn in 1977 against Milwaukee… He joined Andy Phillips, Graig Nettles and John Miller as the only players to homer at Fenway Park in their first at-bats with the Yankees.

SOMETHING TO WATCH: The YES broadcast of Opening Day was the second-highest-rated and second-most-watched regular season living sporting even ever on a New York regional sports network. The broadcast did a 10.01 average household rating with 1,085,000 average total viewers. Opening Day in 2005 drew an 11.64 average household rating.

SOMETHING SPECIAL: According to the Elias Sports Bureau, when Mariano Rivera makes his first appearance of the season, he, Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada will become the first trio of teammates in MLB, NFL, NBA and NHL history to play together in 16 straight seasons. Jim Gantner, Robin Yount and Paul Molitor played together for 15 seasons with the Brewers. Two different trios of Yankees played together for 13 straight seasons, Bill Dickey, Lefty Gomez and Red Ruffing from 1930 to 1942, and Whitey Ford, Elston Howard and Mickey Mantle from 1955 to 1967.

UPDATE, 7:37 p.m.: A ball drops in front of the Yankees outfield, then a base runners gets an extra base on a throwing error. That’s led to a run here in the first inning. A sac fly has given the Red Sox a 1-0 lead.

UPDATE, 7:50 p.m.: Obviously you don’t want to see him lose his patience or his power, but if Nick Swisher can become more than a home run-walk-strikeout guy, he could really become an elite hitter. His RBI double just tied the game at 1.

UPDATE, 7:51 p.m.: Sam here. Everyone deserves a fair shake and Granderson will have plenty of time to show he’s improved against lefties, but that was an ugly (half) swing on strike three right there.

UPDATE, 8:30 p.m.: We’re back after some technical difficulties logging into the blog. If he could take back that home run to Victor Martinez, A.J. Burnett would have a pretty good game going. Instead, he’s down by two. Lester getting out of that second inning jam was massive.

UPDATE, 9:04 p.m.: All sorts of login problems tonight, but the Yankees have finally broken through against Lester. He was walking a fine line and the Yankees finally got to him with three runs in the fifth.

UPDATE, 9:28 p.m.: Gardner pinch hitting with a runner at second and no outs in a tied game… I was expecting bunt, but a grounder to the right side does the same thing. Of course, when Granderson then lines out hard to first, the impact is minimized.

UPDATE, 10:06 p.m.: Nice work by Alfredo Aceves tonight. So far he’s kept it tied, and he’s given this lead-off double by Posada a chance to make a real difference.

UPDATE, 10:16 p.m.: Just a standard non-runner-advancing single to left.

UPDATE, 10:23 p.m.: Ground-rule double, non-runner-advancing single, throwing error and a bases loaded walk. What a weird inning to give the Yankees the lead, but I’m sure they’ll take it.

UPDATE, 10:27 p.m.: Dave Robertson in to pitch the eighth. Interesting.

UPDATE, 10:32 p.m.: When Robertson came into the game, there was no one else getting loose in the bullpen. After a lead-off single, though, Marte is coming in to face David Ortiz. Chamberlain is getting loose.

UPDATE, 10:35 p.m.: Oh jeez. After yesterday’s wildness, a failed pickoff attempt is not at all what you want to see from Marte.

UPDATE, 10:44 p.m.: There’s the uptick in velocity everyone’s been looking for. Chamberlain wasn’t sitting at 98, but the NESN feed in the press box had him hitting 96 mph, and he struck out Beltre and Drew to strand the tying run. That’s pretty big-time work from Joba.

UPDATE, 10:54 p.m.: Randy Winn heading out to right field.