The LoHud Yankees Blog

YANKEES (93-60)
Brett Gardner CF
Derek Jeter SS
Robinson Cano DH
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Nick Swisher RF
Jorge Posada 1B
Andruw Jones LF
Eduardo Nunez 2B
Austin Romine C

RHP Hector Noesi (2-1, 4.01)
Noesi vs. Rays

RAYS (85-68)
Desmond Jennings LF
B.J. Upton CF
Evan Longoria 3B
Matt Joyce RF
Johnny Damon DH
Casey Kotchman 1B
Jose Lobaton C
Elliot Johnson 2B
Reid Brignac SS

RHP James Shields (15-11, 2.78)
Shields vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 1:08 p.m., YES Network

WEATHER: It’s a bit chilly and cloudy, but there hasn’t been any rain yet. The forecast calls for showers later, so we should be O.K. for the first game. The second may be another story.

UMPIRES: HP Scott Barry, 1B Wally Bell, 2B Fieldin Culbreth, 3B John Hirschbeck

CLINCHER?: With a win in the first game of today’s doubleheader, the Yankees will clinch a postseason berth. With two wins and a Boston loss, they clinch the division. A celebration is coming…

DOUBLE TROUBLE: This is will be the Yankees fourth doubleheader of the season. They’ve swept one, and split twice so far. They’ve gone 12-1-14 in doubleheaders since 2000, only getting swept by Boston in 2006.

A-ROD NEARING JUNIOR: Alex Rodriguez currently has 629 career home runs, one away from former teammate Ken Griffey, Jr.’s mark of 630. Could today be the day? He’s a career .281 hitter against Shields with three HR in 32 at-bats.

UPDATE, 1:11PM: Easy 1-2-3 inning for Noesi to get things started. Struck out Jennings to lead off the game, then got Upton and Longoria to fly out. Let’s not forget that Noesi is a guy who Girardi has said will compete for a rotation spot next season. He’s been impressive since getting called up.

UPDATE, 1:21PM: A-Rod doubles to the warning track in center with two outs, scoring Jeter and giving the Yanks a 1-0 lead. For a second it looked like it might have a chance to get out, but he’ll take the RBI double. The thumb looked pretty good right there.

UPDATE, 1:32PM: Romine blocks a ball in the dirt, recovers and guns out Joyce on the steal attempt. I guess you can see why Girardi prefers him over Jesus Montero.

UPDATE, 1:40PM: After allowing the first two batters of the second inning to reach base safely, Noesi strikes out Lobaton looking to end the inning. He’s at 33 pitches.

UPDATE, 1:52PM: Jennings launches his 10th homer of the season over the State Farm sign in left field. The two-run shot gives the Rays a 2-1 lead. LHP Raul Valdes is warming in the Yankee pen.

UPDATE, 1:57PM: After an infield single from Longoria on a shaky play from Posada, Valdes is in to face the lefty Joyce with two outs.

UPDATE, 2:01PM: Valdes gives up a single to Joyce, but gets Damon swinging to end the inning. 2-1 Rays going into the bottom of the third.

UPDATE, 2:20PM: Not a bad outing for Valdes, who goes 1.1 innings while striking out three. The guess is that he’s done, but you never know with the lefty Jennings leading off next inning. He’s thrown 30 pitches.

UPDATE, 2:29PM: Posada looks bad on a swinging strikeout to end the fourth. Since A-Rod’s first inning RBI double, the Yanks have only one hit. George Kontos is in to start the fifth for the Yankees. It’s still 2-1 Rays.

UPDATE, 2:36PM: And another call to the bullpen. We may be mixing and matching all the way through in this one. Aaron Laffey is in to replace Kontos with two outs in the fifth. I know the Yanks have an expanded roster, but I doubt Girardi wants to use any relievers twice in one day. He has to be careful not to keep switching pitchers every other batter.

UPDATE, 2:55PM: Nunez lines a single to left, then steals back-to-back bases to get to third. He’s been having trouble on steals recently, but looks like a one-man show right now. Romine has a chance to drive him in with one out.

UPDATE, 2:57PM: Romine hits a hard liner right at Longoria at third, who promptly steps on the bag for the double play before Nunez can retreat back. Big opportunity to tie the game down the drain.

UPDATE, 3:05PM: Here’s Cory Wade in relief of Laffey. Kotchman is on second with one out after a leadoff double. Sean Rodriguez is in to pinch hit for Johnson.

UPDATE, 3:10PM: Nice play by Jeter, ranging to the other side of second base to get Brignac and end the threat. Say what you will about his diminishing defense, but he still makes plays like that.

UPDATE, 3:29PM: Onto the sixth reliever of the day for the Yanks. Wade gets two outs in the sixth, and here comes Boone Logan to face Matt Joyce. This is the spot where the Rays have three straight lefties in the lineup. What’s your guess on how many arms Girardi burns in this first game?

UPDATE, 3:41PM: Shields issues his first walk of the game to Posada, who is pinch run for by Chris Dickerson. Then, Curtis Granderson comes in to pinch hit for Jones. With all of the pitching changes and now these moves, it’s pretty clear that Girardi is trying to win this game.

UPDATE, 3:44PM: Granderson stays in the game to play CF, moving Gardner to LF. Swisher takes Posada’s place at 1B, and Dickerson will play RF.

UPDATE, 3:50PM: Here comes pitcher No. 7 for the Yanks, Luis Ayala. Logan got Damon to fly to left, before hitting Kotchman and allowing a hard single to Lobaton. Runners on 1st and 2nd with one out.

UPDATE, 3:58PM: Ayala does it again. He’s been so reliable this season. He just struck out Ben Zobrist and Brignac back-to-back to end the top of the eighth. Nunez coming up for the Yanks.

UPDATE, 4:02PM: Nunez comes out swinging, lining a home run over the left field fence that makes it over the wall by about an inch. It counts nonetheless, and the score is tied at 2-2 here in the eighth.

UPDATE, 4:10PM: That’s it for Shields after a single by Gardner and a walk to Jeter. Lefty JP Howell is coming in to face Cano, who is a .294 career hitter off of Howell.

UPDATE, 4:17PM: What else did you expect? Cano is hitting .315 with runners in scoring position this season, and he just raised that average with a double over the outfielder’s heads into the left-center field gap. Gardner and Jeter score, and now the Yankees have a 4-2 lead. Brandon Gomes is in to face A-Rod.

UPDATE, 4:22PM: Here comes Mo. Girardi puts A-team defense out there, moving Cano to 2B and bringing in Mark Teixeira to play 1B and Russell Martin to catch.

For the second straight day, Phil Hughes has had his start pushed back due to back spasms. Hector Noesi will start in his place in the first game of a doubleheader against the Tampa Bay Rays, and he’ll be good for about 50-60 pitches.

“He’s still not where he needs to be,” manager Joe Girardi said of Hughes. “We talked about maybe trying to throw a bullpen between games, but we’ll see about that as the day goes on. He’s still not ready to go.”

Girardi said that Hughes is in much better shape than he was over the weekend, but still not at the point where he would feel comfortable putting him on the mound.

“He’s better,” Girardi said. “If you saw him on Saturday, he wasn’t walking around very well. He’s gotten better, but he just hasn’t gotten to the point (where he needs to be). A starting pitcher has to have flexibility in his back, or he’s going to be standing straight up and he’s not going to be able to throw the ball the way he wants. He is improving everyday.”

The bullpen should be in for a lot of work in the first game, with Noesi unlikely to get past the fourth inning. The big name that everyone wants to see is prospect Dellin Betances, who is still yet to make his major league debut. Andrew Brackman, George Kontos and Raul Valdes are other candidates to get some work after being used sparingly in past few weeks.

“I feel good about it, because our bullpen got some rest last night, and we have some guys who can give us some distance down there if we do need them,” Girardi said. “They haven’t been called on to pitch in awhile, but if we do need them we can use them.”

The concern with Hughes moving forward is whether or not the Yankees will get to see him pitch again before the end of the regular season. He’s been effective in his last two starts, going six innings in each while allowing a combined three earned runs. With the playoff rotation very much up in the air after CC Sabathia and Ivan Nova, Girardi would like to see Hughes again to determine if he belongs.

“In the long term, I’m not concerned about Hughsie’s health; I’m not,” Girardi said. “I’ve had back spasms numerous times in my career, and they go away, and there’s no rhyme or reason why they come sometimes. A lot of times they’ll stay away for years. In the short term, we want him to pitch again, so that’s a concern. We worry about fatigue with some of our older guys, but our guys have found a way to get it done all year long. I believe they’ll continue to do it.”

Last time I was here, we discussed what the postseason rotation should look like. We had CC in Game 1 and Nova in Game 2, and at the time it seemed that Freddy Garcia was the most likely candidate for Game 3. But Garcia has struggled in his last three starts. He hasn’t made it past the fifth inning since August, and has allowed two home runs in each of his past three starts.

Bartolo Colon pitched a gem against the Angels on Sept. 9, but couldn’t make it out of the fifth against Toronto in his last start. And AJ Burnett, well, we know the story there.

So, who’s your No. 3 right now?

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

• With a win in either of today’s games, the Yankees will clinch a playoff spot. With two wins and a Boston loss, the Yankees clinch the division. There’s a good chance that champagne will flow at some point today, it’s just a matter of when. Girardi was asked about the potential awkwardness of celebrating between games, with the implication being that you’re not going to want players getting boozed up before they have to play another game. “I want them to let out when they have an ability to let things out. Obviously, we have to be careful about what we do in between games, but we’ll see,” he said with a laugh. “We haven’t really talked about it, and I don’t really have a general philosophy. I want the guys to just do what comes naturally. I think that’s important. These guys have worked extremely hard all year long, and we know what the goals are here.”

• Girardi was asked if he had considered pitching CC in the first game after the Hughes decision was made, but he said they wanted to stick with the original plan. “We had plans of pitching him in the second game,” he said. “We knew that if Phil had issues with his back that we were going to have to do this with our bullpen anyway, so it didn’t really matter.”

• Curtis Granderson, who is sitting for the first game, is heating up again. He’s homered three times in his last eight contests, and currently ranks second in the majors with a career-high 41 homers (that’s the most HR by a Yankee center fielder since Mickey Mantle hit 54 in 1961). He went 3 for 5 yesterday with four RBI, giving him 119 for the season, which leads the majors. With Boston limping down the stretch, the AL MVP race should probably come down to Grandy and Toronto’s Jose Bautista. “I just think that he’s gotten hot again,” Girardi said. “It’s kind of what he does. I think giving him a day off kind of helped him. Our guys were beat up in Toronto, even though we had that day off on Thursday. I think the day off really helped him, and I think it helped Tex. Grandy is a guy that sometimes all of a sudden it’s bang, bang, bang, and he puts up big numbers.”

• Girardi said that he has not decided on a rotation for the weekend yet, which is probably because he’s waiting to see what happens with Hughes. Bartolo Colon is set to finish the series against Tampa tomorrow, with Garcia, Burnett and Nova in line for starts against Boston if Hughes can’t go.

Tampa Bay lineup

Desmond Jennings LF
B.J. Upton CF
Evan Longoria 3B
Matt Joyce RF
Johnny Damon DH
Casey Kotchman 1B
Jose Lobaton C
Elliot Johnson 2B
Reid Brignac SS
James Shields P

Associated Press photos

Good morning all! Vincent Z. Mercogliano back manning the blog once again for today’s doubleheader against the Tampa Bay Rays. Some of you probably remember me from Labor Day weekend, when I covered a couple of games. For immediate updates all day, you can follow me on Twitter @vzmercogliano. I’ll usually post information there first, until I get back to my computer to blog it.

After a delay, the lineup has finally been posted. The big news is that Phil Hughes has been scratched from his start again after being pushed back yesterday. Hector Noesi will start in his place, and Girardi said he’s good for about 50-60 pitches. The bullpen should get some early work today.

Here’s the rest of the lineup:

Gardner CF
Jeter SS
Cano DH
Rodriguez 3B
Swisher RF
Posada 1B
Jones LF
Nunez 2B
Romine C
Noesi P

The Yankees will surely be spraying Champagne around the clubhouse soon. It could be as early as today.

Here’s the situation: 

If they sweep today’s day/night doubleheader against Tampa Bay and Boston loses, then they clinch the East because that magic number is now three. If they win one of the games against the Rays, they clinch a playoff spot because that magic number is two. In fact, if they win any of their remaining six games against the Rays, they will clinch a spot.

“We have a chance to get that and that’s a step,” Joe Girardi said. “We need to continue to play good baseball. Our goal is to win the division and have home-field advantage and go from there.”

The Red Sox lost again, so they trail in the division by six games. That’s a season-high lead for the Yankees. But Boston’s lead over Tampa Bay remained at two for the wild card thanks to the Yankees. That lead was nine back on Sept. 2.

“This is what you plot in the offseason and you play the whole season to play meaningful games at this time of the year,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “We’re not going to get any extra money for it, but we’ve already been in the playoffs for about 10 days. And it’s been fantastic.”

*Running out of superlatives for Ivan Nova. He’s been the Yankees’ best starter heading toward to the playoffs, even better than CC of late. Nova is up to 16-4 and his ERA is down to 3.62 after 7 2/3 of no-run, six-hit work in this 5-0 win. He’s undefeated in his last 15 starts. He has won 12 straight decisions, tying the Yankees’ rookie record for a starter. He has the most wins by a Yankees rookie in 43 years.

Want more? Well, here it comes anyway: Since 2000, only Sabathia and Justin Verlander have posted more wins as rookies than Nova. Those two had 17. Nova has held opponents to three earned runs or less in six straight starts and 10 of the last 11.

“It’s unbelievable,” Nova said. “I was planning to have a good season, but … it’s really good.”

The Yankees have been struck by his poise.

“To be a young guy and to have a head on his shoulders like that, to be composed when he goes out there, be a professional, it kind of looks like when he’s on the mound, he kind of looks like a veteran guy,” Nick Swisher said. “He’s got great stuff, good sinker.”

Swisher added: “He’s a very chill guy, relaxed. But out on the mound, he turns into a bulldog.”

*After the game, Girardi still didn’t know if Phil Hughes could start the first game of the doubleheader because of the aftermath of the back spasms he suffered last Friday.

“I’m not sure if he can make his start,” Girardi said. “That’s the report. I have a little hope that he can. We’ll see how he feels in the morning and then we’ll go from there.”

*The Yankees left 18 on base, their most in a nine-inning game since 1956.

*Eric Chavez had an RBI single in the fourth, bringing him to .425 with runners in scoring position, at 17 for 40.

*Robinson Cano delivered his 45th double, three shy of his career high.

*Curtis Granderson went 3 for 5 with four RBI. He’s at .355 (11 for 31) over his last eight games.

*Derek Jeter’s two hits gave him 3,082, so he passed Cap Anson for 19th on the all-time list. Dave Winfield is 18th at 3,110. The Captain has hit safely in 12 straight games at home and 16 of his last 17 overall.

Yankees lineup
1. Derek Jeter SS
2. Curtis Granderson CF
3. Mark Teixeira 1B
4. Alex Rodriguez DH
5. Robinson Cano 2B
6. Nick Swisher RF
7. Eric Chavez 3B
8. Russell Martin C
9. Brett Gardner LF
Ivan Nova RHP

Rays lineup
1. Desmond Jennings LF
2. B.J. Upton CF
3. Evan Longoria 3B
4. Johnny Damon DH
5. Casey Kotchman 1B
6. Matt Joyce RF
7. Sean Rodriguez 2B
8. Kelly Shoppach C
9. Reid Brignac SS
Wade Davis RHP

Time/TV: 7:09/MY9
Weather: Cloudy, 67
Umpires: Wally Bell HP, Scott Barry 1B, Brian Knight 2B, Vic Carapazza 3B

Magic numbers: The Yankees’ magic number to clinch a playoff spot is four and their magic number to clinch the East is five.
Super Nova: Ivan Nova’s 15 wins are the most by a Yankees rookie since Stan Bahnsen won 17 in 1968. He’s 11-0 with a 3.35 ERA in his last 14 starts. If he wins tonight, he will tie the Yankees’ single-season record for the longest winning streak by a rookie starting pitcher.

Update, 7:12: Nova starts strong, 1-2-3 inning.

Update, 7:30: Two walks by Davis in the first, but he gets out of it unscathed. The Rays’ pitching is tough, having allowed an AL-low 572 runs.

Update, 7:36: Teixeira does it again with his glove, unassisted double play to end the inning.

Update, 7:39: Double for Swisher, RBI single for Chavez. Make that 573 runs.

Update, 7:43: Looked like the ump blew the call at first on Brett Gardner’s bunt single. But bases loaded, no outs.

Update, 7:52: Bases-clearing double for Granderson, 4-0. Now has an MLB-high and career-high 118 RBI.

Update, 8:02: One bloop hit allowed through three by Nova.

Update, 8:04: Swisher just got hit on what looked like the left elbow. But he stays in after a visit from Gene Monahan and Girardi.

Update, 8:10: Davis gave up a single to Chavez and a walk to Martin, bases loaded, one out. Cesar Ramos warming up.

Update, 8:17: Davis gets out of it, still 4-0, after three.

Update, 8:26: Two hits, but no runs for the Rays in the fourth.

Update, 8:35: Two walks, but nothing across for the Yankees.

Update, 8:46: No runs, four hits allowed through five for Nova. Think they’re going to find a place for him in the postseason rotation?

Update, 8:57: Yankees finally knock out Davis. Jeter singles, first and third, two outs. Cesar Ramos is on. The Captain has tied Cap Anson for 19th on the all-time hits list with 3,081. Just 919 more to 4,000.

Update, 9:00: 5-0, Granderson’s fourth RBI, infield hit.

Update, 9:17: Nice job by Nova not letting the shutout get away in the sixth. Man on third, one out and first and third, two outs and he escapes, ultimately fanning Matt Joyce.

Update, 9:26: First and second, one out, in the sixth. Ramos is coming out, Dane De La Rosa is coming in.

Update, 9:32: 5-0 after six.

Update, 9:35: Leadoff single in the seventh for Sean Rodriguez. Nova at just 79 pitches.

Update,  9:37: Hit batter, two on, no outs. Soriano warming.

Update, 9:38: Four pitch walk, bases loaded.

Update, 9:40: Shallow fly to left by Jennings, runner at third holds. Upton up.

Update, 9:41: Wow, Nova gets a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.

Update, 9:48: Third hit for Granderson, a one-out double in the seventh. Boston, by the way, is up 5-4 in the seventh over the Orioles. Here’s what Girardi said about Nova before the game: ”It seems like when he’s struggled this year, he hasn’t let innings get away from him.” And he hasn’t the last two innings.

Update, 9:54: Bases loaded, one out for Cano.

Update, 9:55: K swinging. Swisher’s turn.

Update, 9:59: Swisher goes down swinging, too. Nova is coming out for the eighth.

Update, 10:07: Two-out walk by Nova, and he’s out of the game. Standing ovation for him. No runs, six hits allowed. Boone Logan is on.

Update, 10:11: Logan gets the third out.

Update, 10:18: The Red Sox just gave up three in the eighth, losing 7-5. Their pitching is not good overall, to state the obvious.

Update, 10:24: Sorry, Cap Anson. Derek Jeter has just passed you. Sole possession of 19th on the hits list at 3,082.

Update, 10:27: Luis Ayala will try to close it out.

Update, 10:31: Yankees win, 5-0, although they left 18 on base.

Mariano Rivera said he has been receiving congratulations from family, friends and a couple of other people of note after posting record-breaking save No. 6o2 Monday. Trevor Hoffman, the former record holder, texted him. And the president of his native Panana phoned him.

“It’s an honor,” Rivera said. “It’s a pleasure. It’s a privilege that the president calls you and wishes you good luck and thanks you for everything. It was great.” 

Rivera really is happy the record is behind him now.

“It’s nice, yes,” Rivera said. “But we’ve got business to take care of tonight. Yesterday is over. Tonight is a new game. We have to be ready for the game. I don’t have time to be thinking about what happened yesterday. I thank God for that, but we have to move on.”

*Joe Girardi plans to start Phil Hughes in Game 1 and CC Sabathia in Game 2 of tomorrow’s day/night doubleheader vs. the Rays But Hughes is written in pencil because of the back spasms he suffered after his bullpen session Friday, the ones that pushed his start back from yesterday to tomorrow.

“He’s better, but I can’t tell you he’s 100 percent yet,” Girardi said.

Girardi didn’t say what the alternative would be if Hughes can’t go.

*Francisco Cervelli said yesterday that he had been symptom-free for three days in the wake of his concussion suffered Sept. 8. But Girardi contradicted that today.

“He still has some symptoms,” Girardi said.

The plan is for Cervelli to see a neurologist Friday.

“He’s not ready to do any baseball activities yet,” Girardi said. “… Let’s just see what the doctor says. I’m not sure were going to get him back.”

*Girardi said A-Rod is the DH tonight because he played three straight days in the field.

“I don’t feel we can run him out six or seven days in a row in the field,” Girardi said.

*Tampa Bay begins the game two games back of Boston in the wild-card race, so the Red Sox are in the strange position of having to root for the Yankees.   

“It doesn’t matter if they’re pulling for us or not,” Rivera said. “We still have to go do our job. But I definitely know they’re pulling for us.”

1. Jeter SS
2. Granderson CF
3. Teixeira 1B
4. Rodriguez DH
5. Cano 2B
6. Swisher RF
7. Chavez 3B
8. Martin C
9. Gardner LF
Nova P

Unless I missed it, the Yankees still have not announced which starter is pitching which game of Wednesday’s doubleheader. Big picture, I guess it really doesn’t matter. The greater significance that day will be getting Sabathia back on track and making an evaluation of Hughes heading into October.

Tonight
RHP Ivan Nova (15-4, 3.81)
vs.
RHP Wade Davis (10-9, 4.41)
7:05 p.m., MY9

Wednesday (Game 1)
RHP Phil Hughes (5-5, 6.00) or LHP CC Sabathia (19-8, 3.01)
vs.
RHP James Shields (15-11, 2.78)
1:05 p.m., YES Network

Wednesday (Game 2)
RHP Phil Hughes (5-5, 6.00) or LHP CC Sabathia (19-8, 3.01)
vs.
RHP Jeremy Hellickson (13-10, 2.91)
7:05 p.m., YES Network / ESPN

Thursday
RHP Bartolo Colon (8-9, 3.81)
vs.
RHP Jeff Niemann (11-7, 3.95)
7:05 p.m., YES Network

So how much longer is Mariano Rivera going to do this? The 41-year-old closer, who’s now the proud owner of the all-time saves record, has one year left on his two-year, $30 million deal. Jorge Posada said if Rivera wanted to do it, he could pitch three or four more years.

“I’ll tell you one thing, spring training, this boy here almost didn’t let me go,” Rivera said, referring to his youngest son who was sitting with him at the front of the interview room after Monday’s historic event, along with his two other sons. “So it makes it harder. Every year is harder and harder. It’s a decision that we have to make as a family and we’ll go from there.

“I don’t know if I can pitch for another three years. I mean, it’s hard out there. It’s not easy. And I have no hair left. So I don’t know. I know I have another year and after that, I’ll let you know. I’ll let you know maybe in spring training next year what’s going to happen.”

Posada may not be around after this season, but he hopes Rivera will be here for a good while longer.

“It’s all up to him,” Posada said. “His family wants him home. That’s the toughest thing. But us as Yankees fans, we want him here because we need him here.”

As for the record, 602 and counting, Joe Girardi said he would be shocked if it’s broken “in our lifetime.”

Rivera said: “Records are made to be broken. I don’t know. All I hope is whoever is going to be there or do that, just respect the game the way I respect the game. That’s all I wish.”

After Mariano Rivera nailed down his 602nd save in this 6-4 win over the Twins, he stood by himself as the all-time saves leader, passing Trevor Hoffman. The Yankees streamed out of the dugout and bullpen to hug him. And then Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada directed Rivera back to stand by himself on the mound to receive some love from the fans.

“Oh my God, for the first time in my career, I’m on the mound alone,” Rivera said. “There’s nobody behind me, nobody in front of me. I can’t describe that feeling because it was priceless.”

The feeling at the end of the eighth was mixed because the fans cheered when Nick Swisher hit into an inning-ending double play to preserve the historic save situation.

“I wanted to pitch, but I don’t want my teammates to do bad for me to pitch,” Rivera said. “When I saw that, I was like, ‘These fans are crazy. We need to score some runs’. But at the same time, I appreciated it because they wanted me to pitch.”

But he added: “I’ll be honest. I was happy, too, when Swisher hit into the double play because I had the opportunity.”

When he had the record, he was happy and relieved. He doesn’t like being in the media spotlight.

“Don’t get me wrong, it feels good,” Rivera said. “I wasn’t expecting this, but thank God it happened. Thank God it’s over, too, because I was getting a little uncomfortable.

“I like to be under the radar and do my job.”

Trevor Hoffman issued a statement: “I want to congratulate Mariano Rivera on setting the all-time saves record. It’s a great accomplishment and he is still going strong! I have tremendous respect for Mariano not just for his on-field accomplishments, but also for his service to the community.”

Lost in all the euphoria was the Yankees’ starting pitching – a disaster again. A.J. Burnett got knocked out after four-plus innings, charged with four runs and nine hits. Even though he fanned eight, he really flopped in this latest audition for postseason work. He has two wins in his last 14 starts, posting a 7.02 ERA over that span.

Unless these starters start getting their acts together, the Yankees better hope their lineup is swinging well in the postseason.

After this Yankees win and Boston’s loss in the first game of its doubleheader against the Orioles, the magic number to clinch the East was five.  The Yankees had a 5 1/2-game lead over the reeling Red Sox. The magic number to clinch a playoff spot was four. The Yankees have 10 games left, all against the Rays and Sox. 

*The Yankees used to struggle against starters facing them for the first time. This season, they’re now 17-4, with 12 straight wins.

*Curtis Granderson hit a homer off starter Scott Diamond, his 16th against lefties, the most since Ryan Howard hit 16 against them in 2007. Granderson has 41 homers, one behind Jose Bautista for the major-league lead. Granderson leads the majors with 115 RBI.

*Derek Jeter went 3 for 4. He’s at .331 overall, .408 against lefties and .536 vs. lefties at home since coming off the DL on July 4.

*The four-game Tampa Bay series starts here Tuesday night, with Ivan Nova and Wade Davis down to start.