The LoHud Yankees Blog

YANKEES (86-52)
Brett Gardner LF
Derek Jeter SS
Mark Teixeira 1B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Lance Berkman DH
Jorge Posada C
Curtis Granderson CF
Ramiro Pena 3B

LHP CC Sabathia (19-5, 3.02)
Sabathia vs. Orioles

ORIOLES (52-86)
Brian Roberts 2B
Felix Pie LF
Nick Markakis RF
Ty Wigginton 1B
Adam Jones CF
Nolan Reimold DH
Craig Tatum C
Robert Andino SS
Josh Bell 3B

RHP Jake Arrieta (4-6, 5.11)
Arrieta vs. Yankees

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

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

WEATHER: High 70s. No real chance of rain. Little bit of wind blowing out to left field.

WELCOME BACK: This will be Baltimore shortstop Robert Andino’s first big league game of the season. He was one of their September call-ups, but he’s played in the big leagues in the past.

NOT HIS FIRST TIME: Baltimore starter Jake Arrieta made his big league debut against the Yankees in June, and he got the win. Of course, it was the Yankees first time seeing him, so it’s only natural that they couldn’t beat him.

FOUR AND O: CC Sabathia has four wins against the Orioles this season, and a win today would make him the fourth Yankee to beat the Orioles five times in one season. The last to do it was Andy Pettitte in 2003. In his career, Sabathia is 13-1 against the Orioles. Elias says Sabathia’s .929 winning percentage against the O’s is the second highest among all pitches with at least 10 starts vs. Baltimore, trailing Boston’s Jon Lester, who’s 13-0 in 16 starts.

UPDATE, 7:17 p.m.: Did anyone see this coming? Five straight batters have reached base, the Orioles have a 3-0 lead and Sabathia still hasn’t gotten an out.

UPDATE, 7:25 p.m.: All things considered, 26 pitches isn’t too bad for Sabathia. Could have been a lot worse giving the four hits, one walk and three runs. He retired three in a row to strand two runners and keep it a 3-0 game.

UPDATE, 7:34 p.m.: Yankees so far doing their best to pickup Sabathia. Cano has singled in a run and there are still two on with one out for Swisher. It’s 3-1.

UPDATE, 7:45 p.m.: I have no idea how to make my computer type the symbol, but right now Felix Pie’s name on scoreboard is Felix and then the math symbol for pi. I love it.

UPDATE, 8:02 p.m.: Two-run home run by Nolan Reimold, and now it’s 5-1 Orioles.

UPDATE, 8:32 p.m.: Sending Berkman with no outs is a risky decision, but Berkman had a great slide to avoid the tag and cut the lead to 5-2.

UPDATE, 9:01 p.m.: Off the bat, Mark Feinsand and I both thought Cano’s ball was out of here. Instead, it was caught at the wall and the Yankees are still trailing 5-2 after six innings.

UPDATE, 9:11 p.m.: Sabathia is finished after a rough start. He leaves with two on and one out in the seventh inning. He’s allowed six runs — five earned — which is his highest run total of the season.

UPDATE, 9:30 p.m.: Hey look, it’s Alex Rodriguez. He’s pinch hitting for Ramiro Pena with runners at the corners in bottom of the seventh. It’s 6-2.

UPDATE, 9:38 p.m.: In an inning that included an 8-4 fielder’s choice and a 5-6-4 fielder’s choice, the Yankees couldn’t get a run in the seventh and still trail 6-2.

I saw a lot of rehab assignments during my time in Scranton. It’s pretty standard to have the big leaguer play four or five innings in his first few games, then seven and finally nine. There might be some DH days before he even gets on the field. It’s a slow process.

It’s a process Alex Rodriguez didn’t go through.

“Had he only taken like five or six days off, he would have been in there today,” Joe Girardi said. “Or maybe 10 days off (he would be in there), but having three weeks off and then going and playing two days without really doing a rehab, I just felt the one thing I don’t want is him to be a little bit fatigued at this time and then go out and injure something. We have to balance it.

“Could I have run him through four days? We could have thought about it, but I didn’t think it was a good idea. Could I have played him tonight and not tomorrow? Could have, but I’d rather have him not take two days off where he would have Wednesday and Thursday off, and then go play Friday. So I thought it was best to give him today.”

Rodriguez came off the disabled list two days ago, so this seems incredibly early to give him a day off. He has shown no signs of trouble, but that’s not the point. The point is to be cautious, which is standard.

Was there consideration of a rehab assignment? “We talked about it and we felt he would be ready to go, that we could put him into games and we felt he would be productive,” Girardi said. “He has been.”

Will he play six days in a row in Texas and Tampa? “I don’t know,” Girardi said. “We’ll have to wait and see, and see how hot it is in Texas and how we’re doing. I would think when we get through that next day off (the Thursday after the Tampa series) I should be able to play him six or seven days in a row.”

Can Rodriguez play at 100 percent effort right now? “My guess is if Alex had to go 100 percent, he would go 100 percent,” Girardi said. “We didn’t bring him back thinking he wasn’t healthy. We brought him back thinking he was healthy and ready to go, but there hasn’t been a ball hit in the gap where he’s had to go from first to home or a hard single hit where he’s had to go from second to home. We just haven’t had that situation. I feel pretty good about him running at 100 percent.”

• Yesterday, Girardi seemed certain Andy Pettitte would need two rehab starts. Today he hedged a little bit. “I would like him to show me that he’s ready to pitch, but then I still have to make a decision,” Girardi said. “I would prefer that he pitches extremely well and then my decision is difficult. It’s just something that we’ll talk to our training staff and everyone involved to see what we believe is best.”

• Girardi was asked about using Mariano Rivera for more than three outs down the stretch: “We’ve used him more than three outs during the course of the season,” Girardi said. “Ao I wouldn’t be opposed to doing it during the next three and a half weeks we have left. If we feel there’s a need to do it, I’ll do it.”

• Is Girardi surprised his ace has never reached 20 wins? “A little bit,” he said. “There’s a lot of things that have to go right to win 20 games; it just can’t be dominant pitching. When you’re a guy like CC, most of the time you’re going to be matched up against the ace and you’re going to lose some games 2-1, 3-2 or 1-0 in some difficult contests. You also have to remain healthy, and he’s been able to do that. I am a little surprised he hasn’t won 20 games before.”

• Mark Teixeira was named the AL Player of the Week. From the MLB announcement: Teixeira reached base safely in each of his seven games played last week and guided the Yankees to six wins as the team maintained its lead atop the A.L. East standings. The 30-year-old switch-hitter led the A.L. with a .476 (10-for-21) batting average, eight RBI and a .633 on-base percentage, and tied for the league-lead with three doubles, 19 total bases and a .905 slugging
percentage.

• Pretty interesting pitching matchup for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s second game of the postseason: SWB David Phelps (4-2, 3.07) vs. COL Zach McAllister (9-12, 5.29).

• Donnie Collins has the full Triple-A playoff rotation.

UPDATE, 6:23 p.m.: Orioles lineup
Brian Roberts 2B
Felix Pie LF
Nick Markakis RF
Ty Wigginton 1B
Adam Jones CF
Nolan Reimold DH
Craig Tatum C
Robert Andino SS
Josh Bell 3B

Associated Press photo of Rodriguez

Joe Girardi said he’s strictly playing it safe with Alex Rodriguez.

He hasn’t seen anything to cause alarm, but given the fact there were no rehab games to ease Rodriguez in, Girardi didn’t feel comfortable playing him four games in a row. He decided to give him today off, and Rodriguez might get another day in either Texas or Tampa.

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

Tonight at the stadium, the Yankees and Nike are teaming up to support the Jorge Posada Foundation. Here’s the press release from the team.

The New York Yankees will host a fundraising event for the Jorge Posada Foundation on Tuesday, September 7, at Yankee Stadium when the Yankees take on the Baltimore Orioles (first pitch at 7:05 p.m.). Jorge’s wife, Laura, will be on hand from 5:00.-8:00 p.m. in the H&R Block Suite Lounge to launch the “Hip, Hip, Jorge – 1,000 RBI” T-shirt, designed by Nike to celebrate the Yankees catcher surpassing the milestone on July 23, 2010.

The ceremonial T-shirts will retail for $20 and will be on sale exclusively at Yankee Stadium team stores and Modell’s Sporting Goods, with 100 percent of the net proceeds to benefit the Jorge Posada Foundation. In addition, to kick off Tuesday’s T-shirt launch, Nike will present the foundation with a $5,000 check, and has pledged to donate all the money from the sale of the first 200 shirts sold on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium to the Jorge Posada Foundation.

“We are very appreciative of the Yankees and Nike for supporting The Jorge Posada Foundation,” said Jorge and Laura Posada. “This event will provide support to families and children who are affected by the medical condition of craniosynostosis, a birth defect that causes an abnormally shaped skull. It is something near and dear to our hearts.”

The Jorge Posada Foundation is a non-profit organization established by the New York Yankees’ All-Star Catcher, Jorge Posada, and his wife, Laura. Their son, Jorge Luis, was diagnosed with craniosynostosis when he was just 10 days old and has undergone eight major surgeries to correct the condition. The Posada Family strongly believes that they were touched by craniosynostosis so that they could make a difference in the lives of others dealing with this condition.

Even the most hardened advocates of old-school stats admit the obvious flaws associated with wins. In the course of a career, having a lot of wins is a pretty good indication that a pitcher was pretty good, but a single win in a single game quite often means nothing. Even a bad pitcher on a bad day can get a win.

Thing is, pitchers like them. Especially starting pitchers.

Tonight CC Sabathia will try to win 20 in a season for the first time in his career. He won 17 in his first big league season, he’s won 19 twice — three times if you count this season — but Sabathia has never gotten to 20. The first time I remember it being brought up was after Sabathia won his 15th. It was August 12 in Kansas City, and it was the first time Sabathia had won 15 of his first 25 starts in a season.

“I try to stay away from personal goals to be honest,” he said. “I’d rather win a World Series than win 20 games and win a Cy Young.”

I have absolutely no doubt that’s true, but winning 20 games is a pretty solid accomplishment. Look at the list of Major League wins leaders. It’s not a perfect list of the top pitchers in baseball, but it’s not a bad place to start. One win might mean next to nothing, but 20 wins carries weight. It’s hard to get there on luck and timing.

Starting pitchers always talk about giving their teams a chance to win, and few pitchers do that as well as Sabathia. Reaching 20 wins might not tell you everything you need to know about his season, but it tells you he’s given his team a chance time and time again. Even Sabathia would have to admit that’s worth something.

The Yankees ability to win without Alex Rodriguez remains one of the most baffling stats of the season. They’d won eight in a row without him, and now that he’s back, they’ve lost two straight.

And he’s been their best hitter in both games.

Tonight, Rodriguez took a new place in baseball history. With his home run and his sacrifice fly, Rodriguez became the first player in baseball history to have 14 seasons of at least 100 RBI. His 13 consecutive 100-RBI seasons tied Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx for the longest such streak of all time.

“It feels good,” Rodriguez said. “You try to come out and be consistent every year… I certainly feel pretty good (since coming back from the calf injury). I’m seeing the ball well.”

The past two 100 RBI seasons have come in years when Rodriguez has battled injuries. This one has come in a year when most of his stats are a notch below what’s come to be expected.

“It’s amazing,” Joe Girardi said. “It’s an amazing number. It just shows you how consistent he’s been. How healthy he has been in his career to be able to do something like that. He came up at a very young age and was productive very early on. It’s a pretty amazing feat.”

• Derek Jeter’s first-inning double gave him 150 hits. He’s had that many in 15 straight seasons, the longest streak among active players and the longest streak in Yankees history.

• Jeter: “I liked my at-bats the past few days. You forget about what’s happened up to this point, and you try to move forward. I was happy with my at-bats today.”

• Asked if his knee bothered him this afternoon, Nick Swisher hesitated, said “No,” then smiled. Safe to say, the answer might have been a lie. “I knew I wasn’t going to be 100 percent today,” he said. He was, however, hopeful that playing would “loosen the pressure” in his knee.

• Girardi on Swisher: “He looked fine to me. I didn’t see him really favoring it when he was running.”

• If there was a positive out of A.J. Burnett’s outing, it was that his curveball looked better. “I was able to throw a curveball in the right location to get a double play, but it still goes back to shutdown,” he said. “If I get some shutdown innings, it’s a different ball game.”

• Brett Gardner’s bunt attempt in the seventh inning came from the bench. Girardi gave the sac bunt signal.

• Pinch running for Rodriguez in the eighth was strictly for speed, not because of concern Rodriguez was hurting. “If it’s earlier in the game I don’t do it,” Girardi said.

• Rodriguez said drawing a walk showed him as much his home run about how he’s feeling at the plate so soon after his injury: “When I see more pitches and I walk, I get deep into counts, I feel more dangerous as a hitter,” he said.

• Burnett has 13 losses for the first time in his career.

• Brian Roberts was on the disabled list every other time the Yankees faced the Orioles this season. Today he had three hits, including a pair of two-out hits that gave Baltimore the lead. “He’s a pain,” Jeter said. “It seems like he always has good at-bats. He fouls off some tough pitches, and he gets on base, and when he gets on base he runs a lot. Obviously a much different team when he’s on the field.”

Associated Press photos of Rodriguez and Robinson Cano

A.J. Burnett talked this afternoon about giving up the lead. He seemed to believe the Yankees had given him a lead more than once, and that he had coughed it up each time. Truth is, that never happened. Burnett let the Orioles take the lead three times, but the Yankees were never in front.

Non-existent lost leads seemed be just another way in which Burnett was far less impressed by his start than either his manager or his teammates.

—

Joe Girardi: “I thought it was a good step forward. I thought his stuff was very good today. He didn’t really have his changeup today, but his curveball and his fastball were very good. He got in some situations that he wiggled his way out of; a first and second with nobody out and didn’t give up a run. He pitched pretty well.”

Burnett: “I was what, 0-for-3 on shutdown innings? Two or three. It was a good start, I appreciate that statement (from Girardi), but we should have been in that game.”

—

Derek Jeter: “I really thought he threw the ball well. He had a good breaking ball. They scrapped for a couple of runs off him, but like Girardi said, it was a step in the right direction. There were a lot of positives that came out of today.”

Burnett: “I’ll look at the positive tomorrow. I’m a little too upset about everything else. I wish I could tell you guys more, but to come out and start a game like that and get the lead and then blow it three times, that’s the story of the day.”

—

Alex Rodriguez: “A.J. looked good. He was one pitch away from having a really, really good start. (Brian) Roberts is a tough hitter and (in the seventh) he got a huge two-out hit – he got two of them today – and today that was the big difference.”

Burnett: “It’s not about my seventh. It’s my whole day in general. I take pride in shutdowns. I’ve said it six times already, sorry I keep repeating it, but nothing else happened today. I wasn’t able to shut them down when we scored.”

Associated Press photo of Burnett

Just to keep Andy Pettitte on an every fifth day routine, his first rehab start will be Thursday instead of Wednesday.

Joe Girardi said the start will still be with Double-A Trenton.

After an eight-game winning streak, the Yankees have now lost two in a row after a 4-3 disappointment this afternoon against the Orioles. Starter A.J. Burnett never had an especially brutal inning, but he allowed one run four times, having let the lead-off man reach base in three of those innings. Alex Rodriguez homered and drove in a run on a sac fly — giving him 100 RBI for the year — but Robinson Cano’s RBI bloop single was the Yankees only other run-scoring hit.

Associated Press photo of Francisco Cervelli and Corey Patterson