The LoHud Yankees Blog

Amazing how quiet things are around the Yankees these days. It’s July 28, and aside from a handful of rumors and speculation sprinkled here and there, there’s just not much going on unless it’s well behind the scenes.

Meanwhile, rain has stopped falling in Cleveland. The tarp is coming off the field and sky seems to be deciding between showers and sunshine. The sun just took the lead.

This quote from Colorado general manager Dan O’Dowd seems to be making the rounds.

“There’s really not a ton of players on the market right now in the impactful category,” O’Dowd told The Denver Post. “There’s one in particular I think if we’re not able to acquire by the 31st probably wouldn’t be there. The rest we’ve come across I don’t think the 31st is necessarily a firm deadline.”

O’Dowd also said this: “There’s not much bullpen help out there at all right now. I think the bullpen help is more taking back somebody that needs a change of scenery and hoping that the track record of the past manifests itself here. But acquiring a guy that’s pitching real well right now, I don’t think that’s possible. But that’s as of today, as of Tuesday. A lot could change by Saturday.”

Those two statements seem to resonate for the Yankees, who have been known to make post-deadline deals, and who are apparently being asked to give up the moon and the stars in a deal for bullpen help.

I will admit I know nothing about this other than what was included in the press release from Major League Baseball, but I’m more than happy to promote anything that has to do with cancer research. Here’s what I know from the league.

Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C), the charitable initiative supporting groundbreaking research aimed at getting new cancer treatments to patients in an accelerated timeframe, and MLB.com, the official Web site of Major League Baseball, announced today a new online program for fans to contribute directly to cancer research while honoring loved ones touched by cancer with customized baseball virtual goods from their favorite ballparks.

“Stand Up to Cancer is thrilled to continue our long-standing partnership with Major League Baseball, through MLB.com and Stand Up Stadiums. It’s a platform that allows baseball fans everywhere to help make real progress against cancer,” says SU2C co-founder Laura Ziskin. “As a person living with cancer, I also know that this tribute space will make a personal difference in the lives of patients, survivors, and all of us in the fight.”

The program, MLB.com Stand Up Stadiums, will be supported at launch by a public service announcement created by MLB.com and SU2C that will be shown on ballpark video boards and available at MLB.com and Club Web sites. This initiative will give fans the opportunity to make a donation to SU2C online at MLB.com/standupstadiums and receive virtual seats, suites, bases and pitcher’s mounds from any of the 30 Major League Baseball ballparks, each with customized branding and personal messages to honor loved ones impacted by cancer.

After choosing their favorite team and ballpark, fans can select the virtual piece of the stadium they’d like to dedicate. The minimum donations will be tiered based on the items available, including $5 per ballpark seat, $100 per suite, $200 per base and $500 per pitcher’s mound.

Individual donations at each tier may be increased as desired. Before completing the donation, fans can enter a dedication name, write a personal commemorative message and upload a digital photograph to customize their virtual items. Fans will be able to preview their items before ordering in a special team-branded gallery page. The donor will have a unique web page link to display and share the virtual item with friends, families, co-workers and others touched by cancer via e-mail and across social networking platforms.

In every which way, tonight’s ninth inning would have been the perfect time for home run No. 600. It was Alex Rodriguez’s birthday and the Yankees were down to this last out, needing a home run to tie it.

“Those are the best at-bats,” Rodriguez said. “You want a situation where you have to think small. Probably the worst at-bats are the wide-open ballgame, two outs, nobody on. Everybody stands up and is expecting one thing.”

That picture at the top, that’s the shot of Rodriguez’s final swing, a ground out to short that ended the game with the Yankees taking the loss and Rodriguez staying at 599. But this wasn’t a loss to hang on A-Rod’s shoulders.

CC Sabathia didn’t have his best outing, but literally every Indians run could be attributed to a Yankees mistake.

First run: Fourth inning, no outs, runners at second and third. On a grounder to third, Rodriguez’s throw home was in time, but Francisco Cervelli dropped the ball on the tag.“I could see it,” Sabathia said. “He slid right onto his mitt. There was really nothing Cervi could do about it.”

Second run: Fourth inning, one out, runners at first and second. Robinson Cano stepped off the bag trying to start a double play. Both runners were called safe — Joe Girardi seemed much more disappointed in the call at first — and the next batter hit a sacrifice fly. “I assumed he was out (at second),” Sabathia said. “I just worried about the runner at first. I thought he was out too. I had no idea until Alex told me he called him safe at second.”

Third run: Sixth inning, no outs, bases empty. Curtis Granderson nearly made a running catch in deep center field, but the ball hit the heel of his glove and bounced out. Any chance of a juggling catch ended when Granderson slammed into the wall. That runner scored two batters later. “He made a great attempt,” Sabathia said. “That’s what you expect out of your teammates, to go hard.”

Fourth run: Sixth inning, one out, bases loaded. Having intentionally walked Jason Donald to face No. 9 hitter Chris Gimenez — a career .149 hitter playing his fourth big league game of the year — Sabathia walked in a run on a 3-2 changeup. “He fought off a couple of fastballs,” Sabathia said. “I was just trying to make a pitch, get a strikeout right there. I tip his cap to him. He did a good job putting a good at-bat together and taking a changeup.”

More so than on at-bat in the ninth inning, those moments made the difference in the game. Here’s Rodriguez talking about his night and his on-going pursuit of 600.

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• Can’t overstate how well Josh Tomlin pitched in his major league debut. He allowed no hits through three innings and faced the minimum through six. “He threw the ball extremely well,” Rodriguez said. “First time we saw him. He threw a lot of cutters. Kept working ahead of guys. Pitched backward a little bit. For the most part, I don’t think we had any good swings on him.”

• The Yankees have lost each of their past six games when facing a starting pitcher making his major league debut. The only other debut they saw this season was Jake Arrieta in Baltimore. That was a 4-3 loss.

• Sabathia hadn’t lost since May 23. “I felt like it was so-so,” Sabathia said. “I had good stuff, just didn’t make the pitches I needed to. I felt like I had a good fastball. The changeup was better than last time. It just didn’t work out today.”

• Girardi said he was surprised but had no problem with Cano being called off the bag. “If he’s right, he’s right,” Girardi said.

• Asked about the back end of the double play, though, Girardi only nodded his head to acknowledged that he’d seen the replay. Girardi wouldn’t comment, but it was pretty clear that he considered that a blown call.

• Mark Teixeira’s on-base streak came to an end.

• On a night of defensive mistakes, it’s easy to forget Brett Gardner’s great throw and Cervelli’s great block of home plate in the first inning. At the time, that seemed like a good sign for the Yankees.

• Girardi on what he was thinking during Rodriguez’s last at-bat: “This would be a real good time to hit one. But in that situation you’re just talking about keeping the line moving.”

• Derek Jeter was 2-for-4 and is a career .351 hitter against Cleveland, higher than against any other American League team.

Associated Press photos of Rodriguez, Cervelli, Girardi and Tomlin

Jorge Posada has been dealing with nagging pain behind his left knee since last season. It’s been there off and on this year, but tonight it was a little worse than usual and Joe Girardi decided to give him the day off.

“Until the last minute I was going,” Posada said. “And then I went to squat down and it was a little more achy than usual.”

Posada said he could have played, “no question about it.” Girardi said he was actually planning to use Posada to pinch hit for Francisco Cervelli in the eighth inning. Posada was going in if Colin Curtis got on base. Girardi said there’s a solid chance Posada will play tomorrow, quite possibly at designated hitter.

It was in fact not a birthday to remember for Alex Rodriguez. A home run in the ninth would have given him 600 for his career and given the Yankees a tied ball game, but Rodriguez instead grounded to short for the final out of a 4-1 loss to the Indians and their first-time starter Josh Tomlin. CC Sabathia took his first loss since May 23.

Associated Press photo

YANKEES (63-35)
Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira DH
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada C
Curtis Granderson CF
Juan Miranda 1B
Francisco Cervelli C
Brett Gardner LF

LHP CC Sabathia (13-3, 3.18)
Sabathia vs. Indians

INDIANS (41-58)
Trevor Crowe CF
Asdrubal Cabrera SS
Shin-Soo Choo RF
Austin Kearns LF
Shelley Duncan DH
Jhonny Peralta 3B
Matt LaPorta 1B
Jason Donald 2B
Chris Gimenez C

RHP Josh Tomlin (NR)
Major league debut

TIME/TV: 7:05 p.m. / MY9

UMPIRES: HP Dan Iassogna, 1B Dale Scott, 2B Jerry Meals, 3B Mark Wegner

WEATHER: Might still be in the low 80s for first pitch, but ultimately upper-70s through most of the game with no real chance of rain. Beautiful night here in Cleveland.

THE NEW GUY: Josh Tomlin is making his big league debut. Earlier this season he faced Scranton/Wilkes-Barre once — Juan Miranda went 1-for-4 in that game — and Tomlin got the win that night, allowing two runs on seven hits through five innings. Reegie Corona’s double was the only extra-base hit against him. Tomlin faced Trenton once in 2009 and got the win that day too, allowing one run through six innings, again allowing only one extra-base hit (a double by Seth Fortenberry).

BIRTHDAY BOY: According to Elias, only two players have hit a century home run — No. 100, 200, 300, etc. — on their birthday. Cecil Fielder hit his 300th on his birthday in 1997 and Raul Ibanez hit his 200th on his birthday last season. Alex Rodriguez could hit No. 600 on his birthday tonight.

MORE MILESTONES: If Rodriguez doesn’t hit No. 600 tonight, he could hit it tomorrow, on the 14-year anniversary of Darryl Strawberry hitting his 300th career home run in a Yankees 3-2 win against the Royals.

CLOSE ENOUGH: The Yankees have won their past six one-run games and are 10-2 in their past 12. For the year, they are 10-6 in one-run games, having lost their first four.

MANAGER MATTINGLY: The Arizona Fall League coaching staffs were announced this afternoon. The manager for the Phoenix Desert Dogs — the team that will include Yankees minor leaguers — will be Don Mattingly.

UPDATE, 7:17 p.m.: A lot of things went right on that play. Great throw from Gardner in left field, great job blocking the plate by Cervelli and the Yankees got out of the first inning on the out at home. Joe Girardi was fired up when Cervelli came into the dugout. The Yankees manager appreciates those plays at the plate.

UPDATE, 7:45 p.m.: So far so good in Tomlin’s major league debut. He’s retired nine in a row. Sabathia, though, has looked awfully good since those back-to-back hits in the first.

UPDATE, 7:57 p.m.: We’ll call it an at-bat and a half for Rodriguez today. He was at the plate with two strikes when Derek Jeter was caught stealing to end the fourth inning. Meanwhile, Jeter broke up the very early perfect game with a lead-off single in the fourth.

UPDATE, 8:00 p.m.: The AP is reporting that Andy Pettitte said he was “feeling good” after going through agility and running drills today in Tampa. Pettitte also made 90 throws off flat ground.

UPDATE, 8:03 p.m.: Not sure whether Cabrera should be safe or out. The ball clearly came loose, but it seemed to come loose after Cervelli’s glove hit the ground, not on the play itself. Doesn’t really matter. The run scored and it’s 1-0 Cleveland.

UPDATE, 8:08 p.m.: Looks like a good call at second base. Cano came off the bag trying to turn the double play quickly and now the bases are loaded with one out in the fourth. Strange inning for the Yankees.

UPDATE, 8:17 p.m.: Defensive mistakes cost the Yankees in that inning and the Indians have a 2-0 lead.

UPDATE, 8:42 p.m.: Curtis Granderson’s turn to drop a ball. Looked like it hit him in the heel of the glove, bounced out and he lost any chance of catching it when he slammed into the wall. It’s a lead-off triple for Kearns.

UPDATE, 8:54 p.m.: Sabathia just walked in a run, meanwhile the Yankees are being shutdown by a kid named Josh Tomlin. It’s 4-0 Indians, and John Sterling was right. You can’t predict it.

UPDATE, 9:26 p.m.: Lefty on the mound, Marcus Thames pinch hits for Miranda. Indians bring in a righty, Colin Curtis pinch hits for Thames.

A.J. Burnett said he’d never heard of Chris Coghlan until reporters brought up the name this morning. Burnett didn’t know Coghlan won the Rookie of the Year award with the Marlins last year, and he certainly didn’t know Coghlan injured his knee during a pie-slamming celebration on Sunday.

“Celebrations at home and now pies,” Burnett said. “What’s next?”

It’s the second bizarre celebration injury of the season after Kendry Morales was injured during a team celebration at home plate. They seem to be more fluke injuries than anything else, and Joe Girardi said he has not talked to his players about toning down their postgame celebrations.

“I don’t exactly go full sprint into a guy with a pie. Stuff happens I guess. I always try to somewhat thing safety first, unless I’m snapping. Even running after games and stuff, we go up through stadiums and do some different kinds of running, we’re always thinking about safety. Even when I’m pieing.”

And yes, the “snapping” line was a reference to Burnett snapping last weekend and cutting his hand on the clubhouse door.

• Alfredo Aceves threw a 55-pitch bullpen today. He threw 25 pitches, rested for four minutes, then threw 30. Aceves will throw another bullpen either Thursday or Friday, then the Yankees will decide what’s next for him. Girardi said live batting practice could be the next step, but if he comes through these bullpen’s alright, a rehab assignment might not be far away.

• Nick Johnson — remember him? — hit some soft toss with a fungo bat today. He also took some swings with a regular bat. “I don’t really know what to think at this point,” Girardi said. “Until he starts actually taking swings in batting practice, I don’t know what to make of it, when we might get him back.”

• As expected, Girardi said he’s not going into this game with a definite plan for the eighth inning. He might go to Joba Chamberlain, or he might like a different matchup better.

• The Yankees are facing Josh Tomlin in his major league debut. Girardi said the Yankees have seen tape on Tomlin, and Juan Miranda has faced him in the minor leagues.

• Speaking of the Indians, Shelley Duncan is starting at DH for Cleveland. The Indians optioned Michael Brantley to Triple-A to make room for Tomlin on the roster.

• According to Andrew Marchand, the Yankees are on Joakim Soria’s no-trade list.

• Girardi said he simply saw this as a good opportunity to give Mark Teixeira a half day off. There’s no underlying reason for Teixeira’s start at DH.

INDIANS
Trevor Crowe CF
Asdrubal Cabrera SS
Shin-Soo Choo RF
Austin Kearns LF
Shelley Duncan DH
Jhonny Peralta 3B
Matt LaPorta 1B
Jason Donald 2B
Chris Gimenez C

Associated Press photo

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

Alex Rodriguez turns 35 today. No player has ever hit more home runs before his 35th birthday, and Rodriguez’s 2,629 hits are the most for a just-turned-35-year-old since Robin Yount had 2,733. Rodriguez has homered on his birthday five times. He did it in 1996, 2001, 2004 and twice in 2002.

Associated Press photo