The LoHud Yankees Blog

Kevin Long could continue to take pride Sunday in the results of the work he did with Curtis Granderson on his swing last August, the gift that keeps on giving.

“It feels pretty good,” the Yankees’ hitting coach said after Granderson delivered the tiebreaking three-run, fifth-inning shot in Sunday’s 5-2 win over the Jays, the center fielder’s eighth homer this season and 22nd since the swing change. Granderson is batting .281 with 18 RBI in the 16-9 start.

It’s still relatively early, but there have been troubling signs in the first month from a few of Long’s other pupils, namely Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada. Brett Gardner seems to be coming around. Jeter and Posada, though, can’t help but have people wondering if old age is setting in. But after the finale of the 4-3 homestand, Long spoke about improvement by them as well as Gardner.

The 36-year-old Captain’s improvement was really hard to see during his latest 0-for-3 effort, which dropped him to .242. He couldn’t get anything in the air, grounding to short, bouncing to short, resulting in him reaching on a fielder’s choice, and reaching after he struck out swinging at a wild pitch. He was also hit by a pitch.

Jeter, who did all that work with Long on changing to strideless mechanics, has been up 95 times and owns just 23 hits, only two for extra bases, both doubles. He’s 51 hits away from 3,000 after a 4-for-21 homestand.

Joe Girardi had spoken before Sunday’s game about Jeter using his legs more in the batter’s box and getting the ball in the air during Saturday’s game when he also went 0 for 3.  

“His at-bats have been better,” Long said. “He seems to be more comfortable at the plate. I see his BP being really good right now. I’m waiting for that game to come where he drives a few balls. … But I’m comfortable with where he’s at and what he’s doing.”  

Jorge Posada wasn’t doing much at 0 for 19, 1 for 29 and 9 for 73 on the season after bouncing weakly to second in his first at-bat Sunday. Then he pulled a double to right to open the fifth and ignite a four-run rally. The 39-year-old DH was also robbed of a single on a diving stop by second baseman John McDonald the following inning. So he raised his average from .125 to .133, with six homers and 12 RBI. He went 1 for 16 on the homestand.

“He looks a lot more comfortable,” Long said. “The last two games, he’s been able to bat the ball up. He’s recognizing pitches. He’s swinging at strikes. I’ve been pleased with Jorge’s at-bats.”   

Gardner has indeed shown signs of life in his recent at-bats. He sandwiched two walks around a line single to right and finished with a 6-for-13 homestand, bringing him up to .200.

“He’s turned it around,” Long said. “Obviously he’s had several good games as of late. He seems like the Brett Gardner that we saw last year, getting on base, causing havoc, playing great defense.

“In a nutshell, they were pitching him away. … So he moved up on the plate. It’s helped him a great deal.”

So what do you think? Gardner should be OK. Jeter and Posada could still turn it around, too. But are you worried that they won’t?

That swing change that Kevin Long devised for Curtis Granderson last August in Texas continues to pay large dividends. Granderson cracked the tiebreaking three-run homer in the fifth inning of this 5-2 victory over the Blue Jays.

This was his eighth homer of the season. Granderson didn’t hit his eighth homer last season until July 25.

“The adjustments we made weren’t too difficult to go ahead and repeat,” Granderson said. “As far as the results, that’s all baseball. But the things we ended up doing were very minimal, very easy to remember.”

Long didn’t think they were minimal. The results certainly haven’t been. Since Aug. 14, 2010, Granderson owns the third-most homers in the majors with 22, trailing only the Jays’ Jose Bautista (27) and the Rockies’ Troy Tulowitzki (23).

“He’s a very bright young man,” Long said. “He was able to take the information that was given to him. In layman’s terms, it was just simpler and more compact and a more explosive swing. We squared him up a little bit. He lessened his load. He had big load before.”

Granderson is now headed back to play at Detroit Monday night for the first time since he was traded from the Tigers. He wonders what the reception is going to be like.

“Now we’re a year removed,” he said. “I don’t know if the people have forgotten. It’s going to be interesting to see how it is.”

Ivan Nova struggled with his fastball early on, but he went more to his curve and got all five strikeouts with it. He also stranded six. This was his second straight quality start that lasted into the seventh.

“Last start, I started using it more,” Nova said of the curve. “A day like today when I didn’t have really good command of the fastball, my curve was there.”

Before Nova, Al Leiter was the last rookie pitcher to start five of the Yankees’ first 25 games, and that was in 1988.

Robby Cano’s bruised left hand happened on a Nova pickoff throw to second in the sixth. Cano didn’t come out of the game until it was his turn to hit in the eighth.

Joe Girardi said Cano was day to day. Long said the injury was in the palm area, and that he expected Cano would be able to play Monday night.  

“He’ll get some ice and some treatment, and I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Long said.

Jorge Posada tied Joe DiMaggio for 10th on the Yankees’ all-time list of games played with 1,737.

Mark Teixeira hit a solo homer in the first. Six of his seven homers have come at home and all six have come in the first three innings. Teixiera is batting .474 with three doubles, three homers and six RBI in the first inning so far this season.

With two more homers, the Yankees extended their major-league lead to 45 and multi-homer-game lead to 15. They have scored 80 of their 139 runs via homers. The 57.6 percentage also tops the majors.

Mariano Rivera now has 10 saves, the earliest that has ever happened for him. 

Yankees pitching has been stingy lately, allowing three runs or less eight times in the last 10 games. The starters have a 2.44 ERA over the last 13.

Check back in Monday at 9 a.m. when I’ll have Long’s thoughts on how things are going for Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Brett Gardner.

Robby Cano has a bruised left hand. He’s day to day. He suffered the injury on an Ivan Nova pickoff throw to second in the sixth, but stayed in the game until Joe Girardi pinch hit for him in the eighth. Precautionary X-rays were negative.

Yankees lineup

1. Derek Jeter SS

2. Curtis Granderson CF

3. Mark Teixeira 1B

4. Alex Rodriguez 3B

5. Robinson Cano 2B

6. Nick Swisher RF

7. Jorge Posada DH

8. Brett Gardner LF

9. Francisco Cervelli C

Ivan Nova P

Blue Jays lineup

1. Rajai Davis CF

2. Yunel Escobar, SS

3. Jose Bautista RF

4. Adam Lind 1B

5. Juan Rivera LF

6. J.P. Arencibia C

7. David Cooper DH

8. Edwin Encarnacion 3B

9. John McDonald 2B

Jesse Litsch P

Time/TV: 1:08/YES

Weather: 64, partly cloudy

Umpires: Laz Diaz HP, Scott Barry 1B, John Hirschbeck 2B, Wally Bell 3B

Quiet bats: Jorge Posada is batting just .125 and is 0 for his last 18 and 1 for his last 28. A-Rod is 3 for his last 23 and 5 for his last 32.

Tex’s better start: Last April, Mark Teixeira hit .136 with two homers and nine RBI in April. This time through April, Teixeira was at .256 with six homers and 16 RBI.

Early risers: The Yankees have outscored teams 24-7 in the first inning and 24-8 in the second through 24 games.

Starters step up: The Yankees’ starting pitchers have a combined ERA of 2.40 over the last 12 games.

3,000 Watch: Derek Jeter begins the game 51 hits from the magic number.

Update, 1:16: Nice 1-2-3 start for Nova, helped by Curtis Granderson’s running grab on the track to end it.

Update, 1:17: Kevin Millwood has just opted out of his contract with the Yankees. So he will be leaving AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He had that May 1 opt-out date. It’s just that he got shelled in his last start down there.

Update, 1:23: No. 7 for Mark Teixeira, landing in the right-center seats. So it’s 1-0. The Yankees have now homered in 21 of their 25 games.

Update, 1:28: Nova gives the run right back. Solo homer by Adam Lind off the screen adjacent to the left-field foul pole here in the second.

Update, 1:35: First career hit for David Cooper, bloop single to right. So Nova is facing a first-and-second, one-out problem.

Update, 1:38: Foul out and fly ball, and Nova gets out of it.

Update, 1:46: Another harmless bouncer to second by Posada to end the second, now 0 for 19, 1 for 29, and 9 for 73 on the season. Is this all that’s left? Guess we’ll see soon enough.

Update, 2:00: Now 2-1 Jays in the third thanks to Rajai Davis’ two steals and a groundout by Jose Bautista.

Update, 2:08: Litsch is having control problem here in the third, walking Brett Gardner on four pitches and then hitting Derek Jeter with one out.

Update, 2:09: Granderson single, bases packed for Teixeira.

Update, 2:10: Oh well, 4-6-3 double play.

Update, 2:23: Swisher hits into a 3-6-1 double play to kill the fourth. This lineup theoretically shouldn’t be struggling this much. The Yankees have three hits to show for the last 10 innings, including the final six yesterday. So they’re down 2-1 heading to the fifth.

Update, 2:27: Leadoff single for Rajai Davis, not the guy you want to have on the bases if you’re Nova and Cervelli.

Update, 2:29: OK, I stand corrected. He was the guy they wanted on the bases. Cervelli bounced the throw to second and still got him stealing, making Davis five of seven in steal attempts.

Update, 2:37: Finally, a hit for Posada here in the fifth, hustled a liner into right for a double, snapping the 0-for-19 skid.

Update, 2:41: Nice stop by Escobar at short, but it’s an RBI groundout for Cervelli — 2-2.

Update, 2:44: Gardner made a mistake trying for a third on a grounder to short by Jeter, but he outran his mistake thanks to his speed. So it’s first and third, one out.

Update, 2:48: Three-run homer to right for Granderson, No. 8 for him. And it’s 5-2. Kevin Long really worked wonders with him.

Update, 3:06: Nova has worked out of trouble nicely in this game, stranding three in scoring position and six overall through his first six innings.

Update, 3:12: Nova is starting the seventh, but David Robertson is warming.

Update, 3:16: Nova is done after a one-out walk, nice ovation for him.

Update, 3:26: First and second, two outs. Boone Logan is coming on.

Update, 3:30: Logan went behind the back with his glove to snare that bouncer up the middle by Adam Lind, side retired.

Update, 3:36: Litsch is done after a leadoff walk to Gardner here in the seventh. Casey Janssen is the new pitcher.

Update, 3:40: Gardner is caught stealing.

Update, 3:44: Jeter strikes out on a wild pitch and reaches first. He’s now 0 for 3.

Update, 3:49: John Farrell pinch ran for Bautista in the seventh. The announcement just came down that he left with neck tightness. Rafael Soriano is on to start the eighth.

Update, 3:58: Carlos Villanueva will come on for the last of the eighth for the Jays after Soriano’s one-walk outing.

Update, 4:02: Something’s up. Eric Chavez is hitting for Cano. And he has grounded out weakly. Mariano Rivera is trotting in for the ninth. Eduardo Nunez is playing second now.

Update, 4:09: 1-2-3 for Rivera. He now has 10 saves. Yankees win, 5-2.

Greetings, Brian Heyman here for Chad today.

Joe Girardi is hoping to see strikes coming from the right arm of Ivan Nova in today’s start against the Jays.

“Ivan, during the course of last year, threw strikes the whole time,” Girardi said. “This year has been a little difficult.”

It was an up-and-down April for Nova. Girardi also pointed to the weather.

“You wonder sometimes about guys in really cold weather,” Girardi said. “The two starts he struggled, it was brutal out there.”

Today it’s sunny and comfortable, so we’ll see.

Also, Francisco Cervelli will catch Nova today for the first time this season after catching him six out of seven starts last season.

Derek Jeter will step in at a worrisome .250 after yesterday’s 0-for-3 effort. Girardi was encouraged by his at-bats, though.

“We thought he got into his legs a little more yesterday,” Girardi said. “He got some balls in the air yesterday.”

Girardi is also seeing good signs from Brett Gardner, who went 1 for 2 with an RBI and is up to .188.

“To me, Gardy looks like the player we expected,” Girardi said.

Tomorrow is a big day for Phil Hughes. He will be receiving his latest neurovascular exam, this one from a doctor in St. Louis, to determine if he has thoracic outlet syndrome — pressure on a nerve or blood vessel between his collarbone and top rib. If so, surgery (including the removal of a rib) would be one possible solution. Not a pleasant prospect.

“I do have a concern for tomorrow,” Girardi said. “We’ll just have to wait and see what happens. I think all of us have been curious about what’s going on.”

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