The LoHud Yankees Blog

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

RHP Javier Vazquez (0-2, 9.82)
Career vs. Athletics

ATHLETICS
Rajai Davis CF
Daric Barton 1B
Ryan Sweeney RF
Kevin Kouzmanoff 3B
Kurt Suzuki C
Eric Chavez DH
Mark Ellis 2B
Travis Buck LF
Cliff Pennington SS

LHP Gio Gonzalez (1-0, 3.38)
Career vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 10:05 p.m./YES Network

UMPIRES: HP Ed Rapuano, 1B Tom Hallion, 2B Ron Kulpa, 3B Lance Barksdale

WEATHER: A few clouds in the distance. According to the forecast there’s a 40 percent chance of rain, but I’d be surprised to see it start raining at this point. Temperatures in the low 50s.

Not to get into too much Inside Baseball Writing, but West Coast night games are brutal. Far too much newspaper stuff to write in far too little time. The blog had to move to the back burner for a while, and that’s why there were no pregame notes. Instead, I’ll include them here in the game post.

PARK ON THE MEND: Girardi wasn’t positive of Chan Ho Park’s schedule, but he said he expected Park to play catch at some point today. Obviously Derek Jeter is back in the lineup, so that situation seems to cleared up.

GARDNER IN THE LINEUP: Brett Gardner has faced A’s starter Gio Gonzalez quite a bit in his career, including several times in the minor leagues, but Girardi said he wasn’t aware of Gardner’s minor league success against Gonzalez. Instead, Gardner is in the lineup because of his success this weekend and because left-handed hitters have traditionally had success against Gonzalez.

RING CEREMONY: Before the game — around 5:30 local time — the Yankees called Chad Gaudin and Edwar Ramirez to the first base sideline, where the Yankees were stretching. In a rush, the Yankees surrounded their former teammates and presented both of them with their World Series rings. There was a lot of yelling, and a lot of Yankees taking off their hats to smack around the now-Oakland pitchers. Pretty cool stuff. Gaudin and Ramirez didn’t know what was happening until the rings were given.

SWISHER SLUMPING: Nick Swisher is hitless in his past 16 at-bats, and he went 1-for-19 during the previous home stand, but the Yankees are sticking with him in right field and have actually been more happy than disappointed with his performance. “I bet in the last four games, Swish has hit 10 line drives,” Girardi said. “And he has nothing to show for it.”

UPDATE, 10:07 p.m.: Thanks to everyone who’s sticking with us through the night game. Here’s a pre-game AP shot of Gaudin and Ramirez getting their rings.

UPDATE, 10:17 p.m.: Mark Teixeira with a base hit. It’s amazing that it’s become legitimate news when Teixeira gets a hit. I’m sure he’ll finish the year with his usual numbers, but right now the Yankees are just waiting for him to snap out of this funk.

UPDATE, 10:23 p.m.: Here’s the Girardi pregame audio.

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UPDATE, 10:26 p.m.: That was ruled a hit for Posada. I’ll be surprised if that isn’t reversed at some point.

UPDATE, 10:46 p.m.: Vazquez stranded a runner in the first inning, but now he has the lead-off man on base here in the second. At least the Yankees have given him a 3-0 lead.

UPDATE, 10:58 p.m.: Nothing like a line drive back at your face to get you out of a jam.

UPDATE, 11:39 p.m.: I wonder if getting out of that second-inning jam could have turned some things around for Vazquez. He’s thrown two scoreless since then and it’s still a 3-0 Yankees lead in the fifth.

UPDATE, 11:40 p.m.: Random side note, A’s catcher Kurt Suzuki is great friends with Yankees minor league catcher P.J. Pilittere.

UPDATE, 11:43 p.m.: Rodriguez crushed that ball. Estimated distance, 7,000 feet. That’s according to the writer sitting next to me.

UPDATE, 11:52 p.m.: There’s a run for the A’s on Travis Buck’s first homer of the year. It’s now 6-1.

UPDATE, 12:01 a.m.: That’s the first time Vazquez has allowed just one run in an inning this year. Good job finally limiting the damage.

UPDATE, 12:11 a.m.: Vazquez is back out there for the sixth with Boone Logan getting loose in the bullpen.

UPDATE, 12:16 a.m.: Not sure what took so long for Ed Rapuado to decide he was OK to stay behind the plate, but what matters more is the bloop single that just fell in the middle of Jeter, Cano and Granderson.

UPDATE, 12:18 a.m.: And there’s a two-run homer that will chase Vazquez from the game. Here comes Logan. For Vazquez, 107 pitches, 72 strikes. He went 5.1 innings, allowing three runs.

UPDATE, 12:22 a.m.: When it’s past midnight on the East Coast, all you’re hoping for is a delay so the umpires can put someone new behind the plate. Looks like Rapuano is really hurting after that foul tip earlier this inning. He just walked off the field. Now all of the Yankees are also off the field. I’m sure this is exactly how Logan imagined his first Yankees appearance would go.

UPDATE, 12:32 a.m.: Second base ump Ron Kulpa is moving behind the plate. They’ll finish this game with just three umpires.

UPDATE, 12:40 a.m.: Hey look, it’s Edwar!

UPDATE, 12:52 a.m.: The Yankees loaded the bases with one out against their old teammate, but settled for just one run. It’s now 7-3.

UPDATE, 1:14 a.m.: Great job by Joba to strand the bases loaded. And not a bad debut for Boone Logan. Things got a little dicey with the infield single and two-out walk, but he was good up to that point.

UPDATE, 1:17 a.m.: In case you’re wondering, it definitely feels more like 1:17 a.m. than 10:17 p.m.

UPDATE, 1:23 a.m.: Not sure what YES has, but the TV station out here had Joba at 96 mph on that last fastball.

Even with a lefty starter for the A’s, it’s the Yankees regulars tonight in Oakland, with the only change being Swisher and Granderson flip flopped in the batting order.

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

RHP Javier Vazquez

While I was out to lunch with Bryan Hoch and Pete Caldera, Major League Baseball announced the suspension of Cincinnati starter Edinson Volquez for testing position for a performance-enhancing substance. The suspension came after a morning and afternoon of rumors and speculation after news got out that someone was about to be suspended, and that the player in question would be a pretty big name. Apparently there were some rumors that it was either a Yankees or Mets player.

I’m leaving for the ballpark in about 20 minutes, but here’s the whole MLB press release, all two sentences of it.

The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball announced today that Cincinnati Reds pitcher Edinson Volquez has received a 50-game suspension for testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance in violation of Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.

The suspension of Volquez will be effective tomorrow, April 21, 2010.

Not so long ago, CC Sabathia helped to rebuild North Vallejo Little League’s Thurmon Field through his PitCCh In Foundation. Sabathia returned to the field on Monday to throw the ceremonial first pitch at the first night game at the field. Pregame festivities prior to the game included a 20-year reunion of the 1990 NVLL All-Star Team, which I have to assume was Sabathia’s team, but I’m really not sure.

“This game represents the achievement of another major milestone in the history of this baseball stadium,” Sabathia said in a statement released by the Yankees. “It certainly was a change of pace for me to be able to take in a night game in the middle of the Major League Baseball season and not have to be in uniform.”

According to a team press release: Efforts to revitalize the field culminated in late January with the opening of a new field that includes new irrigation; new infield dirt; new bases, pitching rubber and home plate; new dugouts; a black vinyl coated chain link fence, and 37,000 square feet of new sod. Adjoining the field is a new snack bar.

The reconstruction of the field was just the latest in a series of projects by the CC Sabathia PitCCh In Foundation, a 501 (c)(3) national non profit founded by CC and his wife Amber. The mission of the PitCCh In Foundation is to enrich the lives of inner city youth by working to raise self-esteem through education and athletic activities.

The photo was passed along by the Yankees.

It’s 9 a.m. here in California, which mean’s we’re 10 hours away from Javier Vazquez’s attempt to get his season back on track against the Oakland A’s. As Josh wrote in today’s paper, Vazquez is working through some mechanical issues.

“It’s easily correctable,” Vazquez said. “This is something I’ve done pretty much all of my career. That’s my key. Sometimes I get away from it and then have to remind myself to get back to it.”

At 9-5, Oakland has been one of the better teams in the league the first two weeks. Like the Yankees, they won series against their division rivals — the Mariners and Angels — and they’ve since taken three of four against the lowly Orioles.

Despite how well they’re playing, there is good news for Vazquez.

Mark Ellis is a career .188 hitter against him. Eric Chavez, a career .100 hitter. Kurt Suzuki, .111. Kevin Kouzmanoff, .167.

Those are the only A’s with more than five career at-bats against Vazquez, and so far none of them has had consistent success. At this point, I’m sure Vazquez will take all of the help he can get.

Associated Press photo

Joe Girardi isn’t prone to overstatement. Take Sunday, when he disagreed with the notion that Nick Johnson had been too passive, saying he hoped Johnson kept relying on what returned him to the Yankees in the first place, his renowned selectivity.

So it was at least a little noteworthy yesterday when even Girardi said it is time for Javier Vazquez to produce.

“You want to see him get a win under his belt and start pitching like he’s accustomed to doing,” Girardi said. “So, yes, it is somewhat of a big start.”

Vazquez is the biggest worry at the moment for the Yankees, which is a nice luxury to have. He expects to alleviate those concerns soon, and said that a common mechanical issue has been the main culprit in his poor start (0-2, 9.82 ERA).

Vazquez said he has dragged his arm behind his body, causing his ball to sail rather than sink. “That’s my key,” he said.

The subject of his pedestrian velocity was brought up as well. Vazquez’s fastball has hovered around 89-90. He said it will normally reside in the 91-93 range, and maybe even top out at 94.

His explanation was that he’s still building arm strength. The difference before the 2009 season was he pitched winter ball and competed for team Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic.

“My arm was in better shape last April,” he said. “But this is something that happened to me in the past, then all of a sudden you start throwing hard.”

There’s a lot more with Vazquez from the audio file below. He discusses why he didn’t think the escape from the Bronx would help him pitch better. He also touched on how Yankee fans booed Derek Jeter when he played here in 2004, so boos are to be expected until he pitches better.

I’ll have a story on Vazquez in tomorrow’s paper and on the web. For now, here’s more from Javy:

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After roughly six hours in the air with Sweeny Murti — I finally watched and loved Pirate Radio and Crazy Heart on the plane — I have successfully arrived in San Francisco, where I believe every Yankees beat writer is staying for this week’s series against Oakland. I covered an NCAA Tournament in San Jose eight years ago, but that was the closest to the Bay I’d ever been until now.

I’m looking forward to a walk downtown, but first…

The Yankees announced this afternoon that the team will visit the White House on Monday, April 26. Good thing I packed a suit and booked a red eye from L.A. to Baltimore, just in case..

I believe it’s standard for the World Series winner to give the president a jersey with his number on it. President Obama, of course, is the 44th U.S. president, which means the Yankees might have to un-retire Reggie Jackson’s number for the day.

Tuesday
Yankees RHP Javier Vazquez (0-2, 9.82) vs. Oakland LHP Gio Gonzalez (1-0, 3.38)
10:05 p.m.
YES Network

Wednesday
Yankees RHP Phil Hughes (1-0, 3.60) vs. Oakland RHP Ben Sheets (1-0, 2.65)
10:05 p.m.
YES Network

Thursday
Yankees LHP CC Sabathia (2-0, 2.84) vs. Oakland LHP Dallas Braden (2-0, 2.70)
3:35 p.m.
YES Network

The Yankees are a team of superstars, and no matter how many infield singles Brett Gardner has, this will still be a lineup built on Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira. But the bit players have played well.

Francisco Cervelli
You can’t see his face, but you tell by the helmet that’s Cervelli in the picture on the right. He’s on the bench for his work behind the plate — ask CC Sabathia how good he’s been back there — but Cervelli has also provided some offense in his two starts. He has three RBI and a .500 average in six at-bats.

Marcus Thames
After an awful spring training, Thames has shown why the Yankees wanted him on the bench. He’s started against every lefty, and he’s hit .500 with a .600 slugging percentage. He’s not great in the field, but so far his bat has made up for it.

Ramiro Pena
As long as everyone is healthy, Pena is not going to play much this season, and the Yankees will be happy with him as long as he lives up to his defensive reputation. But when he started in place of Jeter on Sunday, Pena came through with a two-run single.

Brett Gardner
Let’s face it, there are plenty who don’t consider Gardner to be a legitimate everyday outfielder, and the Yankees are clearly setting  a platoon standard in left field. Gardner, though, has gotten the most out of his tools. When he swings, he makes contact, and that’s led to more walks than strikeouts. He has a .333 average, a .444 on-base percentage and seven stolen bases.

Randy Winn
Hard to do much when you don’t play. Winn has one start and he went hitless. So far, it seems that his primary role will be as Nick Swisher’s defensive replacement in the late innings. He’s played in eight games and has just six at-bats.

That’s an Associated Press photo.

Two weeks into the season, the Yankees have nine wins. And that’s with their No. 3 hitter batting .114.

Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano, Jorge Posada and Curtis Granderson have been terrific, but the team’s hot start has started with its starters.* Obviously Javier Vazquez is struggling, but CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Andy Pettitte and Phil Hughes are 7-0 through 10 starts. Sabathia, Burnett and Pettitte have sub-3.00 ERAs.

“I came back because I want to help us win another championship,” Pettitte said. “And I feel like we have a special group of guys here.”

Obviously Pettitte was outstanding yesterday, but check out this pitching line for the Yankees starters this home stand: 5-1, 2.17 ERA, 37.2 IP, 27 H , 15 BB, 36 K and a .205 opponents batting average.

* What a terrible sentence, but I couldn’t help myself.

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And that’s obviously an AP photo of Pettitte with Dave Eiland and Joe Girardi.