The LoHud Yankees Blog

YANKEES (78-51)
Derek Jeter DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Andruw Jones LF
Eduardo Nunez SS
Francisco Cervelli C

RHP Bartolo Colon (8-8, 3.71)
Colon vs. Orioles

ORIOLES (52-77)
J.J. Hardy SS
Nick Markakis RF
Adam Jones CF
Vladimir Guerrero DH
Matt Wieters C
Mark Reynolds 1B
Ryan Adams 2B
Nolan Reimold LF
Robert Andino 3B

LHP Zach Britton (7-9, 4.54)
Britton vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 1:35 p.m., YES Network
* Don’t forget, today’s radio broadcast will be on WFAN

WEATHER: Still pretty windy from left to right, but it looks like the rain is finished. Looks to me like the Yankees are going to play both games today.

UMPIRES: HP John Hirschbeck, 1B Laz Diaz, 2B Vic Carapazza, 3B Wally Bell

SECOND TIME’S A CHARM: On Friday, the Yankees fell to 21-22 in series openers this season. However, tey have rebounded to go 29-13 in the second game of series.

PLAYING TWO (AGAIN): The Yankees are playing their third day-night doubleheader of the season. It’s their second doubleheader against (also July 30 at Yankee Stadium, a Yankees sweep). This is the Yankees first doubleheader in Camden Yards since 1999, when they split. This is the first time the Yankees have played two doubleheaders against Baltimore in the same season since 1996.

LIKE DEREK: Derek Jeter will become one of three active players to lead their current teams in games played. The others are Todd Helton (Rockies) and Michael Young (Rangers).

UPDATE, 2:20 p.m.: Jeter could break his shin on a foul ball, and he’d still argue to stay in the game. He literally looked wobbly stepping back in the box.

UPDATE, 2:25 p.m.: Colon looking a little more like the guy the Yankees saw in the first half. He’s through three innings, still a scoreless game.

UPDATE, 2:41 p.m.: Make that through four, still a scoreless game. Colon just got through Markakis, Jones and Guerrero in order.

UPDATE, 3:13 p.m.: Colon is still cruising, but the Yankees lineup has four hits and no runs heading into the top of the seventh.

UPDATE, 3:28 p.m.: One run on two hits in the bottom of the seventh. The Orioles have a 1-0 lead, and the Yankees have two innings to get to this Baltimore bullpen.

UPDATE, 3:30 p.m.: Here’s Martin to pinch hit for Cervelli in the eighth. Need to get something going here, and Martin could tie this thing with one swing.

UPDATE, 3:39 p.m.: Colon back out for the bottom of the eighth. The Yankees have Granderson, Teixeira and Rodriguez to try to tie or win in the ninth

UPDATE, 3:58 p.m.: On the verge of escaping trouble, Colon gave up an RBI single before Boone Logan got the final out of the eighth. It’s now 2-0 heading into the ninth.

In today’s first game, Derek Jeter will pass Mickey Mantle for the most games every played in a Yankees uniform. Today, they’re tied with 2,401.

“I don’t even think you’re aware of anything like that,” Jeter said. “When you first come up, you’re just trying to keep your job and stay here as long as you can. I don’t think people get called up and look at, let me see who has the games played record for the organization. So this one was something I never looked at. No one ever talked about it.”

The top five in Yankees history: Mantle, Jeter, Lou Gehrig, Yogi Berra and Babe Ruth. It’s a fairly intense list, and after today’s doubleheader, Jeter will be one game away from tying Mike Schmidt for the 15th most games played, all with one team, in baseball history.

“I take pride in coming and doing my job,” Jeter said. “I think that’s probably the best way to put it. My job is obviously to come and play games, try to stay on the field and try to stay healthy. I’ve done it for a long time, I guess.”

• As expected, the Yankees have shuffled their rotation so that Freddy Garcia will come off the disabled list to start tomorrow in Baltimore. CC Sabathia’s start has been pushed back to Tuesday against Boston. He’ll be followed by Phil Hughes and A.J. Burnett.

• Girardi said the Yankees chose Bartolo Colon for today’s first game because he’s had success in day games. They chose to push Garcia to tomorrow so that they wouldn’t have to make a roster move today. Making a move for Garcia would have cost the Yankees either a hitter or reliever for the doubleheader.

• Girardi doesn’t expect to stick with a six-man rotation beyond this turn. “My guess is we’ll get to five as soon as we can,” he said.

• If Alex Rodriguez plays today’s second game, it will be at DH. He’s not going to play third base both games.

• The Yankees have stressed to Colon that he has to stick with his sinker tonight. Even if he doesn’t have a great feel for it early, they want him to keep throwing it.

• Girardi said there was nothing new on the team’s fight again playing on September 8. “I’ll let the powers that be handle that,” Girardi said. “We’ll just worry about playing these games, getting two games in today, playing a game tomorrow and trying to win the series.”

ORIOLES
J.J. Hardy SS
Nick Markakis RF
Adam Jones CF
Vladimir Guerrero DH
Matt Wieters C
Mark Reynolds 1B
Ryan Adams 2B
Nolan Reimold LF
Robert Andino 3B

Associated Press photos

Baltimore seems to have survived the storm. It’s still pretty windy, but the rain has stopped. Not a bad day to play two.

Freddy Garcia starts tomorrow. CC Sabathia gets the first game in Boston.

Took a while to get a lineup, but it’s finally posted.

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

I’ll be honest, I considered this a pretty underwhelming weather event until just recently.

Rain has been falling pretty steadily for a while now here in Baltimore, and now the wind has really picked up. The streets are pretty deserted, but occasionally some brave — dumb? — folks will come sprinting and screaming up the street, apparently trying to outrun Irene.

Hope all of you back in New York and all along the coast are safe and sound.

Associated Press photo

The Yankees have announced tomorrow’s probable starters

Game 1 – RHP Bartolo Colon vs. LHP Zach Britton

Game 2 – RHP Ivan Nova vs. LHP Brian Matusz

Also, WFAN will be broadcasting both games.

So much about last night’s game looked the same as always, and so much of it sounded the same as ever. Joe Girardi talked about Burnett’s raw talent pregame, then Burnett fell apart in the second inning, then Burnett tried to stay positive and the Yankees tried to stay supportive postgame.

But I actually thought last night’s game felt different. At least, I thought postgame felt different. Burnett was still focusing on the positive, but he seemed legitimately embarrassed by the negative. Girardi committed to Burnett in the rotation, but it had the sense of desperation, not the ring of an endorsement.

“With all these doubleheaders, we gotta play games,” Girardi said. “We need six men.”

There was also a genuine effort to point out flaws, and although Burnett, Girardi and Russell Martin focused on different things, it’s hard not to wonder how many of these things are connected: The command to the mechanics, the mechanics to the confidence, the confidence to the aggressiveness, the aggressiveness to the command.

Russell Martin
“If I knew, I’d probably go out there and tell him something to change what he’s doing. It’s really just location at this point. He’ll make a couple of good pitches with his fastball, and then the next one will be belt-high and guys at this level, they don’t miss it. I think the biggest thing is falling behind in counts. He’s not the type of guy that has the best command of his offspeed stuff, so hitters are more selective. They wait for fastballs. If you get in a fastball count and you get a fastball that’s in the zone to handle, they’re going to hit it.”

Joe Girardi
“If you’re struggling this bad, you’re going to be mentally frustrated, no matter who you are in any walk of life. It comes down to mechanics for me. It’s everything being on time. Pitchers walk a fine line. If they don’t throw it on the corners and the outer edges with a lot of movement, they’re going to get hit hard. I don’t care who you are. Right now he’s making mistakes in the middle.”

A.J. Burnett
“I think I need to pitch in more. I think guys are sitting away and sitting hook. In the past ,I could get away with a lot of that throwing 97, 98. I have great stuff still, but I don’t throw that hard, so I need to start using both sides of the plate a little more and I think that’s going to help with the hook and getting them off the fastball away… If guys are comfortable out there, they’re going to take good swings off you. And guys are comfortable out there. I can see it. I pitched in after that second inning, and I saw some differences. Guys taking pitches and the hook was better. I definitely learn from that, pay attention to that, and use it. And use it as a weapon.”

Associated Press photo

Just a heads up about tomorrow’s scheduled doubleheader. Here’s the announcement from the Yankees.

Please note that WFAN-AM 660 will broadcast Game 1 of the Yankees’ doubleheader on Sunday at Baltimore with the pregame show beginning at 1:00 p.m. and the first pitch scheduled for 1:35 p.m.

The Yankees’ radio rightsholder, WCBS-AM 880, will be devoted to storm coverage during the day on Sunday.

The radio broadcaster for Sunday’s Game 2 at Baltimore (7:35 p.m.) is yet to be determined, but will be either WCBS-AM 880 or WFAN-AM 660.

Still waiting for a proper storm to start here in Baltimore, and looking ahead to some of the candidates for next week’s September call-ups.

Three big names

Jesus Montero – Since the all-star break, the Yankees top hitting prospect has rediscovered his power. He’s hitting .287/.353/.559 in the second half, and he’s had more than one home run in two of his past five games. With that kind of production in the first half, Montero might have pushed for an earlier call-up. As it stands, he seems like a natural fit as a September call-up.

Dellin Betances – He has only two career Triple-A starts — and he walked nine batters in one of them — but he’s on the 40-man, and his Double-A numbers were impressive. A call-up might not be so much about playing a role down the stretch, and more about spending additional time around the big league clubhouse.

Manny Banuelos — He’s left-handed and has a little more Triple-A experience than Betances, but Banuelos doesn’t have a 40-man spot and hasn’t been especially good in Triple-A. His 3.86 ERA is sound, but he has 12 walks and a .307 opponents batting average in 25.2 innings. The raw talent might make him worth a look, but it might not be quite time for him a play a role at the big league level.

Three role players

Lance Pendleton – He spent quite a bit of time in New York earlier this season, and he’s been very good in Triple-A (3.15 ERA as a starter and long reliever). Right now, the Yankees don’t have a true long man outside of Hector Noesi, who’s no longer stretched out beyond three innings or so. Pendleton could fill that role.

Greg Golson/Chris Dickerson – Give the outfielders an occasional late-inning break, and maybe do some pinch running when Eric Chavez, Jorge Posada or Andruw Jones gets on base. Both Dickerson and Golson are familiar faces around the clubhouse, and both have proven they can play at this level.

Aaron Laffey – Aside from Banuelos, Laffey is the only left-hander on the Triple-A roster. If the Yankees want to add a second lefty to the bullpen, Laffey seems to be the most logical target. Steve Garrison is also available — and on the 40-man — and there’s always the outside chance that Damaso Marte or Pedro Feliciano will be ready.

Three who earned it

George Kontos – Fully recovered from Tommy John surgery, Kontos has emerged in his first full season in the bullpen. He’s stayed stretched out enough for a few spot starts, but he’s really thrived in a multi-inning relief role. Triple-A opponents are hitting .225 against him, and this month he’s had 19 strikeouts with only one walk.

Jorge Vazquez – With apologies to Jordan Parraz, who’s also had a terrific and consistent Triple-A season, Vazquez stands out because of his league-leading 30 home runs. The guy has crazy power, but no obvious spot in New York. Not wanting to add him to the 40-man — without an obvious place to play in the future — might hurt his chances.

D.J. Mitchell/David Phelps/Adam Warren – Hard to choose just one of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s top three starters. All three pitched well enough to earn a big league start at some point this season, but the Yankees never really needed them (and they grabbed Brian Gordon when they needed only a short-term fill-in). None of these three is on the 40-man.

Three familiar faces

Brandon Laird – Didn’t play much during his brief call-up earlier this season, but he’s had a nice year in Triple-A. He’s been a productive hitter, who could help give the Yankees an extra corner infielder down the stretch, leaving Eduardo Nunez to backup only at second and short.

Kevin Whelan – His second half hasn’t been quite as good as his first half, but overall, Whelan’s had a terrific season as Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s closer. And his month of August has been call-up worthy (six hits, 11 strikeouts, .140 opponents batting average). Hardly got a look during his previous promotion.

Scott Proctor – A different sort of name for his list, but he’s pitched in 31 big league games already this season, and his past two outings in Triple-A have been terrific. There’s probably not a spot for him on the big league roster — the Yankees have plenty of similar right-handers in the pen as it is — but as an experienced bullpen arm, Proctor could be an option.

Just walked down the street to grab a sandwich here in Baltimore. On my way back to the hotel, the rain started falling, but I’m still waiting for all the craziness. I’m sure it’s coming, but it’s not here just yet.

The sky looks threatening, but if the Yankees and Orioles had pushed up today’s first game to 10 a.m. or so, I think they would have had a chance of getting through it. At the very least, they almost certainly could have played six-plus innings. That’s the way it looks to me, anyway.

Speaking to the Daily News, a spokesman from the Orioles said the Yankees ideas for a schedule change this weekend were unacceptable for fans planning to attend these games.

“Floating an idea for a Friday doubleheader to media hours before contacting the home club, and then attempting to make our fans turn around in less than 24 hours and make arrangements to come to a weekday afternoon game was simply not acceptable to us,” Greg Bader said. “Certainly not when Sunday night, Monday afternoon and two mutual off days available in September were more reasonable options.”

Curtis Granderson is the Yankees representative for the players’ association. He’s been heavily involved in conversations about how to handle Hurricane Irene and this weekend series in Baltimore.

This is how he found out that today’s doubleheader had been postponed.

“I remember my first at-bat, the initial conversation with (Matt) Wieters and the home plate ump,” Granderson said. “They said, ‘What’s going on?’ I said, ‘I have no clue. Maybe we’ll find out as we go on.’ And sure enough it gets announced. I’m on the on-deck circle looking (at the information on the scoreboard) going, ‘I didn’t even know about that stuff that’s up there.’ All the rescheduling stuff I didn’t know. Now, the option of doing two on Sunday (was) a possibility just because of the way it’s all working out, and we knew there was a 98 percent chance we weren’t going to play (Saturday). But even before we took the field, it still hadn’t been confirmed that we weren’t playing.”

Basically, the best-case scenario seems to be playing four of five games this series (at least, that’s what’s in place now). The Yankees believe there are — or at least, were — alternatives.

1. Doubleheader yesterday — Granderson said it was earlier this week that the Yankees submitted the idea of preemptively playing a doubleheader on Friday. The Orioles refused. This is the point that seems to have the Yankees most upset.

2. Early game today — This was a topic discussed last night, that the Yankees and Orioles should have at least left open the option of playing one game today. Joe Girardi even mentioned the idea of pushing up the first pitch a few hours. Hard for ticket holders to change their plans last second would be the obvious argument against.

3. Doubleheader in New York — The Orioles are coming to the Bronx for a three-game series in September, so why not just play two games one of those days, and give the second-game gate to the Orioles? Granderson said it was actually the commissioner’s office that squashed this idea. “There could be concerns about having an extra home game in comparison to everybody else in the league as a home-field advantage,” Granderson said. “I’m not sure what the other reasons would be, but that definitely was one of them.”

4. Back-to-back doubleheaders Sunday and Monday — Granderson said the Yankees were actually presented with this as an alternative to playing on September 8, but four games in two days before September call-ups? The Yankees actually said no to this one. “If either team happens to deplete the pitching staff, if a starter happens to not go late, teams are going to be scrambling,” Granderson said. “Just from getting somebody up, looking at the weather, depending on where guys potential 40-man rosters happen to be, it might be difficult to get guys here in time for the next scheduled game to use them. It wouldn’t benefit either one of us to try to go ahead and do it.”

5. Consider skipping the game completely — Granderson included this option as a sort of last resort. There’s a built-in off day before the playoffs, and the Yankees and Orioles could play this game on that day only if necessary. “Seeing if it’s left and we need to actually play that at the end of the season would be the next and final option,” Granderson said.

Right now, it’s hard to say how much influence the Yankees will have on this decision. It could be that the Orioles will be able to get their way regardless.

“It’s tough because of the way the bargaining agreement is (written) and the fact that they are rescheduled rain out games and Baltimore’s home park,” Granderson said. “It’s going to be difficult. At the same time, you do need both parties. You need their team and our team, so we’re going to try to fight it as much as we can.”

Here’s Granderson after last night’s game.

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Associated Press photos