The LoHud Yankees Blog

It’s more or less a given that Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera will be back, but Andy Pettitte is a complete unknown heading into this offseason, and the Yankees don’t expect answers from him any time soon.

“In Andy’s case,” Brian Cashman said. “Usually it takes a little time.

Pettitte himself expects to take some time before he makes a decision on retirement. Every time he addressed the question last night, his answer seemed to be a balance of good and bad. He wants to pitch, but he wants to see his family, and it’s difficult to do both.

“I wish I could tell you, I really do,” Pettitte said. “I wish I knew. I’m just not sure. The only thing I know right now is I love taking the mound every fifth day. Unfortunately there’s a lot of other stuff that — at this point, at this stage of my life –that I don’t like about baseball. It obviously just has to do with the family.

“Just go home, let this settle in, and really probably try not to think about this for a little while. And then just figure out what I want to do. I don’t want to make any rash decisions. I wish I knew. I really do. I wish I know what I was going to do right now, but I just don’t.”

Pettitte said he’s “really not sure” whether this sort of finish makes it more or less likely that he’ll come back. He seems to think back, not to the postseason, but to the regular season, when he’s constantly flying back and forth, splitting his time between two responsibilities.

“The kids are getting to an age where I want to be home,” he said. “But I also know how important what I do is. I’m a man, and this is my job. This is all I’ve ever known as an adult. I want to make sure I fully exhaust myself from this and run it out.”

Here’s Pettitte.

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Associated Press photo of Pettitte with Kerry Wood

Last last night, in the hours after the Yankees were eliminated from the posteason, Brian Cashman said he not begun thinking about the offseason. He wasn’t thinking about Derek Jeter’s expiring contract, he had not explored the free agent and trade markets, and he had yet to set a plan of action with ownership.

But that day is coming, and it’s coming soon.

“It’s not something that’s on my mind right now,” Cashman said. “We’ll deal with that stuff this winter, and winter is upon us. Now we’ll start that whole process of assessing what our needs are, begin negotiating with the guys to try to bring those guys back, and then look at the trade and free agent market.”

Obviously, one seven-game series can define a postseason, but it hardly defines a team. Cashman said the events of the past week and a half are “not going to affect anything” this winter. The Yankees didn’t play well in the ALCS. There’s not much more to read into it.

“Our team has areas of weakness that we have to tackle,” Cashman said. “I think we have a great team, but Texas just proved they’re better. It’s as simple as that. Obviously the job is to attack areas of weakness and hope that your current strengths remain strengths.”

There is a lot for the Yankees to do this winter. They have to figure out what to do with their manager. They have three cornerstone players facing free agency. They have obvious holes to fill on the pitching staff. They have an injured DH, a rental DH and a platoon DH with expiring contracts. They have to determine the potential impact of young but possibly ready players like Jesus Montero.

A year ago, Cashman went into the offseason with a championship and a weak free agent market. He tried to patch over area’s of weakness. This winter could see more significant changes.

Two changes Cashman doesn’t expect: Derek Jeter at shortstop and Mariano Rivera at closer.

“This is where they belong,” Cashman said.

Here’s Cashman after last night’s game.

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Associated Press photo of Cashman with Joe Girardi

Derek Jeter never stood up. He just sat right in front of his locker in the far corner of the visiting clubhouse in Arlington and talked about what it felt like to lose a series that went so terribly wrong.

“It’s not something that you cope with easily,” he said. “It’s a feeling that stays with you for a long time. We put a lot of hard work and effort into this season. When you fall short of your goal, it’s tough to take. It’s not something that you get over tomorrow. It takes quite some time.”

The Yankees clubhouse was quiet last night. There was no yelling or screaming. Most of the noise was made by massive groups of writers and reporters shuttling from one locker to the next.

Andy Pettitte hugged A.J. Burnett. Lance Berkman hugged Kevin Long. All of the bullpen guys seemed to say something to Kerry Wood.

In the days and months to come, there will be plenty of questions about what comes next. How will the Yankees attack the free agent market? How many of their own players will they re-sign? Will Pettitte came back for one more year?

There are plenty of questions, but last night there was only a baseball season coming to an end.

“I understand the question, but you have to understand my point of view,” Jeter said. “My point of view is that we were trying to win this game, and we just lost. It would be unfair for me to be thinking about (the offseason). I’m sure if you asked Andy or any of the other guys they’d say the same thing.”

We asked, and they said exactly what Jeter expected.

“My season? It’s over,” Jeter said. “That’s how I describe it.”

Here’s about five minutes of the Captain after last night’s game.

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Associated Press photo

It doesn’t make the loss any easier to swallow, but the Yankees don’t have to look too deeply for the reason they lost this series. It wasn’t one play, or one decision or one player who cost them the American League pennant.

“They overall played better,” Derek Jeter said. “They pitched better. They hit better. They overall just out-played us. That’s just the bottom line. They were a lot better than us these six games.”

Look back at the games the Yankees won.

Game 1 was decided by a single inning. The Rangers bullpen flinched and the Yankees took advantage with a rally that seemed to be a good indication of things to come. It was instead, a blip on the radar.

Game 5 was a win to hold off elimination, but even in that game, the Rangers had 13 hits and the Yankees were 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

In the four losses, the Yankees scored a total of six runs. All told, the Yankees had two regulars — Curtis Granderson and Robinson Cano — who hit better than .270. The Rangers had six regulars who hit better than .300.

“They deserve it,” Lance Berkman said. “They beat us. I don’t feel like we gave it to them. We didn’t kick the ball around. We didn’t play sloppy baseball. They just beat us.”

That’s the reality of this series. The Rangers might not have a better team, but they certainly had a better series. One team in the American League Championship Series played like it belonged in the World Series, and that’s the team that’s going to be playing in the World Series.

“These guys dominated us,” Brian Cashman said.

• As you might expect, Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera and Joe Girardi all said they have not thought about — much less decided — what’s going to happen next season. “We’ll see,” Rivera said. “That, I will tell you guys later on when it happens.”

• Series MVP was obviously Josh Hamilton who hit .350 with four home runs and seven RBI. He was intentionally walked five times, which set an ALCS record.

• The final pitching line is awful, and he took his second loss of the series, but Phil Hughes was actually one pitch away from a pretty good start. Two on and two outs, a 1-0 count to Vladimir Guerrero, Hughes tried to throw a curveball down and away. It wound up in the middle where Guerrero hit a two-run double that broke a 1-run tie. “I tried to make as good of a pitch as I could in that situation,” Hughes said.

• Upset about the decision to intentionally walk Josh Hamilton to bring up Guerrero? “That’s the smart play,” Hughes said. “That’s arguably the MVP of this league. You can’t let a player like that beat you.”

• CC Sabathia was never used. Instead it was Dave Robertson who allowed the back-breaking two-run home run by Nelson Cruz. “I went to a right-handed reliever,” Girardi said. “We were facing right-handers and that’s where I decided to go. I went to David Robertson. You have to remember, CC was coming off a 112-pitch (game). If there was a situation where we would use him against a left-hander, we were going to try to use him in a situation against the left-handers in the bottom of the order if that came up.”

• The one offensive bright spot for the Yankees this series was Robinson Cano: .348 with four home runs and a team-high five RBI.

• Girardi said he was hoping to go to Kerry Wood for the sixth and seven and Mariano Rivera for the eighth and ninth. If that didn’t work out, he still had Sabathia if he needed him.

• Sticking with Hughes to face Guerrero? “Hughesy has had success off Vlad Guerrero and got him out twice (tonight),” Girardi said. “That’s why he stayed there.”

• Every hitter I talked to in the Yankees clubhouse said Colby Lewis did nothing different tonight, he just did everything well. The Yankees were hoping to adjust after seeing him in Game 2. “His adjustments were better,” Jeter said.

• Everyone was ready to give Lewis credit, but at the same time: “We have to be accountable,” Alex Rodriguez said. “We feel like there’s no way that we go and score one run tonight. That’s on us.”

• The last out belonged to Rodriguez. “I had no doubt I was going to get on base,” Rodriguez said. “Then he throws me that dragon of a curveball. I think both me and Lance Berkman, who was behind me, we both flinched.”

• In this stadium, where Rodriguez is booed with so much venom, of course it came down to him. “I was actually pretty excited about that at-bat,” he said. “It’s unbelievable how things come around, and of all people I’m the last guy up there. I’m sure it made it a little bit sweeter for them.”

• It’s easy to forget that a lot of these guys know one another and like one another. “I am happy for guys like Michael Young and Colby Lewis who I played with when they were just kids,” Rodriguez said. Of course, that happiness doesn’t take away the sting. “This is going to hurt for a while,” Rodriguez said. “And it should.”

• Statement from Hal Steinbrenner: “On behalf of the New York Yankees I want to congratulate the Texas Rangers, Chuck Greenberg, Nolan Ryan and their entire ownership, staff and organization on winning their first American League Pennant. They played liked champions and we wish them the best of luck representing the American League in the World Series.”

• Just a quick note: I just booked a flight that leaves in six hours, so I need to hurry back to the hotel. I have quite a bit of audio that I’ll get on the blog tomorrow. Thanks for sticking around, everyone. I really do appreciate it. I’ll have more follow-up on the blog tomorrow and in the coming weeks and months.

Associated Press photos

Asked whether he would like to bring Joe Girardi back next season, Brian Cashman left no doubt.

“Oh yes,” he said. “Absolutely.”

In fact, re-signing Girardi is at the top of Cashman’s own to-do list.

“I would think that would be the first order of business,” Cashman said. “But I haven’t even talked to our owners yet.”

Out-hit and out-pitched throughout the ALCS, the Yankees season ended tonight with a 6-1 loss in Texas. Back-to-back clutch hits by the Rangers — a two-run double by Vladimir Guerrero and a two-run home run by Nelson Cruz — made the difference. They were the kind of hits the Yankees never seemed to get this series. Phil Hughes nearly pitched a good game, but his last pitch was the Guerrero double, leaving him with two of the four losses this series. The Yankees lineup could do nothing against Rangers starter Colby Lewis, who allowed three hits and struck out seven through eight innings.

Associated Press photo

Here’s Kerry Wood to pitch the bottom of the sixth inning with the Yankees still trailing 5-1.

UPDATE, 10:41 p.m.: Rangers sac fly makes it 6-1 in the seventh. The Yankees have six outs to score five runs.

UPDATE, 10:51 p.m.: That’s seven strikeouts for Colby Lewis. The Yankees lack of offense has really put them in this position. Mariano Rivera is in to pitch the bottom of the eighth. The Rangers need three more outs to advance to their first World Series.

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

RHP Phil Hughes (1-1, 5.73)
Hughes vs. Rangers

RANGERS (3-2)
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 (1-0, 1.69)
Lewis vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 8:07 p.m. ET / TBS

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

WEATHER: Still a few clouds in the sky, but so far only light off-and-on rain here at the stadium. Temperatures in the low 80s. According to The Weather Channel, the chance of rain jumps to 50 percent at around 9 ET, and gets closer to 100 percent around 10 ET.

BEEN HERE BEFORE: The Yankees won Game 6 six of the past seven times they trailed 3-2 in a best-of-seven series. They won the series in only two of those (1952 and 1958 World Series). That’s according to the Yankees game notes.

CANO CAN GO: Robinson Cano is the fifth Yankee to hit at least four home runs in a single playoff series. The others: Reggie Jackson (5 in the 1977 WS), Hank Bauer (4 in the 1958 WS), Lou Gehrig (4 in the 1928 WS) and Babe Ruth (4 in the 1926 WS)… The only second baseman to hit more home runs in a single series is Chase Utley, who hit five in last year’s World Series.

GOLDEN IN THE FIELD: The Yankees have one error in 288 chances this postseason. The other three LCS teams have a combined 18 errors in the playoffs.

BEHIND THE PLATE: Bengie Molina and Matt Treanor have each homered this series, marking the eighth time in Major League history that two catchers from the same team have gone deep in a single series. The Yankees did it once, when Jim Leyritz and Mike Stanley hit home runs in the 1995 ALDS.

BIRTHDAY BOY: Robinson Cano turns 28 today.

UPDATE, 7:57 p.m.: Now it’s pouring. The rain started falling heavily during the Anthem, leading to what Sam just called the most awkward thing he’s ever seen: The Anthem was going, the color guard was standing in the middle of the infield, and the grounds crew actually tried to get a group of soldiers to move while they were holding the flag during the Anthem! Unreal.

UPDATE, 8:05 p.m.: The tarp was one the field for about 60 seconds. Now it’s being removed. Here’s a picture from Sam’s cell phone of the craziness that happened during the National Anthem. As you might assume, the soldiers had no plans of moving, and the did not sprint off the field to help get a tarp over the infield. They marched off and were nearly run over by the tarp crew. One of the strangest things I’ve ever seen at a sporting event.

UPDATE, 8:19 p.m.: Granderson looked safe to me, and he seemed to feel the same way.

UPDATE, 8:33 p.m.: Quick 1-0 lead for the Rangers after a couple of hits and a run-scoring grounder.

UPDATE, 9:04 p.m.: Wild pitch on a pitch out. Robertson getting loose in the bullpen.

UPDATE, 9:34 p.m.: The Yankees are not going to be no-hit by Colby Lewis. That must be a relief.

UPDATE, 9:37 p.m.: Remember what Derek Jeter said after his phantom hit by pitch in Tampa: There have been plenty of times when’s been hit by a pitch and it wasn’t called. Just happened to Nick Swisher, and the Yankees got a run out of it.

UPDATE, 9:55 p.m.: Guerrero was 0-for-5 against Hughes in this ALCS, and had just one hit in five career regular-season at-bats. Hughes seemed a better option than anyone available in the Yankees bullpen — and walking Hamilton was the obvious call — but Guerrero came through with the huge two-out, two-run double. It’s 3-1 Rangers in the fifth.

UPDATE, 10:01 p.m.: Cruz positively smoked that ball. That’s a two-run homer for a 5-1 Rangers lead, still in the fifth.

So much has been made of the Yankees reaction to playing an elimination game, but Joe Girardi said this afternoon that there’s also something to be said for a team trying to close out a series.

“I think there’s anxiety about it more than anything else,” Girardi said. “You feel how close you are and you want to get to that next round.”

Yesterday, Alex Rodriguez said one thing he remembers about 2004 — when the Yankees let the Red Sox make an ALCS comeback — was a feeling, even before Game 7, that the Yankees weren’t doing a good enough job closing out the series.

“We never wanted it to get to a Game 6 or a Game 7,” Rodriguez said.

Obviously there’s pressure on the Yankees, but the Rangers aren’t exactly playing with house money as it’s often portrayed. Game 7 — Cliff Lee or no Cliff Lee — is a dangerous situation for either team.

“I don’t know about momentum,” Rodriguez said. “But I did like the energy we played with (in Game 5). I thought we were enthused. There was a lot of energy. Good at-bats. I thought Jorge’s play going first to third was huge for us. It made them make a play that was probably a little uncomfortable and a bit unorthodox and it worked in our favor. I think for us, we just have to keep pushing the envelope.

“We’re here to fight, not receive any blows.”

• Based on whatever pregame reports he heard, Girardi doesn’t expect rain to be a factor tonight. “I don’t think it’s supposed to rain,” he said. “Texas thunderstorms are brief and hard anyway.”

• Girardi said he never seriously considered anyone but Marcus Thames at DH for tonight. “Marcus has been the guy that has DHed for us a lot,” Girardi said. “We have seen Marcus hit well off right-handers and left-handers, so Marcus was our guy.”

• The only pitcher not in the bullpen for tonight’s game is Andy Pettitte, and Girardi said it’s not completely off the table that Pettitte might go down there at some point. Of course, that would require a pretty extreme situation.

• Any hurt feelings by sending starters into the bullpen this time of year? “I don’t think so,” Girardi said. “I think everyone understands CC’s talent level, and the starters that are at this level this time of year are extremely talented. (Roy) Oswalt threw out of the bullpen (in the NLCS). I don’t think that was a slap on the Phillies bullpen. He’s a pretty darn good pitcher.”

• It’s worth noting that if CC Sabathia pitches tonight, he would be lined up to start Game 1 of the World Series on four days rest. “I like how you think,” Girardi said.

• The Yankees stuck with Curtis Granderson and Robinson Cano batting second and third, even though it leaves back-to-back lefties against a bullpen full of left-handed relievers. “We talked about (splitting them),” Girardi said. “The thing is, Grandy has swung the bat great throughout the playoffs, and he’s also hit left-handers. Look at our top two guys offensively in the playoffs and it’s been Robinson and Granderson. We try to get them as many at-bats as we can.”

• Lance Berkman has more career at-bats against Colby Lewis than any of the other Yankees. That was part of the thinking behind batting him fifth and Nick Swisher sixth. Mostly, though: “Berky had some really, really good at-bats against this guy,” Girardi said. “He’s had good at-bats for us in the postseason.”

• Speaking of Lewis, the Yankees get a second chance against him tonight. “We knew he had good breaking stuff. We knew that he sunk it (and) he cut it,” Girardi said. “The biggest thing they’ve learned is that now they’ve seen his pitches and they have an idea what he’s going to do against each individual guy.”

• What did Phil Hughes learn from Game 2? “It’s important to locate against a very dangerous team,” Girardi said, laughing at the obviousness of his statement. “Even in a day when we shut them down, they had 13 hits. The important thing is what you do with runners in scoring position.”

• Kerry Wood and Mariano Rivera are available for multiple innings, but, “That’s not exactly what you’d want to do,” Girardi said.

• Rangers manager Ron Washington had no problem with Nick Swisher saying yesterday that he’s excited about the possibility of facing Cliff Lee in a possible Game 7. “I think if I was sitting in his shoes and I had to face Cliff Lee, I’d probably feel the same way,” Washington said. “But, you know the game is not played with words; it’s played between the lines. And, if he can back it up, I’ll pat him on the back.”

• Girardi doesn’t expect it to rain and he said he hasn’t decided who might start tomorrow should tonight’s game be rained out. “I’ll cross that bridge when it happens,” he said.

Associated Press photos

For tonight’s game, CC Sabathia is not considered a second left-handed specialist out of the Yankees bullpen. He’s not restricted to starting an inning, and there is not one specific situation in which Joe Girardi would use him.

“Could be one batter. It could be to bridge the gap,” Girardi said. “Anything.”

Girardi said Sabathia is available for more than one inning, probably for 45 to 50 pitches if necessary. Girardi would have to check with him constantly to make sure he’s still good to go. As much as Girardi would prefer to have Sabathia start an inning — a situation much more natural for a starting pitcher — the Yankees will “maybe not have that luxury.”

Basically, Sabathia is in the bullpen and he’s no different from any other reliever. If Girardi thinks Sabathia is the best man for the job, that’s who will come in to pitch.

“I’ll use him if I need him,” Girardi said.