The LoHud Yankees Blog

Based on the group gathered around Gate C27, roughly half of the 8:15 flight to Tampa is going to be filled with Yankees beat writers. Not among us is Mark Feinsand, who last night wore a Redskins jersey into a Dallas restaurant for the Skins-Cowboys game. I was there to witness it. He made it out alive.

After an ugly series here in Texas, the Yankees are heading for a showdown against the Rays, with first-place up for grabs. One week ago, the Yankees seemed to be playing their best baseball. This week, they seem to be stumbling.

No better place to find their stride than in Tampa.

We’re about to board, but here are some of the comments from last night about what’s ahead in the next three days.

Joe Girardi: “I feel good about this team. This team has worked hard to get to this point, where we are in the season. We still have some baseball left. I still believe that we are going to play extremely well down the stretch.”

Derek Jeter: “I don’t know how those half (game) things work. We’re basically tied, and that’s the team we’re tied with. You don’t have to worry about what another team is doing. You don’t have to look at a scoreboard. We control what happens. This is the situation you want to be in.”

Jorge Posada: “It happens in baseball. It’s just part of the game. Sometimes you have it all figured out and sometimes you can’t figure it out… It’s not going to get any easier tomorrow. We just have to go and forget about this series and look forward to tomorrow.”

CC Sabathia: “You get a chance to settle it on the field. You don’t have to depend on anybody else, no help from anybody else. I think to win the division you’ve got to beat the teams in your division. This is the team that’s trailing us, so it’s in our hands.”

Every time the Yankees fly from one city to the next, the players dress in suits and ties. No more t-shirts and sneakers. Today, the Yankees dressed for a showdown against Tampa Bay. They looked the part of a first-place team, even if they hadn’t played the part during a three-game sweep in Texas.

“They played better than us,” Derek Jeter said. “It was a tough three games, but we’re right in the position every team wants to be in. We control what happens. We play the teams that we’re tied with or are behind us, so we’re right where we need to be.”

Jeter, by the way, said a half-game lead is no different to him than a tie.

Dustin Moseley walked fewer batters than Cliff Lee this afternoon, but the Rangers turned each Moseley walk into a run. They advanced on fly balls to the outfield, took extra bases when given the chance and took the lead on Julio Borbon’s perfectly placed two-out bunt in the seventh inning.

“They did a lot of little things right that helped them win the game,” Moseley said.

The Yankees did a lot of little things wrong that cost them this series. Walks hurt the pitching staff and stranded runners killed the offense, but the Yankees managed to escape Arlington with smallest lead possible heading into their pivotal three-game series against Tampa Bay.

“I feel good about this team,” Joe Girardi said. “This team has worked hard to get to this point, where we are in the season. We still have some baseball left. I still believe that we are going to play extremely well down the stretch.”

Here’s Girardi’s postgame.

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.

• Dustin Moseley pitched exactly one-third of an inning in the 12 days leading up to today’s start. Even so, he retired 11 of the first 12 batters he faced and allowed just one run through his first six innings. His undoing was that he walked two guys, both to leadoff an inning, both leading to runs. “When a guy has that kind of command, I’m sure it’s frustrating,” Girardi said.

• Even with a full bullpen, Girardi said he would have stuck with Moseley into the seventh inning. “I loved the way he was throwing the baseball,” Girardi said.

• Hard to believe Cliff Lee had been struggling and hadn’t pitched since August 31. He allowed two hits, though he did walk three. His leadoff walk to Derek Jeter was Lee’s first leadoff walk since June 24, 2009.

• Speaking of Jeter: The Yankees had five base runners today, three of them were Jeter who walked twice and doubled in the only run. “I thought today was a step in the right direction,” he said.

• Also speaking of Jeter: Before Borbon’s bunt single that scored the go-ahead run, Jeter actually went to the mound to warn Moseley that — even with two outs — Borbon might be bunting. “I had a feeling he might do it,” Jeter said. “But it was perfect. There was nothing anybody could have done in that situation.”

• Jorge Posada said he felt perfectly fine. “No problem,” with his might-be-a-concussion.

• Javier Vazquez was available out of the bullpen today, and Girardi said he’ll be available out of the bullpen again tomorrow.

• Girardi said there are no additional tests planned for Nick Swisher. “We’ll know more tomorrow,” he said.

• In case you missed it, Kevin Russo and Juan Miranda arrived today. They were available off the bench.

Associated Press photos of Curtis Granderson and Moseley

There were three key parts of the Yankees lineup missing this afternoon. Joe Girardi was already planning to sit Alex Rodriguez and Brett Gardner, but just before the game he had to also scratch Nick Swisher. For the past week, Swisher has been clearly bothered by a sore left knee that has shown no structural damage, but has left him hobbling around the bases and in the outfield.

“It’s just not getting any better,” he said. “I can’t go out there chasing after a ball in the gap with one leg. That’s not going to do anybody any good. I thought it would get a lot better a lot faster than it has.”

An MRI has shown no break or tear, but Swisher has been in noticeable discomfort. He sat out a few games earlier this month and believed it was getting better, but he said he aggravated the injury on Wednesday — the same game when he hit the walk-off homer — when he took a swing that made him fall down in the box.

Whether Swisher can play tomorrow is uncertain.

“That’s a good question,” he said. “I don’t know. I come here to the ballpark every day ready to play. Whatever is going to happen is going to happen.”

Brett Gardner
Girardi said he was planning to give Gardner a day off today anyway, but that certainly became the case when Gardner complained to Kevin Long about lingering soreness in his right wrist and was pulled from Saturday’s game. It might help explain Gardner’s .207 batting average this month. The Yankees are planning an MRI this week in Tampa.

Alex Rodriguez
Another day off that has been in the works for a while. Girardi said during the previous home stand that Rodriguez would take a day off either in Texas or in Tampa, and he said last night that the day off would likely come this afternoon. Basically, the Yankees pushed Rodriguez back from the disabled list as soon as possible, giving him no rehab assignment but knowing they would have to ease him into everyday duty. Frustrating as it may be, this was the safest way to get Rodriguez back quickly without rushing his recovery.

Swept in a three-game series for the first time this season, the Yankees lost 4-1 to the Rangers this afternoon, keeping their division lead at just a half game heading into tomorrow’s showdown with second-place Tampa Bay. Derek Jeter, the Yankees embattled shortstop, drove in their only run as Cliff Lee was once again dominant. Yankees starter Dustin Moseley allowed one run through six innings, but he and Jonathan Albaladejo combined for a three-run seventh that made the difference. The blame rested on the offense which was without Alex Rodriguez, Nick Swisher and Brett Gardner and managed just two hits, both in the sixth inning.

Associated Press photo of Derek Jeter and Vladimir Guerrero

YANKEES (87-55)
Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Marcus Thames DH
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada C
Austin Kearns LF
Eduardo Nunez 3B
Greg Golson RF

RHP Dustin Moseley (4-2, 4.83)
Moseley vs. Rangers

RANGERS (79-63)
Elvis Andrus SS
Michael Young 3B
David Murphy LF
Vladimir Guerrero DH
Nelson Cruz RF
Ian Kinsler 2B
Mitch Moreland 1B
Matt Treanor C
Julio Borbon CF

LHP Cliff Lee (10-8, 3.37)
Lee vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 3:05 p.m. / YES Network and TBS

UMPIRES: HP Alfronso Marquez, 1B Dan Iassogna, 2B Dale Scott, 3B Ted Barrett

WEATHER: Might not dip below 90 degrees during the game. Very light breeze blowing in a bit. It’s not only the stars at night that are big and bright deep in the heart of Texas. The sun is awfully bright too.

NOT A GOOD WEEKEND: According to Elias, the last time the Yankees suffered back-to-back walk-off loses was in May of 2001 in Oakland.  Last night was the first time this season that the Yankees lost when leading after eight innings. They had been 76-0 in such games.

AVOIDING THE SWEEP: The Yankees have not been swept in a three-game series this season. The only time they’ve been swept was a two-game series in Tampa in May. A loss today would mean their first three-game sweep since July of 2009. Under Joe Girardi, the Yankees are 15-5 in the third game of a three-game series after losing the first two games.

DOWN THE STRETCH: After today’s game, the Yankees will play their final 19 games of the season against teams in the American League East.

UPDATE, 3:34 p.m.: Doesn’t have to be pretty. Austin Kearns makes up for the double off his glove with an awkward catch for the final out of the second inning. Dustin Moseley looks pretty good so far.

UPDATE, 4:07 p.m.: Moseley still looks good. Not many hard-hit outs, and even the base hits have been fairly weak. He’s through four innings on 53 pitches, pretty much exactly what the Yankees needed. Meanwhile, Cliff Lee looks like Cliff Lee again.

UPDATE, 4:21 p.m.: Two bits of good news: It’s hard to imagine Dustin Moseley pitching much better, and the Yankees have not stranded a single base runner.

UPDATE, 4:28 p.m.: Eduardo Nunez breaks up Cliff Lee’s no-hitter. One more thing in a very strange weekend of baseball in Texas.

UPDATE, 4:31 p.m.: The Captain comes through. Derek Jeter’s two-out double has scored Nunez and given the Yankees a 1-0 lead.

UPDATE, 4:34 p.m.: This is only the second time Cliff Lee has unintentionally walked two batters in a game this season.

UPDATE, 4:43 p.m.: Leadoff walk. Rarely a good thing. It comes back to hurt Moseley in the bottom of the sixth and the Rangers have tied it at 1. With the runner at third and one out, Moseley got the ground ball, but the Yankees couldn’t get the force at the plate.

UPDATE, 5:10 p.m.: Girardi said before the game that he was hoping for six innings out of Moseley. He got that, and you have to wonder if he might have made a bullpen move sooner if he had a full set of relievers. Another lead-off walk and now back-to-back two-out singles — one of them a bunt — have given the Rangers a 3-1 lead in the seventh. Here’s Albaladejo for a second day in a row.

Today would have been a normal side day for Javier Vazquez, and so the Yankees have made him available about of the bullpen for the afternoon. Joe Girardi said he doesn’t plan to use Vazquez for more than one innings.

That said, Girardi would not commit to Vazquez making his next start. He actually would not commit to any sort of rotation beyond the next three games in Tampa when the Yankees will go with CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova and Phil Hughes.

“There’s no urgency to announce the rotation,” Girardi said. “We have to see how Andy (Pettitte) does on Tuesday and then we’ll go from there.”

Essentially, Girardi has seven pitchers for five spots. That may very well leave Vazquez as an odd man out when Pettitte returns.

“If I was pitching great, then I wouldn’t be in this situation,” Vazquez said. “I’m to blame for not throwing the ball well. I know I can help them in the pen too, so whatever they want to do, I’ll do.”

• Alex Rodriguez is available to pinch hit.

• Nick Swisher was in the lineup when Girardi talked to the media, and Girardi has not spoken since Swisher came out. “I check with him every day, ‘Are you OK?’” Girardi said before the lineup change. “And he tells me he’s OK.” It’s worth noting, though, that Swisher has not appeared to be moving especially well on that banged up knee.

• Brett Gardner can play defense and pinch run this afternoon. Girardi said the same thing Gardner said last night: It’s likely he’ll get an MRI on his wrist while the team is in Tampa.

• If the can, Girardi might try to get Jorge Posada out of the game in the late innings, just as another precautionary step because of that possible mild concussion. “Depends on how the game goes, but yeah, there’s somewhat of that temptation,” Girardi said.

• After catching a 6 a.m. flight out of Scranton and connecting in Detroit, Kevin Russo and Juan Miranda actually arrived before most of the other Yankees this morning.

• Girardi indicated there might be another September call-up coming. “There might be one more,” he said. That could be a player already on the 40-man — someone like Noesi, Huffman or Brackman — or it could be that the Yankees are going to make a move to add a player to the 40-man. As I’ve said before, I think Royce Ring might make some sense as a second lefty. They also have recently claimed young left-hander Steve Garrison.

• No definite plan for the ninth inning tonight, but Girardi said he will avoid using anyone who pitched the past two nights. That includes Mariano Rivera. “We’ll just look at is as we get there,” Girardi said. “That would be the best thing that could happen.”

• Sitting Rodriguez, Girardi said, was not a difficult decision. He had previously committed to not using Rodriguez in six straight days — largely because he wasn’t given a rehab assignment — and giving him today off makes it likely he’ll be able to play all three games in Tampa.

Associated Press photo of Vazquez

Jeter SS
Granderson CF
Teixeira 1B
Thames DH
Cano 2B
Posada C
Kearns LF
Nunez 3B
Golson RF

Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Marcus Thames DH
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada C
Austin Kearns LF
Curtis Granderson CF
Eduardo Nunez 3B

One extra name listed among today’s relievers: Javier Vazquez.

Friday night the Yankees used 16 different position players and eight different pitchers. Last night, they used a slightly more reasonable 14 position players and seven pitchers. Given all of that maneuvering, there’s plenty of room for second guessing, and I’m all for questioning any number of Joe Girardi’s decisions.

But I don’t second guess the decision to use Mariano Rivera last night.

In the sixth inning, I actually had a conversation with one of the other writers saying if the Yankees came back and had a one-run lead in the ninth, it would be hard to keep Rivera out of the game. In that scenario, he would give them the best chance to win.

Had Girardi gone with some other late-inning combination — maybe Chamberlain in the eighth, Wood in the ninth — and that duo blew the game, I’m convinced we’d be having a conversation right now about why in the world Rivera was kept on the bench after just 23 pitches the night before.

If this exact same scenario played out in the postseason, would there be any discussion at all? Wouldn’t Rivera be automatic in the ninth inning one day after throwing 23 pitches? Of course he would, and you know why, because he would give the Yankees the best chance to win. Maybe he was a little tired last night, but he had plenty of rest leading into the weekend, and I don’t really think fatigue played a part. I’d trust a ninth-inning lead to a slightly tired Rivera every time if I could.

Wood in the eighth and Rivera in the ninth gave the Yankees the best chance to win last night. It just didn’t work out. Being upset about the decision because it put Rivera’s long-term health at risk is one thing, but as far as anyone can tell, there was not an injury of any sort. Rivera said he feels fine. Girardi said Rivera feels fine. What went wrong is that the best closer in history walked the leadoff man, then hit a guy with the bases loaded.

It didn’t work out, but I’m not sure that means it was the wrong decision.

The Yankees had finally gotten the big hit. One three-run double from Alex Rodriguez would be enough to overcome yet another night of missed opportunities. Kerry Wood would get the Yankees through the bottom of the eighth, and Mariano Rivera would come in to do what he always does. It was going to be a good win.

It became an absolutely brutal loss.

“It’s one of those games that, it bothers you if it doesn’t go the way you want it to,” Rivera said. “The first guy is setting the tone, and I walked the guy.”

A lead-off walk in the ninth started the unraveling. The most stunning hit-by-pitch I’ve ever seen ended it. In between there was the RBI double that tied the game, but that was a ground ball that found the right spot. The shocking part of this loss came from the man who was one the mound, the pitch that ended it and the fact that an inning earlier Rodriguez seemed to have made up for yet another night of too many runners left on base.

“It seemed really big at the time,” Joe Girardi said. “Then we got through (the bottom of) the eighth. We had another chance to score in the ninth, and we’re not able to do it. We’ve left some runners on base. We’ve done a good job getting runners on base this series, but we’ve struggled getting them in.”

In two games, they’ve stranded 32 base runners. More than Chad Gaudin on Friday and Rivera tonight, that number is the reason the Yankees have lost two in a row.

Here’s Rivera.

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.

• Brett Gardner is hurt. He has an injured right wrist that has bothered him off and on since he was hit by a pitch in Los Angeles on June 27. “Nothing that I’ve done in the past few days or past few weeks has really aggravated it,” he said. “I can’t really point to one thing in particular, whether I jammed it on base or a weird swing or anything like that, it’s probably just from swinging the bat every day and it just hasn’t gotten any better.”

• Gardner is hoping to get an MRI while the team is in Tampa. He said he didn’t ask out of tonight’s game, but he had mentioned to Kevin Long that his wrist was hurting tonight and when Girardi was asked about taking Gardner out, he specifically said it was because of the wrist. Both Girardi and Gardner seemed to think the injury was manageable. Girardi was not planning to play Gardner tomorrow anyway.

• Girardi got agitated when asked about pitching Rivera after he threw two innings on Friday. “Because he didn’t throw a lot of pitches,” Girardi said. “I don’t know how many times I have to say it. He threw 23 pitches.” Rivera said pitching yesterday had nothing to do with tonight. “I was feeling really good today,” he said. “It’s not that. It’s that you go in there and walk the first guy, anything can happen.”

• Girardi said he pinch hit Marcus Thames for Austin Kearns in the ninth because Thames has had success against Alexi Ogando. Thames was 2-for-3 with a double against him.

• Nick Swisher fell making a throw from right field, but Girardi said Swisher’s fine.

• Girardi admitted that his bullpen will be a little thin tomorrow, but said, “We have some guys who can still give us some distance.” Sergio Mitre hasn’t thrown the past two days, but Girardi said Mitre is fine.

• Both A.J. Burnett and Girardi were encouraged by Burnett’s outing. His command wasn’t perfect, but Girardi said he considered this a step in the right direction. “I didn’t think my command was that bad today,” Burnett said. “Only with two outs, when you don’t want it to be bad.”

• Francisco Cervelli has reached base in eight of nine plate appearances this series.

Associated Press photos of Francoeur and Burnett with Cervelli