The LoHud Yankees Blog

For the first time since stepping into the rotation last month, Bartolo Colon truly struggled tonight. He didn’t take the loss, but the bulk of the damage was done on his watch in a 7-5 Yankees loss in Texas. The Yankees came back to tie after Colon allowed five runs in the first two innings, but Boone Logan’s inability to retire a string of lefties in the sixth inning let the Rangers jump back in front and ultimately tie this series at a game apiece. It was the Yankees fourth loss in the past five days.

Associated Press photo

YANKEES (18-12)
Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Andruw Jones LF
Jorge Posada DH
Russell Martin C

RHP Bartolo Colon (2-1, 3.00)
Colon vs. Rangers

RANGERS (17-16)
Ian Kinsler DH
Elvis Andrus SS
Michael Young 2B
Adrian Beltre 3B
David Murphy LF
Yorvit Torrealba C
Mitch Moreland RF
Chris Davis 1B
Julio Borbon CF

LHP Derek Holland (3-1, 4.66)
Holland vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 8:05 p.m., YES Network and MLB Network

WEATHER: Another warm night here in Texas. Ivan Nova said before the game that he loved pitching last night. Felt much more like being home for him.

UMPIRES: HP Jim Reynolds, 1B Mike DiMuro, 2B Andy Fletcher, 3B Tim Welke

RANGERS MAKE A MOVE: With Nelson Cruz going on the disabled list, the Rangers have called up Triple-A outfielder Craig Gentry. He stole 49 bases back in 2009 and has a little bit of big league time the past two seasons. Only hitting .239 in Triple-A this year.

MO AND NO(VA): According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Ivan Nova’s win last night made him the second Yankees rookie in the past 25 years to get a win while holding an opponent to just two hits and no earned runs through 7-plus innings on the road. The last rookie starter to do it… Mariano Rivera on July 4, 1995 in Chicago.

BACK AT SHORTSTOP: Last night was Derek Jeter’s 2,323rd game, tying Charlie Gehringer for the 20th most games among players who played their entire careers with one team. It was his 2,302nd game at shortstop, tying Cal Ripken for the most games as the shortstop of one team (that’s from Elias). The only players who have played more games at shortstop in their career are Omar Vizquel (2,692), Luis Aparicio (2,583) and Ozzie Smith (2,511).

UPDATE, 8:17 p.m.: That’s Michael Young’s second home run of the season, enough for a 1-0 Rangers lead in the first inning.

UPDATE, 8:28 p.m.: Second inning, second home run for the Rangers. David Murphy just hit his third of the season, a leadoff shot for a 2-0 Texas lead.

UPDATE, 8:34 p.m.: Well this is something new, Colon looks pretty rocky so far. He’s given up three runs in the second inning with only one out.

UPDATE, 8:42 p.m.: Good relay throw from Cano and a bad bit of base running by Aybar helps Colon get out of the second inning, but it’s already 5-0 Rangers. Not a great start from a guy who the Yankees had already come to trust.

UPDATE, 8:56 p.m.: Little two-out rally has put the Yankees on the board, and Derek Jeter’s the only guy who hit a ball hard in the process. Jeter’s double off the wall, Granderson’s walk and Teixeira’s bloop RBI single have made the score 5-1 in the third. It was Jeter’s third double of the season.

UPDATE, 9:01 p.m.: When Alex Rodriguez walked and Robinson Cano came to the plate, I turned to Pete Caldera and said, “Is this the guy you want to face with the bases loaded?” The answer was, no. Cano tripled to the wall, emptying the bases and pulling the Yankees within 5-4. If Colon can find himself during this extended break, the Yankees are very much back in this one.

UPDATE, 9:07 p.m.: Ugly swing and miss from Andruw Jones brings an end to the third inning, only after a four-run, two-out rally that left Holland yelling at himself as he walked off the field. He threw 45 pitches that inning.

UPDATE, 9:56 p.m.: Nice catch by Swisher helped the Yankees get out of the fifth, now he’s gone deep to tie the game in the sixth. That’s his second home run of the season, and it’s a pretty big one.

UPDATE, 10:04 p.m.: Brett Gardner has come in to play left field. Could be a regular upgrade. Could be that something’s wrong with Jones. Not sure at the moment.

UPDATE, 10:09 p.m.: Logan got the Yankees out of the fifth, but he couldn’t retire the first two lefties he faced in the sixth, and a suicide squeeze has given the Rangers a 6-5 lead.

There was no last-minute adjustment this time. When Joe Girardi posted his lineup, he had Curtis Granderson in the No. 2 spot despite the fact Nick Swisher is healthy and the Rangers are using a left-handed starter. Granderson has been a different sort of hitter against lefties this season. His batting average and slugging percentage are actually higher against lefties than righties.

“To see a guy make an adjustment at his age, I don’t think it’s totally uncommon,” Girardi said. “I’ve seen guys that seemed to blossom a little bit later in their career, but you don’t see it every day. I think a lot of times by the time a guy is 27 or 28 you have pretty good idea of what you have, but Grandy made that little adjustment to simplify things and it really helped him.”

Granderson is hitting .276/.323/.759 against left-handers. His career slash line against them is .217/.276/.361. The change started right here in this very ballpark, where Granderson and Kevin Long began a series of mechanical adjustments that have shown lasting results. Granderson said that during batting practice yesterday, the guys around the cage were joking that he was right back where it all started.

“I thought, if things go well, we continue to work on what Kevin Long and myself did in this ballpark in August, there could be good things with it,” Granderson said. “Part of that could be the power, but just the hitting in general, taking advantage of opporunites (against) both lefties and righties, top of the lineup, bottom of the lineup, early in the game, late in the game. There really wasn’t one thing that what we tried to do last year with the changes that we were trying to focus on. Just more consistency.”

That consistency has given the Yankees a new alternative in their vs.-LHP lineup.

“Swish has had a ton of success off left-handers as well,” Girardi said. “I think it just makes our lineup deeper. If you want to pitch around Robbie, you’re getting a guy that’s going to hit left-handers and is a switch hitter. If you want to bring a left-hander in to face Robbie, he’s probably only going to face one guy. It makes our lineup, I think, a little deeper.”

• Girardi checked in with Swisher this morning to make sure he felt well enough to play. “I feel definitely better than I did yesterday,” Swisher said. “Absolutely.”

• Last night, Brett Gardner was trying a straight sacrifice with his first bunt, but he didn’t deaden it enough considering it was Jorge Posada running from second. Gardner’s second bunt of the night — the one he popped up — was Gardner bunting on his own looking for a hit.

• Luis Ayala is scheduled to pitch two innings tomorrow night as the next stage of his rehab assignment with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Girardi said the Yankees have to discuss whether that will be his last rehab outing, and whether they want to bring him back to the big league roster.

• Girardi said he’ll have no updates on Eric Chavez until he gets out of a protective boot in two weeks. The initial diagnosis, though, “was better than we anticipated,” Girardi said.

• Girardi said there was no consideration to calling up Jesus Montero after Chavez went on the disabled list. Bringing up Montero would essentially give the Yankees four players for two spots (catcher and DH) and leave them with just one backup infielder and one backup outfielder. “It’s good to see (Montero) get off to a good start because last year in Triple-A he got off to a slow start,” Girardi said. “It’s good to see him come out of the gates well, and we’ve always thought he was going to hit. That’s the one thing we always thought he was going to do, and he’s been doing that.”

• Probably doesn’t mean a lot for the Yankees because it was looking like he wouldn’t play in this series anyway, but the Rangers officially put Nelson Cruz on the disabled list.

• Another Bartolo Colon start, which means another steady series of fastballs in the strike zone. Colon mixes in occasionally changeups and sliders, but Girardi said he’s pitching more or less the same way he’s always pitched, leaning heavily on the fastball. “A located fastball with movement is still the best pitch in baseball,” Girardi said.

RANGERS
Ian Kinsler DH
Elvis Andrus SS
Michael Young 2B
Adrian Beltre 3B
David Murphy LF
Yorvit Torrealba C
Mitch Moreland RF
Chris Davis 1B
Julio Borbon CF

Associated Press photos

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

Lance Pendleton doesn’t have the most secure spot on the Yankees roster. He knows that. He’s pitched pretty well, but he’s still a long reliever up from Triple-A. At this point, he’s still an interchangeable part that could be replaced at any moment. But he made it to Texas, and that’s something.

Pendleton’s family lives in Houston. His parents made the four-hour drive to see their son in a big league uniform. He has friends in town for this series. His wife’s family is here. “I don’t know about satisfaction,” he said, but this weekend is one of those nice moments in the course of a young career.

“Every day, every week that I’m still here,” Pendleton said, “I’m still at the point that I’m taking things day by day. You know as much as anybody just how quickly things change, and being a bullpen guy in my position, how quickly you can go up and down. Day by day still, but real excited that we get to experience this. This is real cool.”

Pendleton grew up in Houston, went to college at Rice — where he was an outfielder his two years — and was taken by the Astros, of all teams, in the Rule 5 draft. He made it through most of big league camp with Houston before being offered back to the Yankees. They added him to the 40-man within a month of Opening Day.

Pendleton recognizes his role. He said that when he does his job, it’s “so we get to rest everybody else,” and that’s a pretty good way to describe it. This isn’t the dream job, but it’s a foot in the door. Playing in Texas doesn’t make his career a success, but it’s a nice stop along the way.

“I’ve only been out there three times,” Pendleton said. “But each time it dawns on me more and more that, hey, the ball’s over the plate and they still get fouled off and I still get outs with balls over the plate. They’re strikes. You’ve got to throw strikes.

“Just try to throw it over the plate and keep everything down. That’s kind of my theory.”

Jorge Posada said the conversation happened immediately after last night’s game, and he was the one who initiated it.

Posada has been a great hitter in his career, so he’s not oblivious to just how bad a .149 batting average looks on the scoreboard. He knows the impact that sort of production can have on a lineup, and he knows there have been plenty of cries for Joe Girardi to give his at-bats to someone else. Anyone else.

After another 0-for on Friday, Posada sought out his manager.

“I said, ‘Thank you for sticking with me,’” Posada said. “Because if I’m in his shoes, I’d second guess. Do you give him a day or talk to him a little bit? But he’s been very supportive.”

Girardi assured Posada that the support will keep coming.

“He probably swung the bat better in Detroit than anybody there and didn’t have a ton to show for it,” Girardi said. “It is frustrating when you look up there. I told him, ‘Throw them first 70 at-bats away. It’s what you do from here on out. Have quality at-bats. Continue to be productive. Just do what you’re capable of doing. Don’t worry about your average. I’m putting you in there every day because I believe in you, and I believe you’re going to hit. And we’ve seen a ton of progress, so just keep going.’”

At the beginning of the week, Posada seemed to break out of it a little bit with five hits in three days. Now he’s gone three days without a hit.

“You watch the game (Thursday) and I feel like I hit three balls hard and nothing to show for it,” Posada said. “It’s frustrating. It’s really frustrating. You get here and you feel good and (you have the) same approach and try to try to stay positive and it feels like, it’s just very frustrating. That’s all I can say right now.”

Posada said he does not believe the position switch has anything to do with it. He said he’s felt comfortable at the plate lately. He feels healthy. He feels fresh. He has absolutely no explanation for the fact he’s still hitless against left-handed pitchers. In his career, he’s been better against lefties than righties, but he’s 0-for-22 against them this season.

“You have to rely on positives,” Posada said. “And it’s tough to look back and there’s not a whole lot of positive.”

The only positive is that the Yankees have the second-best record in the American League. Winning will buy Posada some time and keep Girardi from being forced into a decision he obviously doesn’t want to make. It’s in the Yankees best interest that Posada gets this turned around, and for now, Girardi will give him the time and the at-bats to do that.

Here’s Posada after last night’s game.

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Associated Press photo

Two weeks ago, Ivan Nova seemed to be pitching for his spot in the rotation. At the very least, he was close to pitching for his spot in the rotation. The Yankees always downplayed it, but through three starts, Nova had struggled to give the Yankees distance and his outings seemed to be getting progressively worse.

He’s turned it around quickly and decisively. In each of his past three starts, Nova has pitched into the seventh inning without allowing more than two runs. Tonight was his best start of the season, a ground ball extravaganza that lasted 7.1 innings with only two hits, both of them singles.

“He showed me work ethic, (and) he showed me confidence,” Joe Girardi said. “It’s not easy. When you’re struggling as a young player at this level, it’s not easy because people are talking and the thoughts creep in your head. Am I going to go down? What move are they going to make? He showed me that he has fight, and he has the ability to take on a challenge and find a way to get better.”

Nova knows what he is and what he’s not. He’s not a really a sinkerballer, but he’s a ground ball pitcher. He doesn’t get a lot of strikeouts, but he has to throw a lot of strikes.

“I got my fastball command back,” he said. “When I do that, it’s for sure going to be a good day.”

Russell Martin never really talked to his starting pitcher during tonight’s game. He said he didn’t have to on a night like this — “Just let the young kid do his thing,” Martin said — and Nova made it look easy. He trusted his defense, and his defense made plenty of big plays. Only four outs were hit into the outfield, and the only ball Curtis Granderson fielded all night was a second-inning single that happened to roll his way.

“We were moving the ball up and down, in and out, and he was hitting every spot,” Martin said. “When you’re pitching like that, you’re going to have a good night.”

Here’s Nova.

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• Jorge Posada said he went to Girardi after the game to say thank you for sticking with him. Girardi assured Posada that he has no plans of taking him out of the lineup. “I believe his at-bats have been better and that’s the reason I’m putting him out there,” Girardi said. “I believe that he’s going to be productive and hit.”

• Granderson now leads the American League with 10 home runs. Tonight he positively crushed a ball off the lefty starter Matt Harrison. It was Granderson’s fourth homer off a lefty this season, matching his total for last season. “I don’t consider myself a power hitter by any means,” Granderson said. “When you measure me up against the other guys like Alex Rodriguez or Ryan Howard, those guys are 30, 40, 50 pounds heavier than me. I don’t know what it is.”

• Kim Jones brought up the fact that Nova seemed to be talking to A.J. Burnett a lot between innings. Nova said those conversations aren’t always about pitching. He just likes talking to Burnett because Burnett helps him relax.

• Nova didn’t throw any sliders tonight. He’s been leaning more heavily on his curveball lately, and Girardi singled out the curveball as a significant reason for his improvement.

• Obviously the Yankees are changing their opinion of Granderson against lefties. When Nick Swisher couldn’t play tonight, Granderson was bumped all the way from ninth to second in the order. “Going into this year, we felt he was different against lefties,” Girardi said.

• Will Swisher play tomorrow? “I hope so,” Girardi said.

• Will Granderson play against another lefty tomorrow? “Grandy said he feels great, so I’ll make a decision tomorrow,” Girardi said. “It’s kind of hard to argue with him.”

• Brett Gardner keeps struggling when laying down bunts. “He’s trying,” Girardi said. “The only way to get better at it is to do it.”

• Martin said it was the right call when he was called out at third. “He blocked third base,” Martin said. “I got there before the ball got there, but I never got to the bag. He was blocking it with his leg.”

• Speaking of Martin, every once in a while he says something that lets you know he still thinks it’s pretty cool that he’s playing for the Yankees. Tonight, that moment came while he was talking about the infield defense. “Jeter in the hole with his Jeter play,” Martin said. “I don’t know what they call it. It’s pretty sweet to see from my position.”

Associated Press photos

Curtis Granderson hit two home runs and Ivan Nova got 16 ground ball outs, a combination of power and efficiency that sent the Yankees to a 4-1 win and snapped a three-game losing streak. Granderson became the first American League player to hit 10 home runs this season. He didn’t hit 10 homers last year until July 26. Nova struck out only one batter, but got plenty of routine outs. The only Rangers run was unearned and came after Nova left the game.

Associated Press photo

YANKEES (17-12)
Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Andruw Jones RF
Jorge Posada DH
Russell Martin C
Brett Gardner LF

RHP Ivan Nova (2-2, 5.14)
Nova vs. Rangers

RANGERS (17-15)
Ian Kinsler 2B
Elvis Andrus SS
Michael Young DH
Adrian Beltre 3B
David Murphy LF
Mike Napoli C
Mitch Moreland RF
Chris Davis 1B
Julio Borbon CF

LHP Matt Harrison (3-3, 4.59)
Harrison vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 8:05 p.m., YES Network

WEATHER: Temperatures in the 80s, dipping into the 70s. Nothing but sunshine, with a fairly strong wind blowing from right to left.

UMPIRES: HP Tim Welke, 1B Jim Reynolds, 2B Mike DiMuro, 3B Andy Fletcher

FIRST TIME IN A LONG TIME: Last night, the Yankees lost to Detroit while out-hitting the Tigers 10 to 4. It was the third time since 1997 that the Yankees out-hit an opponent by at least six hits and still lost. They did it once in 2004 and once in 2007.

McDOUGALD TO BE HONORED: Prior to tomorrow’s baseball game at Fordham University, the school’s former coach — and former Yankee — Gil McDougald will be honored in a pregame ceremony. He was the 1951 Rookie of the Year and played his entire 10-year big-league career with the Yankees. He coached at Fordham from 1970 to 1976. McDougald passed away in November at 82 years old.

FAMILIAR FACE: I’m not sure I had any idea Brett Tomko played for the Rangers until I saw him talking to guys on the field before batting practice. He’s made three appearances since coming up from Triple-A. He pitched a scoreless ninth on Saturday after allowing six runs in 6-2 innings in his first two appearances. Texas is his 10th Major League team.

UPDATE, 8:08 p.m.: Curtis Granderson gets another home run against a lefty, and this one was crushed to right-center. That’s a two-run shot and a 2-0 Yankees lead before making an out.

UPDATE, 8:44 p.m.: Almost a huge second inning for the Yankees. They’ll have to settle for a one-run second inning.  A bunt attempt didn’t work as planned, and the heart of the order couldn’t come through with the bases loaded.

UPDATE, 9:11 p.m.: Since loading the bases with one out in the second inning, eight straight Yankees have been retired.

UPDATE, 9:34 p.m.: Twelve ground ball outs for Nova. This is him at his best.

UPDATE, 9:55 p.m.: Seriously, Nova is dealing. He hasn’t struck out a single batter, but everything is on the ground and everything is routine (plus that nice catch by Andruw Jones).

UPDATE, 10:01 p.m.: Another home run for Granderson. That’s 10 this season, the first Yankee to reach double digits.

UPDATE, 10:08 p.m.: Hey!  A strikeout! Nova’s first in the game is part of a 1-2-3 seventh inning.

Joe Girardi didn’t phrase it exactly this way, but he made it pretty clear that Eduardo Nunez remains his top utility infielder. Ramiro Pena is the backup to the backup.

“Nuney was here when the season started,” Girardi said. “It might have to do with right-hander or left-hander. If I had to tell you today, I’d probably lean toward putting Nuney out there, but I can’t tell you that. There might be something more that goes into it. Pena might have great numbers off a guy or a type of pitcher that we might choose Pena, but I would lean toward Nuney right now.”

For Pena, it’s just nice to be back. He spent most of the past two years in the big leagues, but Nunez beat him for the utility job this spring. Pena got off to a terrific start with the bat in Triple-A, but he said his swing got a little long and he’s been working to shorten it. He was happy with the way he was swinging the past few days.

“A little bit sad (not making the team out of camp),” Pena said. “But the other thing, I knew I was going to be playing every day. That’s the other thing I was looking for, just playing every day and try to get better because it’s kind of tough when you’re not playing.”

Girardi said familiarity and versatility played a role in the decision to call-up Pena. It was the first name mentioned when Girardi spoke to Brian Cashman about who to add.

Without Chavez, the lineup will take a bigger hit on days Alex Rodriguez needs a day off, but Girardi said he won’t change his plan for Rodriguez.

“I don’t think you can change your plan because of that,” Girardi said. “You still need to give Alex his days. You’ll probably see Nuney at third base some of those days. He’s swung the bat really well for us.”

• The Yankees believe Chavez’s broken foot is less serious that Francisco Cervelli’s. “He’s going to be in a boot for two weeks,” Girardi said. “Then they’ll make an evaluation after that. We’ll see if it’s healing and what our next step is.”

• Girardi said Nick Swisher has a head cold. “He’s been sick,” Girardi said. “But today is the worst he’s been. He came in, Geno came and saw me. You start playing in this heat, it even runs you down more and it’s something that’s going to linger. He didn’t sleep much last night, so I decided to give him the day.”

• Without Chavez, Girardi said he’ll ask Jorge Posada to take more ground balls at first, and Swisher is now No. 2 on the first-base depth chart.

• Consider Jorge Vazquez? ??“His name was brought up,” Girardi said. “We just decided to go with Pena.”

• Girardi said he’s not worried about Derek Jeter’s hip. “He just said he felt like his hip caught, like it just needed to pop (on Wednesday),” Girardi said. “Yesterday he felt better. Yesterday he said he was fine, and today he’s fine, so I put him back out there. We didn’t necessarily have an injury, but he just felt like it was like stiff.”

• The Chavez injury cost Alex Rodriguez a day off, but Girardi said he won’t necessarily give Rodriguez a day off this weekend to make up for it. An off day Monday provides an automatic rest. “I will check to see if I need to give him a DH day here,” Girardi said.

• Girardi said he doesn’t know much about Jess Todd, the reliever claimed off waivers this afternoon. “Not a whole lot, no,” Girardi said. “I know he was an Indian. I’m not sure if we saw him last year.”

• It’s actually warm and sunny, something new this season. “I have to watch the guys to see if anyone feels like they’re cramping or dehydrated,” Girardi said. “But I have to believe the night games are going to be pretty pleasant.”

RANGERS
Ian Kinsler 2B
Elvis Andrus SS
Michael Young DH
Adrian Beltre 3B
David Murphy LF
Mike Napoli C
Mitch Moreland RF
Chris Davis 1B
Julio Borbon CF

Associated Press photos