The LoHud Yankees Blog

Brian Heyman here at the Stadium for Chad today. CC Sabathia took his bullpen session for his Game 5 start, but he has said that wouldn’t mean he would be unavailable to work on short rest in Game 4. Joe Girardi, though, said the Yankees’ “rotation is the same.” Meaning A.J. Burnett is still in line for Game 4.

“I know it’s been a tough year for him at times this year, but we believe in A.J.,” Girardi said.

But that doesn’t mean Girardi couldn’t change his mind if the Yankees go down 2-1. He left himself some additional wiggle room when he said,  ”I know there’s some weather in the forecast.” There’s a 70 percent chance of some rain on Tuesday, but that doesn’t mean a 100 percent chance of a postponement that would allow them to skip Burnett.

Girardi said he didn’t anticipate making any lineup changes in Game 3.  But so much of the workout-day chatter was about the pitching matchup. Cliff Lee and Andy Pettitte threw praise at each other.

“In my opinion, he’s probably the best postseason pitcher of all time just by the number of wins and the number of rings he’s got,” Lee said of Pettitte and his record 19 victories and his five rings. “He definitely knows what he’s doing with the ball.”  

“I think what is separating him from any other pitcher right now is really his cutter, how late it is,” Pettitte said of Lee, “I think when maybe people talk about him, (they say) he doesn’t have dominating stuff. People will say whatever. That cutter has to be pretty dominating.”

Lee has never lost a postseason start, going 6-0 with one no-decision. His postseason ERA of 1.44 is the fifth lowest of all time for those with a minimum of five starts. And, of course, he won those two games against the Yankees for the Phillies in the World Series last year.

“But he’s only human,” Texas manager Ron Washington said. “If anything goes wrong, he’s going against a ballclub that can make you play.”

There apparently is some faux controversy being stirred up over Lee’s cap, with the white resin stains on it.

“It definitely makes me way better,” Lee deadpanned. “I know that much. Without that hat, I don’t know if I could do it. It’s resin is what it is. I go to the resin bag quite a bit. I touch my hat in the same place over and over. And it just accumulates. I couldn’t pitch without it. That’s for sure.”  

A couple of the Yankees batters said they might not be able to have that usual patient approach at the plate with Lee pitching because he throws so many strikes. Washington said if Pettitte and his great pickoff move serves as a deterrent to the Rangers’ aggression on the bases, they could win in other ways. 

Gates open three hours before first pitch for any fans coming to Game 3.

The Yankees flew in from Texas last night and have a workout scheduled for 4 this afternoon. I literally just walked into my apartment, so obviously I’m not going to be there. Brian Heyman is on the scene, and he’ll have all the updates from Yankee Stadium.

Best I can tell, the only news to come out of Girardi’s afternoon press conference was that A.J. Burnett will in fact start Game 4.

In the words of Girardi: “We believe in A.J.”

As of Saturday night, while he was gathering his things in the visiting clubhouse at Rangers Ballpark, CC Sabathia said he was still expecting to pitch Game 5, not Game 4. He said the Yankees opened the ALCS with a four-man rotation, and as far as he knew, they still had a four-man rotation.

That being said…

“Whenever they need me to take it, I’ll take it,” Sabathia said. “No problem.”

Considering Sabathia on short rest is either an act of premature panic or a bit of logical preparation. In no way is Game 3 a lost cause — “Let’s not forget that we have a pretty good guy on the mound, too,” Joe Girardi said — but in no way is it a sure win, either. It’s worth considering right now because, if the Yankees want Sabathia on short rest on Tuesday, he would prefer not to throw his bullpen this afternoon.

“Right now, we are on rotation,” Girardi said. “I haven’t discussed that with anyone.”

It’s all hypothetical at this point. Even assuming a loss on Monday, it’s still not clear the Yankees would actually prefer short-rest Sabathia ahead of extra-rest A.J. Burnett. It would not be, after all, a must-win game. Maybe they’d rather take their chances with Burnett and save Sabathia for what might actually be a must win.

Whatever the decision, it would be best to make it today rather than tomorrow. Sabathia is scheduled to throw his regular bullpen session this afternoon. If he’s going to start on short rest, he’d rather skip that bullpen and throw a light side instead.

But that’s not a necessity. The first time Sabathia pitched on short rest for Milwaukee — part of his incredible second half of 2008 – he did it two days after throwing his regular bullpen.

“(Ben) Sheets went down and they wanted me,” Sabathia said. “I told them I would pitch. I had thrown a bullpen just like normal. I don’t think it affected me.”

Associated Press photo

The Yankees and Rangers both asserted themselves this weekend.

The Yankees never flinched in Game 1. Their best starter was knocked out after four innings, and their offense was nearly shutout through the seventh, but the Yankees scratched their way to a huge win in front of a big, loud crowd. They didn’t win it with home runs. They won it with good at-bats and good relief pitching. They’re the veterans of this series, and they weren’t going to be pushed around by the up-and-comers.

The Rangers bounced right back. They’re a a very good team built on more than Cliff Lee’s impeccable control. They can pitch, they can hit and they’re willing to run their way into good and bad situations. They’re aggressive, and through the first two games of the franchise’s first American League Championship Series, they weren’t intimidated.

“Certainly we’re not looking at it like we’ve got a leg up,” Lance Berkman said. “We’re in a fight. It’s 1-1.”

Splitting on the road is a good thing, and it’s not easy to do when two starting pitchers last a total of eight innings. The Yankees did enough to reverse home-field advantage before bringing the series back to New York. They missed some scoring opportunities, and they need to fix some things with a few pitchers, but none of that is new.

“We’re going to go home and try to win some games,” Mark Teixeira said.

Sometimes it’s just that simple.

* Blonde on Blonde and Highway 61 Revisited deserve all the hype they receive, but for my money, Dylan’s best album is Bringing It All Back Home. I love the historical significance. I love the blend of electric and acoustic. I love It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding). Just a terrific record, start to finish.

Associated Press photo of Alex Rodriguez

Phil Hughes walked off the mound after the first inning feeling more encouraged than worried. Sure, one run had scored on a double steal, but his fastball was humming in the mid-90s and he was able to spot it on three strikeout pitches.

“I thought my stuff was good,” he said. “I thought I made some good pitches to get out of that inning. After that, something just went wrong.”

Hughes got nine more outs. He allowed 11 more base runners. One was a home run, five were doubles and one was the triple that finally chased him from the game. Hughes had essentially lost everything. First he lost his fastball, then he lost the game.

“I tried to mix in some changeups. It wasn’t there,” Hughes said. “I tried to get my curveball over sometimes and I was bouncing them. The cutter was actually probably my best pitch today, and I tried to lean on that, and then that started flattening out and was over the plate. It is kind of a helpless feeling when you’re trying to at least mix it up a little bit and you just can’t execute what you want to do.”

This was the second day in a row that the Yankees starter got only nine outs. The bullpen was terrific in Texas — nine scoreless innings — but Hughes and CC Sabathia fell apart. Hughes said he eventually figured out that his arm angle was too low, but that was only half the battle. “It’s tough to first of all figure out what it is, and then try to make that adjustment,” he said.

The Yankees left Texas with a split on the road. It’s essentially a five-game series now, and the Yankees have home-field advantage. In the big picture, it wasn’t a bad trip, but it’s hard to look past those shaky starts, if only because they were so very unexpected. 

“Our starters pitched extremely well and everyone was giddy about them the last series,” Joe Girardi said. “I don’t ever get too involved in snapshot pictures because those can be dangerous. I believe in our guys, and I believe that they will pitch well as we continue forward here.”

• The clubhouse was, obviously, much more reserved than last night. But the same sort of calm that kept the Yankees in Game 1 kept them from panic after Game 2. “We faced two really good starting pitchers,” Mark Teixeira said. “They were dominant. For us to be able to split the way that those two guys pitched, you have to feel confident.”

• All seven relievers pitched during these two games. Joba Chamberlain allowed an inherited runner, but only after he struck out the first two batters he faced. All things considered, the bullpen was outstanding. They gave the Yankees a chance to come back in both games, but there was no rally this time. ”We went in there to get outs,” Sergio Mitre said. “And for a second it almost looked like it was going to happen again.”

• The rally didn’t happen again. The Yankees stranded seven runners in the final four innings. Girardi really tried to spark a rally by pinch hitting last night’s game-winner, Marcus Thames, with two on in the sixth. Thames had a good, nine-pitch at-bat and felt like there were two good pitches to hit, including strike three. “Those are the ones you have to hit,” Thames said. “You can’t miss those.”

• Robinson Cano stranded his share of runners in the late innings, but he also hit his second homer in as many days.

• I never saw Jorge Posada speaking in the clubhouse and Girardi’s short postgame press conference never touched on the first-inning double steal. The only person I heard talk about it was Derek Jeter who said “yep” when asked if Posada was supposed to throw to second on that play. Ultimately, that’s not what cost the Yankees the game.

• Colby Lewis was very good tonight. Maybe not quite as sharp as C.J. Wilson, but he was good. “To me he didn’t miss any spots,” Teixeira said. “Backdoor curveball. Sliders down and in. Fastballs on the corners. Keeping the ball down. He pitched really well.”

• Why send Hughes back out for the fifth? “He was up in the zone,” Girardi said. “But he was still, you know, he was getting some outs for us, so we decided to stay with him. And then he gives off the lead-off double in the fifth, and we get Joba up. And he struggled today. There is no doubt about it and I expect him to better next time.”

• Any chance of Sabathia on short rest in Game 4? “I just came off the field five minutes ago, and I’m worried about Game 3,” Girardi said. “I don’t get too far ahead. So we’ll worry about Game 3, and if we worry about Game 4 before Game 3, we are going to be in trouble.”

Associated Press photos of Hughes, Cano and Logan

Leave it to Sam to explain today’s game in eight words: The sequel wasn’t as good as the original. In basically a remake of last night’s game — starter struggles, bullpen holds steady, offense needs to rally — the Yankees couldn’t replicate last night’s heroics and took a 7-2 loss to the Rangers in Game 2 of the ALCS. Robinson Cano had a home run for a second night in a row, but Friday’s five-run eighth inning never happened. Instead, the struggles of Phil Hughes left the Yankees in a hole they couldn’t escape. One week after he pitched so brilliantly in the division series, Hughes allowed seven runs through four innings, his worst Texas outing by a country mile.

Associated Press photo

YANKEES (1-0)
Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Jorge Posada C
Lance Berkman DH
Brett Gardner LF

RHP Phil Hughes (1-0, 0.00)
Hughes vs. Rangers

RANGERS (0-1)
Elvis Andrus SS
Michael Young 3B
Josh Hamilton CF
Vladimir Guerrero DH
Nelson Cruz RF
Ian Kinsler 2B
David Murphy LF
Bengie Molina C
Mitch Moreland 1B

RHP Colby Lewis (0-0, 0.00)
Lewis vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 4:07 p.m. ET / TBS

UMPIRES: HP Tony Randazzo, 1B Jim Reynolds, 2B Angel Hernandez, 3B Fieldin Culbreth, LF Brian Gorman, RF Gerry Davis

WEATHER: Sunny sky. Temperatures in the 80s. Little bit of breeze blowing in from right field.

A LOT TO LIKE: It’s not a huge sample size — 38 at-bats spread across four seasons — but there’s a lot for the Yankees to like about Phil Hughes’ career numbers against the Rangers. Not a single current Texas player has more than one hit against him, and as a group they’re 3-for-38 with eight strikeouts and two walks.

NEW EXPERIENCE: Lance Berkman is the only Yankee with an at-bat against Colby Lewis in the past seven years. Berkman is 0-for-7 with four strikeouts in his career against Lewis, including 0-for-6 with three strikeouts this year.

YOUNG GUN: At 24 years and 114 days, Hughes is the youngest pitcher to start Game 1 or Game 2 of a playoff series since Andy Pettitte started Game 2 of the 2006 ALDS at 24 years and 109 days old.

ALL THAT’S LEFT: Last night the Yankees won their third straight playoff game that was started by a left-handed opposing starter. Those three wins came after the Yankees lost their last nine regular-season games against left-handed starters.

UPDATE, 4:27 p.m.: Even with Hamilton stopping to get in a rundown, the Yankees had a much better chance to get the out at second than at home. It’s a 1-0 Rangers lead on double steal. Meanwhile, Hughes looks pretty sharp with his fastball. He got Guerrero on 95 mph four-seamer and got Cruz on 94.

UPDATE, 4:42 p.m.: The Yankees hit the ball on the screws three times in the second inning. Robinson Cano deep to right, Nick Swisher for a double and Lance Berkman on a line drive that Nelson Cruz caught for the final out.

UPDATE, 4:46 p.m.: For so many reasons, this AP picture could only have been taken in this ballpark. I assume the hand at the top is a reference to The Claw that the Rangers do. If it’s anything else, I don’t want to know about it.

UPDATE, 4:48 p.m.: Home run by Murphy. It’s 2-0 Rangers in the second.

UPDATE, 4:57 p.m.: Hughes is at 55 pitches after two innings. That might be a significant problem considering the Yankees only true long man, Dustin Moseley, pitched two innings last night. Sergio Mitre is probably only good for two innings, maybe three. A day off tomorrow helps.

UPDATE, 5:20 p.m.: Three doubles in the third inning and it’s a 5-0 Rangers lead, still with just one out. Hughes is at 65 pitches and he’s getting knocked around.

UPDATE, 5:34 p.m.: The Yankees are on the board, but a baserunning mistake kept the inning from continuing. Its’ 5-1 in the bottom of the fourth.

UPDATE, 5:38 p.m.: Joba Chamberlain getting loose. Just like last night, he’s getting ready in case the Yankees need someone in the middle of the inning.

UPDATE, 5:40 p.m.: The Rangers base running actually cost them there. Hamilton broke for second on the pitch and was doubled off first on the fly ball to right. Hughes is through four innings, down 5-1, having thrown 81 pitches.

UPDATE, 6:00 p.m.: The Yankees are going to need another big rally, and the bullpen is once again going to have to make up for a starting pitcher who could’nt get more than 12 outs. It’s 6-1 in the ffith and Chamberlain is in for Hughes.

UPDATE, 6:16 p.m.: Yowza. Cano just went way deep for a solo home run. It’s hard not to be reminded of how last night’s rally started. Yankees are down 7-2.

UPDATE, 6:25 p.m.: With Clay Rapada coming in to pitch — and with two runners on base — the Yankees are going to let Marcus Thames pinch hit for Brett Gardner. One big swing here could make a huge difference, and Girardi’s trying to find that one big swing.

UPDATE, 6:32 p.m.: Good at-bat, but Thames struck out swinging and now he’s heading to left field. Robertson in to pitch.

On May 1, 2007, Phil Hughes pitched in this ballpark for the first time. You probably know the story: It was his second Major League start. He was eight outs away from a no-hitter. He tried to throw a big curveball to Mark Teixeira and pulled his hamstring.

“I remember coming into that game, coming off my debut (which) wasn’t great,” Hughes said. “I still wanted to prove something, and I remember coming into that game and feeling really good. Everything was working. I came out early and was able to throw strikes. And then you know — it seems like a distant memory now — but obviously it didn’t end too well. That was certainly disappointing. Family and friends know not really to bring it up, just because it’s not one of my best memories. But at the same time, it was my first Major League win, and that certainly is still special.”

Hughes has since pitched twice in this stadium. One start, one relief appearance, and a total of three hits allowed. His success in Texas is one of the reasons the Yankees pegged him for Game 2 of the ALCS. Despite the less-than-perfect beginning, Hughes said he feels “pretty comfortable” in this park. His only appearance here this season was an inning of relief to stay sharp between starts.

It’s a strange road that brought Hughes to this point — premier prospect, strange injuries, up-and-down big league starts, back to the minors, big league reliever — but he lived up to all of the Yankees hopes and expectations in the division series. Now it’s time to take his show back on the road. For the second Saturday in a row, Hughes will make the biggest start of his career.

“I had to go through a lot in those first couple of years,” he said. “You know, coming up and feeling good about things, and you know, having those few years in the Minor Leagues where I didn’t really have too many hiccups. Then having to do the whole rehab thing, getting re-injured during my rehab, really not pitching for the entire season, coming back and then getting hurt the next year. It was a tough couple of years for me. But I really feel like that kind of shaped me into what I’ve been able to do so far, you know, just having to deal with that adversity and getting through it. I always try to take it as a positive and feel like it helped me get to this point.”

• TBS announced that more than 8.1 million viewers watched Game 1. It was the most-watched (based on total viewers) LCS Game 1 ever on cable, supplanting last years NLCS opener. The game drew a 13.9 rating in the New York market and a 21.9 rating in Dallas/Fort-Worth.

• Nick Swisher bunting last night: “Actually that was a play that we put on,” Joe Girardi said.

• Girardi said the Yankees still plan to have CC Sabathia pitch Game 5. He pulled him after 93 pitches last night because, “He just had worked extremely hard.”

• Girardi said he wasn’t surprised that the Rangers let a lefty pitch to Marcus Thames last night. “I had Berkman ready to go,” Girardi said. “He also knows Lance Berkman is a very good hitter too.”

• Speaking of Thames, despite all the talk about an open competition during spring training, Girardi said today that Thames was never really in danger of not making the team. “That’s where our scouts and our front office play an important role, knowing what Marcus can do,” Girardi said. “Going out and getting him and saying, he’s going to hit against left-handers.”

• Late in last night’s game, Girardi was trying to prepare himself for any situation. “We had a couple of guys up,” he said. “We didn’t have enough (bullpen) mounds.”

• The eighth-inning pickoff by Kerry Wood was actually called from the Yankees bench. “We are no different from any other club,” Girardi said. “You have a coach that gives signs and you do your homework where guys try to run. And you watch the baserunner. We are in clear view of the baserunner, what he’s trying to do if he’s trying to time it. And we try to hold the runners close. Kinsler broke and Kerry picked at the right time. It’s something where you do spend a lot of time going over it, and Tony (Pena) spends a lot of time. Tony was a catcher and understands the running game, and what teams are trying to do to us and we discuss it and it worked out for us.

• Ron Washington on trying to bounce back from last night: “I addressed my team after the game, and of course, it was positive. We did a lot of positive things last night. The only one thing we didn’t do was win the ballgame. But you know, after I addressed those guys and I talked with my staff, took a shower, got something to eat, went home, got up and came to the ballpark ready to do it again. It’s a 7-game series. We probably let one get away. My guys are resilient. They will show up today and they will go out and fight as hard as they did last night. I would like to be in the same position again and see what happens. I would like to get in the position of just having to get six more outs, and next time, we’ll probably get it done. We didn’t get it done last night, and we all take credit for that.”

RANGERS
Elvis Andrus SS
Michael Young 3B
Josh Hamilton CF
Vladimir Guerrero DH
Nelson Cruz RF
Ian Kinsler 2B
David Murphy LF
Bengie Molina C
Mitch Moreland 1B

Associated Press photos of Hughes and Girardi

Derek Jeter is 3-for-5 with two home runs in his career against Rangers starter Colby Lewis. All five at-bats came in 2003.

The Yankees had some trouble this season with pitchers they’d never seen. That doesn’t exactly apply to Lewis, but it might as well. He was a first-round pick in 1999, pitched in 41 big league games in 2002 and 2003, and his career seemed to be a bust. From 2004 to 2007 he started four big league games, then he went to Japan and didn’t return to the Majors until this season.

“When I got the opportunity to go over there, I was looking at it to pretty much finish my career over there,” Lewis said. “It was a situation where it was financially better for me to go at the time, and not really wanting to maybe be put in a situation of going up-and-down between Triple-A and the big leagues again. That was basically it. It was just going over there and then having two good years and kind of opening up eyes here and having teams take interest in me.”

Lewis came back from Japan as a suddenly Major-League-ready starter. He had a 3.72 ERA for the Rangers this season, then he pitched five scoreless innings in the division series. He hasn’t faced the Yankees this season, and any at-bats from the past seem perfectly meaningless at this point.

“They’ll just watch more video,” Joe Girardi said. “We have handful of guys who had some at-bats off him, but it’s a totally different guy. Guys can just watch a lot of video, maybe try to see as many pitches as you can the first time through.”

Associated Press photo

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