The LoHud Yankees Blog

My sister lives just outside Berkeley, and Marc Carig’s family lives all around Oakland. When Phil Hughes heard that two of the Yankees beat writers were spending today’s off day in the Bay Area rather than flying immediately to Southern California, he was positively appalled.

The Yankees have earned the right to enjoy a day off. A few guys have found a place to go fishing, Hughes has his niece’s birthday party and Nick Swisher gets to see his house again. There are certainly worse places to spend an off day, and there are much worse ways to lead into an off day.

The Yankees have won four in a row for the first time this season, they just swept a three-game series by beating three of the best young pitchers in baseball and they’re back in first place with a two-game cushion.

“We’re definitely having fun,” A.J. Burnett said. “In the dugout. In here (in the clubhouse). On the plane. We’re starting to get where we need to be. We’re a winning team.”

Since that six-game losing streak, the Yankees have won 11 of 15. This road trip started with two one-run losses. Had those two gone the other way, the Yankees would have to be considered the hottest team in the American League (maybe the hottest in baseball depending on how you’d compare them against the Diamondbacks). The formula has been simple: Good starting pitching, reliable back end of the bullpen and some situational hitting mixed with the Yankees typical home run power.

“We lost those two tough games in Seattle, and I think that really ate at us,” Swisher said. “For us to come back and show the fight and tenacity that we did (in Oakland), that’s the Yankee team that I know. That’s what we want to continue to keep doing.”

The Yankees get right back at it tomorrow against the Angels. The pitching matchup doesn’t get any easier. Jered Weaver has the start for Los Angeles.

“The guys feel good about themselves,” Joe Girardi said. “They can enjoy themselves (today) and rest and relax, and then get back to work on Friday.”

Associated Press photo

In the beginning, this three-game series was all about Oakland young starters. In the end, it had much more to do with the Yankees veterans.

“Our guys have pitched pretty well too,” Joe Girardi said. “Bartolo got us off to a great start, and Freddy’s been throwing the ball well, and I just felt that our club, we had a chance to win every game on this road trip, and we’ve been playing better. I just felt we had a chance today.”

Following the lead of Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia — and CC Sabathia’s final start in Seattle — A.J. Burnett gave the Yankees seven strong innings. He allowed a two-run homer in the first inning, then allowed one more hit the rest of the way. Girardi said Burnett got stronger. His best innings, Girardi said, were the fifth, sixth and seventh.

“Once you’re out there you don’t think about it,” Burnett said, “but obviously you don’t want to be the guy that makes the winning come to an end either. I think we’ve done a good job here of late, and to keep it going, it’s up to us to go out and set the tone. Our defense and our hitters see that confidence and see we’re in those games. It helps them out as well.”

Credit obviously goes to the Yankees lineup, which has done a nice job with both situational hitting and trademark home runs, but in these four straight wins — the Yankees longest winning streak of the season — the Yankees 30-something starters have outpitched their 20-something peers. At a time when all facets have been pretty good, the Yankees focused seemed to turn time and again to their starters.

“We’ve beaten three pretty darned good pitchers,” Alex Rodriguez said. “Our guys have been terrific. You can’t say enough about the jobs Colon and Garcia have done. Those guys have been Godsends for us, and A.J. was terrific today.”

Said Girardi: “Pitching is the key, obviously. You have to pitch well to win a lot of games. Whenever we pitch well I get excited, but it’s good to see our offense swinging the bats. It’s great.”

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Things are going so well for the Yankees these days, even their mistakes are becoming positives.

In the fourth inning tonight, Nick Swisher missed the sign from third-base coach Rob Thomson. Swisher thought he saw the bunt sign. There were two on, none out, and the Yankees were trailing by one, so Swisher showed bunt when he took ball one. When Thomson didn’t wipe off the sign — signaling that the Yankees were changing the strategy — Swisher assumed the bunt was still on, so he showed bunt again on ball two.

That’s when the pitching coach came out to talk to Gio Gonzalez, and Swisher called for a conference with Thomson.

“I went over to Thomp and said, ‘What do you want me to do right here?’” Swisher said. “He said, ‘I want you to let it loose.’ So I did.”

Swisher hit the very next pitch for a three-run home run, the decisive blow in a two-run win. When he got to the dugout, Swisher found out that he was supposed to be swinging away the whole time.

“We wanted him to swing the bat,” Girardi said. “So it worked out really well for us. It got him into a good count.”

Here’s Swisher, able to laugh about the whole thing because of the final result.

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• The Yankees got their first three-game series sweep of the season. Every other series sweep this year has been a two-game set against the Orioles. With Sunday’s win in Seattle, this is also the Yankees first four-game winning streak of the year.

• Girardi pointed out that this game wasn’t necessarily easy for Burnett. The final numbers are outstanding, but he was laboring, especially early. The difference, he said, was an adjustment away from his four-seam fastball, which was finishing too far up in the zone. “I think at times in the past I would stick to it and get beat up,” Burnett said. “I realized that the two-seamer kept me down in the zone today. To righties I used that more and changeups to lefties. Everything was down.”

• No surprise, the home run was a four-seamer. “Commitment-wise, it wasn’t there 100 percent,” Burnett said. “In tat situation he’s looking for a heater and if I miss, I miss. So what? We’ve got a base open. After that, I didn’t want to leave anything over the plate.”

• For the second day in a row, the Yankees had a pitcher get out of an inning by making a reaction grab on line drive back to the mound. This time it was Joba Chamberlain. Yesterday it was Freddy Garcia. “We’ve had two guys that they have to check their pacemakers,” Girardi said.

• The Yankees have won 10 straight against the A’s, and they’ve gone 24-4 against them since Girardi became manager in 2008. “That’s hard to believe because they’ve got a really good team,” Alex Rodriguez said. “Billy Beane has done a great job of gathering talent and great pitching.”

• When Swisher was traded to Chicago, Gonzalez was one of the primary pieces coming from the White Sox to the A’s. Swisher said he had no idea until this morning that he was facing a guy he was once traded for. “I just found out about that this morning, that we were in the same trade,” Swisher said. “No one likes getting traded, bro. You don’t really pay attention to who was on the other side of it. He’s a great pitcher, no doubt, and he’s got a lot of potential. I wish him the best of luck.”

• A first-inning double moved Derek Jeter within 16 of career hit No. 3,000. “I can’t wait, man,” Swisher said. “I can’t wait to see that. I’ve seen someone hit 500 (home runs), seen Mariano save 500, but I’ve never seen 3,000 hits, man. I’m excited to see that.”

• Jeter has a seven-game hitting streak and has a .512 on-base percentage when leading off the first inning this year. That’s the highest such on-base percentage in the Majors.

• Russell Martin is hitless in his past 16 at-bats. On the flip side, Mark Teixeira has a nine-game hitting streak.

• Mariano Rivera picked up his 14th save of the season. He’s now pitched in 1,002 games, tying Goose Gossage for 14th on baseball’s all-time games pitched list.

• Burnett had not won a game on the road since August 10, 2010, an 11-start streak without a victory. He was 0-5 with a 5.64 ERA. No other Major League starter failed to get at least one win on the road over that stretch (minimum 60 innings pitched) and only one had a higher ERA. That one? Carl Pavano, of course.

• Dan Haren is scheduled to start against the Yankees on Saturday, but apparently he felt some pain in his back during a bullpen this afternoon. He cut the bullpen session short. “He says he’ll be fine, but we’ll see,” Mike Scioscia said.

Associated Press photos

While the rest of the Yankees were suiting up for their flight to Los Angeles, CC Sabathia put on regular street clothes after today’s game. He’s heading to his old Little League field to throw out a ceremonial first pitch tonight. Sabathia has remained remarkably involved in the local Little League program, and he helped to rebuild the field about a year and a half ago. Here’s the information from the Yankees.

New York Yankees pitcher and Vallejo native CC Sabathia, who underwrote the rebuilding of North Vallejo Little League’s Thurmon Field through his PitCCh In Foundation, will return to throw out the ceremonial first pitch as part of the North Vallejo Little League Spring Classic on Wednesday, June 1 at 7:05 p.m. The facility is located at the corner of Whitney Ave. and Mini Drive in Vallejo. The game is presented by Pepsi, All Star Rents, and Toro Mowers.

Festivities prior to the game between the Yankees and the Cardinals of NVLL’s Majors Division will include a mini baseball fanfest for all to enjoy.

“This game represents the achievement of another major milestone in the 43 year history of North Vallejo Little League and our PitCCh In Foundation,” explained Sabathia. “I certainly look forward to it and will enjoy the change of pace for me to be able to take in a night game in my home town in the middle of the Major League Baseball season and not be in uniform.”

Over 350 youth enjoyed this year’s All Star Baseball Clinic presented by the PitCCh in Foundation last January and a record number of youngsters signed up to play little league.

The efforts to revitalize the field culminated in late January 2010 with the opening of a new field that includes new irrigation; new infield dirt; new bases, pitching rubber and home plate; new dugouts; a black vinyl coated chain link fence, and 37,000 square feet of new sod. Adjoining the field is also a new snack bar.

Associated Press photo

First they beat Trevor Cahill, then Brett Anderson and now Gio Gonzalez. Nick Swisher’s three-run home run made the difference, sending the Yankees to a 4-2 win that completed a three-game series sweep against the Athletics. A.J. Burnett pitched seven innings and settled in after allowing a two-run homer in the first. The Yankees have now won four in a row heading into tomorrow’s off day.

Associated Press photo

YANKEES (30-23)
Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez DH
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Russell Martin C
Andruw Jones LF
Eduardo Nunez 3B

RHP A.J. Burnett (5-3, 3.99)
Burnett vs. Athletics

ATHLETICS (27-29)
Coco Crisp CF
David DeJesus DH
Conor Jackson 1B
Josh Willingham LF
Ryan Sweeney RF
Kurt Suzuki C
Mark Ellis 2B
Kevin Kouzmanoff 3B
Cliff Pennington SS

LHP Gio Gonzalez (5-2, 2.17)
Gonzalez vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 3:35 p.m., YES Network

WEATHER: So far so good, but rain could be coming later.

UMPIRES: HP Jim Joyce, 1B Ron Kulpa, 2B Jim Wolf, 3B Derryl Cousins

GOING FOR TEN: The Yankees have won nine straight against the A’s, dating back to July 5 of last season. A win today would give the Yankees their longest winning streak against the A’s since a 14-game winning streak from September 13, 1956 through July 12, 1957.

SWEPT AWAY: The Yankees are going for their fourth series sweep of the season. Their only series sweeps this season have been two games, and they’ve all been against Baltimore.

GOOD DAY SUNSHINE: The Yankees are 13-3 in day games this season, the best such record in the majors. They also lead the Majors with 6.63 runs per day game.

GRANDISH: According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Curtis Granderson is only the second player in Major League history to have 17-or-more home runs and five-or-more triples before June 1. The first was Babe Ruth, who had 19 homers and five triples through May 31 in 1928.

ALL-STAR LEADERS: In the first round of all-star voting results, released this afternoon, the Yankees have six players in line to start for the American League. Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez are leading at the four infield positions, Russell Martin leads at second base and Curtis Granderson is second in the outfield voting.

UPDATE, 3:38 p.m.: Leadoff double by the Captain. Sixteen away.

UPDATE, 3:52 p.m.: Russell Martin leads at second base? Huh? I’m an idiot.

UPDATE, 5:20 p.m.: Remember by internet frustration yesterday? Now updates are simply disappearing. Anyway, Swisher has a homer and Burnett just stranded a triple, having settled in after an early home run. The Yankees are leading 4-2.

Phil Hughes will face hitters on Saturday, and he hopes that will be his final step before beginning a rehab assignment.

“If I feel good after that, I’ll certainly encourage going on an assignment somewhere,” Hughes said.

This morning, Hughes went through his normal pregame warmup, then threw a bullpen with Larry Rothschild standing near the plate as a kind of stand-in, bat-free hitter. Hughes said he threw a total of 50 or so pitches, and although the Yankees didn’t have a radar gun in the bullpen, Joe Girardi said the results were encouraging.

“Larry said it’s coming out better, definitely coming out better,” Girardi said. “… You’re getting really close to pitching in a game, simulated game or something like that. Larry said it was good today. Normal warm up, he sat, and basically threw an inning. And that’s a good sign. So the progression is going better this time than it went last time for sure.”

Girardi said a rehab assignment is up to Rothschild and the Yankees medical staff. The Yankees might prefer that Hughes throw a second live batting practice, but Girardi seemed to agree with Hughes that it was at least possible a rehab assignment could come immediately after Saturday’s live BP.

“I would love to have him back, the guy we had last year,” Girardi said.

• The tarp just came off the field. The consensus here seems to be that things should be clear early, but if this game goes long, weather could become an issue. They’ll do all the can to play today, though. The A’s are flying to Boston tomorrow and the Yankees are flying to Anaheim tonight.

• Russell Martin is wearing extra padding around his sore toe, and he has a hard cover over his shoe to protect his foot from another foul tip. At this point, it’s all about pain tolerance. “That’s pretty much what you go through as a catcher the whole year, what you can tolerate?” Girardi said.

• By the way, Martin’s fingernails are bright yellow. Maybe that’s not new, but this is the first I noticed it.

• Nick Swisher is 3-for-7 in his career against Gio Gonzalez. That’s the highest batting average of any Yankee against the A’s starter, and that’s why he’s batting ahead of Martin this afternoon.

• Is A.J. Burnett in line for a bounceback start? “I look at it as a start where we’ve got our starters on a roll against and they’re kind of competing against one another, who’s going to go the longest, that sort of thing,” Girardi said. “I’d love for him to go deep into the game. That’s what we want. And when he’s doing that, he’s pitching obviously very well and his pitch count is down. As far as a bounceback, he left with a lead and he gave up two runs in five innings. It’s not exactly what you’re looking for, but it’s not like he had a bad start.”

• Girardi said he’ll start really thinking about Derek Jeter’s 3,000th hit after he pulls within five, because at that point it’s at least conceivable that it could happen in a single game. “There are a lot of chances he’ll have five at-bats,” Girardi said. “So I think once you get within that five realm, that’s when it’s going to be really exciting.”

Associated Press photo

A computer won’t work if it won’t charge, so, after a rough morning spent at the Apple store…

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

From non-roster players this spring to pivotal starting pitchers this season, Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon have been two of baseball’s biggest surprises through the first two months. In the past two days, each one has outpitched a guy much younger. They’ve gone head-to-head with two of baseball’s best, and the old guys have won.

“I don’t know where we are without them, I really don’t,” Joe Girardi said. “They both have given us a chance to win in almost every game that they’ve pitched, their numbers are outstanding and they just continue to do what they’ve done. They’ve pitched at a very high level.”

Think back to that first day of spring training, the day pitchers and catchers showed up and the biggest story was CC Sabathia’s weight loss.

If, on that day, some magical ghost of baseball future had offered the Yankees this much production — and nothing more — out of Colon and Garcia, would they have signed up? On that day, when absolutely nothing was certain, would the Yankees have been content with two very good months out of two very unknown commodities? I think they might, especially out of Colon.

“It’s amazing to watch them go out there and continue to try to prove everybody wrong,” Curtis Granderson. “It’s amazing how many questions I received in spring training up until now, either these guys don’t have it, or are they too old to do it? They’re going out there, and each start out there, giving us an opportunity as an offense and as a team to win games.”

Colon has admitted to being surprised. Garcia has said the exact opposite.

“I’m not really surprised,” he said after last night’s win. “I’ve been in this game a long time and I know how to go out there and do my business. That’s more important for me… I’m having a lot of fun. You do your job. My position, I came to spring training, I don’t have a spot, but I worked for it and I’m really happy to do what I’ve been doing.”

Associated Press photo

Curtis Granderson said he still checks the lineup sheet everyday. He walks into the clubhouse every day not sure whether he’ll be starting or where he’ll be hitting. He doesn’t take it for granted that his name will be there, in the No. 2 hole, playing center field.

“Always,” he said. “I still check to see that.”

Might be time to take it at least a little bit for granted. With three hits and a home run tonight, Granderson further established himself as the Yankees most consistent hitter and one of the most dangerous hitters in baseball. He’s closed his most glaring hole: The inability to hit left-handed pitchers.

He’d never before hit more than five home runs off lefties in a single season. This year he leads the Major Leagues with nine home runs against lefties. The latest was a two-run shot against Brett Anderson, a guy who had not allowed a left-handed extra-base hit this season and hadn’t allowed a left-handed home run since August of 2009.

“Anderson is as good as it gets,” Joe Girardi said. “It’s hard to believe. The adjustment that this guy has made is remarkable.”

Granderson leads the Yankees with 17 home runs and 41 RBI. He’s hitting .284, and actually has a higher batting average against lefties than against righties.

“The big thing is just trying to use what we’ve been working on, Kevin Long and myself,” Granderson said. “Just being there ready to hit. Being down, being consistently in a position to attack the baseball and hopefully recognize pitches (and) lay off some pitches. It’s still a constant battle.”

For Granderson, the battle might be constant. For the Yankees, the one constant has been Granderson.

Here’s the center fielder.

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• One night after Bartolo Colon pitched a complete game, Freddy Garcia pitched seven good innings for his fourth win of the season. These two just keep getting it done. “You play here, you want to do good,” Garcia said. “You want to have a chance to go to the playoffs and World Series with this team.”

• The biggest out for Garcia came in the fourth inning when he walked Kevin Kouzmanoff to load the bases before inducing an inning-ending grounder from Andy LaRoche, who had tripled the inning before. Garcia said he was pitching around Kouzmanoff specifically to face LaRoche.

• The scariest out for Garcia came in the sixth when Kouzmanoff lined a comebacker that somehow found Garcia’s glove for a double play. “That was lucky,” Garcia said. “Almost got hit in my face. I don’t even know how I caught that ball.”

• This was Garcia’s 300th career start in the American League. He’s the fifth active pitcher to reach that mark.

• Back-to-back nights, the Yankees have faced very good starting pitchers and scored almost immediately. “We’ve been able to do it the first two nights here, getting a couple of two-run homers here,” Girardi said. “That’s real important. Anderson’s got outstanding stuff and an outstanding slider. You don’t see a lot of home runs in this ballpark, but he gave up his first one to a lefty.”

• It was a botched play that sent Mark Teixeira home on an unusual double steal. “When things are going right, they’re going right,” Girardi said. “You get some hits to fall in that aren’t necessarily hit the hardest and that’s when you can score a lot of runs.”

• Russell Martin was taken out because Girardi plans to have him catch tomorrow. His toe is fine.

• Everyone else who was pulled late in the game is also fine. Girardi was just giving them a late-inning break in a blowout.

• Alex Rodriguez went 3-for-4 and he’s now 7-for-9 with 21 RBI in 11 plate appearances after Mark Teixeira has been intentionally walked. He’s hitting .383 in his past 14 games.

• Teixeira extended his season-high hitting streak to eight games. He’s hitting .303 during the streak, but he did have his streak of six straight games with an RBI snapped. That was the second-longest RBI streak of his career.

• Derek Jeter is now 17 hits away from 3,000 after a 2-for-4 night that included a pair of infield singles, a walk and a stolen base. “He started off the game with a base hit,” Girardi said. “He’s been really good about getting on his first AB for us and setting the tone.”

• The Yankees have now won nine straight games against Oakland. It’s their longest winning streak against the A’s since August 6, 1964 through August 18, 1965 when they also won nine straight.

Associated Press photos

Before tonight’s game, Oakland starter Brett Anderson had faced 95 left-handed hitters without allowing an extra-base hit this season. The first lefty he faced tonight was Curtis Granderson, who took him deep. Robinson Cano also homered off Anderson tonight, sending the Yankees to a 10-3 win that was their third in a row. Anderson was charged with 11 hits and all 10 runs, both career highs for him. Granderson had another three-hit game, further establishing himself as one of the most dangerous hitters in baseball this season.

Associated Press photo