The LoHud Yankees Blog

First, a picture of Joe Girardi with yesterday’s HOPE Week honoree Jane Lang. It’s a picture from after the game when Girardi took Jane around the field and back to home plate. 

HOPE Week continues this morning. A little before 9 a.m., Derek Jeter, CC Sabathia, Marcus Thames, Curtis Granderson and Brian Cashman took Sierra Leone-native, civil war survivor and recent high school graduate Mohamed Kamara on a surprise tour of the New York Stock Exchange. Later this morning, the group will go to City Hall where Mayor Michael Bloomberg will meet with Mohamed and the Yankees.

From the Yankees, here’s Mohamed’s story.

Mohamed was born in 1992 in the midst of civil war in his West African homeland of Sierra Leone. Any semblance of a normal childhood was unavailable to him. As the oldest of three brothers and two sisters with an absent father and a mother suddenly ill, he was forced to become the “man of the house” at age 9, providing for his family by foraging on his own to prevent their starvation.

When the war subsided approximately six years ago, Mohamed, who did not speak English at the time, made the difficult decision to come to the United States to join his aunt and uncle in an impoverished section of the Bronx.

Since arriving in the United States, Mohamed has simultaneously created a life for himself and improved the lives of others. He graduated in the top quarter of his class at Bronx Leadership Academy High School and earned a partial scholarship to Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island, where he will work toward a business degree.

Over the last four years, he has remained the breadwinner for his family in Africa despite being a full-time Bronx high school student, working as a caddie at Montammy Golf Club in Alpine, N.J., which requires him to wake up for work at 4:00 a.m. and spend nearly five hours a day in transit in an effort to send every last possible dollar back to Africa.

He also displays selflessness in his treatment of his peers. He became a mentor and sounding board for other African students in his school, and he founded the Sierra Leone Gentlemen, which organizes benefits at his local church to raise money for children in his homeland to attend school. Despite being a student in name, his actions prove he is a teacher in life.

Associated Press photo

Joe Girardi said he expects Alex Rodriguez to be out at least a few days after his MRI revealed a low-level left calf strain.

“I’ve never had a calf injury,” A-Rod said. “But the doc says it’s good news. It’s day to day, and we’ll just go from there.”

Girardi said not to expect Andy Pettitte back until sometime in September. His MRI revealed a small persistent strain of the left groin. He can throw on flat ground, but he won’t be back on a mound for about a week. …

The next deal deadline is coming on Aug. 31, but Brian Cashman sounded like he’s going to stand pat.

“I don’t anticipate any more moves,” Cashman said. “I think this is the team we’ve got, and we’re looking forward to playing the string out and seeing where it takes us. Obviously everybody in this game would like to be healthy, but part of the game is not being healthy and dealing with it. … Hopefully we’ll handle it like a championship-caliber team is capable of handling it.” …

CC Sabathia turned in his 15th straight quality start, the longest stretch by a Yankee since Ron Guidry’s first 15 in 1978 when he was on his way to the Cy Young. Sabathia is 12-2 with a 2.45 ERA in this run.

“He’s matured a lot as a pitcher and doesn’t give in anymore,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. “He’s just a great pitcher overall. If you’re not stingy against someone like him, you’re not going to win.” …

Curtis Granderson homered off Justin Verlander and says he’s getting more comfortable with his new batting mechanics every day.

“I feel like I have a better shot now than I had in previous at-bats before we made the change,” Granderson said. …

Robinson Cano homered off Daniel Schlereth and now has 12 homers and 28 RBI off lefty pitching. It was his first homer since July 31. …

David Robertson worked the eighth – his 17th straight scoreless outing. …

The Yankees are batting .421 with 151 RBI in bases-loaded situations. Both figures lead the majors. …

Wednesday night it will be Dustin Moseley vs. Jeremy Bonderman. That’s it for tonight.

Update, 7:13: Not a good start for CC Sabathia, giving up the Austin Jackson homer on his first pitch. But Curtis Granderson saved him on the last two batters with the running catch in deep right-center and the diving catch in left-center.

Update, 7:30: Nick Swisher came out of last night’s game with his tennis elbow pain, but he told Joe Girardi before this game that he wanted to play. And there he was coming through with the two-run single off Justin Verlander to give the Yankees the 2-1 lead here in the first.

Update, 7:46: Curtis Granderson matched the guy he was traded for – Jackson – with that that solo shot to right. That’s four hits in four at-bats over two games now, with a walk mixed in there. His remodeled swing seems to be working.  So it’s 3-1 in the second.

Update, 8:32: Sabathia is making the pitches when he has to make them, but it’s no surprise. He’s 60-22 in his career with a 2.95 era from Aug. 1 through the conclusion of the regular season.  He’s allowed two hits through four.

Update, 8:38: The results are in on Andy Pettitte’s MRI. It seems like he keeps getting further away from returning. The test showed a small persistent strain of the left groin. He can throw off flat ground, but he can’t throw off a mound again for approximately one week. So it’s obvious he won’t be back until September at the earliest.

Update, 8:46: Sabathia strikes out the side in the fifth. That’s 7 Ks.

Update, 8:54: Jorge Posada’s single here in the fifth gives him 1,558 hits, tying Thurman Munson for 17th on the Yankees’ all-time list.

Update, 9:05: Sabathia has a three-hitter through six.

Update, 9:06: Verlander is out after five innings of work. Lefty Daniel Schlereth is in.

Update, 9:16: Jeter is now 14 hits from 2,900 after that RBI single made it 4-1. Mark Schlereth, the ESPN football analyst and Daniel’s dad, is here watching.

Update, 9:24: Pitch No. 102 from Sabathia winds up in the left-field seats. Brandon Inge makes it 4-2 with one out in the seventh. Joba is warming.

Update, 9:28: One on, two outs. Joe Girardi came out, but he’s leaving Sabathia in to face Jackson despite that first-inning homer.

Update, 9:31: Good move. Jackson goes down swinging. CC looked pumped. Now his night is probably done.

Update, 9:35: Homer No. 22 for Cano – 5-2.

Update, 9:37: Swisher can’t catch a break these days. Schlereth hit him in what looked like the left little toe area, but he’s staying in.

Update, 9:54: The eighth inning now belongs to David Robertson with a 6-2 lead.

Update, 10:13: We’ve just learned that A-Rod also underwent an MRI today. He has a low-grade strain of the left calf and is still day to day.

Brian Heyman here for Chad again today. Andy Pettitte is headed for the hospital shortly to undergo an MRI. He threw about 40 pitches in the bullpen and still felt a grab in that groin muscle when he went all out with a pitch. He’s hopeful that the MRI will put his mind at ease, according to a team spokesman.   

Alex Rodriguez’s left calf is still a little sore, according to Joe Girardi. So he isn’t in the lineup, and Girardi wasn’t sure whether A-Rod would be available as a pinch hitter.

Nick Swisher’s right elbow feels a little better today, but it sounds like it could act up on any big swing. Swisher said he sometimes gets a sharp pain. But he worked in the cage and told Girardi he wanted to play.

“He’s had this tennis elbow off and on for a while now,” Girardi said. “Really, the big thing is don’t swing and miss.”

Lance Berkman’s sprained ankle is improved today, but he isn’t in the lineup, either.

Alfredo Aceves will have a rehab appearance tonight with Double-A Trenton. Girardi wouldn’t say whether he will have another one.

Yogi Berra is here for the first time since falling at his home last month. He’s getting around with a cane. 

And as for the Tigers’ injury situation, Carlos Guillen is out of the lineup in the wake of Brett Gardner’s hard slide into second on the game-ending double play last night. Guillen has swelling in his knee but apparently no structural damage. … 

Derek Jeter hit into two double plays last night, including the one to end the game. He’s batting just .278 with nine homers and 52 RBI, although he has had a decent August.

“He has not had the same season as last year,” Girardi said. “I haven’t seen anything dramatic to say the reason why.”

Alex Rodriguez and Lance Berkman are out, Nick Swisher is in.

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

Before Monday’s signing deadline, the Yankees signed 29 draft picks including each of their top 13 selections.

Top overall pick Bryce Harper agreed to a deal with Nationals in literally the minute before the midnight deadline. The Nats front office celebrated — seriously — with a pie to the face of their general manager.

As provided by the Yankees player development staff in Tampa, here’s a list of the picks the Yankees signed.

1 Culver, Cito
2 Gumbs, Angelo
3 Segedin, Robert
4 Williams, Mason
5 Kahnle, Thomas
6 Encinas, Gabe
7 Anderson, Taylor
8 Roller, Kyle
9 Morton, Taylor
10 Gamel, Benjamin
11 Varce, Zachary
12 Burawa, Daniel
13 Austin, Christopher
15 Whitley, Chase
16 Rutckyj, Evan
17 Claiborne, Preston
20 Ferraro, Michael
21 Hobbs, Dustin
22 Johnson, Trevor
23 Brown, Shane
24 Mullee, Conor
25 Stevenson, Casey
30 Nuding, Zachary
31 Gipson, James
32 Sneed, Kramer
35 Oliver, William
36 McCoy, Nick
46 Forer, Nathan
47 Lewis, Frederick

HOPE Week continues this afternoon, and this time it’s the Yankees who are tagging along with a fan, not the other way around.

Joe Girardi, Joba Chamberlain, Chad Gaudin, David Robertson, Kerry Wood and former Yankee Tino Martinez have joined Morris Plains, N.J., resident Jane Lang, who is blind, for her trip to Yankee Stadium. Using the public transportation route Jane has followed hundreds of times, the Yankees will travel with Jane to the stadium where she will receive a private tour of Monument Park to feel the monuments for the first time. She will then go on a private tour of the Yankees Museum and feel the 2009 World Championship Trophy as well as one of Babe Ruth’s bats. Jane and her family and friends, as well as members from The Seeing Eye will then attend tonight night’s game. Jane will also be recognized with a special pregame ceremony.

From the Yankees, here’s Jane’s story:

Blind since birth, Jane Lang has been to hundreds of Yankees games. What makes her special is that she travels to the Stadium via public transportation on her own – walking to her local train station in Morris Plains, N.J., before taking two separate trains with her Seeing Eye dog, Clipper.

At age 5, her family enrolled her in the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Mass., the same school that Helen Keller attended in the late 1800s. Though she learned as a young girl how to navigate around a city using a cane, she would eventually seek out the use of a Seeing Eye dog after a couple of key incidents left her stranded and helpless.

In June 1965, at age 22, Jane arrived at The Seeing Eye in Morristown, N.J., which is the oldest existing dog-guide school in the world. After four weeks, she finished training with her first dog, Sandy, and had met a new instructor at the school, Pete Lang, whom she wed just three months after their initial introduction.

After raising their three children, Sharon, Danny and Billy, along with owning and operating both a knitting business and a chair-caning enterprise, Jane decided to expand her life even further. In 2000, she and her guide dog Laramie learned how to navigate from their suburban Morris Plains, N.J., home to Yankee Stadium, solely using public transportation.

The trip begins with a walk to her local New Jersey Transit station, where they board the train for the 70-minute ride to Manhattan’s Penn Station. From there, they head up to the street and walk from Seventh Avenue to Sixth Avenue, where they descend underground again to catch the D train for the 30-minute ride to Yankee Stadium.

Prior to leaving the house, she places eight pieces of candy in one of her pockets. As the D train makes each of its stops along the way to Yankee Stadium, she moves one piece of candy to her opposite pocket. When there’s one candy left, it means the next stop is the Stadium. More than 250 solo trips to the Bronx later, the Yankees will join Jane in her trek to Yankee Stadium.

On the first day of HOPE Week, a group of Yankees spent yesterday at a pool party for 13-year-old Jorge Grajales and his friends and family. Today’s HOPE Week surprise begins in a little less than an hour. For now, here are pictures from yesterday, sent by the Yankees.

That’s Mariano Rivera delivering the cake, Nick Swisher playing with Jorge in the pool and the group shot includes Swisher, Rivera, Brett Gardner and Dustin Moseley.

This is one of those moments when it must feel good for the Yankees to have CC Sabathia at the front of their pitching staff.

The lineup has suddenly — and somewhat inexplicably — stopped hitting. Three days ago, Alex Rodriguez hit three home runs in a game. Derek Jeter had eight hits in four days, Brett Gardner was getting on base again, Curtis Granderson’s new swing was paying immediate dividends and Mark Teixeira was hitting .305 with 11 home runs in his previous 30 games.

Things were actually looking pretty good until the Yankees stopped scoring for two days. Now Rodriguez is day-to-day, Nick Swisher is banged up and Lance Berkman has a bad ankle.

At least they’ve faced Justin Verlander before.

Sabathia has been back to his workhorse self. He was one out away from a complete game in his last start, and he went eight innings in the start before that. He has 15 wins this season — seven of them in his past 10 starts — and he has a 2.44 ERA since the end of May. It’s a good day to have the big man on the mound.

Associated Press photo

Alex Rodriguez didn’t stick around to talk about his tight left calf. But Joe Girardi wasn’t ruling him out for Tuesday night.

“Would I be surprised if he played tomorrow? Yes, but not completely,” Girardi said.

Nick Swisher said his problem was actually a sore right elbow, his lead elbow for hitting left-handed. He’s day to day as well. He said he really felt it swinging against Max Scherzer when he fanned in the fourth, his final at-bat before Girardi took him out for a pinch hitter in the sixth.

“Just wear and tear,” Swisher said. “I’ve been taking a lot of swings lately. It’s maybe like a tennis elbow type of thing. I just want to get the pain out of there.”

With Lance Berkman also day to day with his sprained ankle, the Yankees could be down three regular bats on Tuesday.

“It makes us real short,” Girardi said. “That’s for sure.”

They might have to make a roster move if it looks like two or three won’t be able to play. …

The Yankees struggled yet again against a pitcher most of them hadn’t seen before. It’s happened in two straight games, including Sunday’s 1-0 loss in Kansas City when Bryan Bullington dominated them for eight innings. Swisher thinks these guys get pumped up to face them and throw even harder.

The Yankees hadn’t scored in 17 straight innings before Jose Valverde helped them by forcing in a run with a ninth-inning walk. They went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position. Derek Jeter grounded into two inning-ending double plays, including the ninth.

“Right now, we’re not swinging the bats very well,” Girardi said. “It’s something you face over the course of a season. It’s happened once before.”

Brett Gardner delivered a hard take-out slide on Carlos Guillen on the game-ending play, but the second baseman somehow got the ball to first.

“We’re going to get him checked out,” Jim Leyland said. “Gardner went in there clean and hard. It was really the play of the game. He stood in there and took it like a man.” …

Javier Vazquez is now winless in his last four starts, losing two of them. The Tigers fouled off some good pitches to help run up his pitch count to 106 in four innings, but he helped by being unable to command his changeup. Girardi said he isn’t worried about his Vazquez’s diminished velocity, that he was winning with it before this bad stretch. Vazquez said he was generally throwing 88 this time, but that his fastball had more life than the last two starts. …

Curtis Granderson’s revamped swing may be starting to pay dividends. He went 3 for 3 with a walk in his first regular-season game against his old team. …

Jeter is now 36th on the all-time hits list. His sixth-inning single was hit No. 2,885, putting him ahead of Zack Wheat. …

The Yankees have dropped five of eight and are now tied for first with Tampa Bay. Tuesday night, they will have C.C. Sabathia starting, chasing win No. 16. Sabathia is 11-2 with a 2.44 ERA over his last 14 starts. Justin Verlander (13-7, 3.72) starts for the Tigers.

That’s it for tonight.