The LoHud Yankees Blog

Phil Hughes is listed among the available relievers.

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

Last time Freddy Garcia faced the Red Sox, he gave up four runs on four hits and three walks. And that was in just an inning and two-thirds.

Garcia has pitched well against the Rays, Rangers and Indians this season, but his numbers against Boston are ugly: An 0-2 record with a 10:13 ERA in three appearances, two of them starts.

“They’ve hit him this year,” Joe Girardi said. “I think he threw a pretty good game against them last year. This is a lineup that can hit anyone, that’s the bottom line. They have an outstanding lineup, and Freddy’s been pretty consistent for us, and those were two of his starts that weren’t as good as his other ones, but I have a lot of confidence in what Freddy can do for us.”

Garcia’s last start last season was a win against Boston. It was his only start against them last year, and he allowed two runs on four hits through seven innings.

Of course, the only current Red Sox he faced that day were Marco Scutaro and David Ortiz.

“I think he just has to locate better,” Girardi said. “I think he left some splits up against them, and I think the bottom line is, keep the ball down.”

Associated Press photo

At this point, you’re well aware that CC Sabathia lost last night. It was his fourth loss in four starts against the Red Sox this season.

“Sometimes you’re going to struggle,” Nick Swisher said. “It shows he is a little human, but we know he’s going to be back out there in five days and he’s going to be ready to go. I think this game might light that fire. You never know what he’s going to do in his next start.”

Here’s what Sabathia’s done in his four starts against Boston this season.

April 10
At Fenway Park
5.2 IP, 9 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4, BB, 4 K

One run, but obviously that’s not a great line from the Yankees ace. Unlike last night, he did a nice job limiting the damage and giving the Yankees a chance, but the team was struggling at the time and Sabathia lost his first decision of the year. This was at a time when Sabathia kept missing out on early season win opportunities.

What was said: “I did what I could today,” Sabathia said. “But the stuff just wasn’t there.”

May 14
At Yankee Stadium
6.2 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 6 K

Sabathia held the Red Sox scoreless until a two-run double by Jacoby Ellsbury in the fifth. He pitched into the seventh before his night was undone on his last pitch of the game, a two-out, three-run home run by Adrian Gonzalez. This was the game Jorge Posada asked out of the lineup.

What was said: “I thought CC pitched a good game,” Joe Girardi said. “I didn’t like the call to Jason Varitek. I thought Mike’s zone, he called some low strikes on us, and I thought that was a pivotal point of the game and it changed the complexion of the game.”

June 9
At Yankee Stadium
6.2 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 5 K

Sabathia pitched six scoreless innings, but the night imploded in the seventh. Two of Sabathia’s runs scored when he was out of the game — Dave Robertson gave them up — but the real problem was that six of the eight batters Sabathia faced that inning had a base hit.

What was said: “That’s the outing,” Sabathia said. “We lose the game and get swept. I take total blame for everything that happened in the seventh inning, and I’ll be back out there in five days.”

August 6
At Fenway Park
6 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 6 K

Not much need to go back into detail. Sabathia had two bad innings last night, but things really spiraled out of control during a five-run fourth. His fastball command was bad, and the patient Red Sox hitters were able to take advantage.

What was said: “Fastball command wasn’t there,” Sabathia said. “Everybody knows I throw everything off my fastball. It was just cutting and up-and-out and just all over the place. It was a tough day today.”

It’s easy to see the trend developing between CC Sabathia and the Red Sox. The numbers paint a pretty convincing picture, and it’s not a good one for the Yankees ace: He’s 16-2 with a 2.11 ERA against the rest of baseball, but 0-4 with a 7.20 ERA against Boston. He’d allowed a total of seven runs in his previous eight starts, but allowed seven runs in six innings today.

“I can see (being worried) if I hadn’t beat them in the last three years,” Sabathia said. “But I have. So that gives me confidence to know that I can go out and pitch well against this team.”

The Yankees are quick to point out that Sabathia allowed just one run in one of those Boston losses, and it was one bad inning that cost him in another. Instead of looking for broad story lines, they focused on the specifics of this start. Again, the evidence was convincing.

Sabathia: “Fastball command wasn’t there. Everybody knows I throw everything off my fastball. It was just cutting and up-and-out and just all over the place. It was a tough day today.”

Francisco Cervelli: “Early in the game we had no fastball control, so it was tough with the Red Sox lineup. It’s tough, man. If you get behind, if you make mistakes, you’re going to pay because they’re really good.”

Larry Rothschild: “I think you need all your pitches in a game like today. I think he got into a little bit of a pattern of throwing fastballs when he didn’t have to in some situations, and he didn’t command it as good as he has been. He was up a lot. Even the strikes were up and away. They weren’t located as well as he usually locates them. It was one of those days for him.”

Fastball command was the issue today. Sabathia said it was fastball command that got him into hitters’ counts, and it was fastball command that left hitable pitches over the plate. If there was an adjustment to be made, it didn’t happen quickly enough.

“When I’m right, I can get anybody,” Sabathia said. “It’s just one of those things.”

Here’s Sabathia. It’s kind of hard to hear parts of it, but he did his interview out in the concourse so bad audio is unavoidable.

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Three comments about pitch selection, and whether Sabathia should have adjusted without his fastball command:

Sabathia: “It’s just me not recognizing it early enough and going to other pitches. Maybe use my changeup a little more, maybe use my cutter a little more. In some of those hitters counts, I was just trying to make a pitch with a fastball and it just wasn’t working out for me.”

Rothschild: “They’re going to have prolonged at-bats and they’re going to make adjustments. You have to be able to make adjustments, and the only way to do that is to have command of more than one pitch.”

Cervelli: “Maybe if the fastball is in a good location and they get jammed, it’s another opinion. I’ve got my plans. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s wrong.”

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• The pitching matchup seemed lopsided in the Yankees favor, but John Lackey was able to limit the damage. The Yankees were 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position, and they left nine men on base. The leadoff man reached base in the sixth, seventh and ninth without the Yankees scoring a run.

• The best chance to get back in the game came when the first three batters reached in the fifth. The Yankees got only one run out of it because Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira struck out, and Robinson Cano grounded to third. “Boston had already done what they needed to do,” Granderson said. “We had to play catch-up and we weren’t able to go ahead and get even.”

• On the other side, the decisive blow was certainly Jacoby Ellsbury’s two-out, three-run homer in the fourth. Ellsbury doubled his previous career-high with six RBI. “It’s another missed location,” Sabathia said of the home run pitch. “Two fastballs down and away, and then I give one up and out over the plate like he likes it. He just put a good swing on it.”

• Against Sabathia: David Ortiz was hitless, Adrian Gonzalez had one hit, Carl Crawford went 3-for-3 and Ellsbury was 1-for-2 with the home run and a sac fly. Lefties are hitting .200 against Sabathia this season, but Crawford and Ellsbury were especially damaging against him today.

• Seven runs was a season-high for Sabathia. The five-run fourth was his second-worst inning of the season.

• One positive note on Sabathia: He struck out six, giving him nine straight starts with at least that many strikeouts. That’s a career-long streak, and last Yankees pitchers to have that many consecutive six-strikeout games was Roger Clemens in 2001.

• Girardi said he believes Hector Noesi will be fine after being hit by a line drive in the ninth. The ball hit his chest and bounced up to hit his face. “I think he’s fine, but he’s probably a little sore,” Girardi said.

• Speaking of the bullpen, Girardi said he believes the bullpen will be fine for tomorrow, but he will have Phil Hughes just in case. “If I need him, depending on what kind of game it is,” Girardi said.

• Cervelli went 3-for-4, improving to 6-for-10 against the Red Sox this season and 18-for-42 in 13 career games against Boston. He’s a .478 hitter in seven career games at Fenway.

• Robinson Cano has gone hitless in back-to-back games at Fenway for the first time in his career.

• Mark Teixeira’s team-leading 32nd home run was his four career homer off Daniel Bard. No other major leaguer has more than one home run against Bard.

• Granderson stole his 100th career base in the fourth inning. He also scored his Major League-leading 100th run of the season.

• Girardi on Alex Rodriguez: “He took BP, took some ground balls and moved a little bit. Basically the same stuff he’s been doing, a little bit more, though.”

Associated Press photos

CC Sabathia still hasn’t beaten the Red Sox this season. Today’s 10-4 loss at Fenway was Sabathia’s fourth loss in as many starts against Boston. He’d allowed a total of seven runs in his previous eight starts, then matched that total after four innings this afternoon. The damage was done in a two-run third and a five-run fourt. The Yankees offense failed to capitalize on several scoring opportunities, the Red Sox put the game well out of reach in the ninth, and the two teams moved back into a first place tie in the American League East heading into tomorrow’s series finale.

Associated Press photo

YANKEES (69-42)
Brett Gardner LF
Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Eric Chavez 3B
Jorge Posada DH
Francisco Cervelli C

LHP CC Sabathia (16-5, 2.55)
Sabathia vs. Red Sox

RED SOX (68-43)
Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Dustin Pedroia 2B
Adrian Gonzalez 1B
Kevin Youkilis 3B
David Ortiz DH
Mike Aviles RF
Carl Crawford LF
Jarrod Saltalamacchia C
Marco Scutaro SS

RHP John Lackey (9-8, 6.23)
Lackey vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 4:10 p.m., FOX

WEATHER: It’s warm out, but clouds are gathering and there’s a chance of rain.

UMPIRES: HP Mark Carlson, 1B Tim Timmons, 2B Jeff Kellogg, 3B Eric Cooper

THE STREAK: During their season-high eight-game winning streak, the Yankees have outscored opponents 66-21. They are batting .337 (97-for-288) with 18 doubles, four triples and 10 home runs over the stretch, and their pitching staff is holding opponents to a .253 average (66-for-261). The Yankees have been especially hard on opposing starters, who have a 8.84 ERA over the stretch.

GOOD IN THE SUN: The Yankees are a Major League-best 31-7 in day games this season. Their .276 day-time batting average is fifth-highest in the Majors, with an AL-leading 49 daytime home runs. Yankees pitchers have a 2.77 day ERA, the best in the Majors.

NO. 3,000 ALL OVER AGAIN: Derek Jeter’s sixth-inning single last night was his 3,000th hit as a shortstop. According to Elias, Jeter is the first player with at least 3,000 hits at one position since Willie Mays finished with 3,184 hits as a center fielder.

UPDATE, 4:26 p.m.: That’s a really nice play by Gonzalez to get the second out of the second inning. A nice little charge and a weird backwards flip. Just a nice play.

UPDATE, 4:52 p.m.: Ugly swing by Jeter to end the third inning with Cervelli stranded at first. Still scoreless.

UPDATE, 5:05 p.m.: Pedroia really is a pest for the Yankees. He just doubled in the second run of the third inning, giving the Red Sox a 2-0 lead. He was called safe at second on a strange play — he came off the bag with his right hand, but reached back with his left hand — and Robinson Cano argued that he was out. I honestly couldn’t tell on the replay, but seeing it live, I thought he was out. Doesn’t really matter because the inning ended a batter later and it’s 2-0 Red Sox.

UPDATE, 5:31 p.m.: Eric Chavez’s two-out single turned a potentially disappointing inning into a game-tying inning. It’s now 2-2 after a run-scoring double play and Chavez’s lined single to left. The Yankees loaded the bases with no outs, and getting out of that inning with just one run would have been a disappointment.

UPDATE, 5:34 p.m.: Sabathia’s struggles against Boston continues. Three hits in the fourth have given the Red Sox a 3-2 lead, and they still have runners at first and second with one out.

UPDATE, 5:40 p.m.: Make that a two-run inning for the Red Sox, who just scored another run on Marco Scutaro’s two-out single up the middle. It’s 4-2 and Larry Rothschild just went to the mound.

UPDATE, 5:42 p.m.: Now the inning’s gotten out of hand. That’s a three-run homer by Ellsbury for a 7-2 Red Sox lead. The ball was on the field where Red Sox fans were reaching over the wall trying to grab it. Swisher picked it up and threw it back into the infield.

UPDATE, 5:55 p.m.: Once again, Lackey has limited the damage, holding the Yankees to just one run after letting the first three hitters reach base. It’s 7-3 Red Sox in the middle of the fifth.

UPDATE, 6:32 p.m.: Luis Ayala is in to pitch after the Yankees let another leadoff single go nowhere in the top of the seventh.

Day game after a night game, news was predictably light in the Yankees clubhouse this afternoon. A few players were watching one of those racing movies on television — I’m sure it had something to do with driving fast and driving furious — and batting practice was pretty much the same as always.

The only curious situation involves Phil Hughes, who’s next appearance is still a little bit up in the air. He’s definitely available out of the bullpen tomorrow — that would be his normal turn in the rotation — and Joe Girardi said he could probably use Hughes today because his pitch count was so low on Tuesday.

If the Yankees don’t need him tonight, they’ll have to decide whether to kep him available as a reliever tomorrow, or go ahead and have him throw a bullpen in preparation for Tuesday’s start.

“If he’s not going to get in a game today, we could have him throw a side tomorrow if we feel that our bullpen’s in good shape,” Girardi said. “Or we could do it during the game.”

Basically, the Yankees could be playing it by ear well into Sunday’s game. The fact Ivan Nova is on turn for Tuesday gives the Yankees plenty of short-term options with Hughes.

• According to The Associated Press, Alex Rodriguez took 43 swings during batting practice today in Tampa. It as his first BP session since knee surgery, and he also took about 30 swings off a tee and 66 more during soft toss. He also took grounders and increased his running during a 70-minute workout.

• Interesting note from Joel Sherman who says the Yankees were planning to option Ivan Nova after Thursday’s start, but he was so good they couldn’t make the move. Sherman writes that the Yankees could stick with a six-man rotation for a while longer because it lets them rest their veterans.

• Could Rafael Soriano be available in back-to-back games? “He has done it (during his rehab assignment),” Girardi said. “He did it down there. I will check with him today to see how he physically feels and then we’ll make a decision. Let him play catch and do all his things.”

• Girardi on why Francisco Cervelli has worked so well with CC Sabathia: “CC has thrown tremendous all year long. Cervy has a couple of years with him. You can go back to when Cervy caught him in ’09, caught him in ’10 and in ’11. I think that’s helpful where Freddy and Bart he didn’t necessarily see. He didn’t catch a ton of Hughsey. Knows Nova. But I think part of it is the experience he has with CC.”

• There was a lot of pregame talk about the job Boone Logan has done lately, including that huge out last night. “I go back to Cincinnati,” Girardi said. “That seems to be when he got on a roll. And I don’t remember when we were there. It think it was in the month of June. I don’t remember. He seemed to really get on a roll there for us, and he’s remained on it, and he’s gotten a lot of big outs for us.”

• Forgot to mention this last night: Austin Romine has been placed on the Double-A disabled list with a sore back.

RED SOX
Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Dustin Pedroia 2B
Adrian Gonzalez 1B
Kevin Youkilis 3B
David Ortiz DH
Mike Aviles RF
Carl Crawford LF
Jarrod Saltalamacchia C
Marco Scutaro SS

Associated Press photos

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

CC Sabathia has five losses this season. Three of them have come against the Red Sox. His ERA and WHIP are higher — and his strikeout-to-walk ratio lower — against Boston than against any of the other 13 teams he’s faced this season.

He gets another shot this afternoon.

“I get up for every start,” Sabathia said. “Every single one, so (today) will be no different.”

Sabathia had no problem with the Red Sox in 2009, and he pitched eight strong innings against them almost exactly one year ago in New York. If he’s doing something different this season, Sabathia hasn’t seen it. Larry Rothschild might have seen it, but Sabathia doesn’t watch video of his starts. He did it for a while with the Indians, and it did nothing for him.

“I tried it,” he said. “Me and Cliff (Lee) actually tried it one year. We were going to start watching video and all this, and it just didn’t work out for us so we stopped doing it… I’m going to pitch the same way pretty much all the time. Attack hard in, be aggressive in the strike zone, and pitch off my fastball. It really does nothing for me to watch old videos.”

So Sabathia will come into today’s start the same way he comes into every start.

“Every game is different, every start is different,” he said. “You go out there with different stuff every time out, so you’ve just got to know what you have that day and attack with what you’ve got.”

Associated Press photo

Joe Girardi finally threw Rafael Soriano into the fire last night. He waited a full week, pitching Soriano in two fairly meaningless situations before thrusting him into a one-run game at Fenway with first-place on the line.

“This guy’s used to this type of situation,” Girardi said. “… I did ease him in. That was the idea to get him ready as we went forward and we got in these type of games. I wanted to give him a couple of appearances. He got a couple of appearances, basically about the amount of appearances (counting rehab outings) he got in spring training, and I just felt he was ready to go.”

With Soriano ready to go, the Yankees bullpen is in place. Or, as Russell Martin put it, “We seem to have all the pieces of the puzzle.”

I wrote last night that this isn’t exactly the bullpen the Yankees envisioned, and it’s not, but there seems to be the same sort of comfort that the Yankees imagined. The emergence of Dave Robertson and the arrival of Cory Wade have really provided a boost to make up for the loss of Joba Chamberlain. Hector Noesi has become a reliable long man. Boone Logan has settled in as a lefty specialist. Now Soriano is back in the mix, and he looked good last night.

“I think you see the arm speed coming back and the location on the breaking ball,” Larry Rothschild said. “Tonight was a good night for him and this team, to see that.”

As for Soriano, he still doesn’t say much, but last night’s outing seemed to speak volumes.

“I feel much better every, every day,” Soriano said. “The way I pitched today reminded me of the way I pitched in Tampa when I was the closer… I think everybody knows when I signed here, how good the bullpen was going to be, and now you see the results.”

Associated Press photo