The LoHud Yankees Blog

Still no lineup from the Yankees, but Joe Girardi just announced that Derek Jeter will have a routine day off. Ramiro Pena will start at shortstop, Eduardo Nunez at third.

Girardi has yet to post a full lineup because he has not checked with Nick Swisher to find out whether Swisher can play.

There are a few clouds in the sky, but the sun in shining at Yankee Stadium this morning, and that seems to be a good sign.

A few days ago, the forecast suggested there was very little chance the Yankees would actually play this game — and I don’t think anyone was looking forward to playing two games tomorrow.

Today, it’s seems to be about 50-50. There’s roughly a 50 percent chance of rain during today’s game. The Weather Channel has it closer to 10-percent at first pitch, closer to 70 percent in the late innings.

At least there’s a fighting chance they can get this game in. It didn’t look that way a couple of days ago.

Friday
RHP Ivan Nova (1-0, 1.93)
vs.
RHP Brandon Morrow (10-6, 4.27)
1:05 p.m., YES

Saturday
RHP Javier Vazquez (10-9, 4.86)
vs.
LHP Marc Rzepczynski (1-3, 6.03)
1:05 p.m., YES

Sunday
RHP Phil Hughes (16-6, 4.10)
vs.
LHP Brett Cecil (11-7. 3.74)
1:05 p.m., YES/TBS

These names should look familiar. The Yankees faced the same three pitchers in Toronto last week. These are the exact same head-to-head matchups except with Javier Vazquez taking the place of Dustin Moseley on Saturday.

I’m sure all of us have had our lives affected by cancer in one way or another, so I’m more than happy to post this release from the Yankees.

The New York Yankees today announced a special triple play during the month of September, with three upcoming cancer awareness events at Yankee Stadium. In conjunction with Major League Baseball’s commitment to Stand Up To Cancer, the Yankees are striving to raise awareness and take the proper steps in prevention and detection for their fans by offering free cancer screenings and a marrow drive to those in attendance at the three dates listed below.

ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, the Yankees will host a free skin cancer screening for all ticketed fans from 11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. on the Main Level behind home plate (between Sections 217-223), just prior to the Yankees-Blue Jays game at 1:05 p.m. Dr. Darrell Rigel, M.D., and his team of dermatologists and medical assistants will conduct the skin cancer screenings, just as they do for the Yankees players during each spring training. The screenings – which cover exclusively the arms and face – take under a minute to complete.

In conjunction with the free screenings, Neutrogena will sponsor a sunscreen giveaway to the first 30,000 fans in attendance at Sunday’s game.

ON TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, the Yankees will partner with Ed Randall’s Bat For The Cure charity for the second straight season to help fans fight the battle against prostate cancer by providing free prostate cancer screenings for adult men age 40 and over attending that evening’s game vs. Baltimore (7:05 p.m. first pitch). Doctors and medical technicians from St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center will provide the safe and simple screening and participants will be notified of the results within two weeks.

The free tests will begin when gates open at 4:30 p.m. – when the Yankees open select gates (near the Great Hall) one half-hour earlier than normal for a night game – and last until approximately 8:00 p.m. The screenings will take place on the Main Level behind home plate (between Sections 217-223). Last year, over 300 fans were screened for the deadly disease.

ON WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, the Yankees, New York Blood Center and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital will team up for a bone marrow drive at Yankee Stadium. Marrow has the ability to help patients defeat diseases like leukemia or sickle cell anemia through the receipt of a marrow transplant. Ticketed fans are urged to participate in the possible life-saving effort from 5:00 p.m. until the top of the seventh inning on the Main Level behind home plate (between Sections 217-223) while the Yankees play the Tampa Bay Rays (7:05 p.m. first pitch). With a simple swab from inside a cheek, participants will be added to the Be The Match Registry, which allows for patients to find a needed marrow match. The New York Blood Center and hospital staff will help swab and register all participants.

Fans looking to be added to the Registry are asked to take the first step at www.BeTheMatch.org or join.bethematch.org/YANKEES. Participation will give thousands of people a chance to live.

In addition, all full-time and part-time Yankees employees will be eligible to take part in the cancer screenings and marrow drive during designated times prior to gates opening.

v Skin Cancer will strike one in five Americans and over 2,000,000 new cases will be diagnosed this year in the United States. Over one American dies every hour from skin cancer. Dermatologists want to decrease that number now and early detection is the best way to make that happen. When it comes to skin cancer, early detection is key!

v Prostate cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death among men with 240,000 new cases of prostate cancer expected in the U.S. this year, enough to fill Yankee Stadium nearly six times over. Overall, one in three men will develop a prostate problem, one in six will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, and for African-American men one in four will develop the disease. Yet, through early detection, prostate cancer is almost 97 percent treatable.

Þ Ed Randall’s Bat For The Cure is a New York-based 501c-3 charity entering its ninth year of raising prostate cancer awareness, promoting early PSA testing, and raising research funds to fight the disease. Ed Randall’s Bat For The Cure was founded in 2002 after the charity’s founder, Ed Randall, was diagnosed with prostate cancer which currently remains in remission. The organization provides more information about detection and testing at its website www.batforthecure.org.

v The National Marrow Donor Program operates the Be The Match Registry, the world’s largest and most diverse registry of volunteer marrow donors and donated cord blood units. Every year, more than 10,000 patients are diagnosed with life-threatening diseases such as leukemia or lymphoma for which a marrow or cord blood transplant from an unrelated donor may be their best or only hope of a cure. Most patients (about 70 percent) in need of a transplant do not have a matching donor in their family. They depend on the NMDP’s Be The Match Registry to find an unrelated donor or cord blood unit. In 2009, more than 1,800 patients received assistance, and more than $5 million was made available to qualifying patients through the Be The Match Foundation Patient Assistance Program.

Not surprisingly, one of the reporters at the game today asked Jorge Posada a question about CC Sabathia’s consistency this season, and how important it was considering all the rest of the issues that have befallen the other Yankees starters. As soon as Posada saw where the question was going, he began to shake his head, almost fearfully.

“Knock on wood, man,” he said, looking around for something to rap his fingers against. “I don’t even want to answer that question. We need him.”

Posada’s concern about tempting fate is understandable; Sabathia has been an absolute rock this season, and today’s game was just the latest example. He went eight innings and allowed only a second-inning single to Mark Ellis, giving the Yankees their sixth straight win and pushing Sabathia’s personal total to 19. He figures to get five cracks at reaching 20 for the first time in his career.

Both Posada and Joe Girardi talked about how Sabathia threw early strikes against an A’s lineup that was happy to swing, and it was clear that Sabathia felt comfortable with all his pitches. He even mixed in some two-seam fastballs amongst the usual four-seamer, curve, slider and change.

“He had no-hit stuff today,” Posada said. “He really did.”

Without Sabathia going for a no-no, Girardi said it was an easy decision to pull him after eight. As for why he’s been on this incredible run at home, Sabathia shrugged. “My wife’s cooking, maybe?” he said.

• Another factor that helped Sabathia today – his stamina. Pitching in steamy conditions is tough for most pitchers, but Sabathia says he likes it. He’s also that rare pitcher who seems to get stronger as the season wears on. Girardi suggested that Sabathia’s size contributes to that, saying, “This is not someone that’s frail. He’s a football player playing baseball.”

When that comment was relayed to Sabathia, he nodded. “I agree with it,” he said. “I could see myself playing the offensive line.”

• Curtis Granderson wasn’t supposed to play this afternoon but – obviously – had no problem coming off the bench to replace Nick Swisher after Swisher felt stiffness in his knee. Girardi said he and his coaches spend a long time deciding on the lineup each day, and so he got an earful from Kevin Long as Granderson’s day only got better.

“K-Long was burying me on the bench today,” Girardi said. “(He said) ‘You were really not very smart, not putting Granderson in. But it only took you one inning to figure it out.’ Those guys, we like to give them a day here or there, especially the speed guys so they stay fresh. (And Granderson) was great today.”

• Swisher first hurt his knee during last week’s series in Toronto and told Girardi he “couldn’t explode” when he tried to run after his first at-bat. That was enough for Girardi, who pulled him. The Yankees are saying he’s day-to-day.

• Andy Pettitte did, in fact, report no issues after his bullpen yesterday. He’s on track to throw a simulated game Saturday and, if all goes well, he could be in a minor-league game sometime next week. Alex Rodriguez also felt fine after hitting on the field for a second straight day and still looks like a go for Sunday.

• Want a weird stat? The Yankees are now 3-0 against pitchers who have thrown no-hitters this season. They beat Dallas Braden today, Roy Halladay and the Phillies on June 15 and Matt Garza and the Rays on July 31.

CC is so good he actually sleep-walked through today’s game (Not really, but I just thought it was an unusual photo). Thanks to AP for the pic.

On a hot, steamy day in the Bronx, CC Sabathia was dominant (again) and the Yankees beat the A’s (again) to finish off a four-game series sweep.

Sabathia, who allowed just one hit over eight shutout innings, is now only one win away from the first 20-win season of his career. Curtis Granderson hit two homers (after coming off the bench to replace Nick Swisher) and Jorge Posada added a shot of his own to push the Yankees to the 5-0 victory.

YANKEES (83-50)
Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Robinson Cano 2B
Marcus Thames DH
Jorge Posada C
Austin Kearns LF
Eduardo Nunez 3B
Brett Gardner CF

LHP CC Sabathia (18-5, 3.14)
Sabathia vs. Athletics

ATHLETICS (65-67)
Coco Crisp CF
Rajai Davis LF
Kurt Suzuki DH
Kevin Kouzmanoff 3B
Mark Ellis 2B
Matt Carson RF
Jeff Larish 1B
Landon Powell C
Cliff Pennington SS

LHP Dallas Braden (9-9, 3.28)
Braden vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 1:05 p.m. / YES Network

UMPIRES: HP CB Bucknor, 1B Kerwin Danley, 2B Doug Eddings, 3B Dana DeMuth

WEATHER: Nice and steamy in the Bronx. Few clouds but some haze. It’s going to be a hot one.

HOW SWEEP IT IS: If the Yankees win today it would be their sixth series sweep of the season and second against the A’s. Whatever happens, the Yankees have already won the series and are now 4-0-2 in four-game series at the new Yankee Stadium.

HOME COOKING: CC Sabathia likes the Bronx, having gone undefeated in his last 20 starts at Yankee Stadium. The stretch, which dates back to last year’s All-Star break, has seen Sabathia go 15-0 with a 2.17 ERA. “I don’t think he really does anything different,” Joe Girardi said. “The thing you might try to take from that is he’s real familiar with the mound, and the surroundings and the view of home plate that he sees here more than other places. He knows how to pitch to this ballpark.”

HIGH FIVE: The Yankees now have five pitchers – A.J. Burnett, Andy Pettitte, Sabathia, Phil Hughes and Javier Vazquez – with double-digit wins, marking the first time they’ve had that many since 1999. The rotation that season? Pettitte, David Cone, Orlando Hernandez, Hideki Irabu and … Roger Clemens.

UPDATE, 1:26 p.m.: Looks like Nick Swisher has come out of the game for some reason. Gardner in left now, Granderson in center and Kearns in right. Will let you know what we hear on Swisher.

UPDATE, 1:36 p.m.: CC is rolling and Jorge Posada just gave him a lead with a massive blast into the left-center field seats. That’s No. 17 for Posada and came on the first pitch. 1-0 Yankees.

UPDATE, 2:02 p.m.: Jack Curry of YES reports that Swisher appeared to injure his left knee. He had hurt it back in Toronto and looked to be laboring as he ran.

UPDATE, 2:11 p.m.: Official word on Swisher: Left game with stiffness in his left knee. He’s day-to-day.

UPDATE, 3:08 p.m.: That’s the sixth career multi-homer game for Granderson and second this season. The way CC is going, 4-0 ought to be more than enough to get the sweep finished.

As I write this, Alex Rodriguez is on the field taking batting practice and – just my opinion – he looks to be moving pretty freely. I know A-Rod is trying to be cautious about whether he’ll return on Sunday (the first day he’s eligible) but at this point there doesn’t seem to be any reason why he wouldn’t.

Much of Joe Girardi’s pre-game press conference centered on CC Sabathia, who is going for his 19th win of the season this afternoon. CC has downplayed the importance of reaching 20 wins for the first time in his career, but Girardi knows it would have meaning to him.

“I think it would mean a lot,” Girardi said. “And I think the longer he was to get away from the game, I think it would mean more. I think you can reflect back on things a lot more when you’re done and things aren’t moving so fast. … A 20-win season for any pitcher, I think, is a big deal.”

Some other tidbits:

• Girardi hadn’t yet seen Andy Pettitte today (he met with us around 11:15 a.m.) and said he was taking that as a good sign that Pettitte’s lower body wasn’t overly sore after yesterday’s bullpen. “If he was here at 9 in the morning, I probably would have been more concerned,” Girardi said. I’ll pass along any updates we get.

• It certainly seems like Girardi had at least a quick word with Jorge Posada about the foolishness of last night’s ejection, though the manager wouldn’t flat-out confirm that. “I’ve talked to him about some things,” Girardi said. “And he understands. But Jorgie is an emotional guy. And that’s one of the things we love so much about Jorgie because he brings that intensity every day, so sometimes with all that great intensity that he brings to the field every day, sometimes things happen. But I don’t want him to change what he’s doing most of the time, because his personality is important to this club.”

Obviously Posada’s tirade at plate ump Dana DeMuth would have been an even bigger deal if rosters hadn’t expanded and Chad Moeller wasn’t available to come in and catch the ninth inning, though Girardi said he believes Posada would have held his tongue if he’d known the Yankees had no catchers behind him. Have to say, I’m not so sure I agree with him on that. Posada was pretty hot over that strike-three call.

• How has Eduardo Nunez, who didn’t play third base much in the minors, looked there so far? “It’s totally different playing third base than shortstop,” Girardi said. “The ball gets to you a lot quicker, the throw is different. I think he’s handled himself very well. I know he made an error the other day, but that can happen to anyone. And he hasn’t let his offense affect his defense or his defense affect his offense so I’ve been happy with him.”

Jeter SS
Swisher RF
Teixeira 1b
Cano 2b
Thames DH
Posada C
Kearns LF
Nunez 3b
Gardner CF

Sabathia P

Joe Girardi remembers how his old manager, Don Zimmer, used to talk about “personality hits.” If a guy was particularly scuffling at the plate and his confidence was down, one hit – just one – could be enough to turn his outlook around. Along those lines, tonight was a “personality win” for A.J. Burnett, Girardi said, as the righthander got his first victory since July 28.

Now obviously Burnett pitched well at points during that stretch – eight innings of one-run ball against the Royals most notably – but there’s something to be said for feeling like you’re a part of the team’s success, and even Burnett admitted it felt good to finally get a win.

“It helps – it’s a good win for the team,” he said. “My job is to go out and do what I did tonight. I’m going to pitch well and now’s the time to do it.”

That was a common theme, as both Burnett and Derek Jeter talked about the importance of forgetting their less-than-appetizing season statistics since all that matters now is what happens over these next four weeks or so. “I don’t look,” Jeter said when asked about seeing his numbers on the scoreboard. “I’d love to be hitting .350 but that’s not the case.”

Does he care? Of course. But he cares more about contributing, and tonight Jeter went 1-for-5, reached on an error and scored two of the four Yankee runs. Knowing Jeter, he’ll take that and a win every time.

Here’s the Girardi audio:

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• What stood out about Burnett’s performance? His curveball and change-up. If those two pitches are on, particularly the change-up, it makes Burnett’s fastball even more dominant. “If (the change) is a good one, it gives hitters something different to think about,” Girardi said. For those who were watching tonight, you might have noticed the change-up with a particularly nasty dive to it; Girardi even likened it to a splitter. “I attacked,” Burnett said.

Here’s some of Burnett’s audio:

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• Mark Teixeira now has 50 RBI in his last 53 games going back to July 1, though even he admitted his hits tonight weren’t exactly thunderous blasts. “Two of the hits were actually lucky,” he said. “Ground balls with eyes.”

• Assuming he feels OK tomorrow, Andy Pettitte will throw a simulated game on Saturday. If all goes well, he could be headed on a minor-league rehab outing after that.

• Jorge Posada definitely had a legit gripe over the strike three call from Dana DeMuth in the eighth, but Posada is lucky that he threw his fit tonight instead of yesterday. Since rosters had expanded, the Yankees had Chad Moeller available to come in and catch the ninth. Girardi said he was “really glad” he had Moeller since Eduardo Nunez was already out of the game and Ramiro Pena – who is the emergency catcher – was set to go to third base.

• Nice work out of the bullpen, with Joba Chamberlain getting into and out of trouble in the seventh and Boone Logan, Kerry Wood and Mariano Rivera following him to close the game out. Asked about Logan and Wood, Girardi said, “They’ve meant a lot. They’ve given us options. They give us a nice group of guys down there that can get big outs.” For the record, Logan has retired 27 of the last 31 lefties he’s faced while Wood has allowed just one earned run in 13 1/3 innings since coming to the Bronx.

That’s it for tonight. Back at it tomorrow with CC looking for the sweep. Thanks to everyone for reading.