The LoHud Yankees Blog

The evolution of Freddy Garcia has truly been a remarkable case. After undergoing surgery on a torn labrum and rotator cuff in 2007, Garcia experienced a drastic drop in velocity. He was never necessarily a strikeout pitcher, but he could throw in the mid-90s, and had seasons such as 2004, in which in notched 184 punch outs. After three post-surgery seasons toiling between Detroit and Chicago, it appeared as if Garcia might be done. The results had not favorable, but the 35-year-old has experienced a rebirth here in 2011.

“The biggest thing is that you have to accept it,” manager Joe Girardi said at his pregame press conference on Monday before Garcia would face the Baltimore Orioles. “Say, ‘You know what? I have to make adjustments, because I’m different than I used to be.’ That’s how guys stay around and have long careers. If you don’t make adjustments, then you’re not going to have those long careers. Six, seven, eight years and then you’re out. Hitters have to do it, too.”

While it might have been reasonable to expect Garcia to duplicate the 12 wins that he picked up last season with the White Sox, no one could have envisioned the season that he’s had. Garcia has pitched to a 3.09 ERA (nearly a full run less than his career ERA of 4.06) and is on pace to allow less homers than he ever has in a full season’s worth of work — which is even more incredible when you consider the home park that he plays in.

“I think he’s probably exceed them,” Girardi said when asked about his expectations for Garcia. “Just his ability to keep us in every game and win ballgames for us… The innings he’s given us, and just the job that he’s done. I don’t think his first start was until two weeks into the season, and it didn’t bother him. He gets the extra rest, and it doesn’t bother him. He just goes out and pitches.”

One could make the argument that after CC Sabathia, Garcia has been the Yankees next most reliable starter. He’s given Girardi at least five innings in all but one of his starts this season, and his lowest ERA in any month this season was a 3.96 in June. That consistency makes him a tempting option in October, especially with the uncertainty that comes from start to start with the likes of A.J. Burnett, Phil Hughes and Bartolo Colon.

Girardi was asked if he would hesitate to use Garcia in the postseason due to his lack of overpowering stuff.

“There are offenses that are good fastball hitting clubs, and sometimes that offspeed stuff can give them trouble,” he said. “He’s matched up pretty good against some pretty good teams this year, so we’ve seen him do that. It’s a different style, and sometimes it helps who you follow. If you follow a power pitcher, that can be advantageous to both guys. Freddy just has the ability to make pitches when he has to, and I think that matches up pretty well.”

While we’d never be able to get Girardi to discuss it with close to a month remaining in the season, we have the luxury of being able to consider hypothetical situations on this forum. I want to know, if the postseason were to start tomorrow, what would your rotation look like?

Would you go with CC on short rest to pitch in Games 1, 4 and 7? Who starts Game 2? Who starts Game 3? If CC goes on short rest, would you feel comfortable allowing any other starts to do the same?

My opinion (which will surely change between here and October) is that you have to have CC go on short rest, simply because he is easily the most dominant pitcher on the staff, and he’s proven in the past that he can handle that. Then the question becomes, how do you fill in the gaps behind him? With Garcia and Ivan Nova being the Yankees most consistent starters after CC, I think those two have to handle Games 2 and 3. Colon may be the pitcher most likely to give you a seven inning gem, but Garcia and Nova are sure to give you a chance to win. I wouldn’t feel comfortable allowing anyone other than CC to go on short rest, so I’d probably pitch Nova in Game 2, Garcia in Game 3, CC in Game 4, Colon in Game 5, Nova in Game 6 and then back to CC for a potential Game 7.

What would you do?

Here are some more notes from Girardi’s press conference:

• Girardi announced the rotation beyond Hughes tomorrow and Burnett on Wednesday. Nova will pitch on Thursday, followed by Colon on Friday and CC on Saturday. Garcia will take the ball on Sunday. No one is getting skipped, so that means everyone gets an extra day of rest this week.

• Once again, Girardi sang Jesus Montero’s praises for his approach at the plate this morning. “What I’ve liked is that he’s made in-game adjustments,” Girardi said. “Where a pitcher has gotten him out with a pitch and made him look silly, and he’s either taken it the next time or gotten a base-hit. That’s a good sign for a young player.”

• In my two days around the Yankees, I’ve noticed that Montero has been one of the first two or three guys in the clubhouse each morning. Today around 10 a.m., he headed out to the field with bench coach Tony Pena before anyone else was even dressed to do some catching drills. They worked mostly on throws to second base, with Pena repeatedly saying, “Good, good.” He seemed to be making some strong throws, but there’s obviously a lot more to catching than just throwing. I don’t know whether he’ll ever be a reliable defensive option behind the dish, but I will tell you that he seems to have the work ethic to succeed. Montero will DH and bat eighth against the lefty Brian Matusz today.

• Derek Jeter had another big day yesterday, tying a career-high with five RBI. He drove a homer over the left field fence, and later knocked a two-out, two-run base hit up the middle. He’s been locked in since his return from the DL, batting .346 with 11 doubles, three triples, three homers and 34 RBI in 50 games. The important thing is, he’s driving the ball to all fields, and it’s no longer Groundout City in the Bronx. “I’ve said all along that I don’t think I realized the pressure that he was under to get that 3,000th hit,” Girardi said. “Everything that he’s done in his career, he’s handled with such grace and been able to relax in the big moment. Since he’s gotten by that, he’s been a different player.”

• An interesting milestone that not many people seem to be talking about: Mariano Rivera is just five saves away from tying Trevor Hoffman’s record of 601 career saves. He should become only the second player in MLB to reach the 600 marker, and will become the all-time saves leader shorter thereafter. With saves being a relatively new stat (compared to wins, hits, home runs, etc.), this record may not have the same lure as others, but it’s still a very big deal. Rivera is widely considered to be the greatest closer of all-time, and now he can make that official. “I think once he to 600 it will (be a big deal),” Girardi said. “Or even when he gets to 598. I think when he gets 600 it will get a lot more attention.”

• Nick Swisher is getting the day off, despite having five home runs and 17 RBI vs. the Orioles this season. That’s the most homers and second-most RBI he has against any team in 2011. He’s 1-for-16 against Matusz in his career, which explains Girardi’s thinking. Starting in his place in Andruw Jones, who is 0-for-6 against Matusz.

As he stated yesterday, manager Joe Girardi plans on giving a different starter a day off in each game moving forward, and today is Nick Swisher’s turn. With the left-handed Brian Matsuz on the mound for the Baltimore Orioles, Andruw Jones will take Swisher’s place in right field, and Jesus Montero will get another start at DH. Here’s the rest of the lineup:

Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Andruw Jones RF
Russell Martin C
Jesus Montero DH
Brett Gardner LF

Well, that was much ado about nothing. After telling the media at his pregame press conference that he would have an announcement regarding the Yankees rotation after today’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays, manager Joe Girardi dropped the bombshell.

He’s staying with a six-man rotation.

“We’re going to go another time through,” Girardi said. “I’m allowed to change my mind; that’s why I don’t make instant decisions… We want to see it again. We liked what we saw from our guys.”

Girardi is referring to the starts from Phil Hughes and A.J. Burnett this past week in Boston. Neither was overly impressive — Hughes allowed six earned runs, while Burnett couldn’t even make it out of the sixth inning — but he felt that they showed enough to warrant at least one more go-around.

“We thought some guys made some progress when we went to Boston,” Girardi said. “We just figured that there’s no rush to make that decision… In talking about it with our coaches and Cash, we just said, ‘Let’s go through it again and see what happens.’ ”

I’m sure many of you are getting tired of the same old debate, which keeps leading to the same old solution. But I wouldn’t be surprised if a decision never gets made. With only 24 games remaining, Girardi was asked if the rotation could possibly remain six deep until the end of the season.

“I’m not going to say no,” he replied.

He seemed to be very encouraged by Burnett’s most recent start. Despite having only one win since June 29, Girardi thinks he’s getting back on track.

“I loved what I saw from AJ in Boston,” he said. “What makes it even more incredible to me is, here’s a guy who’s fighting for a spot. There’s been discussions that he might come out of the rotation, he had a tough August, and he said, ‘You know what? I’m going to try new mechanics for the first time against the Boston Red Sox.’ That takes a lot of guts. He went out and did it, and threw a really good game for us, which makes me really curious. If you give him another few times with it, does it get even better?”

Whether it gets better remains to be seen. But this much is certain: After Freddy Garcia’s start against Baltimore tomorrow, Hughes will start on Tuesday, followed by Burnett on Wednesday.

We know they’re safe for at least one more episode of, “As the Rotation Turns.”

Here’s some more notes from the Yankees 9-3 win over the Blue Jays:

• For those who are concerned with CC Sabathia’s workload, it’s worth noting that he got stronger as the game went on. He put some runners on early, but didn’t allow it to get out of hand. By the end of the fourth inning, he began to cruise. He retired 10 straight batters, picking up his 19th win while striking out 10. He now sits just two strikeouts away from 2,000 for his career. “I feel strong; I feel good,” Sabathia said. “The ball is coming out of my hand good, and my arm feels good… I felt I had good command. I threw the ball where I wanted to.”

• I have to admit, I made a rookie mistake. I recorded the entire interview with Derek Jeter, who tied a career-high with five RBI, but I accidentally deleted it while trying to record A-Rod. An amateur move, but you live and you learn. I do remember Jeter stating that the fact that he pulled his third-inning home run off of Brett Cecil meant nothing. He simply feels good, and has been staying back on the ball since his return from the DL. One reporter pointed out that he has a .371 batting average this season after a day off, and he seemed to take exception to that. Then, when asked what’s been the biggest key to his recent success, he remarked (with a smile), “Day’s off.”

• Alex Rodriguez and Nick Swisher also homered for the Yanks. It was clear when A-Rod hit his that he wasn’t happy, but the ball still got out over the right field wall. “It was a fly ball to right,” Rodriguez said. “I got very lucky that ball sailed over the fence. I couldn’t believe that.”

• Rookie Jesus Montero picked up his first career multi-hit game, just one day after notching his first career hit. Both hits were singles through the left side, but his second was a hard hit liner. “The first base hit for every hitter in the big leagues is always a little tough,” Montero said. “You have it on your mind. After that, I was like, ‘Okay, finally.’ Today I felt more comfortable at the plate.”

• I was surprised to see CC come out for the eighth inning after her had reached 107 pitches in the seventh. He threw 128 in his last start, and Girardi said that if not for that, he would have let him go even further. “That was the reason that I didn’t let him continue,” Girardi said. “I probably would have let him throw to a couple more hitters.”

• Interesting stat here: Jose Bautista, a leading MVP candidate in the AL, is 0-for-18 in his career against Sabathia. “Somebody  tell me how to get (Marco) Scutaro out, and I’ll tell you why he’s 0-for-18. It’s just one of those things.”

• With as well as the Yankees have been playing, Girardi says he plays to rest at least one regular everyday moving forward. Today, it was Curtis Granderson.

• With the Red Sox’ 11-4 loss to Texas, the Yankees are now 1 1/2 games ahead in the AL East. They’ve won four straight, and seven of eight. They are a season-high 32 games over .500.

It was a fun first day! Thanks for all of the support, and to all of my new Twitter followers! I’ll be back tomorrow…

CC Sabathia moved to within two strikeouts of 2,000 for his career on Sunday, picking up his 19th win while striking out 10 over 7.1 innings in the 9-3 victory. He worked in and out of trouble early, before hitting his stride after the fourth inning. Derek Jeter hit a three-run homer in the third (his fifth of the season), Alex Rodriguez added a solo shot in the sixth (his 15th of the year) and Nick Swisher hit the longest Yankee home run of the day with his two-run shot in the eighth (his 22nd). Jeter also had a two-run single in the eighth, tying his career high with five RBI. Rookie Jesus Montero had his first multi-hit game after picking up his first career hit on Saturday. With Boston losing 9-0 to Texas, the Yanks are in line to extend their lead in the division to 1 1/2 games.

Associated Press photo

YANKEES (84-53)
Brett Gardner CF
Derek Jeter SS
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Andruw Jones LF
Russell Martin C
Jesus Montero DH

LHP CC Sabathia (18-7, 2.99)
CC vs. Blue Jays

BLUE JAYS (69-70)
Mike McCoy SS
Kelly Johnson 2B
Jose Bautista RF
Edwin Encarnacion 1B
Brett Lawrie 3B
Mark Teahen LF
Jose Molina DH
J.P. Arencibia C
Dewayne Wise CF

LHP Brett Cecil (4-7, 4.51)
Cecil vs. Yankees

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

WEATHER: It’s 84 and pretty humid here in the Bronx. There’s a 20 percent chance of rain, but the skies look pretty clear.

UMPIRES: HP Tom Hallion, 1B Bill Miller, 2B James Hoye, 3B Phil Cuzzi

KEEP ON ROLLIN’: After clinching the series with yesterday’s win, the Yankees have now gone 17-3-4 in series play since June 10, including a 10-1-1 mark at home.

CC APPROACHING MILESTONE: While it would take quite the performance to get it done today, Sabathia is sitting 12 strikeouts away from reaching 2,000 for his career. He will become one of only three active pitchers to have reached that total (with Tim Wakefield and Javier Vasquez).

RED HOT JONES: Since the All-Star break, Andruw Jones is hitting .328 (21-for-64). He’s playing left field today, and seems to have locked down a start every time the Yanks go up against a lefty. I haven’t heard anyone mention Marcus Thames’ name in quite some time…

UPDATE, 1:19PM: With runners on the corners and two outs, CC gets Lawrie to ground out to third. He also picked up two K’s in the inning, so maybe that milestone isn’t as out of reach as I originally thought.

UPDATE, 1:28PM: After a walk and a steal from Brett Gardner, a throwing error from SS Mike McCoy on Mark Teixeira’s grounder leads to the Yanks first run.

UPDATE, 1:32PM: More sloppy play from Toronto. 2B Kelly Johnson drops grounder from Robbie Cano, but recovers just in time to get him on the throw. Inning over. 1-0 Yanks.

UPDATE, 1:36PM: Hard hit single from Mark Teahen takes a high bounce and gets past Gardner in CF, allowing Teahen to advance to second. Single, E8. CC has been giving up a lot of hits recently. That’s the third in six batters. Already at 30 pitches and he hasn’t even recorded an out in the second inning.

UPDATE, 1:44PM: CC strikes out Dewayne Wise to end the inning with Teahen on second. Three K’s and counting for the big man…

UPDATE, 1:50PM: Very nice diving play to his left by Toronto 3B Brett Lawrie. Russell Martin smoked a liner that looked like it was going to get through, but Lawrie lunged to make the play and end the inning. Yanks go down 1-2-3.

UPDATE, 1:58PM: CC has his first 1-2-3 inning in the third. Picked up one more strikeout. We’re up to four now.

UPDATE, 2:00PM: Montero pulls a single past a diving McCoy. Major league hit No. 2 in the books.

UPDATE, 2:05PM: Captain Jeter puts one out in left field with Montero and Gardner on-base. That three-run blast makes it 4-0 Yanks. That was no cheapie, either.

UPDATE, 2:15PM: Teahen drives in a run with his second hit of the game — a double down the left field line. Hit, walk, hit and CC has given up a run with no outs and runners on 2nd and 3rd. 4-1 Yanks.

UPDATE, 2:19PM: CC gives up two runs, but limits the damage by sitting down the next three batters after allowing the first three to reach safely. Ended the inning with a strikeout of Wise. Through four innings, CC has allowed two earned runs on five hits and a walk, while striking out five.

UPDATE, 2:25PM: Yanks go down in order in the fourth. Montero will lead off in the bottom of the fifth.

UPDATE, 2:29PM: Nice play by Cano, ranging to his left and making the stab on a hard hit ball from Johnson. At first it looked like that ball was getting through. 1-2-3 inning for CC. Up to six strikeouts.

UPDATE, 2:33PM: Montero laces a line-drive single between the SS and 3B. Looks like Girardi was onto something when he said his first hit yesterday would relax him moving forward. Now he has his first multi-hit game.

UPDATE, 2:45PM: Well, CC is rolling now. He’s retired nine straight since giving up the RBI double to Teahen. He also has at least one strikeout in every inning. He’s up to eight now through six innings. He’s thrown 91 pitches, so I’d expect to see him back out for the seventh.

UPDATE, 2:47PM: A-Rod jacks one out opposite field to make it 5-2 Yanks. On the replay, you can see him cursing himself right after he made contact. He clearly didn’t get all of that, but that’s a good sign that he can push one out to the opposite field without hitting his sweet spot.

UPDATE, 3:04PM: After retiring ten straight (including his ninth strikeout of the game against Jose Molina to begin the seventh), CC finally gave up a hit to J.P. Arencibia. He followed that by promptly sitting down the next two batters. He’s probably done with 107 pitches after throwing so many in his last outing.

UPDATE, 3:10PM: No third hit for Montero. He reaches safely, but it’s ruled an error on the third baseman Lawrie. He’s done for the day, with Eduardo Nunez coming in to pinch run.

UPDATE, 3:22PM: CC is back out for the eighth, despite his relatively high pitch count. I guessed wrong on that one, but Girardi comes out to get him after he struck out the one batter he faced. CC’s final line: 7.1 IP, 6 H, 1 BB, 2 ER, 10 K, 111 pitches. He’s two K’s away from 2,000. Here comes Rafael Soriano.

UPDATE, 3:27PM: Jose Bautista promptly greets Soriano with an absolute moon shot to left. Give me your thoughts: Where do you rank Bautista among MVP candidates? His numbers are clearly the best, but it comes down to that old where does your team finish in the standings argument.

UPDATE, 3:42PM: Nick Swisher just deposited a ball in the right field seats for a two-run shot off of Jon Rauch. That one went a long way. It’s 7-3 Yanks in the eighth.

UPDATE, 3:51PM: Yankees continue to tack on runs here in the eighth. Two-out, two-run single from Jeter with the bases loaded makes it 9-3. That’s five RBI for Captain Clutch, tying a career high (fourth time he’s done it). That will save Mariano for another day. Cory Wade is in to pitch the ninth.

UPDATE, 4:01PM: Ballgame over, Yankees win. I’ll be back later with game notes. Follow me on Twitter @vzmercogliano for an update as soon as Girardi announces the rotation decision.

The biggest story to come out of Joe Girardi’s press conference this morning had nothing to do with today’s game. Girardi told the media that a decision has been made on which of the Yankees’ six starters will be pulled from the rotation, but he won’t make the announcement until after today’s series finale against the Toronto Blue Jays.

“I’ll probably have it for you after the game,” Girardi said. “I just have to make sure that I tell everyone involved.”

While anything can happen, the expectation is that the decision will come down to pulling either A.J. Burnett or Phil Hughes from the rotation. The odd man out will head to the bullpen.

CC Sabathia obviously isn’t going anywhere, and Freddy Garcia has arguably been the Yankees second most consistent starter. Bartolo Colon has rebounded nicely from a bit of a rough patch, and Ivan Nova currently has the longest winning streak in the majors. Those four appear to be safe.

Burnett has been brutal over the majority of the past two months, but he did have a solid start against the Red Sox on Thursday. Hughes didn’t fare as well against Boston on Wednesday, but he’s shown glimpses of returning to form since coming off the DL. We all know about Burnett’s big contract, but we also know that Hughes is supposed to be a big part of the Yankees future. So, who would you pull?

My quick two cents: I’ve heard many people make the argument that Hughes has more bullpen experience, so it makes more sense to move him out of the rotation. It’s true that Hughes was stellar out of the pen in 2009, but that was as the Yankees set-up man. With David Robertson, Rafael Soriano, Boone Logan, Cory Wade, etc. in front of Mariano Rivera, those opportunities likely wouldn’t be there for Hughes. The bullpen is a strength on this team right now, so whoever gets moved out of the rotation will likely be delegated to mop up duty. It’s not as if either of these guys is going to be moved into a crucial role.

Maybe I’m a little nervous from the whole Joba situation, but it just doesn’t make much sense to me to bounce a player back and forth who you believe has a chance to be a mainstay in the rotation. Yes, Burnett has two years remaining on his contract, but Hughes is still just 25 years old. He’s had some odd issues this season, but it could be extremely beneficial to get him back on track. Burnett has already ensured that he won’t be a Yankee past 2013 — if not sooner.

I guess we’ll find out how the Yankees feel in a few hours.

Here’s some more notes from Girardi’s press conference:

• Mark Teixeira will return to the lineup after missing the past two games with a bruised right knee. He will bat third and play first. “He came in today and said, ‘I’m good to go,’ ” Girardi said. “I didn’t even ask him. He came and said, ‘I’m good to go’ before I had a chance to ask him. I said, ‘Playing first?’ and he said, ‘Yeah.’ ”

• Girardi on what it means to have Tex back: “He’s got so much experience over there, and every play you know he’s going to be in the right spot. Swish does a great job in his absence… It’s good to see him get dirty, and he enjoys playing there every once in awhile.”

• Curtis Granderson is not playing today, but it’s just a normal day off. Brett Gardner will play center field, with Andruw Jones playing left against the left-handed Brett Cecil.

• Jesus Montero will DH and bat ninth. Girardi had him hitting seventh in his first two games. Robinson Cano mentioned that he expects Montero to be more relaxed after picking up his first big league hit yesterday, and Girardi concurred. “I think he’s made some pretty good in-game adjustments,” Girardi said. “After looking poor on the curveball from (Ricky) Romero, in his last at-bat that’s (the pitch) he hit… I thought he had an idea of what he wanted to do up there, and that’s a good sign. You would hope that he would relax, because I think everyone is always anxious to get that first hit. You can throw all of the other things out, just coming up as a rookie, it’s hard to relax. You want to impress everyone and prove that you belong.”

• Girardi says that CC will have no restrictions today, despite throwing 128 pitches (the most he’s ever thrown as a Yankee) in his last start. “He’s done that a number of times in his career,” Girardi said. “We’ll watch him carefully, but we watch him carefully anyway because of what time of year it is. We wanted him to go on his fifth day, and he wanted to go on his fifth day. He said he felt good, and he had a great bullpen the other day.”

• The Yankees will look to remain in first-place and complete a sweep of the Blue Jays today. They currently sit 1/2 game ahead of Boston in the standings. The Yankees record in day games is the best in the majors (36-9), and Girardi had an interesting take on why he thought that is the case. “If I had to guess, and it’s hard to put your finger on it, but sometimes with an older club, families get you up earlier, and it’s not such a long day. I know when I became a parent, I loved day games.”

Here’s the Yankee lineup that will face Toronto Blue Jays left-hander Brett Cecil today. CC Sabathia will start for the Yanks:

Brett Gardner CF
Derek Jeter SS
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Andruw Jones LF
Russell Martin C
Jesus Montero DH

Hey Yankee fans! Vincent Mercogliano here for the next two days in place of Chad. This is my first experience covering a Yankee game, and so far it looks like it’s going to be a beautiful day to be at The Stadium.

I’ll be posting frequently, starting today’s lineup in about a half hour, but I wanted to take this quick opportunity to introduce myself. As a sports reporter for the Journal News and a sports talk radio host, I am completely immersed in all things New York sports. There’s no team that I follow more closely than the Yankees, so I’m thrilled to be here for the next two days.

For an up-to-the-minute account of my first full day experience with the Yankees, follow me on Twitter @vzmercogliano. I’ll post the lineup first there, before making my way back up to the press box and putting it up on the blog.

Here are some of Robinson Cano’s post-game remarks:

“I thought, I want to face the lefty. Then they don’t throw a strike to (Rodriguez). I thought they were going to bring in a lefty, but they stayed with the righty and I said, ‘Wow, they just want to pitch to you. Get a pitch you can hit.’”

On whether this season is better than last season for him:
“I would say no because last year I was more patient in the beginning. You can tell by my average was higher than this time. But, I mean, it’s a good year for me, too. To be able to stay healthy, that’s all that matters to me.”

“I don’t have the kind of walks I had last year. This year I’ve been chasing pitches and swinging at high balls. So, if I was more patient, my average would be higher than it is now.

“This is the situation always. You’ve got to be patient if you want to keep your average over .300. When you don’t have Al in the lineup, or Tex, sometimes they’re not going to pitch to you. … You’ve got to be patient.”

On the winning double:
“Oh, it feels great. I mean, coming to a situation like that my first at bat, I grounded into a double play. I was (ticked) because I want to help Bartolo and the team get on top right away … I hope I get into that situation again and I’m not going to miss that one.”

On the pressure moments:
“Yeah, I love those. Those are the situations where you are going to become a better player, even as a person. The situation where you come up and OK, you’re going to fail over and over, but every time I want to be there.”

On paying attention to the batting average under .300.
“I’m not going to lie to you. It’s right in my face (on the scoreboard). Anyone would pay attention.”

“It was more bothering me because it’s not that I’m swinging at strikes. If I was swinging at strikes, I don’t care (about the average). But chasing pitches, swinging at high fastballs, not able to take more walks … if I swing at a strike and not get a hit, I would be happy because I know I’m making a good swing and swinging at strikes.”

“I talk to my dad all the time and he always says, ‘You’re chasing pitches, swinging at bad pitches, and you’ve got to be more patient, because when you’re swinging at strikes you’ll be able to make some damage.” (That talk took place two months ago, he said).

Can the end of this season make this year better than last year?
“Yeah, why not? I’m healthy. Yeah. I always say the only way you can make a better season is to be in there every day. I’m there every day, so I would say yes.”

On 100 RBI:
“It’s always good. You want to play the game and you want to be there. You want to have 100 RBI. This is my second time and I hope it continues.”

On improvement with runners on base:
“Way better than what I was. This game, the more you play the better you’re going to get. … You’re going to be able to sit and watch guys like Tex and Al and even Big Papi. Those are guys that get 100 RBI every year, how they can be so consistent every year. You watch those guys. They go to the plate, they’re not missing their pitches, so I would say, that’s why you want to be there. You want to be like those guys. I play the game not to just go home and say, ‘Oh, I play in the major leagues.’ I want to play the game and when I retire be one of the best. Why not?”

“The best thing is guys who want to be in a situation like that. And also you never see them (feel) pressure or anything. They just want to be there. If they fail in the first at-bat, they want to be there again. … You’ve got to use your imagination and visualize what you’re going to do in the game. That’s been helping me a lot.”

On whether he really believes that opponents want to pitch to him when they walk the batter before him:
“Well, to be honest with you, if you don’t throw strikes to Al in a situation like that, you had the lefty, so what does that tell you? He got me three times. You don’t throw strikes to Al. … so when they bring in the righty … so I say, ‘Well, they’re going to pitch to me.’

“Every time I see they walk the guy in front of me, that pumps me up and I say, ‘C’mon.’ If you’re hitting behind A-Rod, that’s what you want. … What can I say. When I see they walk him on four pitches, and he was throwing strikes the whole game, I say, ‘Well, there’s something wrong here.’

“I always tell myself, any time they walk a guy … in front of me, that gets me (going) right away. I say, ‘Be ready, they want a piece of you.’”

Associated Press photo.

Will have Robinson Cano later on.

Jesus Montero:
“I was pretty excited, pretty happy, to be on first base. Thank God that I hit the ball well … I wasn’t thinking about anything at that moment … I was thinking about the signs from the coach at third base.”

Mark Teixeira:
“I feel better. I feel really good about, hopefully playing tomorrow. Feel reallt good about the steps we made today. Tons of treatment today, but I got to work out, got to swing, kind of put myself through a little hit of jogging. It’s still sore, but to the point where I think I should be able to play tomorrow.”

“We took X-rays (Friday) and the biggest thing is the hamstring tendon. You don’t want to mess with that. If that’s not feeling right, too tight, you don’t want to push it. That got a lot better. Hopefully I’ll be good tomorrow.”

David Robertson:
(hasn’t pitched two innings since May 20, 2010).
“(Joe Girardi) just gave me the heads-up: be ready for the eighth or ninth. So I knew coming into this game I need to be ready for possibly both, or coming in in the eighth and finishing the ballgame.”

Is it different to not have Rivera behind you?
“It’s a little different, yeah. Kind of got a little worried there when I gave up the double. Kind of, ‘Gosh, this is it; you better figure a way to get out of it.’ I just had to focus a little more and start making some pitches. I was getting into some deep counts and I didn’t have the best-best stuff. I was missing some pitches and they made me work for it.”

On satisfaction of closing it out:
“Yeah, I think the last time I tried to go for a two-inning save I couldn’t get out of it. I think Boone (Logan) had to come in and finish it for me. It was nice to get out of it.”

On whether he wants to one day be the ninth-inning closer.
“Yeah, sure, in the future, yeah. But I don’t have to worry about it. We’ve got 42 here. I don’t have to worry about anything.

“I feel like it’s something I want to work towards. I mean, I’d love to be a pitcher like Mo, and be able to hang around and do what he does. I feel like a lot of people want to do that, so it’s not like I’m saying something weird.”

“What does he have now? (596 saves). That’s a lot of saves. That’s not even counting postseason, either. He’s a good pitcher.”