The LoHud Yankees Blog

Tonight was the first Yankee Stadium pie of the season, but not the first of Marcus Thames’ career. Thames got a pie from Alberto Castillo after he homered in his first major league at-bat back in 2002. “It’s an awesome feeling,” Thames said. “Especially against those guys over there.” As for A.J. Burnett, he always has the whipped cream ready. “I don’t sit at home waiting to pie someone,” Burnett said. “But it puts me in a good mood to do it.”

Associated Press photo

YANKEES (24-13)
Derek Jeter SS
Brett Gardner CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez DH
Robinson Cano 2B
Francisco Cervelli C
Marcus Thames RF
Randy Winn LF
Ramiro Pena 3B

RHP Phil Hughes (5-0, 1.38)
Career vs. Red Sox

RED SOX (19-19)
Marco Scutaro SS
Dustin Pedroia 2B
J.D. Drew RF
Kevin Youkilis 1B
Victor Martinez C
David Ortiz DH
Adrian Beltre 3B
Jeremy Hermida LF
Darnell McDonald CF

RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka (2-1, 6.35)
Career vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 7:05 p.m./YES Network and ESPN

UMPIRES: HP Mark Carlson, 1B Angel Campos, 2B Jeff Nelson, 3B Larry Vanover

WEATHER: Cloudy, but the rain isn’t supposed to start until after game time. Light wind blowing out to left field. Temperatures in the 60s.

TWO OF A KIND: Phil Hughes enters this game as one of two Yankees starters with a 5-0 record (Andy Pettitte is the other). According to the Elias Sports Bureau, this is only the fourth time in 50 years that the Yankees have two starters who are 5-0. It also happened in 2004 (Kevin Brown and Orlando Hernandez), 2003 (Mike Mussina and David Wells) and 1980 (Ron Guidry and Tommy John).

BACK TO SCHOOL: On Sunday, Hillsborough County Florida held a formal dedication of George M. Steinbrenner High School in Lutz, Fla. Steinbrenner attended the ceremony with his wife, Joan and his son’s Hank and Hal. Steinbrenner was recognized for his various charitable efforts in the Tampa area.

AHEAD OF THE GAME: The Yankees are 21-2 when leading after six innings this season. The only such loses were last night and May 1 against Chicago. For whatever it’s worth — and it’s worth nothing — I didn’t cover either of those games. So, clearly I have a lot to do with the Yankees success or failure.

AVERAGE LINEUP: Jorge Posada (.385), Brett Gardner (.370) and Derek Jeter (.365) rank fourth, seventh and 10th in the American League in home batting average (minimum of 40 plate appearances).

UPDATE, 7:10 p.m.: King Nothing now blaring here at Yankee Stadium while Phil Hughes warms up. I’m not a huge Metallica guy — in fact, I would guess Hughes and I have roughly 10 CDs in common — but I do like that song.

UPDATE, 7:23 p.m.: Speaking of music, was that Biggie that played as Jeter’s at-bat music? That seems new. He got a hit, so maybe that’s all the change he needed. By the way, Hughes worked a 1-2-3 top of the first.

UPDATE, 7:30 p.m.: Single. Single. Walk. Bases now loaded for Alex Rodriguez, still no outs.

UPDATE, 7:34 p.m.: Wonder if the Red Sox also have their Friday starter available out of the bullpen? They might need him. Rodriguez just singled in two runs. It’s 2-0 with runners at the corners and no outs.

UPDATE, 7:38 p.m.: I’m out of adjectives for Francisco Cervelli.

UPDATE, 7:41 p.m.: One inning in the books, the Yankees have a 5-0 lead and the Red Sox have already had a reliever getting loose in the bullpen. The big hits belonged to Rodriguez, Cano and Cervelli, plus  sac fly by Thames.

UPDATE, 7:55 p.m.: A wild pitch and a two-out single put the Red Sox on the board. Yankees still lead it, 5-1.

UPDATE, 8:05 p.m.: Two-out walk by Gardner. Two-out RBI double by Teixeira. Yankees now lead it 6-1.

UPDATE, 8:30 p.m.: Pitch count is the only thing working against Hughes right now. He’s already approaching 70 pitches with one out in the fourth. It’s really been the only negative of his season, he’s had a tendency to build the pitch count rather quickly.

UPDATE, 8:37 p.m.: David Ortiz stood and watched that one for a little while. The solo shot was his seventh of the season and it’s now a 6-2 game.

UPDATE, 9:06 p.m.: Boone Logan getting loose.

UPDATE, 9:08 p.m.: These past three hitters seem to have worn down Hughes, with J.D. Drew finally going deep for a three-run home run on a 1-2 pitch. Scutaro singled after a seven-pitch at-bat, Pedroia doubled in a 10-pitch at-bat and Hughes wasn’t able to put Drew away when he had him down 0-2. A nice sliding catch by Mark Teixeira has finally ended the inning. Yankees still leading, but the lead is down to 6-5.

UPDATE, 9:13 p.m.: That was a 28-pitch fifth inning for Hughes. He’s at 104 for the game. I don’t know, but he might be finished at this point.

UPDATE, 9:21 p.m.: So far, Brian Cashman’s best offseason moves have been re-signing Andy Pettitte and getting Marcus Thames on a minor league deal. Thames’ two-out, RBI double has given the Yankees an extra run and a 7-5 lead.

UPDATE, 9:46 p.m.: Hey look, it’s Chan Ho Park. It’s also a 7-6 lead because of a solo homer off Boone Logan. The first inning seems a long, long time ago.

UPDATE, 10:08 p.m.: Pretty stunning turn of events here in the Bronx. The two-run home run by Kevin Youkilis has made this an 8-7 Red Sox lead. Would have never guessed it after the five-run Yankees first.

UPDATE, 10:12 p.m.: Solo home run by Victor Martinez and Chan Ho Park has been booed off the mound in his return from the disabled list. It’s 9-7 Red Sox. Martinez, by the way, positively crushed the ball. Over the Yankees bullpen. Here comes Damaso Marte.

UPDATE, 10:18 p.m.: That’s a 5-3 putout behind the second base bag. The Yankees sent Pena to play behind the bag on the Ortiz shift, leaving Jeter in his usual shortstop position. A big strange, but effective.

UPDATE, 10:36 p.m.: Javy Vazquez is getting loose. Wonder if the Yankees will have to add a pitcher after this game. They’ve really beat up their bullpen, and Girardi was cryptic about who was available in the first place.

UPDATE, 10:40 p.m.: Vazquez is coming in for the final out of the ninth inning. Chamberlain must not be available tonight. And Robertson wouldn’t be available after pitching the past two nights.

UPDATE, 11:00 p.m.: Unreal.

UPDATE, 11:01 p.m.: Now we know what Francisco Cervelli looks like when he’s mad.

For the first time in a long time, Joe Girardi sounded annoyed this afternoon. He didn’t sound mad or upset, just seemed weary from the constant questions about injuries.

“It seems like we find a way to get another one some how,” he said. “When you look at it, Nick Johnson’s is probably the most serious, but what we’ve had to do here is we haven’t put guys on the DL because we didn’t feel that they were going to (be out) two weeks and you really have to manipulate your roster.”

As it stands, the Yankees basically have a two-man bench tonight. Jorge Posada is a game-time decision but not likely to be available, and Nick Swisher can only bat right-handed. Otherwise, the bench consists of Greg Golson and Juan Miranda.

Here’s the latest on four Yankees in question:

Nick Johnson
Headed for surgery, probably tomorrow. After that, it will be another four to six weeks before he can even pick up a bat. “Then you’re talking about substantial time after that,” Girardi said.

Cortisone shots did the trick last year, and Johnson was hopeful they would do the same this season. No such luck. “I thought the shot would do what it did last year,” Johnson said. “It was just stagnant. It didn’t do anything. It didn’t get worse or better.”

Nick Swisher
The slightly strained biceps feels significantly better today than it did over the weekend. Swisher swings just fine right-handed, and a long toss session was pain-free. He plans to take left-handed batting practice tomorrow afternoon and hopes to be in the lineup tomorrow night. “As much as I want to be in there, you’ve got to be smart about this,” he said. “We’ve got a couple of other guys that are banged up. You don’t want to be the next guy on the list.

Jorge Posada
Fouled a ball off his right foot last night. He went for x-rays, which came back negative, but he still has a large knot on his foot and Girardi doesn’t expect Posada to be available even as a pinch hitter tonight. “He can’t play so Cervelli has to catch,” Girardi said.

Curtis Granderson
The Yankees just finished batting practice, so I haven’t had a chance to talk to Granderson, but he looked pretty comfortable taking fly balls in center field. He ranged to his left and right, reacting to the ball off the bat and making throws to second base. It’s purely an outside opinion, but from where I was standing in foul territory, Granderson seemed to be moving better than I would have expected.

• After stretching, Joba Chamberlain stood in the Yankees dugout using a photographer’s camera to take some pictures. Not something you see every day.

• Girardi said he would rather not have ot use Javier Vazquez as a long man this week, but he’ll be available just in case.

• Chan Ho Park is active. Ivan Nova has been optioned back to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

• I have to assume this is because Girardi doesn’t want to tip his hand against the Red Sox: “I’m not going to get into exactly who’s available in our bullpen,” he said.

• Girardi on the balance between winning a game right now and risking the long-term health of his players: “I would never want a manager to jeopardize my health,” he said. “It would hurt me deeply inside if I hurt someone or jeopardized their career. I won’t do that.”

• Boston’s lineup:

Marco Scutaro SS
Dustin Pedroia 2B
J.D. Drew RF
Kevin Youkilis 1B
Victor Martinez C
David Ortiz DH
Adrian Beltre 3B
Jeremy Hermida LF
Darnell McDonald CF

That’s an AP shot of Johnson with Jeter.

Nick Johnson has confirmed that he will have wrist surgery, most likely tomorrow. He’s expected to miss four to six weeks.

“This is not a quick fix,” Joe Girardi said. “This is going to be a while.”

Jorge Posada is also banged up. He’s out after taking a foul tip off his right foot. Girardi called him day-to-day, and he’s not available today.

Derek Jeter SS
Brett Gardner CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez DH
Robinson Cano 2B
Francisco Cervelli C
Marcus Thames RF
Randy Winn LF
Ramiro Pena 3B

RHP Phil Hughes

Ivan Nova is no longer listed as an available pitcher. Looks like he was sent down for Chan Ho Park.

Sam called me on my way to the stadium saying he’d heard a rumor that the Yankees had already scheduled Nick Johnson’s surgery. By the time I got to the park and settled in for a phone call to Brian Cashman, Ken Rosenthal was reporting that Johnson’s surgery will be tomorrow and likely keep him out of the mix until July.

Still waiting for official confirmation from the Yankees, but where there’s smoke, there’s usually an extended DL stint for the Yankees designated hitter.

Juan Miranda has been hitting in Triple-A for two years now, waiting for an opportunity to prove himself at the big league level. This seems to be that opportunity. He’s in New York now and could get a long look.

This weekend, the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum will hold its annual World Series Weekend to celebrate the Yankees 2009 championship.

The 2009 World Series trophy will be on display, there will be a Yankees-centric tour through the museum, there will be Yankees trivia in the Bullpen Theater and there will be spotlight presentations of Yankees artifacts.

The Hall is open from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., and the World Series Weekend events will take place Saturday and Sunday. The Autumn Glory exhibit has been open all season including various artifacts from the 2009 World Series.

The picture is from the Hall of Fame’s website showing of some of the World Series artifacts on display in the museum.

Tonight
Phil Hughes (5-0, 1.38)
vs.
Daisuke Matsuzaka, RHP (2-1, 6.35)
7:05 p.m., YES Network and ESPN

Tuesday
LHP CC Sabathia (4-2, 3.71)
vs.
RHP Josh Beckett (1-1, 7.46)
7:05 p.m., MY9

Moves on the way

The Yankees are expected to activate Chan Ho Park before tonight’s game. Park has been out since April 14 because of a strained hamstring, but he’s made two rehab appearances in the past week. Starter Javier Vazquez will also be temporarily available out of the bullpen if the Yankees need a long man.

For Boston, Mike Cameron seems close to a return, but our good friend Pete Abraham reported yesterday that it’s unlikely Cameron will return for the series at Yankee Stadium. Dustin Pedroia was out of the Red Sox lineup yesterday, but he’ll likely be back tonight.

Associated Press photo

The Twins finally got a win at Yankee Stadium last night, getting  a Jason Kubel grand slam off closer Mariano Rivera. Brian Heyman has the story of a most unexpected Yankees loss.

Tonight the Yankees begin a two-game series against the Red Sox, and Javier Vazquez will be available out of the bullpen. Brian’s notebook also has some information on the rotation and the latest on Curtis Granderson’s groin injury.

My day was mostly about finally buying groceries and finally cleaning my apartment, but I did manage to catch several innings of today’s game, including every pitch from the bullpen.

Sergio Mitre gave the Yankees a quality start and David Robertston went a long way toward redeeming himself — that was a big pitch to Morneau — but Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera proved to be human afterall.

The past 24 hours haven’t been much better for former Yankees relievers.

• Edwar Ramirez was designated for assignment by the Athletics.

• Chad Gaudin was also designated by Oakland.

• Brian Bruney was designated for assignment by the Nationals.

Hard to see any of those three fitting for the Yankees.

Some good news from within the organization, Josh Norris is reporting that Hector Noesi has been promoted to Double-A. Noesi was added to the 40-man roster this winter. He had 53 three strikeouts and only six walks with High-A Tampa.