The LoHud Yankees Blog

YANKEES (12-6)
Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Jorge Posada DH
Russell Martin C
Brett Gardner LF

RHP A.J. Burnett (3-0, 4.37)
Burnett vs. White Sox

WHITE SOX (8-14)
Juan Pierre LF
Alexei Ramirez SS
Carlos Quentin RF
Paul Konerko 1B
Adam Dunn DH
Alex Rios CF
A.J. Pierzynski C
Gordon Beckham 2B
Brent Morel 3B

RHP Phil Humber (1-2, 4.42)
Humber vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 7:05 p.m., YES Network / ESPN

WEATHER: Great night here at Yankee Stadium. Still a little bit of a chill in the air, but not bad at all. Starting to feel at least a little bit like spring.

UMPIRES: HP Sam Holbrook, 1B Greg Gibson, 2B Todd Tichenor, 3B Gerry Davis

ONE AND DUNN: The White Sox past six home runs have been solo shots. They haven’t hit a home run with runners on base since April 15, a two-run shot by Adam Dunn… Speaking of Dunn, he needs two home runs to tie Yogi Berra for 74th on baseball’s all-time list.

AND YOU THINK JETER’S OLD: Omar Vizquel just turned 44 yesterday. According to Elias, only one player in major-league history has played a game at shortstop after his 44th birthday. It was Bobby Wallace with the Cardinals in 1918. Vizquel has started two games at shortstop this season.

TONIGHT’S ANTHEM: After being featured on 60 Minutes recently, the Harlem Gospel for Teans Choir will perform tonight’s anthem. Two stars from a musical called Mama I Want to Sing will perform God Bless America. Never heard of it, but I’m sure some of you will be interested.

ONE MORE FOR JOE: With the next Yankees win, Joe Girardi will become the ninth Yankees manager to win 300 games with the franchise. He is currently 299-205 since taking the job.

UPDATE, 7:43 p.m.: Nice job by A.J. Burnett to get out of the second inning. He put the first two hitters on base, but left them stranded with two fly balls and a strikeout.

UPDATE, 8:09 p.m.: The White Sox just snapped a 23-inning scoreless streak with a run in the fourth.

UPDATE, 8:26 p.m.: The Yankees finally got a base runner with Granderson’s walk in the fourth. He stole second, but the Yankees are still being no-hit through four innings.

UPDATE, 8:45 p.m.: Needless to say, I did not expect to write these words tonight: Phil Humber has a no-hitter through six.

UPDATE, 8:57 p.m.: Big double play gets Burnett through the seventh. It’s still 1-0, Humber still dealing.

UPDATE, 9:02 p.m.: There’s a one-out single by Rodriguez. No more no-hitter, and now the Yankees are threatening to tie — if not take the lead — with Cano at the plate with runners at first and second.

UPDATE, 9:12 p.m.: Joba Chamberlain is getting loose in the eighth inning. Haven’t heard anything, but that certainly suggests Soriano is not available. Could also mean Rivera’s not available and Soriano is closing.

UPDATE, 9:23 p.m.: Looks like Eduardo Nunez is going to see some time in left field tonight. Jones pinch hit for Gardner to face the lefty, and when the White Sox switched to a right-handed reliever, Chavez was called to hit for Jones. Nunez is the only “outfielder” left on the roster.

Before Phil Hughes went into the bullpen this afternoon, the Yankees were already discussing a date for the rehab start that would follow. They were confident today’s bullpen was nothing but a final step toward getting him back in a game.

After only a handful of pitches, Hughes knew the rehab start would have to wait.

“It was probably after about 10 or 12 pitches,” Hughes said. “The first few felt all right and then it’s just like, nothing there. It’s sort of the feeling you get after 110 or 115 pitches that I normally should feel that way, but it’s just way too soon.”

Hughes will see Dr. Christopher Ahmad, but he said he’s still convinced he’s healthy, just suffering an extended dead-arm period. Dr. Ahmad is supposed to be at the stadium later today, and he’ll check on the situation. Up to this point, Hughes has had no tests.

“He had a history of starting off kind of slow (with his) velocity,” Joe Girardi said. “You kind of go by guy’s history, and we saw him get to 92 the other day. As a starter last year he was 90 to 94 mostly, 90 to 93. You felt like, ok, it’s coming back, it’s coming back. It’s just not repeating itself. He’s not to where he needs to be, but when something like this happens where there’s a setback, there is concern.”

As Girardi pointed out, the Blue Jays have experienced almost the exact same thing with Brett Cecil, and last week Cecil was optioned to Triple-A to try to build arm strength and rediscover both his fastball and his command.

“Guys have taken steps backward after being extended, more innings that they’re accustomed to doing,” Girardi said. “As I said, there is a level of concern here because everything seemed to be going in the right direction and it kind of halted a little bit today.”

Here’s Hughes. It’s easy to hear his disappointment.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

• Pedro Feliciano was here today, far more encouraged than the last time we saw him. Dr. James Andrews told Feliciano that he believes this is an old issue that, for whatever reason, just started to bother him. “We’re just going to follow the word Dr. Andrews says from experience,” Feliciano said. “Before he got pitchers that got the same injury – capsule injuries – and he just put them in rehab and it works. Why not do that and avoid the surgery and try to pitch again (this year)?”

• Speaking of pitching again, Rafael Soriano played catch today and Girardi said he would have to check with him before knowing whether he was available.

• Girardi also did not rule out using Mariano Rivera. “You’d like to be able to (avoid using him),” Girardi said. “But he might come in and say he feels great. He’s thrown 30 pitches before and thrown the next day. He had done that. It is early. I think the good thing is he had the four days off before this. You try to be smart about it, but you have to listen to the player too.”

• Who would close if neither Rivera nor Soriano were available? “I could go by matchups,” Girardi said. “I could put Joba there. I could put Robertson there. I could do either one.”

• Brian Costello says Francisco Cervelli will catch for Tampa today and catch for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre tomorrow.

• Lance Pendleton has a name tag above his locker now. Still no name tag for Buddy Carlyle, though.

WHITE SOX
Juan Pierre LF
Alexei Ramirez SS
Carlos Quentin RF
Paul Konerko 1B
Adam Dunn DH
Alex Rios CF
A.J. Pierzynski C
Gordon Beckham 2B
Brent Morel 3B

Associated Press photo of Hughes

Phil Hughes’ bullpen did not go well this afternoon. He’ll now see a doctor to make sure there’s nothing physically wrong.

“Not good,” Joe Girardi said. “It just didn’t bounce back like we thought it would.”

Hughes had to cut the session short. He said it felt the same as his first fee starts when there just wasn’t much behind his pitches. Like “there was nothing there” according to Girardi.

“Every step we had taken had been positive up to this point,” Girardi said.

Hughes once again indicated there was no pain, just a lifeless feeling.

When I got the park about a half hour ago, Gustavo Molina was on the field going through some catching drills just in case — you know — he plays in a game. Also, there was a big right-hander who looked a lot like Phil Hughes throwing in the bullpen. That should be Hughes’ final bullpen before he begins a rehab assignment. There is at least one sign that seems to indicate that rehab start will come Thursday with Scranton.

Here’s the lineup. No surprises.

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

Tonight
RHP A.J. Burnett (3-0, 4.37)
vs.
RHP Phil Humber (1-2, 4.42)
7:05 p.m., YES Network / ESPN

Tuesday
RHP Ivan Nova (1-2, 7.63)
vs.
RHP Gavin Floyd (2-1, 4.00)
7:05 p.m. MY9 / MLB Network

Wednesday
RHP Bartolo Colon (1-1, 3.50)
vs.
LHP Mark Buehrle (1-2, 5.40)
7:05 p.m., YES Network

Thursday
LHP CC Sabathia (1-1, 2.73)
vs.
RHP Edwin Jackson (2-2, 4.48)
7:05 p.m., YES Network / MLB Network

In a way, Jorge Posada is on pace for a career year. If he keeps up this pace, he’ll shatter his season-high for home runs and reach a personal RBI total not seen in nearly a decade.

So why have I already received more than one email saying Posada should be replaced by Jorge Vazquez?

Because Posada’s batting .153 and having one of the more bizarre all-or-nothing months imaginable.

“I think he’s going to hit better as the season goes on,” Joe Girardi said. “It’s strange. You don’t see numbers like that very often.”

Assuming he keeps playing this often — which he probably won’t — Posada is on pace to hit 54 home runs and finish with 99 RBI. He might not have been especially good, but he’s been productive.

“I think you gotta take that,” Girardi said.

Granted, when Girardi said he would “take that,” he had wildly guessed Posada would end up with 120 RBI at this pace, but I’m sure the idea remains the same. If Posada were to truly obliterate his career-high in home runs and match his second-highest RBI total — he drove in 99 in 2002, a career-high 101 in 2003 — the Yankees would take that level of production and not worry about his batting average.

Posada would be the best .153 hitter in baseball.

But the chances of Posada keeping this pace are slim at best. The Yankees might very well be better off sacrificing some of those home runs in favor of a player who gets on base and has some runner-advancing hits here and there. And maybe Posada will begin to normalize toward him becoming that type of player.

“I wouldn’t say he’s struck out a ton,” Girardi said. “I could see if you’re striking out and it’s either a big hit or a miss, but I don’t necessarily see that either. It’s just, the only way I can describe it, it’s baseball, where weird things happen.”

Associated Press photo

Hard to know where to begin after a game like this one. Everything that happened after the rain delay made the difference between a successful road trip and a disappointing one. Robinson Cano had his big at-bat, the Yankees kept expanding their lead and eventually two of the small names in a big-name bullpen locked down the win.

“This is a road trip, when you look at it, you’re saying to yourself you could have been 4-0 and you definitely don’t want to go back 2-2 after we had some leads,” Joe Girardi said. “It was a huge at-bat by Robby. Very heads up play (to take third base).”

The game began to turn with Cano. He had a full count when the tarp came on the field, and when he came back lead off the 11th – for the second time, it felt like – he couldn’t let strike four get past him. He fouled pitch after pitch before doubling, and when the Orioles tried to catch him too far off second, Cano broke for third.

“That was really quick,” he said. “I didn’t plan anything, it was just a reaction right there. I knew if I went back, I would have been out by a mile. The only chance I had was to go to third. Everything went my way, which is why I don’t look that bad.”

Cano said that, with Nick Swisher showing bunt, he wanted to get the biggest lead possible. Depending on your point of view, he took one either too big, or just big enough.

“In that situation a lot of times people freeze because they’re so far off,” Derek Jeter said. “But he was aggressive. That was outstanding. That was the difference in the game.”

Getting Cano to third base opened a pivotal three-run inning. Boone Logan, Buddy Carlyle, Brett Gardner and Russell Martin had their own key moments in this game, but Cano’s at-bat and his dash for third changed the complexion of the game and the road trip.

“You never want to have a trip back home – whether it be from Baltimore or L.A. or Seattle or no matter how long or how short – you never want to go home with a loss,” Gardner said. “Any time you can take two out of two against a team in your division, it’s a big plus.”

Gardner’s catch

If Cano’s hit and run were the game-winning plays, then Gardner’s running catch in the eighth was the game-saving play.

“I didn’t (think he would catch it),” Girardi said. “I really didn’t. It’s a game-saving play is what it is. He has a lot of speed and he’s played left field very well for us after making the adjustment last year.”

Gardner was playing in because Mariano Rivera was on the mound facing a left-handed hitter. He was playing where he was supposed to be playing. What the Yankees didn’t count on was Luke Scott actually driving the ball.

“It carried a little bit,” Gardner said. “Usually when Mariano pitches against a left-handed hitter we play in because most of the time he throws a cutter in and a guy gets jammed and bloops it over the third baseman or shortstop’s head. So I was a few steps in, right where I was supposed to be, right where they wanted me, but he got the barrel on it. Just fortunate enough to get back to it. I wasn’t sure if I was going to get to it or not.”

Close second on the game-saving play meter was Cano’s relay throw to the plate, getting Robert Andino trying to score the winning run in the ninth.

“Perfect relay is what it takes,” Girardi said.

As for Cano: “When Swish got the ball, he was stepping on third base,” Cano said. “I was just trying to get it to Martin as fast as I can.”

Rivera’s ninth inning

This Rivera’s second outing in a row with a blown save. He hadn’t pitched since giving up the lead in Toronto on Tuesday, and it was because of that rest – and because Rafael Soriano was out with a tight lower back – that Rivera was called on for four outs.

“I was prepared for that, not pitching in three days,” Rivera said. “I was prepared for that and it happened… There were a couple of close pitches. The umpire called a ball and he thought it was a ball (on the leadoff walk). It was a battle. In the end, Brian (Roberts) put a good ball inside the base. You can’t do nothing against that.”

Of course no one in the Yankees clubhouse is going to express any real concern about Rivera. He’s earned the benefit of the doubt and then some. If anything, Girardi said his cutter might have been moving a little too much in the ninth.

“No. I don’t need to work on anything,” Rivera said. “Just keep pitching and continue fighting. This is not easy, so you have to keep fighting… It’s behind me. You can’t do nothing against that. We won the game and tomorrow is a new day.”

—

• After a scoreless 10th and a 40-minute rain delay, the Yankees stuck with Logan to face Luke Scott in the 11th. Girardi had elected not to matchup Logan against Scott in the eighth because he didn’t want to burn Logan on just one batter (and he had Rivera). In the end, it was Logan and Buddy Carlyle who got the game saving outs extra innings that the bigger name relievers couldn’t get in regulation. “They’re capable to do that,” Rivera said. “That’s why they’re here. If they weren’t capable, they wouldn’t be in the big leagues. I’m not surprised that they did that.”

• Another six scoreless innings from Freddy Garcia. Bartolo Colon has said several times that he’s surprised himself this season. Has Garcia surprised himself? “Not really,” he said. “That’s my game right now, go out there and throw strikes. If I’m ahead in the count, I won’t get in trouble. I’ve been doing that the last couple games.”

• Garcia hit 90 pitches through six innings, and both he and Girardi said he could have pitched more. Girardi shoes to give him an early break this early in the season. “I would have been fine,” Garcia said. “I hadn’t pitched for a week, which is different. It’s a long season. Six innings, 90 pitches, seven days; they made the decision and that was fine.”

• Soriano said he woke up yesterday with tightness in his lower back. He tried to pitch today, but after a few throws in the bullpen, he knew he was unavailable. He believes he’ll be fine tomorrow. “I played catch like normal,” he said. “When I went to the bullpen, I tried throwing. I called and said I needed one more day.”

• Soriano said he has not had a history of back problems. He’s not worried that this will be a lasting situation. There are no tests scheduled.

• Jeter had four hits and passed Frank Robinson on baseball’s all-time hits list. Fitting that he passed Robinson in Baltimore. “I didn’t know that, I really didn’t,” he said. “But anytime you mention someone like Frank Robinson who you have the utmost respect for what he did in his career. It’s hard to believe.”

• Jeter said there’s no doubt he was out on the play at the plate in the 10th. “I was out,” he said. “It looked like he was going to jump for it so I thought maybe I could get under it, but he blocked the plate.”

• Girardi saw the same thing on both plays at the plate, both Jeter and Andino. “I actually thought they both were out,” Girardi said. “I had a real good view of both of them and I actually thought they both were out.”

• I honestly almost forgot that Curtis Granderson hit another home run in this game. Seems like it happened two days ago. He now has four home runs in his past five games, and five home runs in his past seven games.

• That 11th-inning double extended Cano’s hitting streak to 13 games, and it extended his hitting streak vs. the Orioles to 16 games.

• This was Jeter’s first four-hit game of the year and the 34th four-hit game of his career. He last did it in August of last year.

• Thank goodness for internet on trains. There were a lot of missed flights in that press box today, but a rushed taxi ride to the train station means I’ll get to New York before midnight.

Associated Press photos

A few quick pitching notes from today.

• Rafael Soriano was unavailable because of a sore lower back. He was unavailable yesterday as well, but he said he expects to be able to pitch tomorrow. He went to the bullpen around the sixth inning and tried to get loose, but it was determined that he couldn’t go.

• Mariano Rivera had not pitched since Tuesday. With four full days off, Girardi said he felt comfortable asking him to get four outs tonight.

• There was no thought of using Boone Logan against the lefty Luke Scott in the eighth because Girardi didn’t want to burn him against one hitter. With Rivera available, Girardi went straight to his closer.

• Freddy Garcia said he could have stayed in to pitch the seventh — and Girardi said he thought Garcia could have thrown a few more pitches — but the Yankees didn’t want to push things with their veteran starter. He hasn’t pitched much this season, and he’s now going to be pitching every fifth day, so Girardi decided to take him out after six innings.

Mariano Rivera blew another save, but this time the Yankees lineup was able to pick him up for a 6-3 win in 11 innings. Rivera and Joba Chamberlain combined to blow a three-run lead. Rivera was called on for four outs and has now blown a save in his past two outings. The Yankees, who had only one hit since the fifth inning, scored three runs on four hits in the 11th. Freddy Garcia settled for a no decision, despite his second straight start with six scoreless innings.

Associated Press photo

YANKEES (11-6)
Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Jorge Posada DH
Russell Martin C
Brett Gardner LF

RHP Freddy Garcia (1-0, 1.29)
Garcia vs. Orioles

ORIOLES (8-11)
Brian Roberts 2B
Nick Markakis RF
Derrek Lee 1B
Vladimir Guerrero DH
Luke Scott LF
Adam Jones CF
Mark Reynolds 3B
Matt Wieters C
Cesar Izturis SS

RHP Jake Arrieta (0-2, 3.38)
Arrieta vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 1:35 p.m., YES Network

WEATHER: Best game-time weather of the year, and it’s not even close. This is a gorgeous day in Baltimore.

UMPIRES: HP Angel Campos, 1B Marvin Hudson, 2B Ted Barrett, 3B Brian Runge

GARCIA IN BALTIMORE: The current group of Orioles has a total of 65 at-bats against Freddy Garcia. They’ve hit .400/.444/.692 against him. Brian Roberts is 10-for-21 with two home runs and four doubles.

YANKEES ON EASTER: Happy Easter to those who celebrate. Since 1960, the Yankees are 14-19 on Easter Sunday. In that stretch, the Yankees have previously played the Orioles on Easter twice. The Yankees won in 1963 and lost in 2007.

GARDY GOES YARDY: The Yankees are 9-0 in games when Brett Gardner hits a home run.

TWO AWAY: Derek Jeter needs two hits to tied Frank Robinson for 31st place on baseball’s all-time hits list. Jeter has 2,941.

READY FOR PAYBACK: Before today’s game, Orioles manager Buck Showalter acknowledged that the Yankees might retaliate for last night’s hit by pitch. “We’ll deal with it,” Showalter said. ”(It was) self-inflicted.”

UPDATE, 1:38 p.m.: Granderson’s seventh home run is a two-run shot for a 2-0 Yankees lead before they make an out.

UPDATE, 2:15 p.m.: So far so good for Freddy Garcia. He loaded the bases in the second but got out of it with a strikeout. He’s walked two already, which might be the biggest concern in these first two innings.

UPDATE, 2:31 p.m.: Three scoreless from Garcia, and he opened the third inning with back-to-back strikeouts. The guy mixes so many pitches, he really seems to do a nice job keeping hitters guessing and off balance. That 87-mph fastball looks pretty fast when it comes immediately after a 72-mph curve.

UPDATE, 2:55 p.m.: Alex Rodriguez just hustled his way to an RBI, beating out the play at first to avoid a double play and drive in Granderson. By the way, just had this conversation with Marc Carig: Right now, is Granderson the best center fielder in the American League? Has to be, right?

UPDATE, 3:20 p.m.: Garcia is through six scoreless. He just keeps changing speeds — in that last at-bat against Guerrero he was mixing a 76-mph curveball with an 89-mph fastball with an 82-mph slider — and it’s working. Nothing overwhelming, just effective.

UPDATE, 3:31 p.m.: Six scoreless from Garcia, now here comes Chamberlain-Soriano-Rivera to handle the seventh, eighth and ninth. It’s still 3-0 Yankees.

UPDATE, 3:37 p.m.: Now it’s a ballgame. Chamberlain just gave up a two-run homer to Mark Reynolds and the Orioles have pulled within 3-2.

UPDATE, 3:44 p.m.: In the top of the eighth, Dave Robertson is getting loose in the bullpen, not Rafael Soriano.

UPDATE, 3:58 p.m.: Runners at the corners with two outs in the eighth, Girardi is turning to Mariano Rivera to face the lefty Luke Scott. Boone Logan was getting loose, but Girardi pulled out the big gun.

UPDATE, 4:02 p.m.: That’s a big-time catch by Gardner in left, and the Yankees are out of the jam. Looked like a sure double off the bat.

UPDATE, 4:35 p.m.: Rivera has now blown a save in back-to-back appearances.

UPDATE, 4:57 p.m.: Nice work by Boone Logan, but now we have a rain delay in the 11th. No good. Not good at all.

UPDATE, 5:12 p.m.: The crew is out to remove the tarp. Looks like the game will begin again shortly.

UPDATE, 5:30 p.m.: Scheduled to resume in five minutes. The tarp is off and the umpires are out.

UPDATE, 5:35 p.m.: Here we go. Cano at the plate. Jason Berken is the new O’s pitcher.

UPDATE, 5:38 p.m.: Cano has extended his hitting streak to 13 games. Meanwhile, Nunez was used to pinch run for Posada, now Chavez will pinch hit for Nunez.

UPDATE, 5:43 p.m.: Logan is getting loose in the bullpen. Looks like he’ll stay in to face Luke Scott in the bottom of this inning.