The LoHud Yankees Blog

Here’s the bulk of the press release — minus all the sponsorship stuff — from Major League Baseball.

Reigning American League Most Valuable Player Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins is the top vote-getter in the first A.L. balloting figures for the 81st All-Star Game, to be played on Tuesday, July 13th at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. The first National League All-Star balloting totals will be released tomorrow, Tuesday, May 25th.

Bidding for his fourth Midsummer Classic appearance and his third consecutive start, Mauer leads all American League players with 644,533 votes. He narrowly holds the overall lead over New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, who has collected 639,227 as he vies for his 11th trip to the All-Star Game. Joining the Yankee captain among the A.L. leaders are teammates Mark Teixeira (396,034), who is ahead of Justin Morneau (258,225) of the Twins and Miguel Cabrera (242,039) of the Detroit Tigers at first base, and Robinson Cano (491,188), who is outpacing Dustin Pedroia (279,452) of the Boston Red Sox at second base. The only leading A.L. infielder who does not call Yankee Stadium home is Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Evan Longoria, who is looking to earn his third All-Star berth in his third Major League season, including his second straight election by fans. Longoria’s 541,253 votes rank first at the hot corner, trailed by New York’s Alex Rodriguez (411,655).

The A.L. outfield is led by Seattle Mariners nine-time All-Star Ichiro Suzuki, who has drawn 366,903 votes to top all A.L. outfielders. Last year’s recipient of the Ted Williams All-Star Game Most Valuable Player presented by Chevrolet, Tampa Bay’s Carl Crawford (319,953), is currently in line for his first fan-elected start and his fourth Midsummer Classic nod overall. Rounding out the A.L. outfield is Texas Rangers right fielder Nelson Cruz, whose 307,928 votes put him ahead of teammate Josh Hamilton (265,896). Cruz made his All-Star Game debut last year, while Hamilton has been a fan-elected starter in each of the last two years. Among the many outfielders in contention are Curtis Granderson (264,572) of the Yankees and Torii Hunter (230,036) of the host Angels. The designated hitter slot is currently held by Rangers eight-time All-Star Vladimir Guerrero, who has garnered 374,333 votes. Guerrero’s closest competition is Angels slugger Hideki Matsui, who has received 298,487 votes.

What’s gone right and what’s gone wrong in the bullpen has really been a matter of when you’re asking the question. Right now, Mariano Rivera fits the wrong category, but 10 days ago he was as good as any pitcher in baseball. Joba Chamberlain was great two weeks ago, bad last week, then great again on Friday.

What’s gone right?

More than you might think
During the most recent home stand, the Yankees bullpen seemed to be a complete mess, and the problems centered on Chamberlain and Rivera. But heading into the home stand, the relievers seemed to be  a strong point for the Yankees, and they remain 23-0 when leading after eight innings.

Despite his recent outings, Rivera remains 8-for-9 in save situations with a 2.03 ERA that’s lower than his career ERA of 2.25. Opponents are hitting .170 against him, which would be the third lowest opponents batting average of his career.

Other bright spots: Chamberlain’s velocity has improved; Dave Robertson in the previous week; Sergio Mitre as a long man; Yankee debuts from Ivan Nova and Romulo Sanchez.

What’s gone wrong?

Inconsistency
Frankly, this is true of almost every bullpen in baseball. Relievers as a whole are a hit-or-miss group, and the Yankees have been no different. Even Rivera has proven that he’s human.

The low point of the bullpen might be Chan Ho Park. He has the highest ERA on the team — other than Mark Melancon — and he’s allowed five home runs in six appearances. What seemed to be a good, low-cost pickup in spring training has become an unreliable middle reliever (although six games is hardly enough to pass a final judgment).

Other problem areas: Can’t ignore Rivera’s recent outings; Robertson has been knocked around more than once; Hard to know how often Aceves might go down with that sore back; Melancon and Boone Logan were clearly the top Triple-A relievers when the season started, but neither has done much to prove himself out of the New York bullpen.

For a team as bruised and battered as the Yankees, one thing that’s gone right with the rotation — this is the moment Joe Girardi would begin knocking on wood — has been the health of the team’s starters. Andy Pettitte skipped one start and Javier Vazquez has what seems to be a minor finger issue, but otherwise the group has been able to take the ball consistently.

What’s gone right?

Andy Pettitte and Phil Hughes
As a whole, the rotation has been a bright spot. Four starters have an ERA below 4.00, and even Vazquez has shown significant improvement in his past two starts. At this point, though, the clear bright spots have been the old man and the young kid.

Both Pettitte and Hughes are 5-1 with a sub-3.00 ERA. Pettitte has had only one rocky outing, and Hughes has given the Yankees a chance to win even in his so-so starts. He’s also proven he has the stuff to be a dominant pitcher at this level.

Other bright spots: Hughes and CC Sabathia flirting with no-hitters; A.J. Burnett’s dominant start to the season; Vazquez’s past two starts; Sergio Mitre doing a fine job as a spot starter.

What’s gone wrong?

Javier Vazquez
There has been some unexpected inconsistency from Sabathia, and Bad A.J. has shown up a time or two, but the Yankees top two starters have been good more often than they’ve been bad. The exact opposite can be said for Vazquez.

The Yankees big winter pitching addition was brought in to provide durability and reliability, but he’s instead been skipped twice before finally finding his stride in his past two starts. Good things seem to be happening for Vazquez, but for now he’s the low point of the Yankees rotation.

Other problem areas: Pettitte’s elbow is worth keeping an eye on; Big innings have cost Burnett in two of his past three starts (something that he avoided earlier this season but gave him problems last year).

Last night the Yankees wrapped up the Subway Series with their second straight loss, and today’s off day comes at a time when the team could use a chance to regroup. “This has been one of the tougher weeks on us during the course of the season,” manager Joe Girardi said. Rick Carpiniello has the story.

The notebook has a positive update on Javier Vazquez, plus items on Curtis Granderson and the Yankees bullpen.

Sam talked to CC Sabathia about pitchers in the batter’s box. Vazquez can vouch for the tricky nature of American League pitchers hitting, but most of them — including Sabathia — seem to enjoy it when given the opportunity.

My thanks to Carp and Sam for letting me more or less completely unplug yesterday. Enjoy today’s off day. Here on the blog, we’ll spend the day looking at what’s gone right and what’s gone wrong with the Yankees so far this season.

Usually when you talk to pitchers who have struggled, their post-game quotes have more to do with “not making pitches” or “not having command” or “leaving the ball up in the zone.” In other words, most of the time the quotes have to do with execution.

Tonight, CC Sabathia was more frustrated by his decision-making. Jason Bay touched him for two home runs, a feat made even more surprising by the fact that Sabathia had done well against Bay in the past – coming into the game Bay was just 1-for-9 off him.

So what happened? Among other things, Sabathia said he “just didn’t follow the game plan” against Bay in the Mets four-run second inning, throwing a soft change-up to Bay on a 2-and-1 count which the outfielder hit for just his second home run of the season. Sabathia said he should have gone with something harder in that situation.

Take a listen to CC’s audio, if you can. It’s pretty interesting and not the typical pitcher-speak you often hear after a game like this one.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

• Alex Rodriguez thought he had a one or two pitches to hit against Francisco Rodriguez in the last at-bat of the game. If you look back at the sequence, A-Rod fouled off two pitches nearly straight back, and he bemoaned not doing more with them. “I’d like to have them back,” he said.

Asked about the general struggles of the offense lately, Rodriguez admitted it was tough to take. “Absolutely it’s frustrating,” he said, “because we’re capable of so much more.”

Here’s his audio:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

• Don’t look for too many changes to the Yankees lineup anytime soon. There may be some tweaks, but Joe Girardi – while frustrated with his team’s hitting – said there isn’t much the Yankees can do other than wait for people to start producing. “Right now, we’re struggling a bit,” he said. The Yankees had touched up Johan Santana the last time they saw him, but struggled tonight because Santana’s change-up “was outstanding,” Girardi said. He wasn’t kidding – several Yankees took swings that made them look silly.

Girardi, not surprisingly, didn’t look very happy in his postgame. He described this week as “not what we wanted” and said he thought today’s off-day was coming at a particularly good time. The Yankees will regroup and fly to Minneapolis tomorrow, where they’ll open a series at Target Field on Tuesday.

Here’s Girardi’s audio:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

——

That’s it from the Citi. Thanks to everyone for reading and commenting this weekend. I know it’s late but hopefully you guys can get a listen to the audio — if you do, you’ll hear that the players are right there with you, emotionally. As for tomorrow, we’ll have a few posts and then Chad will be back with the team when they return to action in Minny on Tuesday. Thanks again.

The big thing is Francisco Cervelli admitted he didn’t run hard. It might not have mattered, but he didn’t.

“I made a mistake running the bases. Running hard all the time, that’s what I do all the time. I don’t know what happened. I make a mistake.”

First-base  umpire Derryl Cousins, the crew chief, said the reason the umpires were back on the field so quickly after going to review the replay was that “it wasn’t worth looking at a second time.” He was that certain the ball hit the orange line and did not leave the field or strike the foul pole.

Cervelli managed a smile, noted that Johan Santana was one of his idols growing up, and said he thought the ball he hit was a home run.

“But I think the Citi Field is a little big for me. Next time I see something in the air, I’ve got to run like I always do.”

About the warnings issued to both sides after Sergio Mitre hit Jason Bay in the back with a changeup or a breaking ball, Mets manager Jerry Manuel said he thought it was “a little bit of an overreaction.”

The Yankees finished off an ugly week with an ugly loss, losing the finale of this first edition of the Subway Series, 6-4. The battle of the aces didn’t materialize, as only Johan Santana delivered the good while Sabathia gave up six runs (five earned) in five innings. A ninth-inning rally off the Mets bullpen was too little, too late, and the defeat puts an end to a stretch in which the Yankees went 2-5 against the Red Sox, Rays and Mets.

Check back shortly for reaction from the clubhouse.

YANKEES (26-17)
Derek Jeter SS
Brett Gardner CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Francisco Cervelli C
Kevin Russo LF
CC Sabathia P

LHP CC Sabathia (4-2, 3.43 ERA)
Career vs. Mets

METS (21-23)
Jose Reyes SS
Alex Cora 2B
Jason Bay LF
Ike Davis 1B
David Wright 3B
Angel Pagan CF
Rod Barajas C
Jeff Francoeur RF
Johan Santana P

LHP Johan Santana (3-2, 3.72)
Career vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 8:05 p.m. / ESPN

UMPIRES: HP Marvin Hudson, 1B Derryl Cousins, 2B Jim Wolf, 3B Todd Tichenor

WEATHER: There’s a whole mess of clouds overhead and it’s pretty humid, but the last forecast I saw looked like any rain wouldn’t come in until much later on. I would classify the air here as “thick,” though temperature-wise it’s not bad – right around 65 degrees.

BIG HITTER: Tonight’s starter, CC Sabathia, has the highest career batting average of any Yankees pitcher currently on the roster (.261), and he’s tied with A.J. Burnett and Chan Ho Park for the most home runs (3). Javier Vazquez – who hurt his finger trying to bunt on Friday – has the most at-bats of any pitcher with 503 (he’s hitting .207 lifetime).

FEW FLASHPOINTS: Rod Barajas has been a boon for the Mets so far this season and he’s one of the few Mets to have decent numbers against Sabathia (8-for-19m, 3 HR). Otherwise, the only other player on the Mets this year hitting more than .300 against Sabathia in his career is Mike Jacobs, who was 1-for-3 and was let go when Ike Davis was called up.

SUPER START: Kevin Russo is back in the lineup tonight and has three hits in four at-bats this weekend. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Russo is the first major leaguer to drive in all of his team’s runs in a victory in his first big-league start since 1995.

RIP, JOSE LIMA: There will be a moment of silence tonight in memory of former Met Jose Lima, who died of a heart attack earlier today. Lima was 37.

Got some newspaper writing to do but I’ll have some updates throughout the game so keep checking back.

UPDATE, 8:15 p.m.: That’s 1-for-24 for Teixeira now, who goes down swinging against Santana. Got him with the high cheese.

UPDATE, 8:26 p.m.: Two balls just out of Jeter’s reach – one a grounder up the middle, the other a flare to shallow left – load the bases with one out. Good thing for CC, the only player struggling worse than Teixeira these days is David Wright.

UPDATE, 8:29 p.m.: Yup. Mr. K, David Wright, is somehow late on a slow curveball and goes down swinging. Two outs.

UPDATE, 8:30 p.m.: And CC finishes the Houdini act by getting Pagan to line out to Cano. Nice escape.

UPDATE, 8:41 p.m.: As stated previously, Barajas is one of the few with some success off CC. That’s 9-for-20 now.

UPDATE, 9:25 p.m.: Sabathia is up to 69 pitches through four innings, and just took a comebacker from Cora off his leg. He seems fine. Santana, meanwhile is at a tidy 43 pitches as he mows through the usually-patient Yankees.

UPDATE, 10:07 p.m.: Sorry for the lack of updates but the wireless here at Citi Field is simply atrocious. In other sub-par news, CC Sabathia is out after an ugly outing (5 IP, 10 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 2 BB (1 intentional), 6K and 2 HR) and plate ump Marvin Hudson appeared to give out a ridiculous warning to both teams after Sergio Mitre hit Jason Bay in the back … with a 75 mph curveball. Bottom line: Yanks down 6-0 and on their way to finishing off a nasty 2-5 week against the Red Sox, Rays and Mets.

UPDATE, 10:22 p.m.: Apparently the only thing worse than the wireless in this place is the clarity of the outfield boundaries — in a confusing sequence, Francisco Cervelli hit a ball that appeared to be a home run but was initially ruled to be in play (and a RBI single). Than, after replay, that decision was upheld even though it sure looked like a homer. In the end, it’s now 6-1.

Greetings from Citi Field, where it seems like just about everyone would rather be at home watching the “Lost” finale. Fortunately, I never got into that show – I’m more of a “Modern Family” type guy – so there’s no professional resentment here.

During Joe Girardi’s pre-game with the media he mentioned that Javier Vazquez’s bruised right index finger is improving but that the Yankees would have Vazquez throw his between-starts bullpen on Tuesday in Minnesota; originally, Vazquez was going to throw tomorrow before the Yankees boarded their charter flight.

The only reason for the pushback is just to give the finger an extra day of rest, and Girardi said the Yankees are proceeding as though Vazquez will start Thursday’s game. “It’s not TBA,” Girardi said.

Among other topics Girardi covered were Mark Teixeira’s second slump of the season, the concept of interleague play and Curtis Granderson. Working backwards, Girardi said he hadn’t yet heard from Granderson after today’s game but that it seemed as though he was proceeding with the team’s rehab plan. Granderson went 1-for-2 with a walk in a 5-1 loss with the SWB Yankees. He also played in the field for the first time.

As for interleague, Girardi is (generally) a fan but would prefer fewer games and a more balanced schedule. He also wasn’t pleased with the scheduling anomaly that left the Yankees playing nine straight games in NL ballparks last season. “I wasn’t happy with that,” he said.

And, lastly, Teixeira’s latest 1-for-23 slide has left even Girardi a little concerned, though in the manager’s case it’s more about Teixeira’s mental state than his physical ability to bounce back. “You do worry about frustration with your players,” said Girardi.

Take a listen to Girardi’s audio and I’ll be back shortly with a game post for tonight.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Jeter SS
Gardner CF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Cano 2B
Swisher RF
Cervelli C
Russo LF 
Sabathia P

Mets lineup:

Reyes SS
Castillo 2B
Bay LF
Davis 1B
Wright 3B
Pagan CF
Barajas C
Francoeur RF
Santana P