The LoHud Yankees Blog

Alex Rodriguez has three days to hit his 600th home run at Yankee Stadium. If not, the smart money has to be on him hitting it some time during the upcoming road trip, and obviously he’d rather hit it at home.

He’s facing the right team to do it.

Rodriguez hit his first career home run against the Royals. He also hit his 500th career home run against the Royals. In fact, he hit No. 500 against Kyle Davies, who’s starting for the Royals on Saturday.

“Don’t go jinxing me now,” Rodriguez said.

Before Davies, Rodriguez will face tonight’s starter, Brian Bannister. In his career against Bannister, Rodriguez is 4-for-7 with three home runs. That’s good for a 1.857 slugging percentage.

Want to know where No. 600 is likely to land? A site called Seatgeek has actually attempted to determine the most likely landing spot for Rodriguez’s 600th. It’s good news for those of you in Section 136.

Associated Press photo

Joe Girardi
The manager who has said he hates the pressure of milestones
“I hope it happens tomorrow. I hope he gets it out of the way early so we don’t have to talk about it. Just see what happens. This is when you kind of get concerned because this one, it’s a homer, but for whatever reason it takes on such a big flavor because it’s 600 and there have been so few guys get there.”

Derek Jeter
The shortstop who chased Lou Gehrig’s hits record last season
“It’s a little bit different because you’re trying to get a hit every time up anyway. I really don’t know how often you go up there and try to hit a home run… (Rodriguez) seems like he’s enjoying himself. He comes to the field. He’s having fun. He’s trying to help us win. You’d have to ask him about his mindset, but he seems like he’s having fun.”

Mark Teixeira
The power-hitting first baseman with 260 career homers
“No chance. I’m not getting there. Alex’s numbers dwarf mine and will for the rest of his career and the rest of my career… I’ve never had any milestones like that. This is a monumental event. It’s going to be in his mind. Hopefully it’s going to be in a close game when Alex isn’t worried about a personal home run, he’s worried about, I want to drive in some runs here and help the team win.”

Alex Rodriguez
The guy who’s one home run away
“I have a different perspective on things. Early in my career I loved winning and I loved to win, but it was about accumulating numbers and hoping you got to the postseason. Now it’s just about one goal, and along the way you hope to get big home runs and drive in runs to help us win.”

Associated Press photo of Rodriguez’s 599th

Alex Rodriguez said he could feel the difference between his seventh-inning at-bat and his eighth-inning at-bat. He could hear the crowd. He could see the flash bulbs. He saw the umpires put a specially marked ball into play. Rodriguez said his approach was the same but, “I was a little bit more excited.”

And so the pursuit for home run No. 600 began. After hitting No. 599 in the seventh inning — actually a pretty big home run in the course of the game — Rodriguez settled for an RBI double in the eighth.

“I’m going hit it,” Rodriguez said. “And when I hit it, I hope like tonight it’s going to count for a win.”

Back in 2007, Rodriguez went 28 at-bats between No. 499 and 500, but Rodriguez said he was a different guy back then. He’s been saying for more than a year now that he’s changed as a person, and tonight he said he’s changed as a player after winning a World Series.

“Night and day,” he said. “A lot has changed. I’m enjoying the game more now than I ever have. I get enjoyment out of the little things, playing the team game and not trying to do too much, and having the perspective that I have now after winning a world championship with this team. There’s really no comparison of a team accomplishment to a personal accomplishment. They’re great and nice, but I have a much better perspective now…

“Early in my career I loved winning and I loved to win, but it was about accumulating numbers and hoping you got to the postseason. Now it’s just about one goal, and along the way you hope to get big home runs and drive in runs to help us win.”

Maybe that’s just Rodriguez trying to say the right thing, and maybe none of it matters anyway, but he seems comfortable with his place on the edge of history. The fact he doubled to right center in his first attempt seemed to be a sign of not pressing or trying to overdo it.

Only six hitters in major league history have been where he is now. They all hit No. 600 eventually. Here’s Rodriguez talking after the game.

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• Neither Derek Jeter nor Joe Girardi remembered that Jeter’s only other inside-the-park home run came with Girardi on base. Someone suggested that Jeter probably caught up to Girardi on the bases. Jeter laughed and said two words. “Write that.”

• Brett Gardner was the first Yankees left fielder to have two assists in a game since Melky Cabrera in 2006. Nick Swisher had two assists from right field earlier this year.

• CC Sabathia is the first American League pitcher to reach 13 wins. “He had given up seven hits after the first two innings, and that’s a lot of hits for CC in a game,” Girardi said. “He found a way to get it done tonight, and that’s the mark of a good pitcher.”

• After allowing three runs before getting his fourth out, Sabathia retired 11 of the next 12 batters… He is undefeated in his past 17 Yankee Stadium starts, which Elias says in the longest home winning streak in the majors… He extended his career-high homeless streak to 66 innings.

• Girardi on Jorge Posada’s run-scoring throwing error in the sixth: “At times as players we’re going to make reads that are incorrect. His idea is to hold the guy there, and obviously he saw a bigger lead than maybe there was.”

• Another nice performance by Dave Robertson who shut the door in the seventh, stranding two runners. It was a one-run game at the time. “He’s done it a couple of times this home stand for us,” Girardi said. “We think he’s going in the right direction and that’s real important for us because he was a huge part of our bullpen last season.”

• Girardi on Joba Chamberlain’s scoreless eighth when he allowed two infield singles and a walk but stranded the bases loaded: “Bottom line is he got the job done, and he was not hit hard that inning. He’s given up some infield singles the last couple of outings. It’s not what you want to see, but the bottom line is he got the job done. I’m sure he would enjoy some easier innings.”

• Someone asked Girardi whether the team was giving Jeter a hard time after his inside-the-park homer, and Girardi’s answer was most unexpected. “We were more concerned about Swish,” he said. Turns out — maybe it was on TV, but I certainly didn’t notice it — Nick Swisher was hit in the nose by the umpire on the play. Pretty random.

Associated Press photos of Rodriguez before his last at-bat and Jeter after his inside-the-park home run.

Alex Rodriguez hit the 599th home run of his career, helping the Yankees to a 10-4 win against the Royals tonight at Yankee Stadium. His first attempt at No. 600 ended in an RBI double that drove in the Yankees final run. The Yankees other home run was an inside-the-park homer by Derek Jeter, the second inside-the-park home run of his career.

Associated Press of the Rodriguez home run

YANKEES (59-34)
Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada C
Marcus Thames DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Brett Gardner LF

LHP CC Sabathia (12-3, 3.13)
Sabathia vs. Royals

ROYALS (41-53)
Scott Podsednik LF
Jason Kendall C
David DeJesus CF
Billy Butler 1B
Jose Guillen DH
Wilson Betemit 3B
Mike Aviles 2B
Willie Bloomquist RF
Yuniesky Betancourt SS

LHP Bruce Chen (5-3, 4.06)
Chen vs. Yankees

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

UMPIRES: HP Eric Cooper, 1B Bill Miller, 2B Mike Reilly, 3B Chad Fairchild

WEATHER: Nothing but sunshine right now. Temperatures are still in the 80s, but for whatever reason it feels a little cooler than it did on Tuesday night. Very light breeze blowing out.

ON THE CHEN: Mark Teixeira has seven career hits against Royals starter Bruce Chen. Six of those have been home runs. That’s good for a 2.364 slugging percentage. Derek Jeter is a career .393/.433/679 hitter in 28 at-bats against Chen. That includes two solo home runs.

THE YOUNG GUYS: Juan Miranda and Colin Curtis each hit home runs in the seventh inning yesterday. According to Elias, it was the first time two Yankees rookie hit a home run in the same inning since Sammy Byrd and Lyn Lary in 1929.

BIG INNING: Those two home runs gave the Yankees four runs in yesterday’s seventh. The team has scored at least four runs in an inning 33 times this season, the most four-run innings in the major leagues this season.

UPDATE, 7:15 p.m.: It’s kind of hard to see in my camera phone picture, but the Yankees unveiled a huge George Steinbrenner banner in right field. It’s underneath the Hess and Budweiser signs above the home bullpen.

UPDATE, 7:22 p.m.: Sabathia has never pitched well ever since that banner was unveiled. He just allowed back-to-back two-out hits to give the Royals a 1-0 lead in the first inning.

UPDATE, 7:23 p.m.: Make that 2-0 on a two-out single by — of all people — Wilson Betemit. Good job by Brett Gardner, making a strong throw to second to get Betemit trying to stretch the hit into a double.

UPDATE, 7:32 p.m.: Nearly another Bruce Chen home run for Mark Teixeira. Instead he doubled and Alex Rodriguez followed with a two-run double to cut the lead to 2-2.

UPDATE, 7:52 p.m.: And Sabathia gives the lead back to the Royals on three straight hits in the second. This Royals offense does one thing well — singles — and they’ve done that tonight for a 3-2 lead.

UPDATE, 8:08 p.m.: That’s the second inside-the-park home run of Jeter’s career, his first since 1996 in Kansas City, when he drove in — of all people — Joe Girardi.

UPDATE, 8:50 p.m.: Whoa. What a throw by Brett Gardner to get Butler at the plate. That’s two outfield assists for Gardner. and the game’s still tied.

UPDATE, 8:53 p.m.: Sprained thumb for DeJesus. He’s not going to play the rest of this series.

UPDATE, 8:54 p.m.: RBI double by Posada gives the Yankees a 4-3 lead.

UPDATE, 9:07 p.m.: Forgot to update when the Yankees made it 5-3, and that’s important now that I’ve seen one of the more bizarre sequences of the year.

After a one-out double, Sabathia was called for a balk that he disagreed with. That sent the runner to third, and on a strikeout-wild pitch, the runner got far enough off third base that Posada threw to third instead of first. The throw was bad, the runner scored and the batter got to second base on a strikeout. It’s now 5-4. What an odd day.

UPDATE, 9:30 p.m.: After back-to-back walks, Sabathia is out of the game with one out in the seventh. It’s the first time he hasn’t pitched through the seventh inning since May 29.

UPDATE, 9:44 p.m.: There’s No. 599 for Rodriguez. Yankees in front 6-4.

UPDATE, 10:01 p.m.: Umpires. Not always right.

Lineup change for the Royals, and it’s an unusual one

Third baseman Alberto Callaspo was in the lineup, but he’s been traded to the Angles for Sean O’Sullivan — the guy who started against the Yankees on Tuesday — plus minor league lefty Will Smith.

Former Yankee Wilson Betemit will take over at third base and fill Callaspo’s No. 6 spot in the lineup. The Royals have filled the open roster spot by activating Rick Ankiel from the disabled list. He is at Yankee Stadium and will be available off Kansas City’s bench.

Remember the beginning of June, when CC Sabathia had just gone five straight starts without a win? Remember when he finally got a win on June 3, but gave up two home runs in the process?

Back then, Sabathia had allowed nine home runs in a span of six starts. He had allowed 12 for the year — just eight short of his highest ever season total — and he still had two-thirds of the season to go.

Sabathia hasn’t allowed a homer since. I knew it had been a long time, but I’m not sure I knew exactly how long until Kim Jones rattled off the numbers during Joe Girardi’s pregame press conference. Sabathia has gone eight straight starts without a home run. Luke Scott took him deep with one out in the seventh inning on June 3, and Sabathia has since gone 60.1 innings without a long ball.

“I don’t want to oversimplify it,” Girardi said. “But it’s location. At times his ball was cutting a little bit, and he’s gotten away from that.”

I don’t want to oversimplify it either, but Sabathia’s an awfully good pitcher. That probably has something to do with it too.

• Seems kind of surprising given how much the bullpen has been used lately, but Girardi said he expected to have every reliever available tonight. “I really don’t think we are limited,” he said. “The off day came at a good time… I would imagine that I should be able to use everybody.”

• I get that these are the Royals, and surely the Yankees are looking to win three out of four this series, but it’s worth noting that Kansas City does have the highest team batting average in the majors. “I think they’re dangerous offensively,” Girardi said. “Some guys in the middle of the lineup are really swinging the bats.”

• I might regret opening this can of worms, but one of the favorite topics of discussion around here perpetually seems to be Royals outfielder David DeJesus: “I’ve always liked him,” Girardi said. “It seems like he always plays pretty well here. He’s from this area. I’ve always thought he swung the bat pretty well and he was a good defender in the outfield. He’s having a great year. He was one of the guys that we talked about as an all-star.”

• Against the lefty Bruce Chen, Girardi could have worked the lineup to keep Curtis Granderson on the bench, but the Yankees are sticking with their center fielder. “I know the numbers say he’s hitting .220, but I think he’s hit the ball harder than .220 against left-handed hitters,” Girardi said.

• During his one year in the Yankees system, Royals reliever Kanekoa Texeira never pitched in Scranton, so I’d never met him until this afternoon. Good guy, with nothing but good things to say about his time with New York: “When I was with the Yankees, they pretty much got me ready to be a long reliever like I am now. If I didn’t get to New York, I don’t think I would have gotten here. The Yankees changed me from being a closer to being a long reliever. That kind of helped me out. They prepared me for what I’ve been doing so far. I have nothing but love for New York.”

• Random story from BP: Derek Jeter and Ramiro Pena were taking turns fielding balls in the hole at shortstop. It seemed to be a Jeter’s urging that Tony Pena hit a ball well out of Ramiro’s reach and into medium depth left field. Pena chased it down, did the jump throw from the middle of the outfield, and threw a perfect strike to first base. That guy can play some defense.

ROYALS
Scott Podsednik LF
Jason Kendall C
David DeJesus CF
Billy Butler 1B
Jose Guillen DH
Alberto Callaspo 3B
Mike Aviles 2B
Willie Bloomquist RF
Yuniesky Betancourt SS

Associated Press photos of Sabathia and Dave Robertson

From Major League Baseball:

Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig announced today that, effective immediately, Minor League players will be subject to random blood testing for the detection of human growth hormone under Major League Baseball’s Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Major League Baseball is the first United States professional sports league to conduct blood testing.

The National Center for Drug Free Sport, the organization that currently performs all urine sample collections under the Minor League Drug Program, will perform all blood sample collections. All blood samples will be collected post-game from the non-dominant arms of randomly selected non 40-man roster players at select Minor League affiliates. Blood samples will be shipped to the Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory in Salt Lake City for analysis.

“The implementation of blood testing in the Minor Leagues represents a significant step in the detection of the illegal use of human growth hormone,” said Commissioner Selig. “The Minor League Program employs state of the art testing procedures and the addition of HGH testing provides an example for all of our drug policies in the future.”

Major League Baseball’s Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program, which commenced in June, 2001 and included testing for steroids, was unilaterally implemented by Commissioner Selig. Since Minor League players are not members of the Players Association, blood testing for HGH is not a subject for collective bargaining. The Minor League program has continued to the present, with refinements in the list of prohibited substances, the number of random tests, testing procedures, and the penalties applicable for failed tests.

“This represents a major development in the detection of a substance that has previously been undetectable and been subject to abuse,” said Dr. Gary Green, Medical Director for Major League Baseball.

“The combination of widespread availability and the lack of detection have led to reports of use of this drug amongst athletes. This is the first generation of HGH testing and Major League Baseball will continue to fund the Partnership for Clean Competition for ongoing research to refine testing procedures in this area.”

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

The Yankees just sent this announcement.

Ralph Houk passed away at the age of 90 on Wednesday at his home in Winter Haven, Fla. To honor the memory of Houk, the Yankees will wear black armbands below the Bob Sheppard patch on the left sleeve of their jerseys for the remainder of the 2010 season. Additionally, a moment of silence will be held in Houk’s honor prior to tonight’s Yankees-Royals game.

Houk led the Yankees to a World Series championship in each of his first two years as manager (1961 and ‘62) and the American League pennant in his third season (1963). Over parts of 11 seasons with Houk at the helm, the Yankees went 944-806 (.539).

Over an eight-year Major League playing career—all with the Yankees—that spanned from 1947-54, Houk hit .272 (43-for-158) with 6 doubles and 20RBI in 91 games. Prior to making his Major League debut, Houk served in the military and fought in World War II where he earned the rank of Major, leading to his being nicknamed “The Major” during his Baseball career.

STATEMENT FROM THE NEW YORK YANKEES:

“Ralph Houk was a leader in every sense of the word. In addition to his contributions to this organization for over 20 years, which included managing the Yankees to three consecutive pennants and two world championships in 1961 and ‘62, ‘The Major’ was a World War II hero, leading his men in the Battle of the Bulge, and earning a Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Silver Star. His contributions to Baseball, the New York Yankees, and our country, will be forever remembered and recognized.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with his daughter, Donna, his son, Robert, his four grandchildren and his 10 great-grandchildren.”