The LoHud Yankees Blog

Tonight
RHP Ivan Nova (1-2, 4.50 in 2010)
vs.
RHP Scott Baker (12-9, 4.49 in 2010)
7:05 p.m., YES / ESPN

Tuesday
LHP CC Sabathia (0-0, 3.00)
vs.
LHP Brian Duensing (10-3, 2.62 in 2010)
7:05 p.m., YES

Wednesday
RHP Freddy Garcia (12-6, 4.64 in 2010)
vs.
RHP Carl Pavano (0-1, 15.75)
7:05 p.m., YES / ESPN

Thursday
RHP A.J. Burnett (1-0, 5.40)
vs.
LHP Francisco Liriano (0-1, 8.31)
1:05 p.m., YES

Phil Hughes’ substandard velocity was a big topic after the Yankees’ 10-7 loss to the Tigers. In fact, new pitching coach Larry Rothschild sounded a bit worried.

“There’s going to be concern until you see it,” Rothschild said. “That’s just natural. … When you get going and you start to see the velocity, then you can relax a little bit. But until then, we’ll try to figure out if there’s any routine that works for him.”

Hughes was at 88-90 mph during spring training. Joe Girardi said he was usually at 93-94 last season when he won 18 games. But in this game, the 24-year-old righty’s fastball was mostly at 89-90. Hughes thinks it’s just that he still needs to build more arm strength. The second of the two long two-run homers to left he served up to Miguel Cabrera actually was off an 88 mph fastball.

“It was there at the end of the season and I feel fine, so I have no issues with thinking that it won’t be there,” Hughes said. “But right now, it’s just not. … Seeing in the first inning I was like 90, which is not where I need to be. I need to be like 92, 93. So it’s a little disconcerting right now, but I’ll take these next few starts and see where it’s at and evaluate from there.” 

Lousy location didn’t help, either. Hughes tried the adjusted slider-like cutter he has been trying to perfect against Cabrera in the first and Cabrera crushed it for the first home. Hughes still thinks it’s going to be a good pitch for him.

“It has to be located, obviously,” Hughes said. “A hanging breaking ball is never a good pitch. So when it’s down in the zone, it’s good for me. But when they’re just spinning out over the plate, it’s a pretty hittable pitch.”  

Cabrera is now 7 for 14 with three homers against Hughes. But Cabrera hits a lot of pitchers hard.

“He’s just got a great approach and he’s got a great idea how to hit, and he’s strong and he’s got bat speed,” said Girardi, who managed him in Florida. “That’s a dangerous combination.”  

Mark Teixeira, meanwhile, sent up his third homer. The usually slow-starting first baseman is just the second in franchise history to homer in each of the first three games. Dave Winfield did it in 1983 at the now dear-departed Kingdome in Seattle. All of Teixeira’s homers have been from the left side, the side he hit .245 from last season, but the side he has really worked to improve on since then.

“Just swinging a lot more left-handed this offseason,” Teixeira said. “Last year was just a tough year. It was a bad year. I’ve had a little bit of success in my career. I’m just trying to get back to what I’ve done.

“Hard work pays off, sometimes not as quickly as this. I feel great personally that I’ve been able to get off to a good start. But the key is to continue it.”

The Yankees have set a franchise record with nine homers through three games, better than the eight the 1932 and 1981 teams posted. Six Yankees have homered so far.

The team opens a four-game series against the visiting Twins Monday night, with Ivan Nova and Scott Baker scheduled to start.

April 3

Yankees lineup

1. Brett Gardner LF

2. Derek Jeter SS

3. Mark Teixeira 1B

4. Alex Rodriguez 3B

5. Robinson Cano 2B

6. Nick Swisher RF

7. Jorge Posada DH

8. Curtis Granderson CF

9. Russell Martin C

Phil Hughes P

Tigers lineup

1. Austin Jackson CF

2. Ramon Santiago 2B

3. Brennan Boesch DH

4. Miguel Cabrera 1B

5. Victor Martinez C

6. Ryan Raburn LF

7. Don Kelly RF SS

8. Jhonny Peralta SS

9. Brandon Inge 3B

Max Scherzer P

Umpires: CB Bucknor HP, Dan Iassogna 1B, Dale Scott 2B, Jerry Meals 3B

TV/Radio: YES/WCBS 880

Weather: 52 degrees, partly cloudy

Clincher: The Yankees have already clinched the home season series against the Tigers after winning the first two games. The other series against them is a four-game get together May 2-5 at Comerica Park. The Yankees have dropped only two home season series against the Tigers since 1995, going 14-2-1. The Yankees have lost just three overall season series against them in the last 19 years. They come in at 48-26 against them since the beginning of the 2001 season.

Twin killing: The Yankees open a four-game series against visiting Minnesota Monday night, another team they have dominated. They have taken 11 of the last 13 regular-season games against Minnesota, 17 of 19 counting the last two ALDS. The Yankees are 30-6 vs. the Twins at Yankee Stadium since 2002, and that includes the postseason.

A-Rod moving up: Alex Rodriguez needs just one RBI to tie Dave Winfield’s total of 1,834 for 15th on the all-time list.

3,000 Watch: Derek Jeter begins the game 72 hits away.

Update, 1:17: Not a good beginning for Phil Hughes. Looked like he grooved a slider/cutter to Miguel Cabrera, and he hit that two-run homer a long way to left. Hughes tried to refine that pitch and his changeup in spring training.

Update, 1:28: Nice running catch by Ryan Raburn near the left-field fence to rob A-Rod of a double and end the first after Teixeira’s single.

Update, 1:37: Joe Girardi expressed curiosity the last two days about what Hughes’ velocity would be after throwing in the 88-90 during spring training. He wondered if Hughes would be up at 93-94 like last year. So far I’ve seen one 92, but mostly it’s been 89-90. It’s 2-0 still heading for the last of the second.

Update, 1:42: It’s 2-2. Jorge Posada’s ball landed in the second deck in right, his first homer of the season. The Yankees now have six homers on the young season.

Update, 2:00: Leadoff walk, stolen base and RBI bloop single to center by Brennan Boesch, and now Cabrera has hit another rocket for a two-run homer, 88 mph fastball down the middle. It’s 5-2 in the third. Hughes is another guy who needs to be more consistent this season, although he won a lot of games last year.

Update, 2:03: Bartolo Colon is warming. But Hughes got of the inning just now.

Update, 2:09: The third inning and we already have eight runs. Mark Teixeira’s third homer in three games cuts it to 5-3.

Update, 2:10: The third inning and we already have nine runs. Robinson Cano’s fly ball homer down the right-field line cuts it to 5-4. It’s Cano’s first of the season.

Update, 2:13: Raburn botched Posada’s liner to left, dropping it for an error. So it’s second and third with two outs.

Update, 2:17: Granderson strands the runners with a fly to right-center. Think this is the end of the scoring in this game?

Update, 2:24: Hughes escaped the fourth with just a single allowed. Colon was warming again. I believe Hughes is at 90 pitches already.

Update, 2:30: Colon is still throwing in the pen here in the bottom of the fourth, so maybe Hughes is done. We’ll see.

Update, 2:37: Hughes is done. Not a job well done. Five runs, five hits, two homers, two walks, one K, four innings. Colon will make his Yankees debut.

Update, 2:42: This Bartolo Colon as the long man venture isn’t off to a good start. He just served up a leadoff single to Ramon Santiago, and Brennan Boesch followed with a shot to the front row of the second deck in right.

Update, 2:57: Another homer for Posada, two-run shot to the Yankees’ bullpen. It’s 7-6. It’s his 17th multihomer game.

Update, 3:10: Colon isn’t looking so hot. Single, walk, double, it’s 8-6 in the sixth.

Update, 3:12: Sac fly, 9-6.

Update, 3:37: The Yankees are never out of a game with this lineup. Nick Swisher’s RBI double here in the seventh makes it a two-run deficit.

Update, 4:02: Brett Gardner hasn’t excelled leading off today, now 0 for 5 with three Ks after fanning again here in the eighth. Derek Jeter is 0 for 4 with a walk in the two-hole.

Update, 4:17: Joba continues the poor day of pitching by allowing a run in the ninth. The Yankees have given up 14 hits.

Update, 4:28: No undefeated season this year. The Yankees lose the series finale, 10-7.

Brian Heyman here again. It has been a quiet morning at the ballpark. The Yankees had optional batting practice before the series finale.

Joe Girardi is curious to see what Phil Hughes’ velocity is in today’s start. He was only around 88-90 mph during spring training, although obviously he could have been building arm strength.

“I don’t question that he’ll hit 90,” Girardi said. “You question will he be up to the 93, 94 that he was at last year. The spring of 2010, his velocity was similar to what it was this year and then all of a sudden it jumps. I’ve seen some of our other pitcher’s velocity jump a little bit in their first game. I thought Robertson’s jumped a little bit. I thought Soriano’s jumped a little bit. Sometimes that little extra adrenaline is what gets that going.” …     

Girardi put in Eduardo Nunez and Eric Chavez for Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez late in Saturday’s game with the Yankees up big.

“Any time I can give our veteran guys a few innings off, I’m going to try to do it,” Girardi said. “You feel pretty safe with a 10-3 lead. There’s never any lead that’s 100 percent safe. If you can give them a couple of innings, you give them a couple of innings. Last year, a lot of times, we only had one infielder, so I could do one one day and one another day. But now with Nunez and Chavez, you can do both of them at the same time. And I’m going to do that from time to time to try to give them a blow.” …

The Yankees are trying to be aggressive on the bases.

“That’s one of the things that we talked about during spring training,” Girardi said. “One of the things that we wanted to focus on was baserunning and being aggressive and … first to third and doing those type of things, putting pressure on the opposing club. I know that Gardy and Granderson talked a lot about stealing bases during the course of spring training and different things they were going to try to do. I think that’s a healthy competition. We had all our guys working on that.”

1. Gardner LF
2. Jeter SS
3. Teixeira 1B
4. Rodriguez 3B
5. Cano 2B
6. Swisher RF
7. Posada DH
8. Granderson CF
9. Martin C
Hughes P

The talk after the Yankees’ 10-6 victory concentrated on two fronts, A.J. Burnett’s performance and Mark Teixeira’s hot start. How strange does that sound with the first baseman? It is only two games, though. 

First, Burnett wasn’t feeling well at all. He said he has a sinus infection and a throat infection, and that he couldn’t hear. But he gutted his way through five, allowing three runs, five hits and one walk, while fanning six. Plus, he limited the damages in the fifth when he was wearing down and having trouble swallowing. There was a run in and the bases were packed with one out when Burnett got Will Rhymes to ground a changeup to first, although a run scored. He then fanned Magglio Ordonez with a curve. So it remained 6-3 at that point.

“I thought he threw the ball well,” Joe Girardi said. “Stamina was somewhat of an issue. His ears have been clogged. He’s had a hard time breathing. That’s why we only let him go five innings.”

Burnett is undefeated in April as a Yankee, going 6-0 with a 3.99 ERA in 11 starts.

Teixiera, meanwhile, had two homers at the end of April last year. Now he has two homers after two games, both three-run shots. But he changed his offseason routine in order to try to get off to a better start. He bought an Iron Mike machine and hit away after having it installed at Bobby Valentine’s sports complex in Stamford, Conn.

“Just swinging more and working out a little less,” Teixeira said. “I’ve always been a guy who hits the weights really heavy. Because of that, I’ve always had great second halves and stayed strong during the whole year. But I was swinging a little more this offseason and trying to get my swing right.”

Teixeira is the first player to hit a three-run homer (or grand slam) in his team’s first two games since 2002 when Barry Bonds was going deep for the Giants. …

The Yankees have scored 16 runs over the first two games.

“The good news for us is 1 through 9, everybody is swinging the bat well,” said Alex Rodriguez, who needs 16 homers to tie Ken Griffey Jr. for fifth on the all-time homer list after sending up No. 614. …

The 3,000 watch: Derek Jeter needs 72 hits to reach the magic number. After going 2 for 4, Jeter is tied with Al Simmons for 35th on the all-time list with 2,928 hits. …

Mariano Rivera has saved the first two games, the first time that has happened since 2000. …

Russell Martin hit his first homer as a Yankee, a three-run drive in the fifth.

“He’s been very, very impressive,” A-Rod said. “He brings a lot of athleticism to our lineup.” …

This is the Yankees’ first 2-0 start since 2005. …

Sunday’s series finale is set for 1:08, with Phil Hughes going against Max Scherzer.

April 2

Yankees lineup

1. Brett Gardner LF

2. Derek Jeter SS

3. Mark Teixeira 1B

4. Alex Rodriguez 3B

5. Robinson Cano 2B

6. Nick Swisher RF

7. Jorge Posada DH

8. Curtis Granderson CF

9. Russell Martin C

A.J. Burnett P

Tigers lineup

1. Austin Jackson, CF

2. Will Rhymes 2B

3. Magglio Ordonez RF

4. Miguel Cabrera, 1B

5. Victor Martinez, DH

6. Brennan Boesch, LF

7. Jhonny Peralta, SS

8. Alex Avila, C

9. Brandon Inge, 3B

Brad Penny P

Umpires: Jerry Meals, HP; CB Bucknor 1B; Dan Iassogna 2B, Dale Scott (crew chief) 3B

Weather: partly cloudy, 53 degrees (it feels colder, but maybe it’s just me)

March madness: After winning Opening Day, the Yankees are now 3-1 all-time in March regular-season games. Now it’s hello to the April portion of the schedule.

Home cooking: The Yankees have just eight road games this month. They have 18 games scheduled at Yankee Stadium. Including the March opener, they have 13 of their first 16 at home and 20 of their first 28 in the Bronx.

Bad A.J.: A.J. Burnett had the worst ERA in Yankees history last year for pitchers with at least 30 starts or 180 innings. His ERA came out to 5.26, going with a 10-15 record.

Update, 4:17: Well, Burnett sure looked sharp in the first, two Ks, 1-2-3 inning.

Update, 4:25: A-Rod’s big spring training is carrying over. RBI double to right, 1-0. Robby Cano infield hit, 2-0.

Update, 4:28: Nick Swisher lined that sac fly hard to left, 3-0.

Update, 4:47: Good job in the second by Burnett to strand Cabrera after a leadoff double and a wild pitch. He has four Ks already.

Update, 4:49: It didn’t take long for the Mets to play defense for themselves after Brian Cashman’s criticism today about their overuse of Pedro Feliciano the last three years. The Mets are in Florida, where they’re playing the Marlins.

“They didn’t know that when they signed him?” Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen cracked to reporters about all those games pitched by Feliciano. “He volunteered for the baseball every day. He was asked if he was able to pitch. He said yes every day and wanted to pitch more than we even pitched him. I feel badly someone feels that way, but that’s part of the reason we decided not to re-sign him, because we knew we had used him 270-some times in the last three years.”

Update, 4:58: Mark Teixeira had two homers by the end of last April. Now he has two homers in two games, another three-run shot at that. It’s 6-0 in the second.

Update, 5:14: Ex-Yankees prospect Austin Jackson had a big rookie year, and now he has his first homer of this year, taking that 92 mph fastball to the left-field seats. It’s 6-1 in the third.

Update, 5:36: One start doesn’t answer consistency issues. Nor does four innings. But Burnett sure looks good with that command so far. He’s allowed one run and two hits and fanned five – 6-1 heading for the last of the fourth.

Update, 5:45: Two straight singles to start the fifth here for the Tigers.

Update, 5:46: Three straight singles off Burnett, 6-2.

Update, 5:47: Joe Girardi must be worried about Burnett losing it because David Robertson is warming. After a sacrifice, it’s second and third, one out.

Update, 5:50: There’s a walk to Austin Jackson, bases loaded. Larry Rothschild just went out to try to settle Burnett down.

Update, 5:52: Burnett does a good job, getting Will Rhymes to ground to first. But the run scores, and it’s 6-3.

Update, 5:55: Two are stranded in scoring position, with Burnett getting Magglio Ordonez on a check-swing attempt.

Update, 6:00: Girardi wants Cano’s shot reviewed. And it is being reviewed. It looked like it touched a fan’s hands but wasn’t over the left-field wall.

Update, 6:02: It stands as a double.

Update, 6:07: Penny’s day is over. Lefty Brad Thomas is coming in. Penny has been charged with six runs so far along with seven hits in 4 1/3. But there are runners at first and second.

Update, 6:14: Homer No. 1 for Russell Martin. Three-run shot. So it’s 9-3. Martin used to be good, an All-Star in 2007 and 2008. If he can rebound from two down years, it’s going to be a large boost, especially with the two kid catchers not looking ready.

Update, 6:21: Jeter is now 72 hits away from 3,000 with two today. His 2,928 ties him for 35th with Al Simmons. And Burnett is done after five. Did OK, three runs, five hits, 6 Ks. Robertson is in.

Update, 6:36: Brayan Villarreal will remember his major-league debut. The first batter he faced, Alex Rodriguez, hit a long home run to left-center at Yankee Stadium. That’s 614 for A-Rod. He has now tied Dave Winfield for 15th on the all-time RBI list with 1,833.

Update, 6:41: Actually the Yankees just announced they were wrong, that Winfield is at 1,834. Somehow I think A-Rod will still catch him. If his hip keeps feeling this good, he could have a big year again.

Update, 6:48: Luis Ayala throws a scoreless seventh in his Yankees regular-season debut.

Update: 7:00: Eric Chavez is in for A-Rod at third to start the eighth. Eduardo Nunez, who pinch hit for Jeter, stays in at short.

Update, 7:05: Victor Martinez just hit his first homer as a Tiger, a two-run shot to the Yankees’ bullpen where Boone Logan is warming – 10-5.

Update, 7:32: The Tigers have two on to start the ninth against Logan. Bartolo Colon is warming.

Update, 7:35: Jackson fanned for the first out. Mariano is now warming.

Update, 7:38: It’s 10-6 after Eduardo Nunez’s throwing error. Girardi isn’t fooling around with two outs. Rivera is in.

Update, 7:42: Yankees win, 10-6.

Brian Heyman here for Chad. So let’s start with that “scandalous” picture that Keith Olbermann put up on Twitter showing Brett Weber, who charts velocity and pitch type from behind home plate for the Yankees, flashing velocity via a hand signal during the opener. That’s a violation of the rules. There’s a standing procedure bulletin out from MLB about this subject, reminding about the prohibition of using hand signals to relay velocity or pitch type.

So the Yankees got a call from an MLB official today. Joe Garagiola Jr. spoke with assistant GM Jean Afterman, asking for an explanation. Speaking during batting practice, Brian Cashman said no disciplinary action is forthcoming. He explained to reporters today that the part of the scoreboard that shows the velocity had malfunctioned and Weber provided the velocity to some Yankees hitters via the hand signals, presumably hitters in the on-deck circle.

Cashman said there’s going to be a meeting soon involving Joe Torre, the new executive VP of baseball operations, and other MLB officials about this general subject. So what if the scoreboard goes out again? ”We’re not going to to do it until they resolve what they want,” Cashman said.

Cashman found the general blog stir over this thing to be “silly.”

“The psychotics who obsessed about it yesterday, I think we did them a favor by keeping them off the streets and preventing them from hurting others,” Cashman said.

Without using the name “Mets.” the straightforward GM took a shot at them for their use of Pedro Feliciano.

“He was abused,” Cashman said.

The lefty reliever set a major-league record with 266 appearances over the last three years and started the season on the DL with a muscle strain behind his pitching shoulder.

“The use pattern was abusive,” Cashman said. “But the MRI shows what he’s got, and that leads us to believe all this is resolvable. It’s not a major issue. It’s a timing issue.”    

Feliciano said he was checked by a doctor yesterday and that he was coming along well. Feliciano said there’s still weakness, but his triceps was getting stronger. “I feel better,” he said. He doesn’t blame the Mets for this injury. He will begin a throwing program Wednesday or Thursday, tossing on flat ground. Cashman’s guess is that it will be late April or early May at the earliest before he returns.

When he was asked about signing Feliciano in light of the overuse, Cashman said it was a limited market.

“It’s one of these,” Cashman said, holding up crossed fingers.

While saying he would watch how things progressed, Joe Girardi indicated that he wouldn’t be inclined to use Andruw Jones as a pinch hitter vs. lefties in place of Curtis Granderson. The same went for Jones pinch hitting for Brett Gardner unless it was a situation in which a homer was needed. Then Girardi said he might. He said Jones would be used more as a replacement when one of those two gets a day off.

1. Gardner LF
2. Jeter SS
3. Teixeira 1B
4. Rodriguez 3B
5. Cano 2B
6. Swisher RF
7. Posada DH
8. Granderson CF
9. Martin C

Russell Martin got the first one out of the way on Thursday. After nine seasons in the Dodgers organization, Martin’s Yankees debut was a good one: He had the Yankees first hit, he made a gutsy move to steal third, he scored twice and he coaxed a strong game out of the pitching staff.

“Going into the game I felt a little nervous, a little jittery,” Martin said. “After that first pitch is thrown, you’re able to calm down a little bit. Everything seems to calm down. My main goal was to get a good start out of CC. He battled through that cold weather, did a nice job, and guys had a couple of clutch hits, a couple of clutch home runs. It was just a good day overall.”

In some corners, Brian Cashman took a little heat this winter for signing Martin. The minor league system seemed ready to takeover at catcher, and Martin seemed to be an unnecessary roadblock. Then Francisco Cervelli got hurt, Jesus Montero and Austin Romine struggled, and it became crystal clear that the Yankees don’t want Jorge Posada to catch a single inning this season.

Martin gives the Yankees a catcher they can trust. If his bat bounces back he could be a boost at the bottom of the lineup, and even if it doesn’t, he knows what he’s doing behind the plate.

“He’s done a great job knowing the hitters,” Joba Chamberlain said. “It’s easy throwing to guy who works that hard behind the plate.”

One game in, Martin has given the Yankees exactly what they need.

“I think he’s adjusted well,” Joe Girardi said. “We’re extremely pleased with what he did in spring training and what he brings to the table. We’re looking for a big year from him.”

Associated Press photo