The LoHud Yankees Blog

YANKEES (21-19)
Derek Jeter DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Adam Jones LF
Eduardo Nunez SS
Francisco Cervelli C

RHP Bartolo Colon (2-2, 3.74)
Colon vs. Orioles

ORIOLES (19-21)
Felix Pie LF
Adam Jones CF
Nick Markakis RF
Vladimir Guerrero DH
Luke Scott 1B
Matt Wieters C
J.J. Hardy SS
Mark Reynolds 3B
Robert Andino 2B

LHP Zach Britton (5-2, 2.42)
Britton vs. Yankees

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

WEATHER: The Counting Crows warned us this might happen. It’s been raining in Baltimore, but right now the sky is clear and looks promising. There’s a chance of a storm later tonight, though.

UMPIRES: HP Dan Bellino, 1B Larry Vanover, 2B Brian Gorman, 3B Tony Randazzo

IT’S OVER: The Yankees snapped a six-game losing streak with a win last night at the Trop. It was only their third losing streak of six-or-more games since 2001.

TWICE IS NICE: Alex Rodriguez hit two home runs last night, giving him 59 multi-homer games in his career. That’s the most among active players and the seventh most all-time. It was Rodriguez’s 26th multi-homer game as a Yankees, the fifth most in franchise history behind Babe Ruth (68), Mickey Mantle (46), Lou Gehrig (43) and Joe DiMaggio (35).

THE REAL WORLD: New York University held its graduation at Yankee Stadium today. It was the fourth consecutive year that NYU held its graduation at the stadium. Former President Bill Clinton gave the commencement speech.

ON THIS DATE: On May 18, 1956, Mickey Mantle hit a home run from both sides of the plate for the third time in his career. It was an 8-7 Yankees win in extra innings against the White Sox.

UPDATE, 8:00 p.m.: Two hits already for Alex Rodriguez, with his second opening the door to a 1-0 Yankees lead in the top of the fourth. Nick Markakis did the Yankees some favors here with his offline throw to the plate.

UPDATE, 8:30 p.m.: Hard to explain that one. Rodriguez was clearly going to be out, and the play was unfolding in front of it. I honestly can’t figure out why he thought it was a good idea to round first and try to stretch a single into a double.

UPDATE, 9:03 p.m.: Colon got out of a rare semi-jam in the seventh, and the Yankees are still holding that slim 1-0 lead in the top of the eighth. Still hard to believe Colon’s this good, but he’s done it time after time. Guess I shouldn’t be surprised at this point.

UPDATE, 9:19 p.m.: He keeps getting better. What an inning by Colon, punctuated by a strikeout and a bailout (taking Cervelli off the hook for his bad throw to second). Colon’s thrown 87 pitches. Send him back for the ninth? I say yes.

UPDATE, 9:35 p.m.: Unreal. Absolutely unreal. Tied at 1 after nine. Blown save by Rivera. I always forget, can you or can you not predict baseball?

UPDATE, 10:25 p.m.: Credit Teixeira with a game-saving play and Boone Logan with two potentially job-saving outs.

Alex Rodriguez said he feels absolutely no discomfort in his surgically repaired hip, but the Yankees want to have him checked out just in case. They’d like to do it on Friday, but there’s no appointment scheduled, and Rodriguez said he’s not in any rush.

It’s just something he and the team want to have done as a just-in-case measure.

“Checkups are going to be a part of the rest of my career.” Rodriguez said. “We’re doing it to be very proactive. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s another one in October or January, and again we’ll be sitting here next year talking about that. We just want to make sure, that’s a certain box and we want to check it off.”

Rodriguez said there’s no pain or cause for concern, but he also noted that he had no pain or cause for concern prior to 2009. The Yankees have planned a series of checkups, and this will be one of them.

Although Rodriguez’s offseason checkups are in Colorado, this one will be in New York. He’s not even sure Dr. Marc Philippon will fly in for the checkup, the Yankees doctors might take care of it themselves.

It doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it’s Alex Rodriguez, so becomes a big deal as a matter of course.

“There’s no urgency,” Rodriguez said. “When it’s convenient for everyone, we’ll get it done.”

• Nick Swisher looked bad last night. After seeing him the clubhouse in Tampa, I thought there was no chance he’d be in the lineup tonight. I wasn’t even sure he’d be at the stadium, but he was his energetic self this afternoon. “He seems to have a lot of life today, which is good,” Girardi said. “My concern today is probably more, how long does the life last?”

• Girardi said he won’t finalize the lineup until after batting practice. He wants to check with Swisher again to make sure he’s still feeling up to playing, but pregame, Swisher said he was good to go.

• Today was an off day in Phil Hughes throwing program. He’s scheduled to meet with doctors on Friday to determine how much he steps it up in the coming days. He did workout today, and he’s been doing his usual weight routine.

• Joba Chamberlain is 100 percent not available today. He’s here, but he won’t pitch after throwing three days in a row.

• Jorge Posada is not in the lineup against another left-handed starter. Girardi said he’s not completely eliminating Posada from the vs. LHP lineup, but in these long stretches, these games against lefties provide a natural opportunity to give someone else a half day off. Today it’s Derek Jeter.

• Despite his throwing problems, the Yankees are committed to Eduardo Nunez as their utility infielder. He’s been very good with the bat, just needs to get the throwing under control. “He’s done it in spring training,” Girardi said. “He did it a little bit last year, but he was playing every day down there (in Triple-A) and he’s got to get used to not playing every day, and it’s an adjustment. But we’ve seen what this kid can do. We’ve seen the excitement he can provide and we need him to be able to do it.”

ORIOLES
Felix Pie LF
Adam Jones CF
Nick Markakis RF
Vladimir Guerrero DH
Luke Scott 1B
Matt Wieters C
J.J. Hardy SS
Mark Reynolds 3B
Robert Andino 2B

Associated Press photos

Word is the tarp is coming off and the Yankees will be able to hit on the field.

Derek Jeter DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Andruw Jones LF
Eduardo Nunez SS
Francisco Cervelli C

The Orioles were rained out last night. The Yankees said they were simply bumping their starters back a day, meaning the Yankees face Zach Britton tonight instead of seeing Brad Bergesen on Thursday. That’s a bad trade. Meanwhile, Baltimore first baseman Derrek Lee is day-to-day with an oblique strain.

Tonight
RHP Bartolo Colon (2-2, 3.74)
vs.
LHP Zach Britton (5-2, 2.42)
7:05 p.m., YES Network

Thursday
LHP CC Sabathia (3-3, 3.47)
vs.
RHP Jeremy Guthrie (1-6, 3.98)
7:05 p.m., YES Network and MLB Network

There was a fresh perspective in the Yankees clubhouse last night.

In a room full of players, coaches and media who watched the team’s losing streak day after day, Chris Dickerson settled into a corner locker with no preconceived notions. He said he didn’t even realize the team had lost six in a row until he got to the airport and saw a copy of the New York Post.

Could Dickerson tell this team was desperate for a win?

“Not at all,” he said. “Except for when we finally did win and Gardner and was just going crazy, ‘We won! We won!’ That’s the first I’ve seen of a team that’s lost six in a row. Everyone was just super positive as far as coming into the locker room, everybody couldn’t have been nicer as far as greeting and congratulating. It didn’t feel like a team that was on a little bit of a skid.”

Dickerson is an interesting addition. He’s one of those outfielders who does a lot of things well but not one thing extremely well. He’s reached double-digit home runs a few times in the minors, and he’s hit a few out in the big leagues, but he’s not a true power guy. He moves well enough to steal a bag, but he’s not a raw speed guy. He draws a lot of walks, but also strikes out quite a bit.

If there’s one thing that stands out about Dickerson it’s this: He hits right-handed pitcher. He’s a career .227 hitter with almost no power against lefties, but he’s a .273/.363/.420 hitter against right-handers at the big league level. With his ability to play defense and occasionally steal a bag, that’s more than enough to play a role here.

When the Yankees traded for him, the fact Dickerson hit left-handed was a bit of a strike against him, something the team didn’t need with two lefties and a switch hitter in the regular outfield. Nick Swisher, though, has hit just .163/.297/.265 against right-handers this year, and Dickerson could help balance things out with at-bats here and there until Swisher finds his own left-handed stroke.

Don’t forget that before the trade, Dickerson wasn’t fighting for a roster spot in Brewers camp, he was fighting for an everyday job. He’s been at this level before, and he can play.

“You get that (call-up) phone call and you still get a little bit of the goose bumps,” Dickerson said. “Better sooner than later. Just definitely teaches you not to take anything for granted. Being back, it’s a great feeling, and just looking forward to the opportunity to help out.”

Associated Press photo

Joe Girardi believes in the rules, but tonight he broke one of his own. In the seventh inning, Girardi turned to Joba Chamberlain, then he stuck with Chamberlain through the eighth. It was the first time this season Chamberlain had pitched three days in a row, the kind of bullpen workload Girardi usually avoids at all costs.

“It just felt like we needed to win this game,” Girardi said. “I don’t want to say it was a must-win, but it was as close as you can get to a must-win in the month of May.”

There was a sense of relief in the Yankees clubhouse tonight. Not only because the snapped a six-game losing streak, but because they played well in the process. After Alex Rodriguez hit those two home runs, something seemed to click. Suddenly the Yankees were executing the fundamentals, getting key outs and hitting with runners in scoring position. Dave Robertson pitched out of a jam, Brett Gardner laid down a perfect bunt single and Jorge Posada doubled to spark a cushion-building, two-run seventh.

“It was desperation,” Rodriguez said. “We definitely needed to win a game. We haven’t won in a while and hopefully this was the start of something good.”

Girardi said he won’t use Chamberlain tomorrow, no matter the situation. Frankly, as big as Chamberlain’s seventh-inning out was, no outs felt more must-have than Robertson’s back-to-back strikeouts in the sixth. If this game was going to turn on the Yankees, it was going to happen right there. Robertson did what he does, and he charged off the mound showing more emotion than perhaps the Yankees had ever seen from him.

“I told him,” Ivan Nova said, “that game was his game.”

Here’s Robertson.

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And here’s Rodriguez.

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• Oddly enough, Rodriguez said it was hit first at-bat — the ground out to third — that let him know his swing was in better shape. He was happy with that at-bat, and he homered in his next two at-bats. “I’ve had one good swing here, another one there, but the consistency hasn’t been there,” Rodriguez said. “Not only there (in games), but it hasn’t been there in my work. That’s one thing that Kevin and I are looking for is consistency and really start driving into my lower half. I thought my leg kick was under control for the most part and every swing I took I was happy with tonight.”

• Two hits for Posada in his return to the lineup. “Just be able to put everything away and behind you and go out there and play ball,” Posada said. “It’s one of those things that, you’re happy to be back in the lineup and it’s a good feeling.”

• You might have seen on television that Nova slammed his glove when he came out of the game. He said he was upset at himself because of his command. “I won the game which is important, because we had bad moments and lost six in a row,” he said. “My command, I don’t feel too good about that. I know I can do better than what I showed today.”

• After B.J. Upton burned A.J. Burnett by hitting a curveball for a home run last night, Robertson attacked Upton with fastballs. “I felt good with my fastball, so that’s what I was going to throw to him,” Robertson said.

• Similar story for Robertson against Casey Kotchman. “Another fastball,” he said. “Just wanted to come in a little higher, and not leave it down at the knees because I don’t want to give him a chance to drop the head on it and get it out. It turned out to be strike three, so I was pretty excited.”

• Chris Dickerson said that RBI single in the seventh felt like his first Major League hit. He felt like he could exhale a little bit when he got to first base. He also said there was some comfort getting the bunt signal in his first at-bat. “That’s easy,” he said. “Coming from the National League, I’ve always been a good bunter. As soon as I saw him (give the sign) I was like, OK, this will be easy. This will be an easy way to contribute right here, because I know I can get this down.”

• Why not go straight to Mariano Rivera in the ninth? “We had a five-run lead and I wanted to try to get three outs out of Sanit,” Girardi said. “I told him if a couple guys get on, I’m bringing Mo in. Give Mo some wiggle room if something happens. That’s just the way I did it.”

• By the way, Girardi said he checked with Chamberlain before the game to make sure he felt up to pitching if necessary. “Because he didn’t throw a lot of pitches and he’s been economical, I just felt that I had to do it,” Girardi said. He was trying to avoid using Boone Logan and Luis Ayala tonight.

• Both Nova and Girardi said pace was important for the Yankees starter. “I thought he got better in the fourth and fifth,” Girardi said. “He picked up his pace a little bit. It seemed like he was working slow the first three innings. He was getting in a lot of long counts. He was almost at 70 pitches after three innings and he got into the sixth, so I did see some improvement.”

• Strange review play on the Shoppach fly ball in the ninth. Both Brett Gardner and Girardi said they were sure it hadn’t hit the catwalk. If it did hit the catwalk, it would have been a home run.

• Robertson seemed almost embarrassed by his outburst of emotion, but Mark Feinsand suggested he should start yelling and screaming all the time. Robertson laughed at the very idea of it. “Oh yeah,” he said. “because I’m such a loud guy.”

• A different way of looking at this finally finished losing streak: “We haven’t been out there in a week to shake hands,” Girardi said.

• Phil Hughes made 45 throws today, 30 from 90 feet and 15 from closer to 110. He’ll keep doing stuff like this for the next few days and ramp things up when he gets back to New York at the end of the week. He’s been doing his normal weight training.

Associated Press photos

The Yankees played good baseball tonight. They executed bunts, hit with runners in scoring position, got key outs from their bullpen and beat the Rays 6-2 to end a six-game losing streak. Alex Rodriguez did the early damage with a pair of home runs that put the Yankees in front 2-1 after six innings. From there, the Yankees simply played a good game. Dave Robertson and Joba Chamberlain pitched out of jams, and when the Yankees put four runners in scoring position in the final three innings, they actually drove all four home. Brett Gardner had three hits, Rodriguez and Jorge Posada had two, and the only Yankees starter without a hit was — oddly enough — Curtis Granderson, who had been the lone offensive bright spot for the past two weeks or so.

Associated Press photo

YANKEES (20-19)
Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Russell Martin C
Jorge Posada DH
Brett Gardner LF
Chris Dickerson RF

RHP Ivan Nova (3-3, 4.70)
Nova vs. Rays

RAYS (24-17)
Sam Fuld LF
Ben Zobrist 2B
Johnny Damon DH
Evan Longoria 3B
Matt Joyce RF
B.J. Upton CF
Casey Kotchman 1B
Elliot Johnson SS
Kelly Shoppach C

RHP James Shields (4-1, 2.08)
Shields vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 6:40 p.m., MY9

WEATHER: Non-issue because of the dome. Failed to mention this last night: The new turf in here really looks nice.

UMPIRES: HP Gary Darling, 1B David Rackley, 2B Paul Emmel, 3B Rob Drake

IT’S BEEN A WHILE: The Yankees are 3-10 in their past 13 games, their worst stretch since going 3-11 from May 28 through June 12, 2005. Their current six-game losing streak is their longest since 2007.

GRANDY MAN CAN (AND HAS): Curtis Granderson has seven home runs against left-handed pitchers this season. No other left-handed hitter has more than three. His seven homers have come in just 40 at-bats. Previously, the most home runs vs. LHP he had in a single season was five in 2008 (when he had 147 at-bats).

ON THIS DATE: On May 17, 1998, David Wells threw the 14th regular-season perfect game in Major League history. He threw 120 pitches and struck out 11.

UPDATE, 7:03 p.m.: Very different from Sunday’s game in New York, Jorge Posada was thoroughly booed when he came to the plate for the first time tonight.

UPDATE, 7:25 p.m.: So far, this feels like every other game I’ve seen the past two weeks.

UPDATE, 7:26 p.m.: Solo home run by utility infielder Elliot Johnson. That’s the kind of thing that happens when a team is playing as poorly as the Yankees right now. It’s 1-0 Rays in the bottom of the third.

UPDATE, 7:39 p.m.: The Yankees actually pitched around an error — yes, another error — and it’s still 1-0 at the end of the third.

UPDATE, 8:17 p.m.: Alex Rodriguez showed up tonight. His second home run of the night has given the Yankees a 2-1 lead in the sixth. Of course, it would help the Yankees if someone else managed a big hit. Meanwhile, nice job by Ivan Nova so far. He’s allowed three hits through five.

UPDATE, 8:37 p.m.: Dave Robertson. Incredible.

UPDATE, 9:02 p.m.: Getting key outs, executing bunts, driving in runs when there are runners in scoring position and less than two outs? What team is this? Yankees are leading 4-1 after seven innings.

Rafael Soriano had an MRI today, and it showed nothing but inflammation in his sore right elbow. That’s the same issue he’s been dealing with since last week’s Royals series. All things considered, that seems like good news for the Yankees and their setup man.

But still, this has not been the best-case scenario that the team was hoping for when they gave Soriano a massive three-year deal this offseason. He has not been nearly as good as he was last season, he surely didn’t win over any teammates with last night’s comments and now he’s on the disabled list with an elbow issue that just won’t go away.

“He’s thrown the ball really well for us at times, and he’s struggled at times,” Joe Girardi said. “Unfortunately he hasn’t felt good lately, and we just need to get him back and get him healthy and get him doing what he’s capable of doing.”

Girardi backs his players. It’s what he does. That’s his management style, and we’ve all come to expect it. Asked about Soriano’s comments last night — when Soriano threw the lineup under the bus and said it hasn’t bothered him to miss this rocky stretch — Girardi went about as far as he’ll go to publicly rip a player.

“My thought is, we win as a team and we lose as a team,” Girardi said. “Everyone on this club can always do a little bit more. That’s the bottom line. You can take that for what it’s worth.”

The Yankees decided even before Soriano went for his MRI that he would go on the disabled list. Chris Dickerson said he got the news around midnight, while he was on a bus from Pawtucket to Scranton. The Yankees new that Soriano would have to skip at last three or four days before throwing another bullpen, which meant at least another week or so before he’d be available in a game. They didn’t want to keep playing short, so they put him on the DL.

• Nick Swisher is sick. He was throwing up after last night’s game, and Girardi called him today to check on how he was feeling. Still not good, so he’s out of the lineup and Dickerson is in.

• Dickerson landed at 2:30 this afternoon and came straight to the ballpark. You might remember that he had a similar rushed arrival in spring training and promptly went 3-for-3 (before being shutdown with an injury).

• Who handles the eighth without Soriano? “Joba has been pitching in the back end (and) Robby has been pitching in the back end,” Girardi said. “We’ll go day-by-day. Sometimes guys aren’t going to be available and you’ve just going to have to get through it.”

• Girardi said he had no second-thoughts about where to put Jorge Posada in today’s lineup, but he indicated that his spot in the lineup is still fluid. “To me it was the place to put him today,” Girardi said. “There’s a lot of things I look at, and I just thought it was the place to put him.”

• Dickerson was always going to be the call-up. That was decided before the team found out Swisher was sick.

• Carlos Silva is starting for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Thursday.

RAYS
Sam Fuld LF
Ben Zobrist 2B
Johnny Damon DH
Evan Longoria 3B
Matt Joyce RF
B.J. Upton CF
Casey Kotchman 1B
Elliot Johnson SS
Kelly Shoppach C

Associated Press photo

Rafael Soriano is on the 15-day disabled list.

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