The LoHud Yankees Blog

Even before Freddy Garcia walked out to the mound and stepped on the rubber, the Yankees had already wrapped up a spot the postseason. But Garcia hadn’t secured a spot in the postseason rotation. He might have done that this afternoon.

“What he did today is what he’s been doing most of the year for us,” Joe Girardi said. “… Freddy’s a guy that’s been there and done all that. As we move forward we’ll continue to look at all those things, but today he pitched great.”

Garcia struggled in his first two games this month, and a couple of bad pitches really hurt him last weekend in Toronto, but today was vintage Garcia. He gave up five hits, but all were singles. He struck out only three, but also walked just one. He gave the Yankees six innings, and he beat the Red Sox, and none of the other third-start candidates has been especially impressive lately.

“I needed to pitch good today because my last three starts I was a little bit struggling,” Garcia said. “I did it. I’m really happy about it, and now I’m looking forward to my next start. I don’t know when, but hopefully I’ll be in the playoffs.”

Girardi said he likes that Garcia mixes his pitches. He likes that Garcia gives a different look than the other Yankees starters. And he likes that Garcia’s been to the playoffs before. Garcia has a 3.11 ERA in 55 postseason innings.

“I’ve been there before and I’ve been successful,” Garcia said. “Hopefully they give me the ball and I’ll be there to pitch. That’s what I do… I always like to prove people wrong. I like that. I like a challenge. If they give me a chance to start the game, I’ll be there.”

Here’s Garcia.

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Jesus Montero’s first big league at-bat came with the bases loaded against Jon Lester, and he struck out. Montero’s first at-bat this afternoon was in the same situation, and Montero singled in the first run of the game. It was the start of a 3-for-4 day that included four RBI and Montero’s fourth home run of the season.

Girardi: “I actually thought he had a pretty good at-bat that day (in his debut). I thought he fouled off some pitches and just missed some pitches. He had the one swing that he swung at over his head, his first pitch. I can completely understand that. First day in the big leagues. At Fenway. Bases loaded. Against Jon Lester. I wouldn’t have thought anything if he swung at three balls over his head, I just wouldn’t have. As that day went on, I thought his at-bats were pretty good. We have seen consistent at-bats against left-handers, there’s no doubt about it.”

Montero: “I was remembering the first time, he was on the mound in Boston. I was like, wow, this is a movie again, or something like that? I have him again with three men on base? You get kind of nervous, I get a little nervous in that moment, but I got the base-hit, thank God.”

Here’s Montero.

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• The Yankees will clinch home-field advantage with one more win, or if Detroit loses tonight against Baltimore.

• The pregame ceremony honoring Roger Maris was really nice. One thing about the Yankees, when they bring out their legends, they aren’t messing around. Yogi Berra and Whitey Ford always bring the house down. And one of the Maris boys looks just like his father.

• This was the first time the Yankees had beaten the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium this season. They are 5-11 against Boston this season.

• After scoring eight runs in the first three innings, the Yankees had just one hit — Montero’s home run — from the fourth inning to the end of the game.

• Today was Garcia’s first scoreless start since July 20. It was his fourth scoreless start of the season, and he’s allowed four earned runs or less in 22 of his 25 starts. He’s 6-2 with a 3.20 ERA in day games.

• Girardi said he’s not sure what Garcia will do next, but he could throw a sim game to keep himself on his routine and sharp for a playoff appearance.

• Girardi still has no next step for Phil Hughes, but Girardi is confident that Hughes came through today’s bullpen just fine. Girardi said it’s “possible” Hughes will start one of the games in Tampa. Earlier, it seemed like Hughes would definitely get one of those starts. Could be that the Yankees want him to work out of the bullpen if that’s going to be his postseason role, but Girardi didn’t commit one way or the other.

• Derek Jeter has a hit in 18 of his past 20 games. He homered on a fastball and has now driven in a run in five of his past nine games against Boston. He’s hitting .332 since coming off the disabled list, and he’s hitting .400 against lefties since coming off the DL.

• Montero is the first Yankees rookie to have four RBI in a game against Boston since Brett Gardner drove in four runs on September 26, 2008 at Fenway.

• According to ESPN Stats and Info: Montero is the fifth Yankee with four or more home runs in his first 15 Major League games. The rest of the list: Shelley Duncan, Oscar Azocar, Kevin Maas and Steve Whitaker.

• Montero on driving the ball to right field: “All the time my approach is to right field, trying to hit the ball to right field all the time. Sometimes it’s not going to happen, but I’m thinking that way because that’s the way I learned to hit in the Yankees (organization). That’s the way they pitch me. Every time I go to bat, that’s the way I think.”

• Maybe Russell Martin shouldn’t hate the Red Sox so much. He has 10 RBI in 11 games against Boston this season, his highest RBI total against any team in 2011. His three home runs against Boston are also his most against any team.

• The Yankees announced an attendance of 49,556, the highest for any regular-season game at the current Yankee Stadium. Today’s number broke the previous record by exactly one person.

Assocaited Press photos

Jesus Montero drove in four runs, Derek Jeter hit his sixth home run of the season and Freddy Garcia might have solidified his spot in the postseason rotation in a 9-1 Yankees win against the Red Sox this afternoon. Montero was 3-for-4 including a home run. He started the scoring with a bases-loaded single in the second inning, and Jeter’s three-run shot later that inning gave the Yankees an early six-run advantage. Montero’s two-run double chased Red Sox starter Jon Lester, who pitched a season-low 2.2 innings. Garcia cruised with six scoreless, picking up his 12th win while walking one and striking out three.

Associated Press photo

YANKEES (95-61)
Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Andruw Jones LF
Jesus Montero DH
Russell Martin C

RHP Freddy Garcia (11-8, 3.77)
Garcia vs. Red Sox

RED SOX (88-68)
Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Carl Crawford LF
Dustin Pedroia 2B
David Ortiz DH
Adrian Gonzalez 1B
Mike Aviles 3B
Marco Scutaro SS
Josh Reddick RF
Jarrod Saltalamacchia C

LHP Jon Lester (15-8, 3.15)
Lester vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 4:05., FOX

WEATHER: Cloudy by nice. Temperatures in the 70s. Very, very light breeze.

UMPIRES: HP Marvin Hudson, 1B Brian Runge, 2B Ted Barrett, 3B Tim McClelland

SUMMER OF ’61: The Yankees are holding a pregame ceremony to honor the 50th anniversary of Roger Maris’ then-record 61 home runs in 1961. The ceremony includes members of the Maris family — including Roger’s wife Pat — the Mantle family, former teammates, Sal Durante (who caught Maris’ 61st HR) and Frank Prudenti (Yankees bat boy in ‘61).

DOWN THE STRETCH: The Yankees are in the midst of playing 33 games over the final 32 days of the season. They have gone 17-10 thus far.

SINCE THE BREAK: The Yankees are 42-26 since the all-star break. Only the Brewers — 43-22 — have won more games in the second half.

UPDATE, 4:28 p.m.: Scoreless after one as Garcia stranded Ellsbury at second base.

UPDATE, 4:44 p.m.: The kid comes through. Montero’s bases-loaded single has given the Yankees a 1-0 lead in the second, still just one out.

UPDATE, 4:46 p.m.: Two-run single by Martin. Three-run homer by Jeter. It’s a 6-0 Yankees lead and this place is roaring. That’s Jeter’s sixth homer of the year.

UPDATE, 5:14 p.m.: Montero again. This time his two-run double has pushed the Yankees lead to 8-0 and chased Lester from the game. Meanwhile, Garcia has allowed one hit through three innings, making a strong case that he’s not finished just yet.

UPDATE, 5:39 p.m.: Garcia is through five scoreless, and he’s looking more like the guy the Yankees had in the first half. ALDS rotation of Sabathia, Nova and Garcia, with Sabathia on short rest in Game 4? Might make sense?

UPDATE, 6:02 p.m.: Six scoreless for Garcia, and he walks off the field with a small fist pump. He’s at 102 pitches, so that’s probably it for him. He gave the Yankees exactly what they needed (and what they wanted to see).

UPDATE, 6:06 p.m.: Montero goes deep, his fourth homer of the season. He’s clearly the DH against lefties, but is he going to DH every game, regardless of lefty-righty?

UPDATE, 7:05 p.m.: New defense for the Yankees: P Kontos, C Romine, 1B Swisher, 2B Pena, SS Nunez, 3B Laird, LF Golson, CF Gardner, RF Dickerson.

Pretty quiet day here at Yankee Stadium. The first person I saw in the clubhouse was Yogi Berra, dressed in a sharp suit for today’s Roger Maris ceremony. The last person I talked to in the Yankees clubhouse was Phil Hughes, having just sat down after a morning bullpen.

“I didn’t even feel it,” he said.

In this case, Hughes was referring to his lower back, which started causing him problems last weekend and cost him a start this week. Hughes threw 35 to 40 pitches and he remains on schedule — assuming no setbacks — to pitch next week in Tampa. There’s no date scheduled for that appearance.

“I think you really have to wait and see how he feels tomorrow and decide what we’re going to do,” Joe Girardi said.

Given the fact he hasn’t pitched since September 12, there’s a very real possibility that the Yankees will decide to simply move him into the bullpen for the division series.

“I think you have to think about that,” Girardi said. “I think that’s one of the things you have to think about just because he hasn’t thrown in a while and we’re not sure how it’s going to play out in the next couple of days after throwing this bullpen. Just a lot of decisions to be made by Friday.”

• Francisco Cervelli ran for about 10 minutes today. He’s still not ready to begin baseball activities, but he’s making progress. “I still would be a little bit surprise if we got him back,” Girardi said. “But, you know, maybe it stays away and maybe he’s able to help us.”

• Without Cervelli, the Yankees have to consider a postseason roster without a traditional backup catcher. “It changes the way that maybe you think about your roster a little bit,” Girardi said. “You know, when you think about your roster, the expectation is that Russell is going to play every day. You really have to think about how you’re going to do things and the combination of guys. There’s a lot of thought that’s going to go into this. The one thing about making a roster is you try to guard against everything, that’s what you try to do, but you really can’t.”

• A.J. Burnett will start the first game tomorrow. Ivan Nova will start the second.

• Girardi was asked today about the impact of Mark Teixeira’s defense at first base: “He saves us errors,” Girardi said. “Saving errors to me is important. It saves runs, No. 1. No. 2, it saves pitches for our starter. An inning ends up being prolonged and a pitcher throws 12 extra pitches, and it takes an inning away from them, and it affects your bullpen. It’s just kind of a trickle effect. So, being able to save pitches by saving errors is extremely important to me, and he does a wonderful job.”

• I actually have not yet seen Manny Banuelos, but I know he’s here. I’ve seen Adam Warren and David Phelps hanging around the past two days. They’re here to observe for the weekend, just to get themselves used to the big league environment.

“This is something that our club has done in the past where we bring young kids up that we think could have an impact either next year or the year after,” Girardi said. “(They) kind of get a feel what it’s like to be in our clubhouse, see all the media, understand our clubhouse — our clubhouse is something you have to learn – so when they do get here, they’re more comfortable. We all know that those first couple days as a big league player, a lot of times, there’s a lot of butterflies, but you try to get rid of some of that. But these are kids that we believe are going to help us, and that’s why they’re here.”

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

Associated Press photos

Same lineup that was posted yesterday.

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

Does Robinson Cano think he should be the American League’s MVP? Not exactly.

“I would say whoever you guys pick,” Cano said yesterday. “That’s not my choice. It’s like if you ask my mom, ‘Who is the prettiest man in the world?’ She’s going to say me.”

On Thursday, Cano said he would vote for himself for MVP. Cano wasn’t misquoted, it’s just that — the way he saw the question — he was being asked to pick from a list of candidates. If his name were on that ballot, he would pick himself.

Who wouldn’t want to be the MVP?

“If you say, ‘You’re a candidate,’ and then say, ‘Who would you vote for?’ what are you going to say?” Cano explained. “It’s like running for president. When they have to vote at the end, they pick themselves. I never said I am or want to be. You guys have a choice of who it is and who it’s going to be. We’re getting close to the playoffs and that’s what we’re here for. I’m focused on the playoffs.”

It’s actually an interesting question. For most of the second half, Curtis Granderson has seemed to be the Yankees obvious MVP candidate. But is it that obvious?

Granderson has only three more RBI than Cano. Granderson has more runs but fewer hits. He has more home runs but fewer extra-base hits. It’s Cano who leads the Yankees in total bases. Both have played strong defense up the middle, and both have helped fill the void for injured and underperforming teammates.

I still think Granderson should be ahead of Cano in the final vote, but Cano’s not far behind.

“I think it’s an MVP-caliber type of year, what he’s done for us this year,” Joe Girardi said. “Him and Grandy. I think he’s had a very good year, and in the absence of Alex, stepping into the four hole and just continuing to be productive. He’s a guy that seems to get stronger as the season goes on. August and September are two of his best months and he’s continued to do that, and we all know how important that is with the races that the Yankees are in every year. To me, he’s had a very, very good year.”

Here’s Cano speaking before yesterday’s rainout.

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Associated Press photo

“How fitting.”

That’s what Joe Girardi said after tonight’s game was postponed by rain. It was the Yankees ninth postponement of the season, the most in baseball. Adding games that have been delayed, the Yankees have been affected by weather 22 times this season. That includes a delay when they were playing in a dome and lightning knocked out some of the lights.

“It makes sense,” Girardi said. “It’s going to rain all night. Get out of here and we’re going to have a split on Sunday… I’m not sure that we have a window, so they just decided to bang it early.”

The Yankees are familiar with the process. They’ll get out of here a little later on Sunday night, and they’ll have to push back a couple of starters, but otherwise the impact of a doubleheader on Sunday is minimal.

With all the extra guys on the roster, Girardi said he doesn’t expect anyone to play both games on Sunday.

“When you don’t have the extra guys, it’s a little tougher, which we’ve been through already a few times this year,” Girardi said. “Very unlikely I’ll play guys two games.”

As you might expect, there wasn’t much “postgame” audio worth posting, so here’s Joba Chamblerlain talking pregame about his Tommy John recovery. A highlight is A.J. Burnett’s background reaction when Chamberlain explained that he’s only able to make 30 throws from 30 feet.

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• Today, Oklahoma Christian University dedicated the Bobby Murcer Training Facility. “On behalf of the entire New York Yankees organization, we are thrilled that Bobby Murcer and his family have been bestowed this great honor,” Hal Steinbrenner said in a statement. “This fitting tribute is a perfect example of Bobby’s everlasting spirit and zest for life, and serves as a testament to his deep sense of community. Bobby continues to make the New York Yankees proud.”

• Phil Hughes played catch today, and he’s scheduled to throw a bullpen tomorrow. The Yankees don’t have a game scheduled, but they still expect him to start one of those final three games in Tampa.

• CC Sabathia is still planning to throw a simulated game on Sunday. He’ll throw it before the first game of the doubleheader.

• Today’s pregame ceremony honoring Roger Maris has been pushed back to Saturday.

• YES Network will televise both games on Sunday. They’ll also have a post-game show after each game.

• What happens if the Yankees are rained out Saturday or Sunday? “You’d have to play Thursday (before the ALDS),” Girardi said. “That wouldn’t be what I would hope for, no.”

Associated Press photos

Joe Girardi said the rotation has just been pushed back one day. Freddy Garcia will start tomorrow. A.J. Burnett and Ivan Nova — in some order — will start on Sunday. Here’s the press release from the Yankees explaining tonight’s rainout and the makeup details.

The New York Yankees announced that tonight’s game between the Yankees and Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium has been postponed due to inclement weather.

Tonight’s postponed game will be made up as the second game of a day-night doubleheader to be played on Sunday, September 25 at 6:30 p.m. at Yankee Stadium.

***THE ONLY TICKETS VALID FOR SUNDAY’S 6:30 P.M. GAME ARE TICKETS DATED SEPTEMBER 23.***

Fans holding paid tickets for tonight’s game may use them for the rescheduled game or exchange their paid tickets for any regular season game at Yankee Stadium during the 2012 season (subject to availability). Tickets for Saturday’s 4:10 p.m. game vs. Boston and Sunday’s 1:05 p.m. game vs. Boston are sold out.

Fans holding Complimentary tickets for tonight’s game must use them for the rescheduled game on September 25 at 6:30 p.m. Complimentary tickets or equivalent tickets bear no cash value and do not have any additional benefits that may be offered to ticket(s) with a dollar value.

For complete information about the Yankees’ rainout policy, please visit www.yankees.com/rainout.

Tonight’s game has been rained out.

It will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Sunday.

The rain has slowed a little bit, but it’s still coming down here at Yankee Stadium, and the tarp is still on the field. Nothing about the scene suggests a baseball game is remotely close to happening.

“All I know is when I look at the radar there’s a big, green blob out there coming this way,” Joe Girardi said. “We’re right in the middle of it… I don’t know what they’re going to do. The other night we waited until 11:15 to start a game and we played in the rain the whole time, and we played during what I thought was more than moderate rain at times. I have no idea what we’re going to do.”

Although Girardi said there’s no contingency plan he’s heard about. A doubleheader on Sunday seems to make sense, but there’s been no sort of announcement.

Girardi said he might change his lineup based on conditions, but as long as it stops raining, he thinks the field might drain fast enough that he would feel confident sending his regulars out there.

Speaking of sending regulars out there…

“My lineup is going to be very representative every day,” Girardi said. “I have plans. I have already kind of even staked it out where one guys or two guys get this day off, and two guys get this day off, and you’re going to see seven of our regulars in there. Some of that’s going to be Chavy and Nuney who have platooned for us and they’ve been regulars at points during the season.”

• Girardi’s still not ready to announce his postseason rotation — obviously — but he did more or less lock up two spots. Not that this is a big shock, but he agreed that CC Sabathia and Ivan Nova are both no-doubt ALDS starters. “We have to make some decisions, there’s no doubt about it,” Girardi said. “But I think you’re safe to say that.”

• Could A.J. Burnett start an ALDS game? “Anyone could get a start in the ALDS,” Girardi said. “That’s where we are right now. I’ll continue to evaluate, and a lot of it depends on who we play.”

• Also not a huge shock, but Girardi made it clear that he plans to have Russell Martin start every playoff game behind the plate. “I think he’s more than capable of playing every day, every playoff game behind home plate, so that’s not really a question in my mind,” Girardi said. “Can he do that? I have no problem doing that.”

• Ultimately, Girardi said he’s not close to finalizing any postseason roster decisions. He hasn’t even met with his staff to talk about it. “We’ve had some long days and we’ve been at the ballpark a lot,” he said. “I think you wait and see how things play out. We’ll have meetings next week and that’s when we’ll really begin to talk about it.”

• Francisco Cervelli said he hasn’t been dizzy this past week, and he’s still holding out hope that he’ll be healthy enough to play in the postseason. That said, he’s also planning to be very cautious because he doesn’t want to get too aggressive with a head injury.

• Joba Chamberlain also rejoined the Yankees this afternoon (on his birthday). He made 30 throws from 30 feet pregame — with Larry Rothschild — and he said he’ll be at that distance for a while. He said that he’s a month to six weeks ahead of schedule, and he thinks he’ll be able to throw off a mound by spring training.

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

Associated Press photos, the one at the top is from that rain game against the Orioles, but it paints a pretty accurate picture of the current scene