The LoHud Yankees Blog

YANKEES (22-12)
Derek Jeter SS
Brett Gardner CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Marcus Thames LF
Juan Miranda DH
Francisco Cervelli C

RHP A.J. Burnett (4-1, 3.40)
Career vs. Twins

TWINS (22-12)
Denard Span CF
Orlando Hudson 2B
Joe Mauer C
Justin Morneau 1B
Michael Cuddyer RF
Jason Kubel DH
Delmon Young LF
Alexi Casilla SS
Nick Punto 3B

RHP Scott Baker (4-2, 4.57)
Career vs. Yankees

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

UMPIRES: HP Alfonso Marquez, 1B Tim Timmons, 2B Tim Tschida, 3B Bob Davidson

WEATHER: It’s cloudy in the Bronx, but temperatures in the 60s and 70s are going to feel pretty good after some chilly days in Detroit. Very slight chance of rain.

PUT ME IN COACH: Joe Girardi said he wanted to put Marcus Thames in the lineup because of his past success against Scott Baker, and that’s no joke. Thames is a career .308/.333/.769 hitter in 26 at-bats against the Twins starter. He’s homered four times against him.

DOWN UNDER: Newly claimed right-handed reliever Shane Lindsay was born in Melbourne, Australia. The Yankees have had two Aussie-born players: LHP Graeme Lloyd and RHP Mark Hutton.

AROUND THE MOUND: As part of Orlando Hudson’s “Around the Mound Tour,” CC Sabathia and Hudson spoke to approximately 30 kids on the field at 3:30 this afternoon, and the Yankees have donated tickets to the kids for tonight’s game. Hudson’s initiative is aimed at getting more African-American kids involved in baseball.

UPDATE, 7:35 p.m.: Can’t help wondering now that A.J. Burnett has walked in a run and still has the bases loaded with no outs in the second inning… Do the Yankees even have a long reliever today? Surely Ivan Nova isn’t available, Alfredo Aceves is hurt, Chan Ho Park is rehabbing and Sergio Mitre is starting on Sunday.

UPDATE, 7:37 p.m.: Or maybe it’s not an issue at all. Burnett fields a comebacker to start a 1-2-3 double play. That was huge.

UPDATE, 7:39 p.m.: And Burnett strikes out Hudson to escape with only the one run. That’s an unearned run — because of the A-Rod error — and the Twins have a 1-0 lead that could have been much, much bigger. Nice work by Burnett.

UPDATE, 7:46 p.m.: Chan Ho Park pitched a scoreless inning for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He allowed one hit and struck out two.

UPDATE, 8:04 p.m.: Probably not good news for Nick Swisher. He’s out of the game, replaced by Randy Winn in right field.

UPDATE, 8:18 p.m.: Instead of the normal baseball pictures during their at-bats, the Yankees are showing the players in full suits on the big scoreboard. Is that new? I didn’t cover many games the last home stand, but this is the first I’ve seen it. It’s pretty cool.

UPDATE, 8:19 p.m.: The suit picture seems to be working for Brett Gardner, who just went deep to tie the game at 1 That’s his second homer of the year. I’ve written this before: I know Gardner is a small guy by athlete standards, but he’s pretty jacked compared to random strangers walking down the street. Not a huge surprise that he can get the ball out of here when he gets hold of one.

UPDATE, 8:32 p.m.: The Yankees pulled into the lead on Robinson Cano’s RBI double, but three straight strikeouts left runners stranded at second and third. The bottom of the lineup has really been hurt by those injuries to Granderson and Johnson.

UPDATE, 8:35 p.m.: As expected, Swisher left tonight’s game with a sore left biceps. He went for what the Yankees are calling a precautionary MRI.

UPDATE, 8:41 p.m.: Joe Mauer can hit. That’s all there is to it. His solo homer has tied the game at 2.

UPDATE, 8:50 p.m.: If Brett Gardner were one step slower, the Yankees wouldn’t be leading right now. He hit a two-out single to left, then scored on Mark Teixeira’s double to right, sliding in just ahead of the play at the plate. It’s a 3-2 Yankees advantage, and it’s so far a big game for Gardner.

UPDATE, 8:51 p.m.: Teixeira was just thrown out at the plate on a Rodriguez single to left. To be perfectly honest, though, I thought it was the right decision to send him. Good throw from Young got Teixeira by quite a bit, but at the time, I thought it was a good idea to wave him home.

UPDATE, 9:24 p.m.: Two straight hits off Damaso Marte have scored two runs and given the Twins a 4-3 lead in the seventh. Not sure why Brett Gardner tried to throw home on the Mauer single — letting Mauer go to second — but I’m also not sure it mattered after Morneau doubled to center.

UPDATE, 9:34 p.m.: Derek Jeter goes a week and can hardly buy a hit, then he doubles off the leg of Twins starter Scott Baker. This is a weird, weird game sometimes. The Yankees now have runners at second and third with no outs, and the Twins are going to the bullpen.

UPDATE, 9:41 p.m.: Twins reliever Matt Guerrier is coming into the game to face Alex Rodriguez with the bases loaded, all while the stadium plays a Rodriguez highlight video set to Jay-Z’s On To The Next One. I’m sure that’ s not intimidating.

UPDATE, 9:42 p.m.: That’ll do the trick. Grand slam by by Rodriguez moves him past Frank Robinson on the all-time home run list and gives the Yankees a 7-4 lead.

UPDATE, 9:58 p.m.: The official scorer has ruled that Damaso Marte was ineffective. Joba Chamberlain will be credited with the win if the Yankees hold on.

UPDATE, 9:59 p.m.: There’s the second big league hit of Golson’s career.

UPDATE, 10:01 p.m.: Obviously you don’t like Golson getting picked off there, but that guy can really run. He was nearly safe on that play! Juan Miranda followed with a hard-hit double to center field. It would really help the Yankees if they could get something out of Miranda while Granderson and Johnson are on the DL.

After catching the past two days, Jorge Posada has a precautionary day off tonight. Posada said he feels fine and Joe Girardi indicated no physical problem with his regular catcher, but the Yankees are moving with caution after Posada missed a few games last week because of a calf injury.

“Last time we played him three days he had the calf issue,” Girardi said. “I just thought, until we get completely by this and I know we’re completely by this, with the travel day, I thought I’d go with Cervi.”

Cervelli has played well in Posada’s place, but Girardi gave no indication that Cervelli’s hot bat factored into the decision. Instead, he’s simply making sure his catcher doesn’t fall back onto the growing list of injured Yankees.

Some good injury news comes from Nick Swisher, who’s back in the lineup after missing yesterday’s game because of some tightness in his left biceps. Swisher saw the doctor this morning and everything checked out fine. He’ll be in the lineup against the right-handed Twins starter Scott Baker.

“Obviously we’ve had our share of injuries the last couple of weeks,” Girardi said. But we think we’re getting through them.”

Here’s the Girardi audio, which starts with media relations director Jason Zillo announcing the Shane Lindsay waiver claim.

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• Chan Ho Park will start tonight’s rehab game with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Romulo Sanchez will come into the game in the second inning. Girardi has indicated Park could be back with the big league club on Sunday.

• Sergio Mitre is officially the Yankees scheduled starter for Sunday, but Girardi said he’s still not ready to announce his rotation beyond that game. The Yankees still have to decide how to use Phil Hughes and Javier Vazquez after Wednesday’s doubleheader.

• Curtis Granderson is scheduled to do some stretching and exercises tonight, and then he’ll hit off a tee for the first time since his groin injury. “Possibly some light jogging tomorrow,” Girardi said.

• Because I’m sure the question has been asked already, here’s Girardi on why he’s putting Thames back in left field: “We look at matchups. We look at the type of pitcher that is pitching that day. Thames has had some success against Baker. Those are the type of things that we’re going to look at. He’s not the defensive player that Winn is, but offensively he offers a lot. You can look at certain guys all the time and say defensively let’s throw him out there, but you have to look at the whole package.”

• As mentioned earlier, the Yankees have claimed hard-throwing right-handed reliever Shane Lindsay off waivers from the Rockies. Lindsay will go to the minor league complex before being assigned to a minor league affiliate. Lindsay has 14 walks in 9.1 innings this season, but Baseball America’s scouting report says he can get his fastball up to 98 mph with a quality curveball. “That’s a big tool there, that arm,” Brian Cashman said.

• To make room for Lindsay on the 40-man roster, the Yankees have given Christian Garcia his unconditional release. Loaded with talent, Garcia is out with his second Tommy John surgery. He’s a great, great guy with a lot of talent, but his body has let him down time and time again.

• For what it’s worth, this is the first line about Lindsay in the Baseball American Prospect Handbook: “The biggest question about Lindsay is if he will ever stay healthy enough to capitalize on his raw ability.” Since 2006, Lindsay has had a broken hand and a torn labrum.

The Yankees have claimed RHP Shane Lindsay off waivers from the Rockies. He will report to the minor league complex before being assigned to a minor league team.

To make room on the 40-man roster, injured prospect Christian Garcia was released. Garcia is loaded with talent but hasn’t been able to stay healthy throughout his career.

Sorry for the brief delay. I checked in with Curtis Granderson before posting the lineup. He’s been getting regular treatment and feels good, but he hasn’t run or swing a bat since the injury.

Here’s the lineup.

Derek Jeter SS
Brett Gardner CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Marcus Thames LF
Juan Miranda DH
Francisco Cervelli C

A.J. Burnett RHP

Friday
RHP A.J. Burnett (4-1, 3.40)
vs.
RHP Scott Baker (4-2, 4.57)
7:05 p.m., YES Network

Saturday
LHP Andy Pettitte (4-0, 2.08)
vs.
LHP Francisco Liriano (4-1, 2.36)
1:05 p.m., YES Network

Sunday
TBA
vs.
RHP Nick Blackburn (3-1, 4.76)
1:05 p.m., MY9 and TBS

Sunday’s starter is unknown because of Thursday’s doubleheader. It seems likely that Sergio Mitre will get the start for the Yankees, but Joe Girardi wants to make sure Mitre isn’t needed in relief before announcing him as the scheduled starter.

Associated Press photo

A road trip that started with two huge wins in Boston ended on Thursday with the Yankees being shutout for the second time in as many days. The offense has gone silent this week and will attempt to make some noise again when the team returns home tonight against the Twins.

The Yankees finally made the Juan Miranda call-up before Thursday’s game, adding the left-handed hitter to what had become a right-heavy lineup. The notebook also has items on Nick Swisher, Derek Jeter, Chan Ho Park and Sergio Mitre.

The Yankees might already be back in New York. Sweeny Murti, Erik Boland, Wally Matthews and I will be there in a few hours. Our plane just pulled up to Gate A78, which was a pretty significant relief.

The schedule hasn’t done the Yankees any favors. We’re barely a month into the season and it feels like the team has yet to play at Yankee Stadium. They’ve opened with a lot of road trips, and a lot of tough road trips. Boston and Tampa Bay. Oakland and Anaheim. Boston and Detroit. Those aren’t vacations.

Like Mark Teixeira said this afternoon, 3-4 trips like this one are going to happen in the course of the season. CC Sabathia got knocked around today, Derek Jeter has struggled and the bottom of the Yankees order has taken a hit because of injuries.

But it’s not all bad news. Ten positives to take from the past seven days…

• Joba Chamberlain’s velocity seems to be climbing. He looks like the dominant reliever we remember from two years ago.

• Six starts isn’t a fluke. Phil Hughes is a very, very good major league pitcher.

• Don’t forget about two out of three in Boston. Maybe the Yankees should be more concerned about the Rays at this point, but taking another series at Fenway is a good thing.

• Mark Teixeira’s last three games were bad, but he had four home runs in the three games before that. His bat is starting to turn around after his usual slow start.

• Alex Rodriguez hit this road trip. Getting him and Teixeira in high gear will make up for a lot.

• It’s a small thing, but Romulo Sanchez and Ivan Nova pitched well in their Yankees debuts. Sanchez was sitting in the mid-90s with his fastball in Boston, and Nova got through two scoreless in his first major league game in Detroit.

• Francisco Cervelli.

• Jorge Posada is back, Chan Ho Park is on his way and Andy Pettitte thinks his elbow issue is a non-issue.

• Good work by Javier Vazquez on Wednesday. Joe Girardi said at one point that Vazquez wanted to “join the party” with the rest of the rotation. He got a taste of the party with those seven strong innings against the Tigers.

• Those games seem like a long time ago, but the Yankees did score 24 runs in two days against the Red Sox. And that was without Posada. The lineup has struggled for a few days, but when it’s going good, it’s going really good.

CC Sabathia threw strikes today in Detroit, but they weren’t all quality strikes, and when he left pitches in the middle of the plate, the Tigers took advantage.

“I felt pretty good, actually, Sabathia said. “Just hung a couple of balls. When my pitches were right they were swinging early in the count, getting ground balls. Just one of those days today where I kind of lost it.”

This was the second start in a row in which Sabathia allowed two damaging home runs. It was the back-to-back home runs by Miguel Cabrera and Brennan Boesch that gave the Tigers a 3-0 lead in the fourth. It was a two-seamer in a bad spot to Cabrera and a breaking ball to Boesch.

“Just have to try to make better pitches,” Sabathia said.

Here’s Sabathia talking to the media after the game.

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• Sabathia came out after just 79 pitches, but that was strictly because Joe Girardi decided to get him out of the game. “I just got him out,” Girardi said. “Physically he’s fine.”

• Derek Jeter was hit by a Justin Verlander pitch in the left pinky. “I’m alright,” he said. As if you expected him to say anything else.

• This morning, Joe Girardi indicated that there was no change of either Phil Hughes or Javier Vazquez coming back on short rest to start Sunday’s game. This afternoon he hedged a little bit, saying he doesn’t expect to do that but that he’s not sure what he’ll do for a starter that game. Sergio Mitre seems to be the most logical candidate — it will almost surely be him — but Girardi wants to make sure he doesn’t need Mitre in relief between now and then. He might wait until after Saturday’s game to make an announcement.

• Girardi expects Nick Swisher to be able to play tomorrow. He said Swisher could have hit right-handed tonight but Girardi wanted to stay away from him if he could.

• Like Romulo Sanchez before him, Ivan Nova (that’s him in the picture) made a strong debut, pitching two scoreless innings of long relief for the Yankees.

• Brett Gardner has reached base in 15 straight games.

• The Yankees have been shutout twice in one season by the same team for the first time since 2007 against Baltimore.

• Rookie Brennan Boesch was awfully good this series. He’s hit safely 10 of his past 11 games. “Maybe once a year comes a hitter that really stands out to me, a rookie hitter,” Mark Teixeira said. “And this guy is impressive.”

Associated Press photos

For a second day in a row, the Yankees have been shutout. This time it was Justin Verlander who overwhelmed the Yankees lineup, shutting down more or less the same group that scored 24 runs in a span of two days over the weekend.

Since those two games in Boston, the Yankees have gone 1-4 and scored 15 runs, six of which came in the ninth inning of last night’s second game, an inning in which a Triple-A call-up fell apart.

“We’re just not getting hits,” Derek Jeter said. “Every season it’s the same thing. There are periods when it seems like you get a lot of hits and other times it seems like you can’t find a hit, but that happens every year. If you could figure it out, then nobody would ever struggle.”

Jeter was 0-for-16 before a lead-off single this afternoon. He had been hitless in four straight games, the third longest such stretch of his career. Marcus Thames was 2-for-13 (.153) during the road trip, Robinson Cano was 5-for-24 (.208), Randy Winn was 4-for-16 (.250) and Mark Teixeira was 8-for-30 (.267). Alex Rodriguez hit .346 and Brett Gardner extended his on-base streak to 15 games, but these past few games have been a down time for the lineup as a whole.

“We basically had about the same lineup as we had in Boston when we scored a bunch of runs,” Joe Girardi said. “Obviously (Detroit) did a good job pitching against us, and we didn’t swing well.”

The Yankees hit a little bit of a lull on their previous road trip. The offense struggled for a few days in Oakland and Los Angeles, but they turned it around with 24 runs in their first three games back at Yankee Stadium.

Three and four road trips are going to happen,” Teixeira said. “As long as we keep playing the way that we’re capable of playing and don’t go crazy and pitchers starting walking guys and hitters start swinging at first pitches, popping everything up. We just keep doing our thing, we’re going to win games again.”

Here’s Jeter.

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Maybe a little rain would have been for the best. Instead of rained out the Yankees were shutout in their series finale in Detroit. The last three games of the series were shutouts, and the Yankees were on the losing end of two of them. Take away their six-run ninth inning on Wednesday and they scored only six runs in the series. CC Sabathia labored through six innings and took the 6-0 loss, the Yankees fourth loss in their past five games.

Associated Press photo.
(Not sure why this post didn’t publish as soon as the game was over)