The LoHud Yankees Blog

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

Tonight
RHP Freddy Garcia (8-7, 3.21)
vs.
LHP Jason Vargas (6-8, 3.94)
7:05 p.m., YES Network

Tuesday
RHP CC Sabathia (14-5, 2.62)
vs.
RHP Doug Fister (3-11, 3.30)
7:05 p.m., MY9 / MLB Network

Wednesday
RHP Phil Hughes (1-2, 9.47)
vs.
RHP Felix Hernandez (8-9, 3.47)
1:05 p.m., YES Network

This is the first day of HOPE Week. As usual, the Yankees have given the media some advance notice about their plans, but the details are embargoed until noon on the day of each event. Here’s the team’s announcement about today’s first event. As always, these are incredible stories.

—

The New York Yankees are proud to kick off HOPE Week 2011 (Helping Others Persevere & Excel) on Monday by celebrating Daniel Trush and Daniel’s Music Foundation (DMF). Yankees players Russell Martin, Nick Swisher, Francisco Cervelli, Hector Noesi and Chris Dickerson will celebrate the honorees by surprising them at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre prior to their Broadway debut. The players will rehearse with DMF singers and musicians, then take to the stage as part of the performance. The Yankees will then invite the group back to Yankee Stadium to sing the national anthem and attend that evening’s 7:05 p.m. game vs. Seattle.

The Yankees will be joined by former Yankee and Latin Grammy Award nominee Bernie Williams, Broadway stars from Anything Goes, Book of Mormon, Catch Me If You Can, Million Dollar Quartet and Wonderland along with other special guests, who will all lend their talents to the performance.

THE STORY OF DANIEL TRUSH AND DANIEL’S MUSIC FOUNDATION

In March 1997, one of five undiagnosed arterial brain aneurysms burst inside the head of then-12-year-old Daniel Trush. When he awoke after a 30-day coma, he could not speak or move, remaining largely incapacitated throughout his 341-day hospital stay.

Music was the most important part of Daniel’s healing process from Day 1. His father, Ken, sang to him in the hospital and kept music constantly playing on a bedside stereo. Upon returning home, Daniel embarked on music therapy classes, which sparked his mind, body and soul.

His transformation was so incredible that in February 2006, his family established Daniel’s Music Foundation (DMF), a not-for-profit organization which provides free music instruction to individuals with disabilities in the five boroughs of New York City. Programs are open to the widest range of individuals possible without limitations on age, disability or talent.

From one five-person class five years ago to 150 people in 26 on-site and three-off site classes today, DMF serves those with such disabilities as blindness, paralysis, autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, brain injury and other developmental disabilities. Classes regularly perform outreach at their twice-yearly music celebrations and offer customized performances at schools, hospitals, rehabilitation centers and nursing homes.

The entire Trush family participates in DMF, including Ken, who oversees the operations and finances of the foundation, Daniel’s mother Nancy, who supervises the functioning of the classes, and Daniel’s brother Michael, who serves as a mentor and informal counselor to many of the participants. Daniel focuses on the music itself in addition to being the life force of the foundation.

“Daniel could have been a victim,” Ken said. “He could have been a cheerleader, giving motivational speeches about how far he has come. But that Knute Rockne stuff only goes so far. He works with our students every day. He gives those with disabilities a forum where they can prosper and be the people they were meant to be.”

The nonwaiver trade deadline is set for 4 p.m. on Sunday, so you have to wonder what the Yankees are going to do. It’s hard to envision Brian Cashman standing pat. 

The Yankees are 59-40 and 5 1/2 up in the wild card. It’s hard to envision them not making the postseason. But they probably could use some reinforcements for October, especially considering their 1-8 record against the Red Sox so far. They trail Boston by three games. They are also just 6-5 since the break.

“As we move toward the trade deadline, I don’t get too caught up in publicly saying what I think we need or don’t need because we have to win with the guys in the room,” Joe Girardi said. “And that’s what we’ve been doing. You can’t say you wish you can go get this guy or that guy because it takes two teams to trade and a lot of times it doesn’t happen.”

It’s hard to argue with the overall body of work Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia have provided this season. Phil Hughes does make you wonder sometimes, though, like he did with Friday’s start. A.J. Burnett has generally kept the Yankees in games and probably should be better than just 8-8. Do they need to acquire another quality starter behind CC Sabathia even if the cost is tremendous? Do you want Ubaldo Jimenez or Wandy Rodriguez here?

And should they bring in another righty bat considering Andruw Jones is at just .218 and Jorge Posada is at .118 from the right side and .223 overall?

What do you think?

Bartolo Colon again eased concerns about whether he’s going to hold up. The 38-year-old righty has followed two straight bad starts with two straight strong starts. This time, he gave up two runs, eight hits and one walk over seven in the 7-5 win over the A’s. He’s 7-6 with a 3.29 ERA. And this was his first post-All-Star-break win since 2005.

“I thought he looked really good today,” Joe Girardi said. “… I thought he threw the ball well. He gave us distance.”

Colon said his slider was working, and that he had worked hard in the bullpen before the game with pitching coach Larry Rothschild.

David Robertson, on the other hand, wasn’t so good for a change. He said he was irritated with himself after allowing two runs on three doubles and only getting two outs in the eighth. In his defense, it was raining at the time and he had trouble with his grip on the ball. He had yielded just two earned runs in his previous 26 appearances.

“Well now I know that you’re human,” Girardi told him after the game.

“Because he’s been so good for us,” Girardi added. “You haven’t seen him have a blip like that. It’s really strange.”

Mariano Rivera came on for a four-out save. He got the last out in the eighth with two pitches, but he was shaky in the ninth, allowing four straight singles to cut it to 7-5. Only one was a line drive, Josh Willingham’s RBI to left. But then David DeJesus lined to Mark Teixeira for an unassisted double play. And Rivera had extended his major-league record to 15 straight seasons of at least 25 saves.

“I’d be surprised if someone could outdo that record,” Girardi said. “You think of the closers that have come along. That’s one of those records that I don’t think someone will break.”

Rivera isn’t a big stat guy.

“When you play for a team like the New York Yankees, you’re going to have opportunities,” Rivera said. “I try to do my job and help the team as much as I can. Yeah, 25, that’s good. But I just want to win ballgames.”

This was the first time Rivera had given up a run at home this season, having started with 22 straight scoreless appearances, three short of the record.

*Curtis Granderson hit his team-high 27th homer, three less than his career high and three more than last year. It was his 11th homer off a lefty, extending his career high. He made an adjustment in the cage before the game with Kevin Long after going hitless in the first two games of the series.

*Russell Martin showed off his athleticism again, not only leaping for a relay and then tagging out a runner at the plate but also stealing second, setting up a run. He leads all catchers in steals with eight, the third most by a Yankees catcher in the last 50 years. Girardi has the most with 13 in 1996.

*Seattle comes in now for the start of a three-game series. The Mariners have lost a franchise-record 15 in a row. Freddy Garcia and lefty Jason Vargas are Monday night’s starters.

Yankees lineup
1. Derek Jeter DH
2. Curtis Granderson CF
3. Mark Teixeira 1B
4. Robinson Cano 2B
5. Nick Swisher RF
6. Russell Martin C
7. Andruw Jones LF
8. Eduardo Nunez SS
9. Brandon Laird 3B
Bartolo Colon RHP

A’s lineup
1. Jemile Weeks 2B
2. Coco Crisp CF
3. Hideki Matsui DH
4. Josh Willingham LF
5. David DeJesus RF
6. Conor Jackson 1B
7. Kurt Suzuki C
8. Cliff Pennington SS
9. Eric Sogard 3B
Gio Gonzalez LHP

TV/Time: YES/1:08
Umpires: Jeff Nelson HP, Vic Carapazza 1B, Marty Foster 2B, Manny Gonzalez 3B
Weather: Better than the previous two days, cloudy, 85 degrees

Hall of Famer: Tony Pena is here today in his role as Yankees bench coach, but he is also being inducted into the Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame today at a pregame ceremony at the Bisons’ Triple-A game against Pawtucket. Pena hit .313 with 34 homers and 97 RBI for Buffalo in 1979 when it was a Double-A team. His son, Tony Jr., will be there in his role as a Pawtucket reliever and will accept on Tony Sr.’s behalf.
Closers: The Yankees are 21-11 in series finales this season, including 11-5 at home. And they are 10-4 in rubber games.
Close calls: After yesterday’s 4-3 loss, the Yankees fell to 12-15 in one-run games.

Update, 1:13: Colon looked sharp in that first inning outside of allowing a single to Hideki Matsui. Two strikeouts and a broken-bat bouncer to short.

Update, 1:22: Impressive 1-2-3 first for Gonzalez, also with two Ks.

Update, 1:31: Three hits and two runs for the A’s. Suzuki doubles down the left-field line with two outs and Pennington follows with a bloop single to right. Looked like Swisher had a chance to get Suzuki, but the throw skipped by Martin. Eric Sogard just hit a hard RBI double to the right-center gap.

Update, 1:40: First hit for the Yankees, Martin grounds a single through the middle with two outs in the second.

Update, 1:43: Andruw Jones stepped in at .204, but he delivered an RBI single after Martin swiped second.

Update, 1:49: Colon can’t get Matsui out, another single here in the third. Matsui has been contributing more after a bad first two months. He’s homered in four of the previous five games here, all as a visitor.

Update, 1:52: Laird smoothly starts a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.

Update, 2:04: First and second, no one out, but the Yankees get nothing out of it. So it’s 2-1 Oakland after three.

Update, 2:09: One single and nothing else for the A’s.

Update, 2:18: Nunez comes through, rocketed that two-run double to left-center, Yankees up 3-2.

Update, 2:34: Matsui gets his third hit, a double, but Sogard was out at the plate with the Granderson to Cano to Martin relay to end the top of the fifth.

Update, 2:42: OK, make it 5-2. Curtis Granderson deposits No. 27 in the second deck, 3-2, 92 mph fastball.

Update, 2:52: RBI infield hit for Jones. It’s 6-2. Gonzalez is done. Fautino De Los Santos is in.

Update, 3:05: Colon’s two-seam fastball is moving well, just struck out Suzuki with it to end the sixth.

Update, 3:18: De Los Santos strikes out the side after a leadoff walk to Laird. So it’s 6-2 heading for the seventh.

Update, 3:26: Two runs, eight hits in seven innings for Colon. Brian Fuentes is coming on to pitch for Oakland.

Update, 3:40: David Robertson on for the eighth. Rafael Soriano pitched the seventh for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre against Syracuse. He gave up a homer to the first batter he faced, Tug Hulett. Then he got two grounders to second and a strikeout. And it’s raining now.

Update, 3:48: Matsui is now 4 for 4. His double just made it 6-3. Strange to see Robertson give up a run.

Update, 3:58: Robertson didn’t have it today. RBI double for Suzuki. It’s 6-4. Mariano Rivera will try for a four-out save.

Update, 4:02: Took Rivera two pitches to strand two in scoring position, broken-bat grounder to second by Pennington. Joey Devine will come on for Oakland.

Update, 4:12: Jeter gets in an insurance run with a grounder, so it’s 7-4. If Rivera nails down the final three outs, he will have 25 saves for the 15th straight season, extending his major-league record.

Update, 4:20: Matsui singles to right, 5 for 5. The bases are loaded with one out.

Update, 4:23: RBI single to left for Willingham, 7-5, bases still loaded.

Update, 4:25: DeJesus lines to Teixeira for an unassisted double play, Yankees win, 7-5.

Phil Hughes took his usual between-starts bullpen session this morning. He admitted afterward that his velocity in Friday’s shaky start wasn’t what it had been in his previous strong outing in Toronto. But he said he’d like to think the concern over his velocity is behind him.

“It have to go out and pitch and do what I can do on that front,” Hughes said. “Everything else I can’t concern myself with. I can only control what I can control and try to get out outs and do the best job I can.

“It could be better,” he added about the velocity. “It can always be better. When I’m at my best, I probably sit around 93. I don’t think I was doing that last game. It’s not something where it’s going to get better if I just sit. I hope it does (improve), but I don’t really concern myself with that type of thing.”

*Bartolo Colon will take the ball today. He bounced back from two bad starts with a good one at Tampa Bay last time out. Joe Girardi thought that outing should have relieved any lingering doubts Colon had about the state of his left hamstring. The strain put him on the DL from June 12-July 1. Girardi thinks that DL stay will prove beneficial in this second half.

“I think the rest helped him,” Colon said. ”That probably in the long run is going to help him.”

*Rafael Soriano will pitch today at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. If he comes out of it OK, Girardi would like to see him pitch tomorrow as well. And then if all is good with his elbow and his stuff, Girardi said, “There’s a good chance he could be back fairly soon after that.”

*Girardi also said Nick Swisher is now “the hitter he was for us last year.” Swisher has homered in each of the last two games. His average is up to .261 after a .333 run over his last 32 games. He has seven homers and 29 RBI in that 32-game span.

1. Jeter DH
2. Granderson CF
3. Teixeira 1B
4. Cano 2B
5. Swisher RF
6. Martin C
7. Jones LF
8. Nunez SS
9. Laird 3B
Colon P

Less than 24 hours after putting up 17 runs and 17 hits, the Yankees posted three runs and nine hits. They went just 2 for 11 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11, including the potential tying run at third with two outs in the ninth. Rich Harden had his good changeup and held them to two runs and five hits over 5 1-3. And the A’s won 4-3 on a day when the heat index again hit 100.

“You hold this lineup down to a couple of runs, you’re doing something,” Nick Swisher said. “So you’ve got to give credit where credit is due.”

Still, Swisher and Mark Teixeira agree this lineup misses Alex Rodriguez, expected to be out for about another month after knee surgery. The Yankees are 7-5 since Rodriguez went down. They are 5-5 since the All-Star break, alternating wins and losses in the last six games. And they are 9-9 in their last 18.

“He’s Alex Rodriguez,” Teixeira said. “I mean, this is one of the greatest players of all time. His presence, the fact that he has great at-bats, he makes the pitcher work, and then he’s going to drive in 100 runs, hit home runs and do everything he does.  So obviously we miss him.”

Brandon Laird played the part of A-Rod in this game, making his first major-league start, at third. But the 23-year-old rookie went 0 for 3 and struck out with two outs and the bases packed in the fourth.

“It was my first time coming up with the bases loaded,” Laird said. “I felt pretty good. I was excited. But it just didn’t go my way. … 

“It would’ve been nice to get a win. But I got my first start, got it under my belt, got it out of the way. Hopefully I have some more coming in the future.”

*A.J. Burnett is now winless in his last four starts, but he pitched well enough to win in this one, charged with three runs, six hits, three walks and two hit batters while fanning six in 5 2/3. In 21 starts, he has given up three runs or less 13 times and four runs five times.

“I thought he threw the ball extremely well,” Joe Girardi said.

*Rafael Soriano’s rehab assignment will now shift after two outings with High-A Tampa. The reliever is scheduled to pitch today against Syracuse at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

*David Robertson struck out his ninth consecutive batter with the bases loaded. After a scoreless ninth, he has allowed just two earned runs in his last 26 outings.

*Hideki Matsui’s decisive homer off Boone Logan in the seventh snapped a 16 2-3-scoreless innings streak for the bullpen. Matsui has homered in four of his last five games here, all in a visiting uniform.

*Derek Jeter went 3 for 4 with a walk and is batting .333 (21 for 63) in July after batting a combined .260 the first three months.

*In today’s series finale, Bartolo Colon and lefty Gio Gonzalez will be the starters.

Yankees lineup
1. Brett Gardner LF
2. Derek Jeter SS
3. Curtis Granderson CF
4. Mark Teixeira 1B
5. Robinson Cano DH
6. Nick Swisher RF
7. Russell Martin C
8. Eduardo Nunez 2B
9. Brandon Laird 3B
Phil Hughes RHP

A’s lineup
1. Jemile Weeks 2B
2. Cliff Pennington SS
3. Hideki Matsui DH
4. Josh Willingham LF
5. David DeJesus RF
6. Scott Sizemore 3B
7. Ryan Sweeney CF
8. Conor Jackson 1B
9. Landon Powell C
Rich Harden RHP

TV/Time: YES/1:08
Umpires: Bill Welke HP, Jeff Nelson 1B, Vic Carapazza 2B, Manny Gonzalez 3B
Weather: Too hot again, 93. It’s supposed to go up to 99.

Same old song? The Yankees are going after their 12th straight win against Oakland. Right now, they’re riding their longest winning streak against the A’s since 1956-57 when they took 14 straight.
Sense of relief: Yankees relievers haven’t been charged with a run in their last six games, covering 16 1/3 innings.
Run to daylight: The Yankees still own the best record in the majors in day games, now 28-5. In daylight, they are batting .279 with 46 homers, and they have a major-league-best 2.61 ERA.

Update, 1:18: Burnett makes it out of the first unscathed after allowing a long double and hitting a batter. He got David DeJesus trying to check his swing on a curve.

Update, 1:27: Granderson walks with two outs, but he’s caught stealing.

Update, 1:36: Burnett pitches out of trouble again, runner on second one out and on third with two outs. But he got Landon Powell looking at a 94 mph fastball to end it.

Update, 1:41: First hit for the Yankees with one out in the second, Cano bloops a double down the left-field line.

Update, 1:45: 1-0, Yankees. Russell Martin bounces a single through the middle.

Update, 1:53: Burnett hits Jemile Weeks, then picks him off, catching him taking a step the wrong way.

Update, 1:57: Matsui singles with two outs, and Willingham deposits a 94 mph fastball in the A’s bullpen. It’s 2-1 Oakland heading for the home third. Jeter can still make the play in the hole, just ended the inning with his signature backhand, jump and throw to first.

Update, 2:08: It’s 2-1 after three. The Yankees only have the two hits from the second. The A’s have just three hits. It’s up to 96 degrees, but it feels like 99 with the humidity. At least there are a lot of clouds.

Update, 2:17: Burnett gives up a two-out single to Conor Jackson, but then gets Powell swinging for his third strikeout.

Update, 2:32: Bases loaded, two outs in the fourth for Laird.

Update, 2:36: Laird goes down swinging on a 94 mph fastball, still 2-1 heading for the fifth.

Update, 2:40: Weeks doubles over Gardner’s head after Gardner got twisted around. Now there’ s one out and Weeks is on third.

Update, 2:44: Matsui goes down looking at a fastball. Bob Melvin thought it was high, appeared to be yelling out to Bill Welke.

Update, 2:46: Nice work by Burnett. Willingham also goes down looking at a fastball.

Update, 2:54: Teixeira said last night he hasn’t felt good hitting lefty for a month. He hit the grand slam lefty, but he’s back struggling today, now 0 for 3 with two strikeouts. He just fouled out by third for the third out with Jeter on first after a single.

Update, 3:05: Burnett has been good at getting out of trouble. He has another chance, first and second, two outs in the sixth.  Burnett is at 95 pitches. Cory Wade is warming. Burnett has handled Powell easily in two at-bats.

Update, 3:10: Burnett walks Powell to load the bases on is 100th pitch. Girardi is bringing in Wade.

Update, 3:13: Weeks punches a soft single into right, 3-1, bases still loaded. Pennington is up. Boone Logan is warming with Matsui on deck.

Update, 3:17: Pennington grounds to second, side retired.

Update, 3:21: Swisher hits a solo homer to the second deck in right with one out in the sixth. So it’s 3-2. That was Harden’s last pitch. Brad Ziegler gets the ball.

Update, 3:30: Logan is coming on for the seventh.

Update, 3:33: First pitch from Logan and Matsui parks the fastball in the right-center seats, 4-2.

Update, 3:40: Craig Breslow is on to pitch the seventh for the A’s.

Update, 3:47: Breslow is departing with two outs and Jeter on second after a one-out double, driven to the fence in right-center. Melvin is going to make Teixeira hit from his struggling side, the left side. Righty Grant Balfour is coming on.

Update, 3:52: Teixeira grounded to Weeks in shallow right, but Balfour didn’t cover first, so it’s a single, first and third. Cano’s turn.

Update, 3:54: Cano skies to center to end the inning, 4-2, heading for the eighth. The Yankees have seven hits after putting up 17 runs and 17 hits last night. 

Update, 4:04: Bottom eight, 6, 7, 8 due up for the Yankees, Swisher, Martin, Nunez.

Update, 4:10: A walk and a single to start the inning against Balfour.

Update, 4:13: Nunez can’t bunt the runners over, just missing foul up the first-base line for the second strike. Then he flied to left. Jorge Posada will pinch hit for Laird.

Update, 4:17: Posada bounces into a 6-4-3 double play, not a lot of big hits today for the home team.

Update, 4:19: David Robertson will pitch the ninth. The Yankees will also be losing their DH. Cano is going to second, and Nunez is moving from second to third.

Update, 4:32: Robertson loads the bases with two outs on a single and two walks, then fans Ryan Sweeney get out of trouble as usual. Andrew Bailey will try to close it out for the A’s.

Update, 4:43: Gardner draws a leadoff walk and Jeter singles to right, first and second, nobody out.

Update, 4:46: Granderson strikes out as the runners pull off a double steal.

Update, 4:47: Sac fly for Teixeira, 4-3. The tying run in the form of Jeter is 90 feet away after he tagged up, too. Cano is up with two outs.

Update, 4:49: Cano bounces to third, A’s win, 4-3. They stop their 11-game losing streak against the Yankees.