The LoHud Yankees Blog

A.J. Burnett has made seven starts since his last win. In six of them he’s allowed either three or four runs. No more, no less. In other words, we’ve seen this start before.

On a night that ended with two fairly stunning moments — Rivera giving up the homer, Granderson being picked off at first — the only thing stunning about Burnett’s outing was its predictability. He’s consistently given the Yankees starts they could win with a pretty good night at the plate, but Burnett has yet to pick this team up and end the winless streak himself.

“Of course it’s frustrating,” he said. “But I’m leaving it all on the field.”

Burnett was having a good night until the sixth. He said he wouldn’t beat himself up too much about the Bobby Abreu homer. “It’s two rows up,” he said. On the walk to Peter Bourjos, Burnett thought he “barely” missed the strike zone. The go-ahead, two-run double was a “pretty good hook” to Jeff Mathis, who came to the plate hitting .180 with one extra-base hit since July 2.

“I wouldn’t change a lot that I did,” Burnett said. “I pretty much pitched with conviction all night.”

As he’s done all year, Joe Girardi left no doubt that Burnett’s spot in the rotation is secure, and Burnett finally seemed agitated when he was asked whether he would expect to be the Yankees No. 2 starter if the playoffs started tomorrow.

“I’m not answering that question,” he said. “I’ll answer that question when the playoffs start. We’ve got a long time.”

Here’s Burnett.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

—

If Burnett’s outing was perfectly predictable, the ninth inning was anything but.

Mariano Rivera had not allowed a home run at Yankee Stadium since May 16 of last year. He’d allowed a home run to an ex-teammate only once in his career (Mike Stanley in 1998 according to ESPN Stats and Information). Just two days after his fifth blown save of the season, Rivera took his second loss.

“It can happen any time,” Rivera said. “You have to make sure that a pitch gets there, and this time I didn’t.”

As for Curtis Granderson, there were runners at the corners with two outs and Mark Teixeira at the plate as the winning run. The Angels had already shown the fake-to-third pickoff move twice, and Granderson thought he was playing the odds.

“You never really see too many teams do it that many times in an inning, so the odds are he’s probably not going to do it again,” Granderson said. “There’s two strikes there. I don’t have too many options to get to second base. I just wanted to make it one more step closer, to go ahead and make it into scoring position.”

Here’s Rivera.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Here’s Granderson.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

—

• The Yankees have lost three in a row for the first time since that three-game sweep against Boston in early June. They haven’t won a season series against the Angels since 2003 and have a 47-56 record against them since 2000, their only losing record against an AL opponent in that span.

• Burnett leads the league with 15 wild pitches. “Russ blocks that 99 percent of the time,” he said.

• Burnett is winless in his last 14 starts in the month of August, going 0-9 with a 6.72 ERA. That stretch started on August 29, 2008, so obviously it includes all of his August starts with the Yankees.

• Granderson leads the league with 101 runs scored after hitting his 29th home run of the season. He’s one shy of his career high of 30 homers, which he reached with Detroit in 2009.

• Brett Gardner has now stolen 22 consecutive bases without being caught. That’s the longest Yankees streak since Derek Jeter stole 22 straight from July 20, 2001 to June 2, 2002. According to Elias, it’s the longest single-season streak by a Yankee since Rickey Henderson stole 28 straight in 1988.

• Jeter has 16 RBI in his past 16 games. Since returning from the disabled list he’s hitting .303 with eight doubles, one triple, two home runs and 21 RBI in 29 games.

• By the way, Jeter had 20 RBI in his 62 games this season.

• Andruw Jones was 0-for-7 with a walk as a pinch hitter this season before singling in the eighth.

Associated Press photos

Two days after his fifth blown save of the season, Mariano Rivera took his second loss. Bobby Abreu’s second home run of the night was a two-run shot off the Yankees closer, giving the Angels a 6-4 win tonight at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees tried to bail out Rivera — like they’d bailed out A.J. Burnett two innings earlier — but Curtis Granderson was picked off first with the go-ahead run at the plate in the bottom of the ninth. Burnett still hasn’t won since June 29. He showed improvement until the sixth inning, when the Angels scored four runs, one of them on an Abreu homer. The Yankees were able to make up for that deficit with a three-run seventh.

Associated Press photo

YANKEES (69-44)
Brett Gardner LF
Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Eric Chavez DH
Russell Martin C
Eduardo Nunez 3B

RHP A.J. Burnett (8-9, 4.54)
Burnett vs. Angels

ANGELS (63-52)
Erick Aybar SS
Howie Kendrick 2B
Bobby Abreu DH
Torii Hunter RF
Mark Trumbo 1B
Vernon Wells LF
Maicer Izturis 3B
Peter Bourjos CF
Jeff Mathis C

RHP Dan Haren (12-6, 2.81)
Haren vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 7:05 p.m., MY9

WEATHER: Could be hit or miss all night, but for now the rain has stopped and we seem to be in good shape.

UMPIRES: HP Chris Guccione, 1B Mike Muchlinski, 2B Mike Winters, 3B Mike Everitt

BACK HOME: The Yankees are 37-22 at home this season. That’s tie with Boston for the fourth-best home record in the Majors. They’ve won three straight at Yankee Stadium and have gone 24-10 at home since a six-game home losing streak in mid-May.

FOR STARTERS: The Yankees are 19-18 in series openers this season. They’ve won five of their past six openers, and have gone 25-12 in the second game of series.

EIGHTH-INNING GUY: From the moment Rafael Soriano threw his final pitch before going on the disabled list, Dave Robertson has allowed four earned runs in 32 appearances. In that time he’s thrown 30.2 innings with 17 hits, 16 walks and 50 strikeouts.

GO, GO GARDY: Brett Gardner is 30-for-34 in stolen base attempts since May 20. He has 121 steals so far, the third most in Yankees history for a player in his first four years in the big leagues. Ben Chapman stole 140 in his first four years in the 1930s and Fritz Maisel stole 154 in his first four seasons in the 1910s.

UPDATE, 7:20 p.m.: Granderson just clubbed a ball to right, a solo homer for a 1-0 lead. That was his 29th of the season. I think he has a solid chance of hitting 30 this season.

UPDATE, 7:48 p.m.: The big board in center tells me that Howie Kendrick leads all active big leaguers with a .350 career average against the yankees.

UPDATE, 7:56 p.m.: You know those ropes that surfers use to keep their boards from getting away from them in the ocean? Brett Gardner should put one of those on his bats.

UPDATE, 8:09 p.m.: Pretty nice catch by Swisher in right. He might be underrated defensively. I don’t want to suggest he’s a great defender, but I think he’s perfectly fine out there. More range than you might expect, and he has enough arm for the spot.

UPDATE, 8:46 p.m.: Burnett gives up a solo homer to Abreu to tie the game at 1. This has been a nice game from A.J., but the Yankees haven’t done much of anything against Haren.

UPDATE, 8:55 p.m.: Two-out walk has loaded the bases for the Angels in the sixth. Pivotal at-bat for Burnett right here. Jeff Mathis is hitting just .180. Burnett has to get him out to keep the Angels from taking the lead.

UPDATE, 8:58 p.m.: Ground rule double on an 0-1 pitch. It’s a 3-1 Angels lead, and a positive Burnett outing is crumbling.

UPDATE, 9:00 p.m.: Wild pitch on a bad curveball, and it’s now 4-1 Angels as Burnett gets out of the sixth with a fly ball to right.

UPDATE, 9:23 p.m.: Three-strikeout inning by Cory Wade. He’s very quickly locking up a spot in next year’s bullpen, or at least making a strong case.

UPDATE, 9:31 p.m.: Little bit of life from the Yankees offense with three straight two-out base hits in the seventh. Martin doubled, Nunez singled him home, and now Jeter has singled to put runners at the corners and chase Haren. Jeter’s coming to the plate with two outs and two on. Gardner’s speed means a base hit could be enough to tie it.

UPDATE, 9:37 p.m.: Gardner steals second and Jeter lines a single to center. That’s enough to tie the game at 4.

UPDATE, 10:03 p.m.: With a lefty on the mound, Andruw Jones is pinch hitting for Chavez. The Yankees are clearly looking for a home run here with two outs and a runner at first.

UPDATE, 10:07 p.m.: No homer for Jones, but he keeps the line moving with a single to left. Here’s Martin, the guy who started that seventh-inning rally.

UPDATE, 10:09 p.m.: Martin grounds to short, and that’s that. Still 4-4 with Rivera coming in to pitch the ninth.

UPDATE, 10:21 p.m.: Abreu’s second homer of the night is a two-run shot in the ninth off Rivera. Angels back in front, Yankees with a half inning to get it back.

The tarp just came off the field and it looks like there’s at least a chance of starting tonight’s game on time. I thought there was no chance just a few hours ago, but Joe Girardi said he’s been hearing that the game will probably be played.

On to big picture news.

Alex Rodriguez ran the bases today. He did his usual batting practice and fielding drills, but it’s the running that’s most significant. Girardi said Rodriguez is still on track to begin a rehab assignment this weekend — either Friday or Saturday, Girardi said — and it’s a good bet that he’ll be with the Yankees next week on the road.

“I don’t know if Monday is realistic,” Girardi said. “Part of it probably depends on where he starts and how he feels in those next couple of games. But I think next week is realistic.”

Girardi said he’s not sure how many rehab games Rodriguez will need.

“I guess theoretically it could be one, but you can’t really say,” Girardi said. “You don’t know how he’s going to feel and you don’t know if he’s going to have his timing. You don’t know if he’s going to feel stable on his knee running the bases. You can’t just throw a random number out there. When he’s ready, we’ll have him back, I can tell you that.”

• Phil Hughes starts Saturday. Freddy Garcia starts Sunday. For now, the Yankees are sticking with a six-man rotation. “I don’t know how much longer we’ll stick with that,” Girardi said. “Obviously we’ve got the split doubleheader in Baltimore and we have to be prepared for that too.”

• Could either Hughes or Garcia be available out of the bullpen? “We’d probably stay away from them,” Girardi said. “If we had to, yes, but our bullpen is in pretty good shape.”

• Sergio Mitre is going for a second opinion after being diagnoses with a pinch nerve in his shoulder. An MRI showed no structural damage, but a nerve problem is causing Mitre to lose considerable arm strength (fastball velocity suddenly dropped by about 6 mph, he said). The second opinion is determine whether surgery is necessary, but Mitre is going into it believing he has  ”90 percent” chance of surgery. How long he’s out depends entirely on how quickly the nerve recovers.

• According to the latest AP update from Tampa, Pedro Feliciano threw 42 pitches in the bullpen today and is scheduled for live batting practice on Friday. Even so, Girardi said Feliciano is still a longshot to pitch for the Yankees this season.

• Other Tampa updates via the AP: Ramiro Pena started swinging a bat… Damaso Marte threw a 32-pitch bullpen… Mark Prior pitched in another rookie league game.

• Once again out of the Yankees lineup, Jorge Posada seemed just as frustrated today as he was after he and Girardi had their conversation on Sunday. Posada spoke only briefly. “You wouldn’t expect any player to be necessarily happy if he’s taken from a role,” Girardi said. “I was a full-time catcher and reduced to less catching. I didn’t like it. I just kept working at it and trying to get better. As a player, that’s really the only thing you can do – be prepared and when you get your chance, perform and do the best you can.”

• Russell Martin’s mustache is no longer the worst Yankees look of the year. A.J. Burnett has gone with totally blonde hair. It’s… a curious decision. Martin literally offered a no comment on the situation, but he did laugh a little when I brought it up.

ANGELS
Erick Aybar SS
Howie Kendrick 2B
Bobby Abreu DH
Torii Hunter RF
Mark Trumbo 1B
Vernon Wells LF
Maicer Izturis 3B
Peter Bourjos CF
Jeff Mathis C

Associated Press photos

Not much more to add at this point. Joe Girardi just announced that Phil Hughes will start Saturday.

Doesn’t look good here at Yankee Stadium. The rain is coming down pretty steady and the radar isn’t great. No word on a delay or rainout just yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised.

Here’s the lineup, just in case.

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

Phil Hughes, by the way, is still listed as a starter.

The Angels rotation is in a state of flux right now with Jered Weaver serving a suspension and Joel Pineiro moved to the bullpen. Weaver won’t start again until Saturday, so he’s out for this series, and Ervin Santana pitched Sunday, so he’s also out. By the way, last week the Angels called up utility infielder Andrew Romine, the brother of Yankees prospect Austin Romine.

Tonight
RHP A.J. Burnett (8-9, 4.54)
vs.
RHP Dan Haren (12-6, 2.81)
7:05 p.m., MY9

Wednesday
RHP Ivan Nova (10-4, 3.81)
vs.
TBA
7:05 p.m., YES Network / ESPN

Thursday
RHP Bartolo Colon (8-6, 3.33 ERA)
vs.
RHP Ervin Santana (7-8, 3.32)
1:05 p.m., YES Network

UPDATE, 1:56 p.m.: Sorry. This was the original rotation the Angels announced, and I forgot to take Santana’s name out of the Thursday spot after things changed. Looks like that’ll probably be Chatwood, though I don’t think the Angels have made an announcement.

Let me preface this by saying the Yankees are clearly a better team with Alex Rodriguez. The intention here is not spark that sort of ridiculous argument. That said…

Rodriguez last played on July 7.

Through July 7: The Yankees went 51-35 (.593 winning percentage) and averaged 5.22 runs per game.

Since July 7: The Yankees have gone 18-9 (.667 winning percentage) and average 5.70 runs per game.

Again, the point here is not to suggest that the Yankees are better without their third baseman, only to point out that their hitters have done a remarkable job making up for his absence.

“It’s been a lot of fun, that’s for sure,” Eric Chavez said. “It’s been a lot of fun to watch. I’ve played on some pretty good offensive teams early with the A’s, and I’ve never seen anything like it. If you look at the three guys in the middle – Robbie, Granderson and Teixeira – they do so much damage, the rest of us just have to pitch in. What those three guys are doing, it’s pretty miraculous.”

The return of Chavez has helped. It’s also helped that Mark Teixeira has found a little consistency. And that Nick Swisher has been outstanding for two months now. And that Brett Gardner and Derek Jeter have been getting on base. And that Curtis Granderson’s production hasn’t fallen off. And that Eduardo Nunez is becoming productive again.

Of the Yankees 27 games without Rodriguez, only eight were played against teams below league average in team ERA (Toronto and Baltimore). Twelve were played against teams that top five in team ERA (Tampa Bay, Oakland and Seattle).

“It’s been really good, because guys have stepped up,” Joe Girardi said. “As I’ve said, one of the things I’m most proud about this team is how guys have slid in when we’ve had key people go down. Whether it was Derek, Alex, Soriano, Joba or Feliciano, guys have stepped in and done the job. It’s been extremely impressive.”

Associated Press photo

The Yankees passed along this announcement this afternoon.

The New York Yankees Museum presented by Bank of America is adding another historic piece to its collection with a jersey worn by Derek Jeter during the historic game in which the Yankees shortstop recorded his 3,000th career hit.

The special jersey will be on display beginning tomorrow, August 9, through the remainder of the 2011 calendar year.

On July 9, 2011, Jeter became the 28th player all time — and at 37 years, 13 days the fourth youngest — to reach the 3,000-hit plateau with a third-inning solo home run off Tampa Bay’s David Price. Jeter would finish the game 5-for-5 with the game-winning RBI single in the eighth inning. He joined Wade Boggs as the only two players to hit a home run as their 3,000th career hit, and became only the second player to record at least five hits in the game in which they recorded their 3,000th hit (also Craig Biggio).

In addition to the historic Jeter jersey, fans can also check out the newly added “Latino Living Legends” exhibit. Constructed in partnership with the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame, the exhibit pays homage to the six living Hall of Fame members of Latino descent currently enshrined in Cooperstown – Roberto Alomar, Luis Aparicio, Rod Carew, Orlando Cepeda, Juan Marichal, and Tony Pérez – who have all made an incredible mark on America’s favorite pastime, while proudly representing their Latino heritage. The exhibit features player jerseys, trophies, collectible merchandise and autographed memorabilia.

The New York Yankees Museum presented by Bank of America is located on the Main Level near Gate 6. Guests can access the museum on game days from the time gates open until the end of the eighth inning, and on non-game days as part of the Yankee Stadium tours.

A few random links for the off day.

• P.J. Pilittere is starting to think about life beyond his playing days. Good stuff from Mike Ashmore, writing about one of the truly good guys in the Yankees system.

• Jon Heyman reports that the Yankees are stacking up the waiver claims.

• Veteran lefty Arthur Rhodes has been released by the Rangers. Could fit for the Yankees in the role that J.C. Romero just vacated as left-handed depth, if he’d be interested in a minor league deal.

• Hideki Matsui said what?! The New York Post published some bits and pieces of a memoir from a former Yankees batboy. Some of it’s a little PG-13, but it’s also pretty funny.

• Turns out, Mark Teixeira loves donuts. The Yankees first baseman talked about his eating habits with Food Republic.

• Bernie Williams is going to the Hall of Fame later this week to talk about his new book and perform Take Me Out to the Ballgame.

• Stadium Journey reviewed Waterfront Park in Trenton.

• Tomorrow, the Yankees will release the first-ever issue of Yankees Magazine dedicated to women. It will be the first official team publication in American professional sports to dedicate an issue to women.

Associated Press photo of Jeter

Ten years ago, Robinson Cano hit .230/.330/.365 as an 18-year-old second baseman in the Gulf Coast League. The team’s 18-year-old shortstop was Bronson Sardinha, who hit .303/.398/.473.

Point being: Low-level minor league numbers can be misleading. Those are kids playing in short-season ball — and even Class-A ball — and putting too much stock in those numbers can create the wrong expectation. Getting too high on the good numbers and too low on the bad numbers makes little sense.

That being said…

Gary Sanchez and Mason Williams have been outstanding in Charleston and Staten Island. Today, Sanchez was named the Player of the Week in the South Atlantic League, and Williams got the same award in the New York-Penn League.

They’re two of the more exciting young players in the low-levels of the Yankees minor league system, two teenagers a long way from the big leagues, but doing big things on their way through the system.

Sanchez has struggled through large chunks of this season, but he’s also an 18-year-old playing catcher against a lot of players older than him. It’s been a year of adjustment for him. In the past week, he hit .500 with five home runs and nine RBI in six games. He homered in three straight games, building on a little bit of an offensive burst near the end of July.

Williams was the Yankees fourth-round pick last year, and he gets rave reviews for his athleticism. Playing center field for Staten Island, he’s hit .369/.412/.503 for the season, and he just wrapped up a week during which he hit .577/.633/.769 with 15 hits in 14 games. The guy had three three-hit games last week.

• The Yankees have released veteran left-hander J.C. Romero. He held lefties to a .174 batting average with six strikeouts and one walk during his brief stint with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

• Mark Prior got back in a game on Friday, pitching one inning in the Gulf Coast League. A few days ago I asked Mark Newman about four injured minor leaguers: Prior, David Phelps, Slade Heathcott and Tim Norton. I was told that Phelps is the only one certain to come back completely this season. Newman said there are “questions” about the others getting back to 100 percent this year.

• Through his first two Triple-A starts, Manny Banuelos has a 2.45 ERA with 13 strikeouts and three walks in 11 innings. He’s given up 14 hits, good for a .311 opponents batting average. Tiny sample, though.

• George Kontos is still one guy standing out on the Triple-A pitching staff. He’s generally been a long reliever this season, but this was his line in a spot start one week ago: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K. He has a 2.70 ERA with 77 strikeouts in 73.1 innings this season. Adam Warren, D.J. Mitchell and Lance Pendleton are also still putting up good numbers for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Plenty of multi-inning options just waiting for a door to open in New York.

• Since August 1, Brandon Laird is slugging .560, Jesus Montero is slugging .571 and Jorge Vazquez is slugging .667 in Triple-A. Vazquez is up to 27 homers and 82 RBI. He missed time this season and still leads the International League in both categories. And keep in mind, that’s a pitchers’ league.

• The power hasn’t come yet, but Zoilo Almonte is hitting a solid .281/.366/.382 since his mid-July call-up to Double-A. He’s one of the fringy guys who’s started to put himself more on the prospect map this year.

• Speaking of on the prospect map, Pat Venditte keeps putting up numbers. The switch-pitcher has a 2.83 ERA while being used primarily as a multi-inning reliever in Trenton. He has 73 strikeouts in 76.1 innings, lefties are hitting .202 against him, and he’s been especially good since late June.

• Graham Stoneburner’s first two starts back from the Double-A disabled list: 13 IP, 12 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 9 K… Dellin Betances has gone the other way with a 6.75 ERA in his past five starts… Finally healthy and pitching again, member of the 40-man roster Ryan Pope is holding hitters to a .184 batting average in Double-A. He probably should be in Triple-A, but pitching depth has him back in Trenton.

• Tonight Jeff Marquez is making his third rehab appearance with High-A Tampa. The numbers aren’t especially inspiring so far with a 7.20 ERA and .353 opponents batting average through his first five innings with Tampa.

• Much better numbers for Tampa second baseman David Adams, a prospect who’s been MIA most of the season but finally seems healthy. He’s hitting .320 since being added to the Tampa roster on July 24. He’s another guy who should be at a higher level, but he’s playing down there after basically a season of rehab work.

• This year’s 16th-round draft pick, Brandon Pinder’s numbers in Staten Island: 18 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 23 K, 10 saves.

• Last year’s first-round pick, Cito Culver, hit .327/.405/.464 for Staten Island in the month of July… This year’s first-round pick, Dante Bichette Jr., hit .418/.518/.659 in the GCL last month.

Head shots of Sanchez, Williams, Romero, Vazquez and Marquez