The LoHud Yankees Blog

Joe Girardi said the decision is all his own. The Yankees front office has offered no preference about playing time for Derek Jeter. They’ve given no orders about making sure Jeter reaches 3,000 hits at Yankee Stadium.

“No one has ever said a word to me about where he needs to do it,” Girardi said.

That means it’s up to Girardi to decide whether Jeter plays tonight. With four hits to go, the milestone is legitimately within reach.

There’s no question Jeter wants to play, and there’s no doubt he’ll tell the Yankees that he’s healthy enough to play, but Girardi is usually cautious when it comes to his players’ health. He’s decided that he doesn’t want Jeter to play nine days in a row, and that means giving Jeter a day off.

It could come tonight in Cleveland, or it could come one of the next four days in the Bronx.

“He’s played four days in a row,” Girardi said. “We have (tonight) and then another four. I’ll sleep on it and talk to him. What do you think he’s going to say?”

Jeter said it all last night.

“I won’t say I’ll talk myself in, because as of now, I’m not out,” he said. “I feel fine to play tomorrow… I’d like to play tomorrow. It’s hard to sit anyway. I’ve sat for three weeks. It would be hard to sit if I had no hits (Tuesday) and was six away. I want to play.”

If Girardi knows what Jeter’s going to say, then why have the conversation?

“I think it’s fair and I think he’s earned that,” Girardi said.

Here’s Girardi’s postgame interview last night. Does this sound like a man who’s planning to play his shortstop tonight?

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Speaking of Jeter, he seemed to be in kind of an oddly honest mood last night.

About being able to enjoy the spotlight of the 3,000 hits chase
“I really haven’t been talking about this too much. There have been other things that have been in the media, so it’s kind of hard to enjoy it when there’s a lot of negativity that’s out there. Hopefully, I’d like to be able to enjoy it these next few days.”

About the recent negativity taking away from the moment
“You’d like to enjoy it. It has been difficult when I’m constantly asked the questions that are a little bit different. To be honest, I’m going to try to enjoy it from now on and try to keep things as positive as I can.”

About having a camera crew follow him for the HBO documentary
“I’m not comfortable with it at all. I don’t know how people film reality shows, to be honest with you… It was originally an idea to tape my family and friends at the game if and when it ever happened. It turned into a little bit more.”

CC Sabathia said he’s been on a run better than this, which really gives some perspective to just how good he was during his short stint with the Brewers. After seven scoreless innings tonight, Sabathia has allowed a total of one run in his past three starts. During those 22.2 innings he’s struck out 33, walked five and extended his personal winning streak to five in a row. He’s also won nine of his past 10.

“Milwaukee is still my best,” he said. “I don’t even know what happened. It was just one of those things… That was two and a half months. This has been three or four starts.”

Fair enough, but lately Sabathia has been flinging fastballs in the upper 90s, and tonight he had a devastating slider. The six times he faced a hitter with a runner in scoring position, he got a strikeout.

“Today was amazing because I got a chance to see the radar gun,” said Curtis Granderson, who could see a radar reading above the third-base dugout. “The one at-bat that stood out a lot was the at-bat against Travis Hafner — I think his second or third at-bat — when (Sabathia) went 97 with a fastball that Hafner had a swing and miss on, and then came back with a hard slider down and away. I was like, that’s just not fair, the fact that you’re able to do those two as effectively as he was able to all night tonight.”

Sabathia’s ERA is down to 2.90 and he’s the first big league pitcher to reach 12 wins. It’s the second straight year that he’s had 12 wins before the all-star break, making him the first Yankees starter to do that since Tommy John in 1979-80.

“It’s as good a run as I’ve seen him have with us,” Joe Girardi said. “He’s been tremendous.”

Here’s Sabathia.

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Derek Jeter said he can’t help thinking about 3,000 hits because he hears about it every time he’s on-deck. Tonight, he said, fans were telling him to go 6-for-6. He told them he was trying.

“I’ve never had six hits in a game,” he said. “It would have been nice to get five.”

Tonight Jeter pulled within four hits of No. 3,000. He’s had two four-hit games this season, so it’s not out of the question that he could do it tomorrow. Thing is, Girardi wants to give Jeter one day off — a full day off, not a DH day — before the all-star break. He doesn’t want his 37-year-old shortstop playing nine days in a row when he’s coming back from a calf injury.

Jeter, of course, wants to play.

“I have not spoken to him about it,” Jeter said. “He usually lets me know (the night before), so I’ll get out of here before I see him.”

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• Granderson went deep twice tonight. That gave him 25 home runs for the season, which is one more than he had all last season. It’s five away from his career-high. As he’s always done, Granderson downplayed the surging home run totals. “They’ve just come a little bit quicker than they have in the past,” Granderson said.

• Granderson has four home runs in his past four games, a streak that came immediately after he went 14 games without a homer.

• Granderson said he was never asked to be in the Home Run Derby, but he doesn’t think he should have been picked anyway. The derby isn’t about home runs in a game, it’s about home runs in batting practice, which is why Granderson is picking Robinson Cano to win the thing. “I’ve seen his BP,” Granderson said. “It’s phenomenal.”

• One theory about Sabathia’s increased velocity: It’s finally gotten hot. Sabathia loves pitching in the heat. “I’ve been able to stay loose,” he said. “That’s a big thing for me. In between innings trying to stay loose and make sure I can keep sweating, and I think that’s a big part of my velocity.”

• Girardi was quick to give credit to Brett Gardner during his postgame press conference. That five-run second inning wouldn’t have happened without Gardner breaking up what would have been an inning-ending double play. His slide into second base was actually a pivotal moment in this game. “I got in there a little bit,” Gardner said. “Not like I do against some guys.”

• Jeter said it didn’t bother him that his first hit off the disabled list was dribbler that went for an infield single, but he did enjoy hitting the ball hard on that second-inning double. “I don’t care how I get hits,” Jeter said. “I have no ego whatsoever. It did feel good to hit a ball good. It’s the hardest ball I’ve hit in three weeks.”

• Girardi said he’s still not sure whether Mariano Rivera will be available tomorrow. “He talked about being ready in case of emergency,” Girardi said. “I didn’t know what that emergency would be. When he said he still felt it a little bit, I said, ‘You’re off again today and we’ll see where we are tomorrow.’”

• Brian Gordon made his Scranton/Wilkes-Barre debut tonight and pitched five scoreless innings with seven strikeouts and no walks. Ivan Nova will make his first Triple-A start of the year on Thursday.

Associated Press photos

Derek Jeter was one of eight Yankees with at least two hits tonight. Curtis Granderson hit two home runs, Brett Gardner stole two bases and CC Sabathia pitched seven scoreless innings in a 9-2 win in Cleveland. Francisco Cervelli wasn’t only the lone Yankees starter without a hit, he was the lone Yankees starter without two hits. Jeter moved within four of career hit No. 3,000 and Granderson surpassed last year’s home run total with his 24th and 25th of the season. Sabathia picked up his Major League-best 12th win of the season and has been absolutely dominant in his past three starts (22.2 innings, one run, 33 strikeouts).

Associated Press photo

YANKEES (50-33)
Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira DH
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Jorge Posada 1B
Brett Gardner LF
Francisco Cervelli C

LHP CC Sabathia (11-4, 3.05)
Sabathia vs. Indians

INDIANS (45-38)
Michael Brantley LF
Asdrubal Cabrera SS
Travis Hafner DH
Carlos Santana 1B
Orlando Cabrera 3B
Grady Sizemore CF
Austin Kearns RF
Cord Phelps 2B
Lou Marson C

RHP Carlos Carrasco (8-4, 3.54)
Carrasco vs. Yankees

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

WEATHER: Another beautiful day in Cleveland. Clear blue sky. Wind blowing from left to right.

UMPIRES: HP Jeff Nelson, 1B Marty Foster, 2B Bill Welke, 3B Mike Estabrook

WINNER: CC Sabathia has 168 career wins. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that’s the most victories for a pitcher before his 31st birthday since Catfish Hunter had 202 wins on the morning of his 31st birthday in 1977.

JUST TAKES ONE: Mark Teixeira broke up Josh Tomlin’s no-hitter with a seventh-inning since last night. According to Elias, it was the second time Teixeira broke a no-hitter in the seventh inning or later. He also did it with Atlanta in 2008 when he had the only hit –- an eighth-inning double — off the Dodgers Hiroki Kuroda.

ON THIS DATE: On July 5, 1951, Hall of Famer Goose Gossage was born. He went on to have a 2.14 ERA in 319 games with the Yankees.

UPDATE, 7:13 p.m.: Infield single for Jeter, but he’s left stranded in the top of the first.

UPDATE, 7:33 p.m.: Dugout high fives all around for Brett Gardner, who’s takeout slide kept the Indians from turning a double play and let the Yankees take a 1-0 lead in the second inning.

UPDATE, 7:36 p.m.: One of Jeter’s hardest-hit balls of the year is a two-out, two-run double in the second. It’s now 3-0 Yankees.

UPDATE, 7:41 p.m.: The Yankees are officially beating up on Carlos Carrasco. They’ve had four straight hits since Gardner broke up that double play. Granderson homered, now Teixeira and Rodriguez have singled to bring up Cano, who led off this inning.

UPDATE, 7:43 p.m.: Cano flies to deep center field to end the inning. It’s a 5-0 Yankees lead heading into the bottom of the second.

UPDATE, 8:00 p.m.: The air just went out of this place. Asdrubal Cabrera just landed funny on his ankle while making a jump throw to second base. He’s being checked on the field.

UPDATE, 8:01 p.m.: Looks like Cabrera’s staying in.

UPDATE, 8:42 p.m.: Gardner is 2-for-2 with a walk and just grabbed his 21st stolen base of the season. Jeter followed with a fly out to center. He’s 2-for-4.

UPDATE, 9:00 p.m.: Sabathia gets out of the fifth with three straight strikeouts. The big man is good. By the way, I guess a previous update didn’t work for some reason: Granderson has exceeded last year’s home run total with his 25th of the season. He’s five away from his career-high. He’s not as big as CC, but Granderson’s pretty good too.

UPDATE, 9:39 p.m.: Sabathia really knows how to turn it up when he needs it. That’s 11 strikeouts for the non-all-star.

UPDATE, 9:48 p.m.: The Yankees are pulling away with two runs in the eighth. They’re up 8-0 and still hitting with one out and runners at the corners.

The Yankees are giving Mariano Rivera another day of rest.

Rivera played catch this afternoon and said he still felt some soreness around his right elbow. He’ll be in the bullpen and available on an emergency basis, but the Yankees are planning to stay away from him.

“I feel better today but I think we’ll do another day off,” Rivera said. “I felt it a little bit. I could pitch, yes. Can they use me? Yes. But if I can by for another day, it would be much better, wiser.”

The problem is in the muscle on the back side of Rivera’s elbow, more or less at the base of the triceps. Rivera wasn’t cleared to throw a baseball at all yesterday, so the fact he played catch seems to be a good sign.

“Basically you know your body and those things are going to happen,” Rivera said. “You always have some aching feelings and soreness. I’m not concerned because I haven’t done nothing wrong. I suspect that it’s something that’s going to come and go away the same way that it came… I don’t think I ever felt 100 percent, I think, from the first day I started playing baseball. But if I feel 95 percent, I’ll be playing. Like I said, I can pitch now, but I don’t want to take a chance.”

Without Rivera, the Yankees will once again have Dave Robertson as their closer. Luis Ayala is available tonight, but Girardi is planning to stay away from Cory Wade — who’s thrown three of the past four days — so the bullpen is a little short in the late innings again.

“If we had to I was going to put (Robertson) in that spot (last night),” Giradri said. “I was comfortable doing that, but what it does is it shortens your bullpen, and that can become an issue.”

• Kind of funny: Rivera said if he felt good and thought he should play, he would plead his case to trainer Gene Monahan first because that’s the hardest person to convince. Rivera could start with Girardi, but… “I listen to Geno,” Girardi said.

• In other injury news, Eric Chavez felt some sort of lower abdominal discomfort this morning and is on his way to New York for tests. His lower back problem turned out to be nothing, and he was working out again. He went through a normal workout yesterday, felt good, then work up this morning with the problem. “They said his workout was great yesterday, too,” Girardi said.

• Rafael Soriano is scheduled to throw a bullpen tomorrow. “He’s only thrown fastballs,” Girardi said. “He’s got to throw to some hitters, some BP, and he’s probably got to go on the rehab. I think getting him back after the all-star break, like the first day, I don’t think that’s very feasible. I would hope not too far after that.”

• During this final stretch before the all-star game, Girardi wants to give all his regulars a little bit of rest and today was Mark Teixeira’s turn. “Some of the other guys got some days, and this would be his day,” Girardi said.

• Russell Martin had caught four days in a row, that’s why he’s out of the lineup. Girardi said Martin will probably get one more day off before the all-star break.

• Posada at first? “I feel pretty good,” Girardi said. “It think he’s done a pretty good job over there for us. He seems to know where to be at all times. He’s made some good plays on some ground balls, so I’m pretty comfortable.”

• Girardi said he’ll have to wait and see whether Derek Jeter will be cleared to play tomorrow.

• Pretty good chance Rivera won’t be going to the all-star game. “We’re just going to have to see,” Girardi said. “Depends how he feels. It might be a thing where the three days might help.”

• Any chance the all-star snub adds some motivation for CC Sabathia? “I think CC has enough motivation all the time when he goes out there,” Girardi said. “But it could. He might want to show people, I’m the league leader in wins and I belong on the all-star team, but I don’t think CC ever gets caught up in that.”

INDIANS
Michael Brantley LF
Asdrubal Cabrera SS
Travis Hafner DH
Carlos Santana 1B
Orlando Cabrera 3B
Grady Sizemore CF
Austin Kearns RF
Cord Phelps 2B
Lou Marson C

Associated Press photos

Spoke too soon. Here’s the lineup.

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

Mariano Rivera said his elbow feels better today, but he’s still not certain whether he’ll be cleared to pitch tonight. He’s going to throw pregame — he wasn’t even able to do that yesterday –and the team will make a decision then.

For whatever reason, there’s still no lineup posted.

Another Derek Jeter post? Sure, why not? HBO is putting together a documentary about Derek Jeter’s chase for 3,000 hits. The crew was in the clubhouse after last night’s game, and I assume they’ll be around until Jeter gets at least six more hits. Here’s the announcement from HBO and MLB

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New York — HBO and Major League Baseball Productions are teaming up for a new documentary chronicling New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter’s quest for his 3,000th career hit. The one-hour special, titled “DEREK JETER 3K,” will take viewers behind the scenes as Jeter attempts to reach the milestone.

With the cooperation of Derek Jeter and the Yankees, MLB Productions will have extensive access to Jeter both at and away from the ballpark. He has agreed to allow MLB Productions camera crews to follow him on multiple occasions and in a variety of settings, including in his home and during rehabilitation from a calf injury. “DEREK JETER 3K” also will feature exclusive interview footage with the Yankee captain in the ensuing days after he achieves the milestone.

Produced by MLB Productions in collaboration with HBO Sports, “DEREK JETER 3K” will include reflections on Jeter’s entire career, including footage in the MLB Productions archives from his early days with the Yankees through his five World Series Championships. The special will include new interviews with his family and friends as well as Yankees executives, Legends and teammates such as Hal Steinbrenner, Brian Cashman, Joe Girardi, Joe Torre, Curtis Granderson, Mariano Rivera, Dave Winfield, Minka Kelly, Billy Crystal, and many more. The special will debut on HBO a few weeks after the milestone is reached.

In addition to a prime-time premiere and a full schedule of replays, the special also will be available to subscribers on HBO ON DEMAND® and HBO GO.

”It has been a lot of fun working with HBO Sports and MLB Productions to capture this milestone in a special and unique way,” said Jeter. “Hopefully fans will enjoy getting to see a sneak peek at the journey.”

“The buzz we’ve all seen during the buildup to this milestone is a clear indication of how Derek transcends the game on the field, and this is an ideal occasion for us to document what he’s going through on a day-to-day basis,” said Chris Tully, Major League Baseball Senior Vice President, Broadcasting. “We’re extremely grateful to Derek and the Yankees for granting us this level of access, and we’re excited to once again work with HBO.”

“Derek Jeter is known for his grace and excellence both on and off the ball field,” said Ross Greenburg, President, HBO Sports. “This special will provide sports fans with a fascinating view of what Derek Jeter experiences during this memorable moment in baseball history.”

“The 3,000 hit plateau is one of the most recognizable feats in our great game,” said New York Yankees President Randy Levine. “To have the days surrounding Derek’s remarkable achievement chronicled by Major League Baseball Productions and HBO ensures that this historic milestone will be captured with the type of style and professionalism he has become so synonymous with.”

To be honest, I don’t really get this whole Fan Cave thing that Major League Baseball has going on — this in particular is certainly an odd promotion — but this also provides a pretty good explanation of the steps MLB has taken to assure that they properly mark and identify milestone baseballs. Here’s the announcement from MLB.

With Derek Jeter returning to the Yankee lineup and resuming his quest for 3,000 career hits, the MLB Fan Cave on Tuesday will be host to a dozen unique pieces of living history, one of which could wind up being the actual ball Jeter hits for number 3,000.

Twelve of the baseballs among those to be put into play once Jeter is at 2,999 career hits will be on display at the MLB Fan Cave on Tuesday afternoon for fans and members of the media.

Major League Baseball, through its Authentication Program, will deploy specially marked game-balls in order to accurately track the actual ball hit. These balls are regular game Rawlings balls selected at random that have a visible mark and a covert mark added to them. In conjunction with the home plate umpire these balls are sequenced into the game when the player attempting the milestone is at-bat. Once the milestone takes place the Authenticator will verify both the overt and covert marks and only then, if 100% assured of the balls’ authenticity, will they place a numbered tamper-proof hologram on the item.

WHAT: Twelve pre-marked MLB baseballs – one of which could be Derek Jeter’s 3,000th career hit

WHEN: Tuesday, July 5th, 3:00 – 6:00 pm – Fans allowed inside MLB Fan Cave to see balls and take photos

WHERE: MLB Fan Cave, 692 Broadway (corner of 4th and Broadway)

The MLB Fan Cave is a 15,000 square-foot location at 4th Street & Broadway (the site of the old Tower Records) in the heart of New York City’s Greenwich Village. Major League Baseball has transformed this venue into an exciting new hub mixing baseball with music, popular culture, media, interactive technology, and art.

Derek Jeter’s return from the disabled list has only intensified the debate about his value to the Yankees.

Jeter’s place in team history is indisputable, but his current place in the lineup and on the field has become open to discussion.

“I don’t try to prove anything to anyone,” Jeter said. “I try to help our team win. That’s what I’ve always tried to do. There’s constant questions. This isn’t the first year I’ve been asked questions. I’ve been asked questions last year, so it’s nothing new to me. I try not to pay attention to it. I try to improve.

“There are going to periods when you play well and periods when you play poorly. I’ll just try to go out there and be a little bit more consistent than I’ve been so far. I try to focus on positives, and I’m going to try to move forward. I can’t change anything that’s happened up until this point. I can just focus on the rest of this season.”

Jeter’s detractors will point to his diminished range at shortstop. His supporters will note that he rarely makes errors, and that Eduardo Nunez and Ramiro Pena — far more dynamic defenders — have combined for 15 errors.

Jeter’s detractors will point to his career lows in batting average and on-base percentage, and to the fact that his OBP is lower than every other Yankees regular. His supporters will note that Jeter’s been especially productive in the first inning, and that the Yankees best alternative in the leadoff spot — Brett Gardner — has been remarkably streaky, including a .261 on-base percentage in his last 12 games before Jeter’s return.

Jeter’s detractors will point to Nunez’s bat, speed and arm strength and say it’s time to begin the transition at shortstop. His supporters will note Nunez’s fielding errors and the fact he was hitting just .255/.309/.353 as Jeter’s replacement before those two huge games at Citi Field.

“You miss (Jeter)’s leadership,” Joe Girardi said. “You miss his consistency. What he does. His consistent personality on a daily basis. What he brings to your lineup. What he brings to your defense. You miss him. It’s not easy to replace someone like Derek Jeter.”

Jeter’s detractors will say Girardi is blindly throwing his faith behind an aging player who’s time has come and gone.

Jeter’s supporters will say Girardi is simply stating the obvious.

Associated Press photo