The LoHud Yankees Blog

Before last night’s game, Alex Rodriguez donated the spikes he wore on August 4 to the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. They’re the shoes he was wearing on the night he hit his 600th home run.

Of course, a milestone like that has its perks.

According to the Yankees, Rodriguez also received three gifts yesterday.

• Hublot Swiss-made watch in recognition of hitting his 600th home run

• Steuben Glass custom engraved piece in recognition of hitting his 600th home run

• Steuben Glass custom engraved piece in recognition of his reaching 600 career home runs and 300 stolen bases

Spike emailed that picture last night. It was obviously taken during the storm and, yes, I used it to justify a headline about tonight’s pitching matchup.

It’s impossible to know what last night’s game might have been. A.J. Burnett was limited to three innings because of the rain and the Yankees had to lean on a string of relievers who had hardly been used the past two weeks. Aside from Royce Ring, none of them had an especially good night.

Which leaves tonight. The final regular season game between the Yankees and Rays will be a rematch of last week’s terrific pitching matchup between CC Sabathia and David Price. If you saw it the first time, it’s probably going to be worth seeing again. Hard to imagine either team would pick anyone else to have on the mound.

If it comes down to the bullpens again, the Yankees should have Kerry Wood, Boone Logan and Mariano Rivera available. All three had the past two days off. Dave Robertson’s availability might depend on his sore lower back, and Joba Chamberlain would be iffy at best. He was off yesterday, but before that he pitched three out of four, and Girardi has said he wants to give his relievers two days off after they’ve gone three out of four. Whether that changes because the back-to-back games were at the beginning instead of the end of the four games, I have no idea.

Regardless, the Yankees will lean on Sabathia as long as possible. If they win tonight, taking three out of four will have been a huge success. If they lose, it’s easy to remember what Lance Berkman said on the last day in Baltimore: “In a four-game series, usually if it’s two good teams it’s 2-2 and then we’re right back where we were and nobody gains any ground.”

After this 7-2 loss, Joe Girardi revealed that David Robertson was out with a bad back. It seems minor. The righty reliever’s lower back tightened up on both sides after his outing on Monday night against the Rays. Girardi called it an issue with spasms, saying it was muscular. Robertson underwent an MRI Wednesday. Girardi said there was no structural problem. 

“I’m feeling a lot better today than I did yesterday,” Robertson said. “The good news is there’s no damage, nothing with the disc or anything like that. … I’m really not very worried about it at all.”

“I’m not sure when we’ll get him back,” said Girardi, who didn’t think it was going to be a long time. He also didn’t think Robertson would be available for Thursday night’s series finale. …

The Yankees are now up by just 1 1/2 over the Rays. The Yankees have 10 games left, the Rays 11.

“I think this thing is going to come down to the wire,” Lance Berkman said. “Even if we win tomorrow night, 2 1/2 games is a decent lead, but we have a tough schedule. … The schedule favors them. So even if we were to win tomorrow night, 2 1/2 games is not insurmountable.” …

Berkman continues to swing well. He had two hits and is now batting .370 (20 for 54) since coming off the DL Sept. 1.

“It’s not like I’m on fire or anything, but I feel pretty good,” Berkman said.

He sent up his first homer as a Yankee, a solo shot in the fifth.

“It felt great,” Berkman said. “I didn’t want to end up with a zero in that category. One is better than none. … Hopefully there will be a few more.” 

He has had to adjust to AL pitching after spending his entire career previously with the Astros.

“It’s very tough to hit when you don’t know anything,” Berkman said. “I haven’t heard of half of these guys. They’ve got some great arms. It’s good to be the second time through with this (Rays) team and know a little bit of some of these guys.”  …

Royce Ring made his debut in pinstripes and the speed-changing veteran lefty couldn’t have been more thrilled. He was charged with one run in 1 2/3 after taking over for A.J. Burnett out of the two-hour, 11-minute rain delay in the third. Dustin Moseley gave up the inherited run after Ring issued a two-out walk. But Ring can now say, “I pitched for the Yankees.”

“I just texted my wife. I was like, ’I'm on Cloud 9 right now,’ ” Ring said. “It was a great experience. It did two years in Triple-A baseball to get back up here. It’s just a great feeling to be with this organization.” …

Derek Jeter scored a run, the 1,678th of his career. So he passed Mickey Mantle for sole possession of third on the franchise’s all-time list. Jeter also tied his season high by extending his hitting streak to 11 games. He had two singles in four at-bats to continue his September surge. It was his third straight multiple-hit game and fifth in the last eight. …

The Yankees are 8-9 vs. Tampa Bay, the second-most losses they have ever had against the Rays. In 2005, the Yankees were 8-11 against them. …

It will CC Sabathia vs. David Price in the fourth and final game, two prime Cy Young candidates.

“To be able to leave here 2-2 would be awesome,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “It’s a great pitching matchup with CC and David, and I know that a lot of people will be watching. It’s going to be fun to watch.”

That’s it for tonight.

Update, 7:16: Kind of a rocky start for A.J. Burnett. A single, a walk and ultimately a rocket of a sac fly by Evan Longoria that Curtis Granderson ran down near the track in center. But it’s only 1-0. Yankees turn.

Update, 7:40: The Rays’ starting pitching has generally been brutal lately, with a 6.80 ERA over the last 16 games. But rookie Wade Davis hasn’t been the problem. He’s won his last seven decisions, three since he came off the DL, and is unbeaten in his last 11 starts. He hasn’t given up a hit through two, six up, six down.

Update, 7:54: Burnett has made it through three with one run, two hits and two walks allowed. He has been pitching better this month. But his ERA at first pitch was still 5.08. He shouldn’t been so inconsistent, but he is.

Update, 7:58: Finally a Yankees baserunner. Curtis Granderson walks with one out in the third. Also, it’s starting to rain. The tarp is coming out.

Update, 8:30: It’s still raining. Wonder if Burnett and Davis will be back out if this goes on much longer.

Update, 8:55: It’s coming up near an hour. Hard to believe now that they would bring the starters back. Weather.com has it clear at 11, but we’ve had no announcements here. Hope it’s sooner than that. There has been a lot of lightning and the fans here were urged by PA announcer Paul Olden to seek cover.

Update, 9:18: This just in: It’s still raining here. Where’s the retractable roof when you need it? Olden told the crowd they’re stilling hope to resume this game at some point.

Update, 9:40: It’s still raining, but the grounds crew has come out to take off the wood planks holding down the tarp. It’s being pulled off. The rain seems to be getting light.

Update, 9:51: The game will resume at approximately at 10:05. Going to be a late night.

Update, 9:59: The Yankees didn’t get a hit off promising rookie Wade Davis in 2 1/3. Now they’re going to get another promising Rays rookie righty, Jeremy Hellickson, when we resume. And the Yankees are going to get their first look at Royce Ring, who will replace Burnett.

Update, 10:10: The count is 1-1 on Francisco Cervelli. Curtis Granderson is on first. Let’s start again.

Update, 10:12: Cervelli fans. The delay was two hours, 11 minutes. Dustin Moseley, by the way, has joined Ring warming in the Yankees’ pen.

Update, 10:16: Ring will make his pinstriped debut.

Update, 10:24: Ring was throwing in the mid-80s, but it was a tidy 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts looking.

Update, 10:29: Just what Mark Teixeira needed, another bruise. Hellickson drilled him in the right leg, near the bottom of the hamstring. Teixeira is already playing with a broken little toe on his right foot and a bone bruise on his right thumb.

Update, 10:35: No-hitter for the Rays through four.

Update, 10:39: Boston beat Baltimore 6-1, so the Yankees or Rays will only be picking up one game in the magic number department tonight. The Yankees are at three to clinch a playoff ticket, and the Rays are at 6. It’s the Yankees or Rays wins wins combined with Red Sox losses to make the magic number.

Update, 10:41: Ring issued a two-out walk in the fifth, so now it’s Dustin Moseley’s turn.

Update, 10:46: Carl Crawford punched that ball through the middle, and it’s 2-0.

Update, 10:54: Lance Berkman breaks up the no-hitter in a big way. He lined that pitch from Hellickson to the right-center seats for his first homer as a Yankee, and it’s 2-1.

Update, 11:01: Dan Johnson has hurt the Yankees these last two weeks. There went another homer, solo shot in the sixth. Moseley isn’t fooling people. Matt Joyce followed with a one-hop drive to the fence in right-center for a double. The fans were booing. Chad Gaudin is warming.

Update, 11:09: Great job by Teixeira and Cervelli. Teixeira fired home on Reid Brignac’s soft bouncer and Joyce was tagged out by a twisting Cervelli.

Update, 11:12: It’s nice for the Yankees that they have such a golden glove at first. Teixeira started the 3-6-3 double play, and Moseley gets to escape a first-and-third no-out problem.

Update, 11:16: Derek Jeter singles to left. The Captain now has an 11-game winning streak. Randy Choate is warming for the Rays.

Update, 11:20: That’s RBI No. 113 for A-Rod on the bloop single to left-center. It’s 3-2 and Hellickson is done. Choate is on with two outs here in the sixth.

Update, 11:26: Choate got Robinson Cano to pop up. Chad Gaudin will take the ball to start the seventh.

Update, 11:31: So who do you want more on the free-agent market, Cliff Lee or Carl Crawford? Crawford hit a solo shot to the right-center seats. And now Gaudin has served up back-to-back homers. Evan Longoria has reached the Yankees’ bullpen. So it’s 5-2.

Update, 11:36: Grant Balfour is on to work the seventh for Tampa Bay.

Update, 11:56: Jonathan Albaladejo walks two in a row to force in a run – 6-2, with two outs in the eighth.

Update, 12:34: Yankees lose, 7-2. Time of the game was 3:15. Somehow it seemed longer.

Greetings, Brian Heyman here for Chad again today.

The magic number for the Yankees to clinch a postseason berth is three. But will the players have their champagne bash after they do or wait to see if they can wrap up the division?

“Our goal is to win the division,” Joe Girardi said, “but I’ll leave that up to them.” … 

Lance Berkman seems to be heating up at the right time. He’s batting .360 since coming off the DL Sept. 1, including his two-run double off James Shields in the five-run first on Tuesday night. I spoke to him a little while ago and he said that his work with Kevin Long has really helped since his acquisition from the Astros on July 31.

“When I first came over here, my swing was pretty flawed mechanically,” Berkman said. “I’d gotten into some real bad habits. Just working and trying to correct some of that with Kevin, I just feel more comfortable. I think my swing is working better.”

Berkman also looked at that hit off Shields as a confidence booster. He had failed in a big spot against him with the bases loaded last Wednesday at Tropicana Field.

“It’s always good when you’ve had success recently,” Berkman said. “This is a game of failure. Ultimately being consistent is about trying to put those failures behind you and move on. Baseball is a sport that can snowball one way or another. You have a couple of bad at-bats, you’ve got to stop that. The way to do that is to come through like last night. Now the next time I get up there in a big situation, I’ll have a positive experience that I’m working on instead of a failure. So I think it’s important from a psychological standpoint to get a hit like that.” …

Mark Teixeira has been trying to play through the bone bruise to his right thumb and the broken little toe on his right foot since late August. He’s batting .185 with no homers in September. Before Girardi’s pregame media gathering, Teixeira told him he was feeling pretty good. But Girardi hasn’t ruled out resting him for three or four days once the Yankees clinch a postseason berth.

“I don’t think it’s the best he’s felt ever in his career, but he’s played beat up before,” Girardi said. “He played beat up last year. It can become frustrating, but I think he’s handled it extremely well. But it’s that time of year. You watch him play defense and he’s diving all over the place. He runs the bases hard. That’s part of the reason he gets beat up. …

“I think the one thing that we learned to do here is you don’t panic if Mark Teixeira doesn’t hit for a couple of weeks, because it just means that he’s probably going to start hitting a lot.” …

Girardi plans to go with a four-man rotation in the division series. But it doesn’t sound like Ivan Nova will be in that starting mix. Girardi said the promising rookie “has the least amount of experience, and I’ll leave it at that.” … 

Prospects Dellin Betances and Jesus Montero haven’t arrived to work out with the team and get a taste of the big-league existence. Girardi now expects them tomorrow. …

The Rays’ pitching has really taken a turn south in this stretch drive. Over the last 16 games, the team is 6-10 with a 5.87 ERA, and the starters have a 6.80 ERA. But tonight’s starter, rookie righty Wade Davis, is on a Rays-rookie-record seven-game winning streak.

 Here’s Tampa Bay’s lineup:

1. John Jaso DH

2. Ben Zobrist CF

3. Carl Crawford LF

4. Evan Longoria 3B

5. Dan Johnson 1B

6. Matt Joyce RF

7. Jason Bartlett SS

8. Reid Brignac 2B

9. Dioner Navarro C

Wade Davis P

The Yankees are once again going with their lineup regulars, with Francisco Cervelli catching of course because A.J. Burnett is on the mound.

Brett Gardner LF
Derek Jeter SS
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Lance Berkman DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Francisco Cervelli C

It seemed inevitable that a team would eventually pull Kevin Towers away from the Yankees. Today, the Diamondbacks hired Towers to be their general manager. The move will be announced this afternoon.

Towers is a close friend of Brian Cashman and joined the Yankees scouting department this spring. His fingerprints, though, are most noticeable in the Padres surprisingly good season out in the National League West. Towers wasn’t around the major league team all that often, but he made a good impression when he was around the team in spring training, and he happened to be at PNC Field during my one trip to Scranton this season. Very nice guy. Best of luck to him.

Here’s the announcement from the Yankees.

The New York Yankees announced today that players from the China Youth Baseball League (CYBL) who won the 28th Boys Nankyu World Championship Tournament in Tokyo in July will be honored at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday, September 22, as the people of China celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, the second-most significant holiday in China after the Chinese New Year holiday.

The visit is the latest effort by the Yankees to show their continued support for the growth of baseball in China. All arrangements for the visit have been made within the guidelines of the cooperation agreement between the Chinese Baseball Association (CBA) and the Yankees.

The championship-winning players are all members of the Beijing Xinxing Longren Baseball Club, which has given athletic and academic opportunities to children from severely disadvantaged rural and migrant-poor backgrounds, including many orphans. All of the children attend the nearby Dacheng School and receive room, board and training equipment.

“The date of the visit to Yankee Stadium is very significant as it is the holiday that tradition calls for the Chinese people to be with their parents,” said Kenneth Huang, Founder and Chairman of QSL Youth Sports Development Foundation, which is sponsoring the group’s visit. “These children, who do not have the opportunity to be with their parents, are able to live another dream — the dream of coming to the cathedral of baseball, Yankee Stadium, to see the team and the sport they love.”

The 2010 Nankyu Tournament, which featured 16 teams from 12 countries, was a milestone achievement for Chinese baseball, marking the first time in 11 years that a team from the CYBL had won an international championship. The rules of Nankyu are the same as the rules of baseball with one difference — the ball is made from rubberized material.

Beijing Xinxing Longren Program Director and Baseball Coach Wei Li will be joined by players Zichao Jiang (age 11), Zhenbei Bao (11), Kaiming Yin (11), Xiao Han (14), Renzeng Qiangba (9), and Jin Yang (11). Additionally, Secretary General Wei Shen will represent the Chinese Baseball Association.

The group is scheduled to watch Yankees batting practice from the field, followed by tours of Monument Park and the New York Yankees Museum presented by Bank of America. Before enjoying the Yankees’ game against the Tampa Bay Rays, the six players will receive the honor of throwing out ceremonial first pitches.

Joe Girardi has clearly found comfort in his late-inning relievers.

Since the all-star break, Boone Logan, Joba Chamberlain and and Dave Robertson have earned Girardi trust. Mariano Rivera earned that trust a long time, and Kerry Wood has been as reliable as anyone on the staff since coming over at the trade deadline. Those are Girardi’s go-to guys, and they’ll remain his go-to guys in the playoffs.

But there is value in bullpen depth, and right now it’s hard to say who the Yankees sixth reliever would be in the playoffs, much less the seventh. Last year, Girardi used seven different relievers more than once in the ALCS. He used six different relievers more than once – and eight relievers overall — in the World Series. And that was with a schedule that let the Yankees use only three starters.

It could be that Girardi already has a good idea who he wants to carry in the postseason, but if he’s still trying to decide, there hasn’t been a lot of evidence in the past few weeks.

• Javier Vazquez, a big offseason addition who was looking like a reliable starter at the all-star break, pitched last night for the first time in 11 days.
• Sergio Mitre, who has a .205 opponents average as a reliever this season, has thrown six pitches since September 5.
• Dustin Moseley, who was a regular starter for more than a month, had a pretty good spot start last Sunday and hasn’t pitched since.
• Royce Ring, the team’s only option as a second lefty in the bullpen, hasn’t pitched since joining the team last week in Tampa Bay.
• Jonathan Albaladejo, who was positively dominant in Triple-A this season, has hardly gotten a look at any point this season. Ditto Romulo Sanchez.
• Chad Gaudin, who actually has become something of a go-to guy lately, went through all of June and July pitching only once when a game was within three runs. And that was in the 14th inning.

Associated Press photo of Chamberlain

So the Yankees now lead the Rays by 2 1/2 games, matching their largest advantage since July 27 in this AL East race. The Yankees have 11 games left, and Tampa Bay has 12. With the Red Sox losing, the Yankees’ magic number to at least clinch a postseason berth is three and the Rays’ magic number is six.

Phil Hughes allowed three runs, four hits and five walks in 6 1/3 to pick up his 17th win. He’s just the second Yankees pitcher to win at least 17 games at the age of 24 or younger. Andy Pettitte was the first with 21 wins in 1996.

But Hughes is now at 169 1/3 innings. His innings limit hasn’t been revealed publicly, but it has been steadily rumored to be in the 170-175 range. Joe Girardi was noncommittal about his final two starts.

“That’s something we’ll continue to talk about as we move forward here,” the manager said. “Tonight was a big win for us and a big win for him. … Seventeen (wins). A guy who came in to be our fifth starter has thrown the ball awful well for us.”

Hughes lost to the Rays 4-3 last Wednesday in Tampa Bay. So this was his second start since being skipped.

“Everybody wanted to say how it was going to hurt me,” Hughes said. “I just took the approach of using it and taking it as a positive. I felt like I got a lot of things on track. I still wasn’t great tonight, but it was certainly a step in the right direction.”

Hughes lost last time thanks to a pair of  two-run homers to Dan Johnson. This time, he retired him all three times he faced him, including on a bouncer to first with two on in the third.  He used a changeup to get him there. He went with that pitch a lot.

“I probably threw more than I have all year,” Hughes said. “It was effective for me and hopefully something I can build on.” …

 Derek Jeter seems to be perking up at the right time, now 11 for his last 30 after going 2 for 5 with an RBI double. He made some adjustments recently with hitting coach Kevin Long.

“Don’t count Derek Jeter out in the month of September or the postseason if we’re fortunate enough to get there,” Girardi said.  …

Javier Vazquez pitched for the first time since Sept. 10, his final start before being dropped from the rotation. While he said he understood Girardi going with other guys in relief, he didn’t sound thrilled with the 10 days without an appearance.

“As a competitor, it’s disappointing,” Vazquez said. “I can’t hide that fact. I’m happy they used me today. … Hopefully I’ll prove him wrong and he’ll start using me.”

Vazquez is just hoping to be included on the postseason roster. He gave up an RBI bloop single to Carl Crawford after he relieved Hughes with one out in the seventh and a man on second. Then he pitched out of the inning. He gave up singles to his first two batters in the eighth, then got Carlos Pena on a fly to center before exiting in favor of Joba Chamberlain.

With Mariano Rivera working the previous two days, it was Chamberlain picking up his third save. He gave up an infield hit to load the bases, then nailed down the final two outs in that eighth before throwing a 1-2-3 ninth.

Vazquez, by the way, didn’t fan anyone in getting three outs, the first time he failed to strike out a batter since May 10, 2000, when he was in a Montreal Expos uniform and pitching against the Phillies. It snapped a streak of 349 appearances with at least one strikeout, so he’s tied for the third-longest streak with Doc Gooden. Nolan Ryan has the record at 382 and Randy Johnson is second at 351.

Wednesday night, it will be A.J. Burnett starting for the Yankees and Wade Davis for the Rays. That’s it for tonight.