The LoHud Yankees Blog

Alex Rodriguez hit his ninth home run, Andy Pettitte picked up his ninth win and the Yankees beat the Diamondbacks 9-3 tonight in Arizona. The Yankees have come to expect this sort of thing from Pettitte — he went seven innings, allowing two runs — but it was Rodriguez who gave a somewhat unexpected boost with his first home run since June 3. The top four hitters in the Yankees lineup each had two hits, and Colin Curtis capped a six-run eighth with his first big league hit, a deep two-run double to center field.

Associated Press photo of Rodriguez and Jeter.

YANKEES (43-27)
Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada C
Curtis Granderson CF
Brett Gardner LF
Andy Pettitte LHP

LHP Andy Pettitte (8-2, 2.47)
Pettitte vs.Diamondbacks

DIAMONDBACKS (28-43)
Kelly Johnson 2B
Cole Gillespie LF
Stephen Drew SS
Justin Upton RF
Chris Young CF
Adam LaRoche 1B
Mark Reynolds 3B
Chris Snyder C
Dan Haren RHP

RHP Dan Haren (7-5, 4.71)
Haren vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 9:40 p.m. / YES Network

UMPIRES: HP Wally Bell, 1B James Hoye, 2B Laz Diaz, 3B John Hirschbeck

WEATHER: The dome is closed, but it’s still a little warm in here. Phoenix is just a hot place to be, but I like it.

CANO STAT OF THE DAY: Robinson Cano got his 100th hit in his 274th at-bats last night. Only three players have reached 100 hits in fewer at-bats with the Yankees since 1973: Paul O’Neill in 1994 (264 ABs), Dave Winfield in 1984 (266) and Derek Jeter in 1999 (267). That’s an awfully good list.

PLACE IN HISTORY: Andy Pettitte has 2,494 innings pitched as  Yankee and needs three innings to tie Lefty Gomez for fourth place on the Yankees all-time list. Only Whitey Ford, Red Ruffing and Mel Stottlemyre have pitched more.

TRIPLE THREAT: When Nick Swisher tripled last night, it gave the Yankees 19 triples for the season, the most in the American League and the third-most in the majors. Brett Gardner has four triples, Swisher has a career-high three triples and Francisco Cervelli also has three, the most by a Yankees catcher since Joe Girardi had four in 1998. Nine different Yankees have at least one triple this season: Gardner, Cervelli, Swisher, Granderson, Rodriguez, Cano, Jeter, Miranda and Winn).

UPDATE, 10:01 p.m.: Disregard those pregame notes about Derek Jeter not hitting and Alex Rodriguez not hitting home runs. It’s a 2-0 Yankees lead on a Jeter single and a Rodriguez two-run homer.

UPDATE, 10:22 p.m.: Before the game, Joe Girardi said the Yankees had to be careful pitching to Dan Haren, who came into the game hitting .425. His two-out, two-run single has tied the game.

UPDATE, 10:25 p.m.: Dan Haren now has his second six-game hitting streak of the season.

UPDATE, 10:35 p.m.: Alex Rodriguez looks like just as good a hitter as Dan Haren. His RBI single has put the Yankees back in front, 3-2. With two outs, the Yankees got hits from Swisher and Teixeira to set up Rodriguez’s base hit.

UPDATE, 11:00 p.m.: This guy Andy Pettitte, he might have a future in this game. He’s retired the past seven Diamondbacks. And now he has a base hit.

UPDATE, 11:32 p.m.: Pettitte is through six with only the Haren single doing any damage.

UPDATE, 11:43 p.m.: We haven’t seen a good replay here in the press box, but I really thought Gardner was safe on that stolen base attempt. Maybe I was wrong. Doesn’t matter. The inning’s over, still a 3-2 Yankees lead.

UPDATE, 11:58 p.m.: A lot of Yankees fans in the house, and they’re getting loud here in the eighth inning. Jeter, Swisher and Teixeira have started the inning with hits, building the lead to 4-2 still with no outs.

UPDATE, 12:02 a.m.: RBI single by Cano. Bases still loaded. Still no outs. Yankees ahead 5-2.

UPDATE, 12:10 a.m.: Welcome to the big league Colin Curtis. He just smoked the ball for a two-run double and his first big league hit.

UPDATE, 12:15 p.m.: How good has Andy Pettitte been this season? He allowed two runs through seven innings and his ERA actually went up from 2.47 to 2.48.

For the first time since May 12 and 13, Jorge Posada is catching in back-to-back games.

“Waking up in the morning and not feeling the pain was encouraging,” Posada said. “As soon as I got over that and was able to play back-to-back days — catching one day and then DHing — it felt fine. It was feeling better and better every time I caught.”

With an off day Thursday, Posada could have taken tonight off and caught tomorrow, which would have given him two out of three games this series, but Joe Girardi said he thought the time was right to test Posada in back-to-back games.

“I would love to see him in back-to-back because we haven’t done it yet,” Girardi said. “That’s the one thing we haven’t done yet. I just wanted to see if he could do it.”

Posada has been wearing extra protection on his right foot when he bats right-handed, and he has extra protection around his feet built into his catching gear.

• Chan Ho Park allowed five home run in 45 games last year. He’s allowed six homers in 18 games this season. “You look at the slider that he gave up (yesterday),” Girardi said. “It was a complete missed location. It was up in the zone. Too much of the plate. Before that he was throwing pretty well… I believe he’s going to pitch well, but right now you definitely think about it. How do you get him going?”

• Girardi echoed Alex Rodriguez’s comments last night about the lack of home runs from the Yankees cleanup hitter. “I won’t be shocked if he has 30 home runs this year,” Girardi said. “I’ve always belived that homers come in bunches for guys. He went through a little hip problem, so we’re dealing with that now, but as I’ve said all along, I don’t get as caught up in home runs as production. He could go up there and try to hit home runs and be hitting .210. That would be a huge concern. I still believe he’s going to hit a lot of home runs.”

• If you haven’t noticed — and I’m sure most of you have — Derek Jeter’s red hot finish to the month of May came to a quick end in the month of June. Since June 2, Jeter is hitting .197. “He’s not getting a lot of hits right now,” Girardi said. “I thought last night he just missed a couple of balls. We talked about that it’s a fine line pitching. It’s a fine line hitting as well.”

• If you assume that most of the minor league call-ups are completely anonymous in the Yankees clubhouse, think again. The clubhouse television had the Arizona State College World Series game on this afternoon. Every single player who walked by to see ASU losing seem to immediately make a comment about Colin Curtis, who went to Arizona State. Phil Hughes, of course, made fun of his old minor league teammate. But Nick Swisher and Joe Girardi also had Curtis comments when they saw the 10-2 score. Curtis, of course, believed a comeback was brewing.

• David Winfree signed a minor league deal with Seattle.

• Brian Bruney was released by Milwaukee.

Associated Press photo of Posada with Francisco Cervelli.

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

Yankees prospects Austin Romine and Hector Noesi have been named to this year’s Futures Game. Romine will play for the U.S. team, Noesi for the World team.

Click here for full Futures Game rosters.

Both Romine and Noesi are playing for Double-A Trenton, with Romine hitting .283 with three home runs and Noesi going 8-3 with a 2.54 ERA between Double-A and High-A.

In other minor league news, Justin Christian has been called up to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to take the place of Colin Curtis. Christian was signed as a minor league free agent earlier this season and was hitting .255 with two home runs, 26 RBI and seven stolen bases.

This week’s Sports Illustrated features a Tom Verducci story on the emergence of Robinson Cano, who Verducci calls one of the greatest slugging second basemen since Rogers Hornsby.

“My dad stayed up from seven until two in the morning just to do my contract,” Cano told SI. “Teams just wanted to give me like 20 [thousand dollars], and my dad was like, ‘Come on.’ That was the one thing about my dad. He would say, ‘I know your talent. I know you. I’ve been in this game a long time. I’m not going to give you away for free.’”

The June 28 issue hits newsstands tomorrow and will be waiting in my mailbox when I get home.

A quick update of the National League all-star voting.

St. Louis Cardinals backstop Yadier Molina, the National League’s starting catcher in the 2009 Midsummer Classic, remains the leading vote-getter behind the plate in the N.L.’s latest balloting update for the 81st All-Star Game, to be played on Tuesday, July 13th at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

Molina (9 2B, 29 RBI, 6 SB), who has led N.L. catchers in voting in each of the five balloting updates, is trying to become the senior circuit’s first catcher to start consecutive All-Star Games since Mike Piazza was elected in 2004 and 2005 while with the New York Mets. Molina, who has received 1,322,095 votes, continues to hold an advantage over veteran All-Stars Brian McCann (1,201,920) of the Atlanta Braves and Ivan Rodriguez (1,084,146) of the Washington Nationals.

Molina’s teammate Albert Pujols (.306, 15 HR, 50 RBI) remains the N.L.’s leading vote-getter with 2,622,123 total votes, slightly ahead of Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Chase Utley (2,409,027; .267, 11 HR, 33 RBI). Utley’s teammate Placido Polanco (.313, 14 2B, 25 RBI) remains the league’s top vote-getter at third base with 1,157,196 votes, but Mets slugger David Wright, who has started three of the previous four Midsummer Classics, continues to close the gap with 1,026,658 votes. Wright, who has collected 31 RBI in his last 32 games, is tied for second in the N.L. with 53 RBI this season. Florida Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez (.286, 11 HR, 40 RBI) rounds out the N.L. infield with 1,501,056 votes in a bid for his third consecutive All-Star Game start.

The leading trio of N.L. outfielders has put some distance between themselves and the rest of the field. Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun (1,816,052; .304, 10 HR, 45 RBI), seeking his third consecutive starting assignment, has led the N.L. outfield from the onset of balloting this year. Twenty-year-old Jason Heyward (.264, 11 HR, 44 RBI) of the Braves continues to raise the bar with 1,786,786 votes cast for him, representing the most ever by a rookie through the fifth balloting tally, exceeding the 1,734,905 votes for Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki after five updates in 2001. Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Andre Ethier (.318, 12 HR, 43 RBI) remains third with 1,723,266 votes. Phillies teammates Jayson Werth (1,345,798) and Shane Victorino (1,252,792) are the next closest among N.L. outfielders.

A.J. Burnett’s struggles continued last night, but the bigger pitching news was the announcement that Phil Hughes would have his next turn in the rotation skipped in an effort to cut down on his innings before the all-star break.

I don’t think the news caught anyone by completely surprise, but even Hughes himself didn’t know about it until Sunday.

“I told him yesterday,” Joe Girardi said last night. “There’s a reason that you don’t tell him. Because you can’t predict what’s going to happen, number one, and number two, I don’t want it to be in his mind over his next couple starts. I wanted him to be focused on only that start. Once he got through his start and CC got through his start, that’s when I told him.”

The upside is obvious. Hughes takes a break, saves some bullets and rests his arm. The potential downside is, for a pitcher on a roll, time off isn’t necessarily a good thing.

“You hate to see a guy get out of his rhythm,” Girardi said. “But he didn’t pitch with us at the beginning of the year. He threw some innings down in the minor leagues, and it didn’t seem to bother him.”

Hughes, as you might expect, took the news about as well as possible.

“It’s not like I came out of the gates and I was struggling and this is going to be a setback for me,” he said. “I don’t really view having a couple of extra days off as being a setback. I don’t believe that. I think I’m going to take the approach of taking advantage of the extra rest and hopefully be strong in my next start.”

Here’s the Hughes audio from yesterday.

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Associated Press photo

From the outside, the impact of a hitting coach or a pitching coach is always vague at best. Clearly coaches play a role, but how much of a player’s success comes from his own talent and how much comes from outside perspective and understanding? How much of A.J. Burnett’s early season success and recent struggles are because of Dave Eiland?

“I’m not going to lie,” Burnett said. “Dave is a big part of what we do here, and who I am and who our starters are. On the other hand, I’ve been pitching for 11 years now. I think I’d be able to make the adjustment on my own out there.”

Eiland left the team for personal reasons on June 4. Burnett pitched that day and began a string of four straight losses.

“I don’t discount that,” Joe Girardi said. “I wish I knew what exactly it was because we would try to straighten it out. Yeah, Dave has an impact on all of the pitchers. Could it (be part of the problem)? Yeah, but I can’t tell you that’s exactly what it is.”

Now the burden falls on Mike Harkey — who would have been involved to some extent whether Eiland were here or not — to lead the fixing process.

“I don’t think it’s any tougher than it’s always been,” Harkey said. “As a coach period we’re going to go through ups and downs. You’re going to have guys that struggle, and everybody’s going to sit there and put their heads together and try to find answers to it.”

Ultimately, Burnett and Girardi seem to agree that the bulk of the responsibility falls to the pitcher himself. Burnett said has “an idea” of what he needs to fix — he hasn’t felt comfortable out of the windup, which might be a place to start — and he’ll get every opportunity to straighten himself out. Girardi said skipping Burnett’s turn is not in the plans.

“(Eiland) not here is a big loss for all of us,” Burnett said. “I’m not going to point fingers and make excuses at all. I’m out there throwing pitches whether Dave’s in the dugout or not. He’s corrected me enough where I should have it in my memory what Dave says. I’m a man. I’m a professional athlete who’s got a big contract, who’s here for a reason, and there’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to do that on your own.”

Here’s Burnett speaking after last night’s game.

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Quick postgame notes tonight this morning.

Most of this goes without saying, but A.J. Burnett has been bad this month. He was terrific in April, and more good than bad in May, but he’s lost all four starts in June and his ERA this month is 10.35.

“I don’t feel like myself,” he said. “I’m not having fun right now. Who would during a stretch like this? The game’s supposed to be fun, and to come out and take the air out of your team right away for a handful of starts, it’s quite frustrating.”

Joe Girardi, Jorge Posada and Mike Harkey all said the same thing: Burnett’s stuff is there, but he’s missing his spots.

“Missed location,” Posada said. “What I’m seeing, I can’t see if it’s delivery or anything, I’m just seeing the location of the pitches is not where it’s supposed to be.”

How much of a role Dave Eiland plays in all of this is hard to say — we’ll get into that a little later — but Burnett says it ultimately falls on his shoulders.

“I think by now I know how to correct it and I think earlier in the year I was correcting it,” Burnett said. “I was slowing the game up, and I was able to get out of jams. Whether I’m trying too hard or everything is speeding up, it comes down to just remembering what it feels like to succeed and keep the positive thoughts rolling and eventually it will turn around.”

• It was a good night for Brett Gardner, who went 4-for-4 and is hitting .422 this month.

• Alex Rodriguez said he felt good after the game, and it certainly sounds like both he and Girardi plan on Rodriguez playing third base tomorrow. “It’s a slow process but I definitely feel like I’m getting better,” Rodriguez said.

• Girardi seemed encouraged by the fact Rodriguez is driving the ball to right-center, he said Rodriguez has looked more comfortable at the plate. Even so, A-Rod’s last homer came on June 3. “I’m not really worried about home runs,” Rodriguez said. “I’m sure at the end of the year I’ll have exactly the number that I have every year. What I’m concerned with is that I’m driving the ball and making good solid contact.”

• Jorge Posada said he feels like he could catch tomorrow, but it’s unclear whether Girardi would be willing to put him out there. My gut feeling is that Francisco Cervelli will be in the lineup for the second game of this series. “It’s getting better and better every time I get out there,” Posada said. “It’s very encouraging.”

• Girardi said he has no plans of skipping a start with Burnett the way he did with Vazquez earlier this season.

• Mark Teixeira has hit safely in 11 of his past 13 games, with a .292 average in that span.

• Some of the Yankees outfielders seem to have trouble picking up the ball in the dome tonight. “They just said it was hard to pick up,” Girardi said. “Maybe it just took a day to get used to. Hopefully it will be better tomorrow but they just thought it was tough to get used to.”

Associated Press photos of Burnett on the mound and Gardner walking into the dugout.