The LoHud Yankees Blog

Update, 7:25: Nick Swisher’s invaluable bat has made another contribution. That solo shot here in the first off James Shields was his 27th homer. Hopefully for his sake and the Yankees’, that left knee will hold up from here.

Update, 7:32: Good start for the Yankees. Jorge Posada’s RBI single makes it 2-0.

Update, 7:35: They’re teeing off on Shields. Lance Berkman’s two-run double over B.J. Upton’s head in center makes it a four-run margin already.

Update, 7:37: Curtis Granderson continues to hit, RBI single, 5-0.

Update, 7:46: That was quite a drive by Matt Joyce off Phil Hughes, into the second deck in right. So it’s 5-1 in the second.

Update, 8:06: Bad job by Hughes with his control, with two walks and a wild pitch leading to a run. But good job to get out of the inning against Dan Johnson, who hurt him in the last start at Tampa Bay. So it’s 5-2 heading for the bottom of the third.

Update, 8:26: Not a good play by Robinson Cano. The Yankees could have been out of the fourth on a 1-6-3 double play. But Cano and Derek Jeter both covered the bag. Cano caught it for the force and had no throw as he came together with Jeter. But Jeter had the momentum striding toward first. Jason Bartlett singled, so it’s first and second, two outs.

Update, 8:29: Now Hughes has issued his fifth walk, bases loaded for Ben Zobrist.

Update, 8:30: Hughes gets out of it on a grounder to first. Lot of traffic on the bases against him, but he’s only cracked for two runs.

Update, 8:48: Johnson is 0 for 3 now after grounding out for the last out in the fifth. So Hughes has a 5-2 lead after 4 1/2.

Update, 8:53: Shields has settled down. The Yankees have no hits since Derek Jeter’s single to open the second. It’s 5-2 heading for the sixth.

Update, 8:58: A 1-2-3 sixth for Hughes. That’s probably it for him. I believe he’s at 106 pitches. All in all, good work outside of the five walks. He allowed two runs and three hits. If this holds up, it will be win No. 17 with two starts to go. But we have a ways to go.

Update, 9:04: Shields is done with runners on first and second and one out in the sixth. Lefty Jake McGee is the new pitcher.

Update, 9:13: Joe Girardi left Hughes in to start the seventh surprisingly and Jason Bartlett greeted Hughes with a single. Javier Vazquez is warming.

Update, 9:16: Now Hughes is done, 6 1/3, two runs, four hits. There’s a runner on second. Vazquez will get his first work since his start on Sept. 10.

Update, 9:23: Make that three runs and four hits. Carl Crawford’s bloop single makes it 5-3. Vazquez holds them there, though.

Update, 9:27: Chad Qualls is on to pitch the seventh for the Rays.

Update, 9:36: First and third, two outs. Qualls is out, and ex-Yankees lefty Randy Choate is in to face Cano.

Update, 9:40: Well, this game appears in good shape for the Yankees. Cano’s bloop two-run double down the left-field line means it’s 7-3. Cano went to third on the throw home. Choate is out and Lance Cormier is in.

Update, 9:51: Vazquez has given up two singles to start the eighth. Joba is warming.

Update, 9:54: One out later, Vazquez is out and Joba is in.

Update, 10:22: Yankees win, 8-3. They’re up by 2 1/2. The magic number to clinch a postseason berth is four, pending the Red Sox’s game against the Orioles, and Boston is losing in the ninth.

Brian Heyman here for Chad today. Joe Girardi was asked about a number of subjects during his pregame media session, including about his sit-down with tomorrow’s starter, A.J. Burnett, the subpar season for Derek Jeter and Curtis Granderson’s power surge.

Burnett is 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA in September, better than his overall ERA, which is rather high at 5.08. He’s 10-13.  Girardi had a talk with him last week.

“I like the way he’s been throwing the baseball, and I didn’t want him to forget that I’m looking at what’s ahead of us, not behind us,” Girardi said. “You can learn from what’s behind you, but you can’t really change it. (I said), ‘So don’t try to make up your season in the last few starts. Just go out and pitch and be yourself and continue to work and continue to attack hitters.’ I just thought it was time.”

Jeter is 9 for his last 25. But the 36-year-old captain’s numbers are going to wind up way down. He’s at .264 with 10 homers and 64 RBI in 146 games.

“But if you look at the last seven, eight days, he’s swung the bat pretty good,” Girardi said. “There’s a right time to get hot. This is the time, the end of the year and hopefully in the postseason. … He’s went through a tough year. Sometimes it happens with guys. People are always going to debate, ‘Is it a tough year or is it age?’ None of us really know. I guess we’ll probably find out next year.”

Granderson’s numbers are so much better since he began to make his swing more compact during that session in Texas on Aug. 10 with Kevin Long. Granderson had 10 homers, 33 RBI and a .415 slugging percentage in 88 games before the change. He has 11 homers, 26 RBI and a .578 slugging percentage in 37 games since then.

“I think when your swing is short, you have a chance to have more power because you get to the ball so quick and you can wait and you can hit within your body and you usually don’t get jammed,” Girardi said. “Usually the best hitters are short to the ball.” …

The Yankees would only confirm that prospects Dellin Betances and Jesus Montero are coming tomorrow to be around the team and go through the pregame workouts. They haven’t confirmed Andrew Brackman as yet. …

Here’s the Rays’ lineup:

1. John Jaso C

2. Ben Zobrist 2B

3. Carl Crawford LF

4. Evan Longoria 3B

5. Dan Johnson DH

6. Matt Joyce RF

7. Carlos Pena 1B

8. B.J. Upton CF

9. Jason Bartlett SS

James Shields P

Brian Heyman is covering for me tonight, but here’s the Yankees lineup. Also, Sweeny Murti is reporting that Andrew Brackman, Jesus Montero and Dellin Betances will join the Yankees to get a feel for life in the big leagues.

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

Tonight at 10 ET, HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel returns with a profile of Yankees ace CC Sabathia. Here’s a description of the segment from HBO.

Standing as tall as the skyscrapers of New York City, six foot seven Yankees ace CC Sabathia is one of the game’s most intimidating figures on the mound, but an introspective person off the field. The hard-throwing southpaw is on track to win his second Cy Young Award, and perhaps his second World Series championship ring. Most everybody who follows the game knows something about the hurler, who previously played in Cleveland and Milwaukee, but not much is known about the 30-year-old husband and father of four away from the diamond.

He’s a son who was able to forgive his late father’s unfortunate past and unexplained absence in order to cherish their final years while his dad battled HIV and terminal cancer. REAL SPORTS correspondent Jon Frankel goes one-on-one with the Vallejo, Cal. native to find out more about this quiet family man and his voyage to the bright lights of the Big Apple.

Interviews include CC’s wife, Amber, and his mom, Margie Sabathia, who played fast-pitch softball and used to put on the gear and catch her son in their California backyard until he was about 12. Says Margie after a few fireballs from her young boy caught her in the palm of her glove-hand: “Dude, I’m done. Mom’s done. I cannot catch you anymore. You’re past me.”

These days Margie Sabathia watches CC’s games on television or from the stands, though she has another preferred location in mind: “Game day, if I am home, I don’t even drive because I don’t want to hurt anyone cause I’m nervous. Up until the eighth inning I’m nervous.”

Jon Frankel: “If you had a preference, where would you like to be (seated)?”

Margie Sabathia: “My idea would be in the dugout. I wouldn’t bother anybody, just a little spot for the parents to sit in the dugout. Right there. I would love it.”

Writing about the potential postseason pitching staff two weeks ago, I wrote that it might make sense to leave Ivan Nova out of the mix. I suggested the Yankees could keep Nova working as an emergency starter rather than use him as a back-of-the-rotation playoff reliever, and that might still be an option, but I’m less convinced of it today than I was 12 days ago.

Nova’s shown quite bit these past two starts. He’s shown a lot about his potential, and a lot about his lack of experience.

“You’re going to go through some bumps to figure out exactly how you pitch in games that are tight,” Joe Girardi said. “How you pitch in games when you have a big lead. How you pitch in games where maybe you’re getting roughed up early and how you settle down. I think that’s a learning process that all young starters go through.”

Nova’s fifth inning last week and sixth inning last night prove he’s not a finished product, but against a good Rays team, Nova has twice rolled through the lineup without much problem before suddenly hitting a wall. His starts have been impressive before they’ve been bad, and that’s enough to wonder if he could help the Yankees in a big spot out of the pen. He seems to become more and more of an option as the Yankees continue to avoid Javier Vazquez, Sergio Mitre and Royce Ring.

If Nova could figure out what’s causing his starts to suddenly fall apart — he said he wasn’t sure what caused the problem last night — he could make the Yankees decision easy.

“If I’ve been pitching good, it’s got to be a minor thing,” Nova said. “It’s not going to be something big.”

The George Steinbrenner monument unveiled last night is 7 feet wide and 5 feet high, not counting the base. It weight 760 pounds and was manufactured by US Bronze in Hyde Park, NY, using granite from Domenick DeNigris Monuments in the Bronx. The inscription reads:

GEORGE M. STEINBRENNER III
July 4, 1930 – July 13, 2010
New York Yankees Principal Owner
“The Boss”
1973 – 2010

Purchased the New York Yankees on January 3, 1973.

A true visionary who changed the game of baseball forever, he was considered the most influential owner in all of sports. In his 37 years as Principal Owner, the Yankees posted a Major League-best .566 winning percentage, while winning 11 American League pennants and seven World Series titles, becoming the most recognizable sports brand in the world.

A devoted sportsman, he was Vice President of the United States Olympic Committee, a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame’s Board of Directors and a member of the NCAA Foundation Board of Trustees.

A great philanthropist whose charitable efforts were mostly performed without fanfare, he followed a personal motto of the greatest form of charity is anonymity.

Dedicated by the New York Yankees
September 20, 2010

Associated Press photos

At this point, Curtis Granderson’s slash line is basically the exact same as it was at the end of last season. He hasn’t duplicated his 2007 numbers, but he’s been more or less exactly what the Yankees must have expected when they got him. He’s shown a lot of range in the outfield, flashed some speed on the bases and hit for considerable power for a center fielder.

And he’s been terrific down the stretch. When he reworked his swing in August, Granderson tried to keep himself more compact to help make better contact. Improved power has come with it.

“It’s one of the things that’s been able to happen,” he said. “Compact the swing a little bit makes myself a little quicker, and therefore I get myself out in front of the ball. When we go ahead and keep ourselves compact, we’re out in front the right way.”

Since making those mechanical adjustments, Granderson has hit .273 with 11 home runs and 26 RBI in 37 games. Tonight he went deep twice, once to give the Yankees an early lead, and then to give them the breathing room they ultimately needed.

“It’s been real important,” Joe Girardi said. “Just the way he’s been playing, swinging the bat since he made those adjustments. He bought into it. He’s playing exteremly well. His numbers have been real good for us.”

The Yankees really couldn’t lose on the night George Steinbrenner’s monument was unveiled, and it was Granderson who made sure they didn’t.

“One thing I’ve found out being over here with the Yankees organization is they respect everyone playing hard,” Granderson said. “That’s what the owner would have liked.”

Here’s Granderson’s postgame.

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• There is a report out of Ohio that Andrew Brackman has been called up. “If it is, you got he report before I did,” Girardi said. “If it happens, I’ll know tomorrow I guess.” The move wouldn’t come as much of a surprise since Brackman is already on the 40-man. It would be hard to see him playing a huge role, though. UPDATE: Josh Norris talked to Brackman who said it’s not happening.

• According to Elias, the Yankees won on the day every monument was unveiled with one exception: They lost n the day of Mickey Mantle’s dedication in 1999.

• Wouldn’t be a Yankees game in September without asking Girardi about a bullpen decision. Using Chad Gaudin in the sixth? “I liked the matchup,” Girardi said. “I liked his stuff against Upton and Bartlett, and that was the rationale basically.”

• Ivan Nova got through four scoreless innings last time, and he got through five tonight. At this rate, give him a start in the World Series and he’ll pitch a shutout. “That inning I started too slow,” Nova said. “I didn’t attack the hitters that inning. When you don’t attack the hitter, you make mistakes… You feel bad because I was pitching good the first five innings, and then one inning, boom, it’s gone. I have to keep working and try to take that away.”

• The obvious question is, do those first few innings of dominance setup Nova for a bullpen role later this season and into the playoffs? “Right now we have him penciled in as a starter,” Girardi said. “Is (moving him to he bullpen) something we might possibly look at? Yes.”

• Girardi said the Yankees absolutely consider Nova a starter long-term.

• Derek Jeter had two more hits and has been a little better at the plate lately. He tied Mantle for third place on the Yankees all-time runs scored list with the 1,677th of his career tonight. Only Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig have scored more.

• Boone Logan didn’t retired any of the lefties he faced. This was his third straight appearance allowing a run after going 25 straight without a run. “He just gave up some hits off the end of the bat,” Girardi said. “It wasn’t like he was hit hard to say, OK, I’m concerned.”

• Joba Chamberlain was not available tonight.

• Francisco Cervelli went 3-for-4 and tied a career-high with three runs. According to the Yankees, this was the first time a Yankees catcher had three hits and three runs in a game since Jose Molina in 2008.

• Mariano Rivera is now 57-for-58 in save opportunities against the Rays.

• We’ll end with Derek Jeter’s take on Steinbrenner’s monument:

“It was big,” Jeter said. “Probably just how The Boss wanted it. The biggest one out there.”

Would Steinbrenner have liked that idea?

“It probably was his idea.”

Associated Press photos of Granderson with Cervelli and Jeter, Brett Gardner and Nova. You can get more pictures from tonight in our online Yankees gallery.

Curtis Granderson matched career-highs with two home runs and five RBI, helping carry the Yankees to an 8-6 win that pushed the division lead to a game and a half. Tampa Bay momentarily tied the game in the top of the sixth, but Granderson’s second home run of the night hit the top of the right-field foul pole in the bottom of the inning, capping a four-run sixth that pushed the Yankees back in front. Ivan Nova got a no decision, but once again pitched well against the team that’s chasing the Yankees for the division.

Associated Press photo of Granderson and Francisco Cervelli

YANKEES (90-59)
Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Lance Berkman DH
Brett Gardner LF
Francisco Cervelli C

RHP Ivan Nova (1-0, 4.30)
Nova vs. Rays

RAYS (89-59)
John Jaso C
Ben Zobrist 2B
Carl Crawford LF
Evan Longoria 3B
Dan Johnson DH
Matt Joyce RF
Carlos Pena 1B
B.J. Upton CF
Jason Bartlett SS

RHP Matt Garza (14-8, 3.88)
Garza vs. Yankees

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

UMPIRES: HP Tim McClelland, 1B Mike Everitt, 2B Adrian Johnson, 3B Andy Fletcher

WEATHER: Summer is obviously coming to an end here at Yankee Stadium. It’s a little chilly at the park, but there’s a perfect moon in the sky and it’s ultimately a nice night for a game.

CATCH IT AND THROW IT: The Yankees have committed one error in the past nine games and have made just four errors in the month of September. Since Joe Girardi took over at manager, the team has a Major League-best .987 fielding percentage, committing the fewest errors in baseball.

PATIENCE AT THE PLATE: Brett Gardner leads the Majors with 4.62 pitches per plate appearance and 68.8 percent of pitches taken. He has reached base on a 3-2 count in 117 of his 527 plate appearances.

FOUR IN A ROW: One good thing about playing the Rays in a four-game set: The Yankees are 9-0-2 in four-game series at the new Yankee Stadium. They’ve swept a four-game series here four times.

PLACE IN HISTORY: Derek Jeter is two runs away from tying Mickey Mantle for the third-most runs ever scored by a Yankee with 1,677… Alex Rodriguez is one home run from tying Sammy Sosa for sixth place all-time with 609 career homers.

UPDATE, 8:15 p.m.: As you can imagine, there’s a ton to write tonight, but Ivan Nova looks sharp through three innings. He’s struck out four, walked one and allowed a single. Still scoreless.

UPDATE, 8:23 p.m.: Curtis Granderson’s 20th home run of the season has given the Yankees a 2-0 lead in the third inning.

UPDATE, 8:43 p.m.: Nova is really showing the Yankees something tonight. That’s five scoreless innings from the rookie, and he’s retired eight in a row. He’s allowed only two fly ball outs, plus one soft and loopy line drive to Jeter.

UPDATE, 8:58 p.m.: Intentionally walk Cano to load the bases for Swisher, then walk Swisher. I’m thinking that didn’t go as planned. The walked-in run and a sac fly have pushed the Yankees lead to 4-0 after five full innings.

UPDATE, 9:08 p.m.: Single, walk, single to start the top of the sixth. Boone Logan is getting loose in the Yankees pen. Last time out, Nova dominated for four innings, then fell apart in the fifth. This time he was great through five, now it’s falling apart in the sixth.

UPDATE, 9:09 p.m.: One run scores on an obvious catcher’s interference call. Now it’s 4-1 Yankees, and Nova seems to be almost certainly facing his last hitter in Evan Longoria. Three straight lefties due up after this.

UPDATE, 9:26 p.m.: And Chad Guadin walks in the tying run, one batter after Boone Logan couldn’t retire three straight lefties. This game just got strange. By the way, when Girardi was asked pregame which relievers were available, he said he know his rules, we can figure it out ourselves. Then again, he’s broken his own rules in the past, so I have no idea who’s available and who’s not.

Joba Chamberlain has pitched two in a row, so I assume he’s out. Dave Robertson, though, didn’t pitch Saturday and hasn’t pitched three out of the past four. He should be good to go. Kerry Wood has pitched one of the past five days.

UPDATE, 9:33 p.m.: Robertson is now getting loose for the Yankees.

UPDATE, 9:41 p.m.: The Yankees have picked up their bullpen, with three straight hits to start the sixth inning. Jeter drove in the go-ahead run, and Matt Garza has been chased from the game. It’s a 5-4 Yankees lead.

UPDATE, 9:45 p.m.: Granderson’s second home run of the night clangs off the foul pole for an 8-4 Yankees lead in the sixth.

UPDATE, 10:25 p.m.: It’s beginning to feel a lot like April. Francisco Cervelli has his third hit of the game.

The feeling at Yankee Stadium is just a little different than usual tonight. There is no mistaking the atmosphere. Tonight’s George Steinbrenner tribute and the presence of Joe Torre and Don Mattingly bring back a lot of the feelings from across the street.

“George is responsible for the best years of my life professionally,” Torre said.

Of course, most of the pregame buzz centered on Torre, who sat with Mattingly for a nearly 20-minute press conference, saying he doesn’t expect to manage next season but does plan to make this the first of many trips back to Yankee Stadium. Torre and Brian Cashman spoke for quite a while, and shared a hug between Torre’s press conference and Cashman’s.

“Those last three years of manager here I was stressed,” Torre said. “If you try to be rational about it, I think you have two parties not knowing how to say goodbye.”

As for Mattingly, he walked away with none of Torre’s hard feelings. Even when he was not given the manager job, Mattingly said there was no bitterness.

“There have been no bridges burned,” Mattingly said. “I love the Yankees. They’ve been a part of me my whole life. They taught me about playing this game. I love to come back to the Bronx. There’s no question about it.”

Some of it is difficult to hear, especially when Mattingly is speaking, but here’s the audio of the Torre and Mattingly press conference.

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• Joe Girardi said he did not check with Mark Teixeira before making out tonight’s lineup. “I just put him in there,” Girardi said. “He said yesterday, ‘I’m ready to go.’”

• Same with Nick Swisher playing right field. Swisher told Girardi last night that he was ready to play the field again. “It’s time to go,” Swisher said. “Two weeks left in the season, it’s time to get going.”

• Girardi plans to have Teixeira, Swisher and Alex Rodriguez in the lineup throughout this series. “I would like to play them all four,” Girardi said. “It’s something we’ll have to evaluate day to day.”

• Asked if there was any psychological advantage to having the Rays witness such a historic ceremony before the game, Girardi said he actually liked seeing events like when he was a player, even when he was playing on the opposing team.

• As for Ivan Nova, Girardi said Nova’s problems in that fifth inning last time out stemmed from his inability to get ahead in the count. When he fell behind, Girardi said, Nova was too fastball heavy. “You have to be able to continue to mix your pitches in those situations,” he said.

• There is a wall outside of Girardi’s office that has the signatures of dozens of former Yankees who have come back to the stadium. Torre and Mattingly finally signed the wall today.

• For those folks in the comment section: We’ll stick with this post until around 7:30. The game post will go live after the pregame ceremony.

Associated Press photos of Torre and Teixiera on the bench with Andy Pettitte