The LoHud Yankees Blog

A.J. Burnett officially has a season ERA that’s higher than last year. He’s sitting at 5.31 for the year, 7.79 since the beginning of July and 11.91 in the month of August. Burnett keeps talking about getting himself straightened out and getting on a roll, but the numbers suggest he’s rolling the wrong way.

“It’s not acceptable,” Burnett said. “But the bottom line is, I can’t worry about my numbers right now. Even if I pitch great the rest of the year, I’m still going to have bad numbers. I’ve got to get on good track. I’m going to get on a good track. I can’t worry about my ERA, my 9-11 record.

“I’ve got a lot of support in this room, and that’s probably the thing that bothers me most is you feel like you let guys down a little bit. I’m going out there and battling, so it’s more about me getting on the right path than about my numbers.”

As he’s been most of the season, Burnett tried to find the positives, but this wasn’t the upbeat Burnett we’ve heard time and time again. Tonight, he was more analytical. He didn’t try to paint himself as a pitcher who made some bad pitches, he was a pitcher making mistakes and not fixing him.

Burnett talked about not being aggressive inside, something he believes would make both his “hook” and “heater” more effective. Russell Martin talked about the importance of getting ahead in the count, leaving hitters something to think about other than a poorly located fastball. Joe Girardi talked about mechanical consistency, and the ability to command the fastball.

“I’m frustrated for him,” Girardi said. “You don’t want to see anyone struggle in this game. This game is hard. It’s tough to go through months like this, whether you’re a pitcher or a position player and you’re struggling and hitting .150 for the month. It’s tough; you’re frustrated for him. You want him to turn it around… Right now he’s really struggling. In 2009, he did some really good things for us. IN 2010, he started off great, then he got in a funk and had a hard time getting out of it. He started out pretty good this year, but he’s in another funk. He’s got to fight his way out of it.”

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.

• The Yankees plan to fight the decision to play on their last remaining off day, but player rep Curtis Granderson admitted that he’s not sure they can change the decision. “The date hasn’t come, so moving stuff around still is possible even though it has been announced,” he said. “The fact that stuff can be moved around meant that today could have been moved around and it wasn’t. That’s the first and foremost. I just look at, when given the opportunity and everybody else made moves, why wasn’t the move made today.”

• Another thing that has the Yankees frustrated: They’ve been told that the Orioles want to play that Sept. 8 game at 7:05 p.m., leaving the Yankees with a night game immediately before they begin a West Coast trip.

• Ivan Nova will start the first game on Sunday’s double header, but Girardi’s not sure who will start the second.

• Burnett said it was a bad curveball that Mark Reynolds hit for that first home run of the second inning. It was Reynolds third home run in as many days, and it started a string of six-straight Orioles extra-base hits in the second. “The third inning I got mad and got aggressive and threw more pitches in, and things kind of changed,” Burnett said. “It’s just more about focusing and not doubting myself, which I didn’t do, but I’ve got to use that side of the plate.”

• Burnett had three wild pitches tonight and leads the Majors with 20 of them.

• Burnett admitted that it’s becoming harder to stay positive. “No doubt,” he said. “But then you’ve got to thank the guys in here for helping out in that regard. Guys are behind me 100 percent, and my family is behind me 100 percent. So that helps. If I didn’t believe in myself, I probably would be more negative, and more down on myself. But I know the stuff’s there, and I know how good I can be. It’s just a matter of doing it.”

• Girardi said he plans to have Burnett makes his next start, which will likely come at Fenway. “With all these doubleheaders, we gotta play games,” Girardi said. “We need six men.”

• Girardi said he didn’t have Hector Noesi available today, which mean Burnett had to stay out there even as he struggled. “I just didn’t have the people,” Girardi said. “Noesi’s thrown two out of three days, he’s a kid that hasn’t thrown back-to-back and he had thrown 30 pitches and 30 pitches. I just didn’t have the people tonight.”

• Robinson Cano has now hit safely in 17 straight game, the longest hitting streak by a Yankee this season. It’s his fourth career streak of at least 16 games.

• The Yankees have homered in 10 straight games, breaking their season-high streak. They’ve hit 22 homers in that stretch.

• Alex Rodriguez had his first home run since June 11 against Cleveland.

• Nick Swisher’s home run was measured at 412 feet and landed on Eutaw Street beyond right field. It’s the 57th homer to reach the street in Camden Yards history and the 33rd by an opponent.

• Girardi said no players have asked to go home tomorrow. Based on the clubhouse, it sounds like the guys are planning to ride out the hurricane here in Baltimore.

Associated Press photos

Both manager Joe Girardi and player rep Curtis Granderson said the Yankees will try to “fight” the decision to play a game on their last remaining full off day. Granderson said the Yankees never agreed to the decision, and they’re hoping to figure out an alternative. Also according to Granderson, the Orioles preference is to play the September 8 game at 7:05 p.m., forcing the Yankees to play a night game immediately before a West Coast trip.

A.J. Burnett did it again. Against a weak-hitting Orioles lineup, the Yankees theoretical No. 2 starter gave up nine runs through five innings and left the Yankees with a 12-5 loss that will have to linger. The Yankees won’t attempt to play again until Sunday now that Saturday’s doubleheader has been postponed because of Hurricane Irene. The Yankees, of course, are still trying to weather the storm of Burnett, who has a higher ERA than he had last season. In the second inning, he gave up six consecutive extra-base hits. The Yankees never came close to getting back in the game, despite home runs by Nick Swisher, Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada.

Associated Press photo

YANKEES (78-50)
Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Jorge Posada DH
Russell Martin C
Brett Gardner LF

RHP A.J. Burnett (9-10, 4.96)
Burnett vs. Orioles

ORIOLES (51-77)
Robert Andino 3B
J.J. Hardy SS
Nick Markakis RF
Vladimir Guerrero DH
Matt Wieters C
Mark Reynolds 1B
Ryan Adams 2B
Nolan Reimold LF
Matt Angle CF

RHP Tommy Hunter (2-2, 4.95)
Hunter vs. Yankees

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

WEATHER: Looks like they’ll play tonight. It’s the rest of the weekend that’s uncertain. At best.

UMPIRES: HP Scott Barry, 1B John Hirschbeck, 2B Laz Diaz, 3B Vic Carapazza

AIN’T LIFE GRAND: The Yankees lead the Majors with eight grand slams this season (they’ve been hit by seven different players). The team is two grand slams shy of the franchise high set in 1987 and matched last year. The Yankees have hit five grand slams in August, the most by any team in a calendar month since the Mets in July of 2006. That’s from Elias.

ROUGHLY 10 PERCENT: Derek Jeter has 306 career hits against Baltimore. He’s the first player since Tony Gwynn (who did it against Houstin, Atlanta, San Francisco and Cincinnati) to record at least 300 hits against any one team. That’s according to Ellias. Since the Orioles moved to Baltimore in 1954, Jeter ranks third among players in hits against the franchise behind Carl Yastrzemski (363) and Al Kaline (326).

CHARMED IN THIS CITY: Robinson Cano has hit .375 (81-for-216) with 21 doubles, 10 homers and 31 RBI in 52 games at Camden Yards. He’s riding a current 17-game hitting streak in this ballpark dating back to 2009. According to Elias, it’s the longest active hitting streak at Camden Yards.

UPDATE, 7:05 p.m.: Here’s the latest statement from Granderson regarding the current situation:

“Given the advanced notice, and the fact that other teams have adjusted their schedules ahead of time, we are perplexed at the current options we are being presented with in regards to making up any games postponed due to Hurricane Irene. The proposition to take away our only full off day in the final month of the season is not an option, even though the Orioles front office and the commissioner’s office think this is an adequate solution. It’s a shame that the decision has now come down to possibly having to play four games in two days, or having to come back to Baltimore for another makeup game.”

UPDATE, 7:18 p.m.: A strong arm is pretty low on the list of priorities for a second baseman, but Cano’s arm lets him make all sorts of plays that other second basemen just can’t make.

UPDATE, 7:22 p.m.: Classy move by the Yankees, all coming out of the dugout to watch a video tribute to Mike Flanagan. The Yankees already had one pregame tribute, but the Yankees came back out when an additional video played after the first inning.

UPDATE, 7:42 p.m.: Three hard-hit balls in a row off Burnett. Solo homer and back-to-back doubles. The Orioles are up 2-0 in the second.

UPDATE, 7:47 p.m.: Oh wow. JJ Hardy just clobbered a ball. The past six Orioles have a home run, four straight doubles, and another home run.

UPDATE, 7:50 p.m.: And now an error by A.J.

UPDATE, 7:53 p.m.: Double play finally ends the second inning, but the Orioles are in front 6-0, and the Yankees fans in the house are letting Burnett hear it.

UPDATE, 8:30 p.m.: Jeter’s bobble cost a run, and it’s 7-0 in the fourth.

UPDATE, 8:35 p.m.: Posada goes deep to put the Yankees on the board. Still in a 7-1 hole in the fifth.

UPDATE, 8:55 p.m.: Two-run triple in the fifth, and finally there is action in the Yankees bullpen. Ayala is throwing in the pen, but Burnett is still on the mound.

*** SCHEDULE UPDATE ***

Both games of tomorrow’s doubleheader have been postponed because of the coming hurricane. So here’s the new schedule.

Saturday: No game
Sunday: Doubleheader, 1:35 p.m. and 7:35 p.m.
Monday: Regularly scheduled 7:05 p.m. game
September 8: Makeup game, time TBA

UPDATE, 9:22 p.m.: Solo shot by Rodriguez. Two-run homer by Swisher. It’s now 12-4.

There’s been a lot of waiting around here at Camden today. It seems no one knows how the Orioles plan to deal with the hurricane about to hit this region.

Yankees player representative Curtis Granderson said the two sides have discussed pretty much every alternative you can imagine, including briefly talking about playing a second game after tonight’s game. That’s almost certainly not going to happen.

Apparently there’s a chance that tomorrow’s first game will be pushed up to the morning to give the teams a better chance of playing before the weather gets bad. Then again, there’s also some talk of preemptively calling both games tomorrow and planning a makeup for one of the two off days remaining on the Yankees schedule.

The Yankees really, really don’t want to lose one of those off days. That’s why they pushed to play a split doubleheader tonight. The Orioles refused.

“I don’t really understand why we didn’t,” Joe Girardi said.

Here’s Girardi.

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.

• Honestly, this hurricane situation is the issue at the ballpark today. Some players were talking about making sure their families were safe in New York. Some were hoping to get out of Baltimore if things get ugly. Some are just curious. Brett Gardner lived through a hurricane in South Carolina when he was 6. “Definitely a spooky feeling,” he said. “I remember that. ”

• The other big news of the day is that Alex Rodriguez met with MLB investigators about illegal poker allegations. Rodriguez said the meeting went well, and he believes MLB will contact him if there needs to be any further discussion. Rodriguez wouldn’t go into detail about the meeting.

• If the Yankees had played two today, Ivan Nova would have started the second game.

• Girardi said the uncertainty really doesn’t affect his pitching staff too much. If things change, his pitchers will adjust. Right now, everyone is moving forward as if the schedule is going to remain unchanged.

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

Because of the impeding weather, road closures and public transportation closures, the Yankee Stadium Ticket Office will be closed both days this weekend (Saturday and Sunday).

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

Tonight
RHP A.J. Burnett (9-10, 4.96)
vs.
RHP Tommy Hunter (2-2, 4.95)
7:05 p.m., YES Network

Saturday Game 1
RHP Ivan Nova (13-4, 3.97)
vs.
RHP Zach Britton (7-9, 4.54) or LHP Brian Matusz (1-6, 8.92)
1:05 p.m., YES Network

Saturday Game 2
RHP Freddy Garcia (10-7, 3.16)
vs.
RHP Britton or LHP Matusz
7:05 p.m., YES Network

Sunday
RHP Bartolo Colon (8-8, 3.71)
vs.
RHP Alfredo Simon (4-6, 4.30)
1:35 p.m., YES Network

Monday
LHP CC Sabathia (17-7, 2.99)
vs.
RHP Jeremy Guthrie (6-16, 4.42)
7:05 p.m., YES Network

It’s rare that players and managers get too excited about a stat or a fact, but even the Yankees had to admit today’s three-grand-slam afternoon was pretty special.

As you know, the Yanks hit three grand slams in the same game today for the first time in baseball history. In fact, after Russell Martin hit his grand slam in the sixth, it marked just the fourth time in franchise history two Yankees hit grand slams in the same game and the first time ever at home.

“It’s pretty amazing when you look up and see the runs you have on the board and what you put up in the last four innings of the game,” Girardi said. “I know our offense is potent, but that even surprises me.”

The first came with the deficit still 7-2 off the bat of Robinson Cano. He pulled an offering from the tiring Rich Harden into the right field seats with one out in the fifth to cut the deficit to 7-6. After the Yankees stranded the bases loaded in to end the inning, Martin hit a one-out wall-scraper to right for his second home run of the game. It provided the Yankees with a 10-7 lead and they never trailed again.

He didn’t know it at the time, but Curtis Granderson went on to make history in the bottom of the eighth. He slugged the third grand slam off Bruce Billings and into the bullpen in right to make the score 21-8. The home run was Granderson’s 36th and pushed him over 100 RBI for the first time in his career.

“The fact that we as a team have done something that all the teams that have played this game have never done before, especially on the offensive side, that’s pretty neat,” Granderson said. “The guys on this team have been doing an amazing job. I think it speaks again to what this offense can do. Anyone and everyone can deliver at any time.”

Even before Granderson’s shot, Cano and Martin were only the second set of Yankees to hit grand slams in back to back innings. The others were the last set of teammates to hit them in the same game at all: Bernie Williams and Paul O’Neil, who hit theirs at Toronto on Sept. 14, 1999. The other double grand-slam games were turned in by Tony Lazzeri, who hit a pair on May 24, 1936 in Philadelphia, and Dave Winfield and Don Mattingly on June 29, 1987 in Toronto.

Ironically, both Cano and Martin batted in the seventh with the bases loaded. Cano hit a sac fly and Martin lined an RBI single to right. Those were two of 17 plate appearances the Yankees had today with the bases loaded.

• Of course, Martin played part in Yankee history. He also happened to have the best game of his career in the process.

On the day, Martin went 5 for 5 with the two home runs, a double, a walk and a career-high six RBI. The five hits were also a career high. They were the most hits by a Yankee catcher since Elston Howard went 5 for 6 on Apr. 18, 1959 at Boston. It was also just the sixth time in the live ball era that a catcher had five hits and six RBI in a single game, although Joe Mauer accomplished it on July 26 of last year.

This was also the fourth multi-homer game this season for Martin in just 101 games. Martin had just one multi-homer game in 667 games with the Dodgers.

“I feel pretty good right now,” Martin said. “I have no issues right now, which is pretty rare for this point in the season.”

• Derek Jeter saw his average climb over .300 on an infield single to shortstop in the sixth. It was the first time for Jeter since Apr. 2 — the second day of the season.

Jeter finished the game 3 for 6 with a walk and now sits at .299. He’s batting .422 in August, raising his average from .268.

He also moved further up two lists in the first. His leadoff triple moved him past Rickey Henderson and into sole possession of 21st place on the all-time hits list. He now has 3,058. Jeter later scored on a Mark Teixeira ground out and moved past Jimmy Foxx into 20th place all-time in runs scored. He finished the game with 1,753 in his career.

• Alex Rodriguez (jammed thumb) returned to the lineup for the first time since Sunday and only the second time since July 7. He went 2 for 4 with two walks and three runs scored, and picked up his first hit since July 6. He also played seven innings at third base and left only because the game was out of reach.

“The first time around there’s always a fear that you’re going to get hurt or something’s going to break,” Rodriguez said. “But once you overcome that after the first at-bat or two, I felt like a normal regular season game.”

• The Yankee offense batted around in the fifth, sixth and seventh, sending 31 men to the plate and scoring 14 runs in the process. A’s pitchers allowed 23 of 31 hitters to reach base during that span. They issued 12 walks. Seven came in the bottom of the seventh alone, including bases-loaded walks to Jeter and Teixeira.

The 13 walks issued by the A’s were the most in a nine-inning game since Sept. 1, 1995. Their relievers walked 12, the most for an A’s bullpen since 1959.

• The Yankee comeback erased a bad performance for Phil Hughes, whose four-start streak of allowing two earned runs or less was snapped. Hughes struck out five and walked none, but the A’s hit him hard when they connected. The right-hander surrendered six earned runs on seven hits and was lifted with two outs in the third.

“It was just a grind,” Hughes said. “Unfortunately, I made a lot of bad pitches. Command was my biggest issue. But it makes it easier when you score 22 runs. It helps you sleep a little easier tonight.”

Hughes’ ERA increased from 5.75 to 6.46. Facing the A’s certainly hasn’t helped. He has allowed 13 ER in 7 IP against Oakland this season.

“It was a disappointing bump in the road,” he said. “I felt like I had really gotten a little roll going. I’ll work hard to get over this one, and hopefully not face the A’s again.

• The Yankee bullpen allowed three runs in 6.1 innings of relief. Boone Logan pitched 1.1 perfect innings and struck out all four batters he faced.

• Last but not least, Jorge Posada played second base in the ninth inning. This was the first time in his major league career he played second, the position he first played in the minor leagues. Posada had not played second since 1991, when he played 64 games there for Class A Oneonta.

Posada had an assist on the last out of the game, thanks largely to Nick Swisher’s scoop of a throw in the dirt. Swisher joked about the throw. “I was thinking to myself, you were standing 15 feet from me. What are you double cro-hopping for?”

“That tells you right there why they moved me behind the plate,” Posada said.

Girardi was originally going to move Martin to second and put Francisco Cervelli behind the plate, but Posada made a deal with him with the Yankees ahead 16-8 at the time.

“He said if we get two more runs, I’m going out there. I have him badgering me. I have K-Long badgering me,” Girardi said. “But I think with everything that Jorge has done for this organization, the numbers that he’s put up and the year that he’s been through this year, it was just hard to say no.

YANKEES (77-50)
Derek Jeter DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Russell Martin C
Eduardo Nunez SS
Brett Gardner LF

RHP Phil Hughes (4-4, 5.75)
Hughes vs. A’s

A’S (59-70)
Jemile Weeks 2B
Coco Crisp CG
Hideki Matsui DH
Josh Willingham LF
Brandon Allen 1B
David DeJesus RF
Cliff Pennington SS
Anthony Recker C
Scott Sizemore 3B

RHP Rich Harden (4-2, 3.91)
Harden vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 1:05 p.m., YES Network / MLB Network

WEATHER: Not good. Rain has fallen for the better part of the morning. The tarp was still on the field at 1. There’s a 50 percent chance of rain and thunderstorms the rest of the day.

UMPIRES: HP Adrian Johnson, 1B Fieldin Culbreth, 2B Gary Cederstrom (crew chief), 3B Cory Blaser

RAIN MEN: The Yankees had 16 games affected by weather this season, so make this 17. Six of the games have been postponed. This is the 11th with a delay. … The total includes a win on July 18th when the lights went out due to lightning in St. Pete.

PITCHING WONDERPHIL: Phil Hughes has limited opponents to two ER or less in each of his last four starts. He has a 3-1 record and 1.75 ERA during that stretch. Opponents have batted .198 (18 for 91).

SOUTHPAWS ON THE MEND: This just in from the Yankees: Pedro Feliciano (left rotator cuff strain) and Damaso Marte (left shoulder labrum inflammation) each began a rehab assignment today with the GCL Yankees in Tampa vs. the GCL Tigers.

Marte’s did not go well…

Feliciano: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 13 pitches
Marte: 0.2IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 22 pitches

Update, 1:17 p.m.: The tarp remains on the field, although rain has lightened. There has been no announcement about when the game will begin.

Update, 1:25 p.m.: Still raining, and harder now…

Update, 1:54 p.m.: The game is tentatively scheduled to start at 2:30. Looks like they are about to take the tarp off the field.

Update, 2:17 p.m.: They’re going through typical pregame ceremonies here at the Stadium. Rain is still falling, but it’s nothing major. Some fans have umbrellas, but most don’t. That’s a pretty good indication that we’re ready to play.

Update, 2:24 p.m.: Alex Rodriguez is on the field warming up at the moment. His left thumb appears to be taped.

Update, 2:28 p.m.: A-Rod announced in the lineup. Looks like he is ready to give it a go.

Update, 2:30 p.m.: Yanks take the field. Looks like they will start the game.

Update, 2:34 p.m.: First pitch, and we’re underway. Delay lasted 1:29.

Update, 2:52 p.m.: With his leadoff triple, Derek Jeter just passed Rickey Henderson and is now in sole possession of 21st place on MLB’s all-time hits list with 3,056 hits.

Update, 3:06 p.m.: Hughes’ streak of starts with allowing two ER or less is in jeopardy. A’s hitting him hard this inning, an now lead 2-1.

It is also raining again.

Update, 3:25 p.m.: Yanks had the bases loaded with one out but didn’t score. Gardner popped up to short and Jeter squibbed one back to Harden.

A’s still lead 2-1 after two innings. We’re not exactly flying through this game either. It’s been 50 minutes for two inning. Hughes has played a big role in that, throwing 54 pitches already. Rain has pretty much stopped for now.

The crew is out raking and quick-drying the mound.

Update, 3:38 p.m.: Hughes has not been good today, and this is now activity in the Yankee pen.

Update, 3:43 p.m.: That’s it for Hughes, who’s lifted after an RBI single by David DeJesus makes it 4-1 A’s. Girardi had the luxury for a quick hook with so much rain on the horizon. Hughes was awful though and it just seemed to be getting worse.

Update, 3:49 p.m.: After Wade served up a three-run homer on his first pitch to Pennington, here’s Hughes’ final line: 2.2 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 0 BB, 5 K.

Say this, he pitched significantly better than Demaso Marte today.

Update, 3:59 p.m.: That’s A-Rod’s first hit since July 6. Still, Yankees trail 7-1 after three innings.

Update, 4:08 p.m.: Fans are cheering because the sun is out. But there’s a long way to go here. We’re still in the top of the fourth.

Update, 4:25 p.m.: An Orioles spokesman told the Baltimore Sun there was no chance of the O’s and Yanks playing a doubleheader on Friday. Here’s the report.

Update, 4:43 p.m.: That’s two good swings for A-Rod today. If nothing else, that’s something positive to take out of today.

Of course, the Yanks are one good swing from getting back into the game. And Harden is now up to 90 pitches. Stamina and durability have not been his strong suits.

Update, 4:45 p.m.: I (kind of) just called that grand slam by Cano. Regardless, the Yankees are now right back in the game, trailing just 7-6. And for some reason, Bob Melvin is sticking with Harden. He must really want him to get the win. Not a good move.

Update, 4:49 p.m.: Swisher doubled to knock out Harden. The move came two batters too late by Melvin.

Of course, not if you’re a Yankee fan. They’re now in business with a runner on second and one out against lefty Craig Breslow.

Update, 4:59 p.m.: That half-inning took forever, but it also pulled the Yankees to within one, 7-6. The Captain missed a chance to tie the game or give the team the lead when he bounced out to end the inning. He also missed a chance to go over .300.

Gardner popped out with one out and the bases loaded. He has now stranded six runners today. I thought 3B coach Rob Thomson (no relation) could’ve sent Swisher on Nunez’s single. Thoughts?

Update, 5:33 p.m.: The Yankees have come all the way back from 7-1 down to take a 10-7 lead on the grand slam by Russell Martin. That’s Martin’s fourth multi-homer game this season.

That’s nothing. How ’bout this stat: This is just the fourth time in club history the Yankees have hit two grand slams in the same game. The last time came in 1999 when Bernie Williams and Paul O’Neill. This is also the first time EVER they have hit two grand slams at home. Amazing.

Here are the other instances:
Tony Lazzeri (2) o on 5/24/36 at Philadelphia
Dave Winfield, Don Mattingly on 6/29/87 at Toronto
Bernie Williams, Paul O’Neill on 9/14/99 at Toronto (also consecutive innings)

Update, 5:44 p.m.: Also, with a 3 for 5 day (so far), Jeter is now batting .300.

Update, 6:38 p.m.: Courtesy of Sweeny Murty of WFAN, the Yankees sent 31 men to the play in innings 5-7 and 23 reached base. A’s pitchers issued 12 walks, including seven in the seventh. Absolutely putrid.

Update, 6:51 p.m.: History, folks!

The Yankees just became the first team in MLB history to hit three grand slams in the same game. The third was Curtis Granderson, who joined Robinson Cano and Russell Martin when he yanked his 36th home run into the Yankee bullpen off Bruce Billings. The grand slam gave the Yankees a 21-8 lead.

Update, 6:56 p.m.: The Yankees batted around for the fourth straight inning. Also of note: Jorge Posada just came out to play second base in the ninth.

Update, 7:06 p.m.: Yanks win 22-9, with the last assist coming by second baseman Jorge Posada. Of course it did!

The game lasted 4:31 — only 14-minutes shorter than the longest nine-inning game in MLB history.

During his pregame chat with the press, Joe Girardi said the Yankees and Orioles had initiated talks about playing a doubleheader Friday to squeeze a couple games in before Hurricane Irene sets to ravaging the east coast. Well, it appears those talks went something like this:

Yanks: “Can we play a doubleheader Friday?”
Orioles: “No.” (click)

MLB.com’s Jordan Schelling is reporting that the Orioles won’t budge. That could potentially pin the Yankees’ pitching rotation even firmer against the wall. Girardi said A.J. Burnett and Ivan Nova would start a potential Friday doubleheader. But if the teams indeed play one game and find themselves washed out on Saturday and Sunday, the Yanks will be left with two days off the remainder of the season and three extra games to play. Wow.

Girardi expected the Yankees to know for sure whether they would play two tomorrow by the end of today.

“I don’t know how else you make them up. I don’t know if you make them up at our ballpark. I don’t know if they’re made up in December,” he said.

As for the pitching, “I think we’ll take it day by day and see what we’re going to do,” Girardi said. “It could be a mess so I can’t really tell you. … There’s a ton of scenarios, so we’ll probably just have to take it day by day and be kind of flexible.”

Girardi said he worries about the potential of multiple doubleheaders and an overcrowded scheduled, especially because of the age on his club.

“You don’t want games piled up because fatigue and injuries are a concern,” he said.

• As you already know, Alex Rodriguez is scheduled to return to the lineup today and play third base. I say “scheduled” not just because of the rain.

Girardi said he wrote Rodriguez’s name in the lineup with the assumption he could return, but it will depend on how A-Rod responds to a pregame workout.

“I don’t know yet,” Girardi said. “So I figured it was easier to put the lineup up instead of waiting until noon to put the lineup up after he goes through the drills. If he can’t play, we’ll make adjustments as needed.”

Rodriguez returned Sunday for the first time since July 7 and went 0 for 5. He jammed his thumb fielding a Joe Mauer ground ball during the game. It affected him during BP Tuesday night and he was a late scratch.

• The Yankees heard it was supposed to rain until 2. “After that we should be OK,” Girardi said…of course, he said, other than another shower in that period and more rain at 7. Obviously, it’s not much of a window.

• A.J. Burnett is scheduled to pitch tomorrow night for the first time since his embarrassing start last Saturday, when he allowed seven earned in 1.2 innings in Minnesota. Although the looming string of washouts could save Burnett’s spot in the rotation for now, Girardi insisted the right-hander has to pitch better. Now.

“We need him to pitch well, no doubt about it,” Girardi said. “It’s a big start.”

• After pitching for Scranton on Monday, Freddy Garcia (finger) is scheduled to start during Saturday’s ill-fated doubleheader. But with that appearing unlikely, Girardi said the club won’t activate him until it needs to.

• Girardi didn’t use Mariano Rivera for the 10th inning Wednesday night. Instead, he inserted Rafael Soriano, who promptly served up the eventual game-winning home run to Coco Crisp. Girardi said he would rather not use Rivera for two innings unless it is a postseason situation.

“It seems like when we use him two innings, you really have to be careful for a couple of days,” he said. “I don’t really want to do that. If it’s playoff baseball, we’re talking about a different story. But we are talking about a guy who’s 41 years old and it’s dangerous. This is a guy we can’t afford to lose.”