A few things to mention on the way out the door:
• A very happy birthday to Shelley Duncan. Here’s hoping he gets a chance to play for somebody next season.
• You can read me starting next week in The Boston Globe and on Boston.com’s Extra Bases blog. There will be an e-mail address in due [...]

A few post-game items of interest:
A.J. Burnett wanted to stay in the game when Joe Girardi came out to get him in the seventh inning. But they didn’t want him over 110 pitches and he was at 108. “The prize is next month,” Girardi told him.
Burnett’s last three outings — 19 innings, 17 hits, 4 [...]

YANKEES (101-56)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Swisher RF
Gardner CF
Molina C
Pena 2B
Pitching: RHP A.J. Burnett (12-9, 4.19).
ROYALS (64-93)
Maier LF
Betancourt SS
Butler 1B
Jacobs DH
Callaspo 2B
Teahen RF
Buck C
Gordon 3B
Anderson CF
Pitching: RHP Anthony Lerew (0-1, 3.86).
TIME/TV: 7:05, YES.
STATE OF THE STRIPES: The Yankees have won six straight and are 45 games over .500 for the first time since ending the [...]

That’s a great cover shot, isn’t it?

Now that everything is finalized, here is some more news for you.
I’m thrilled to announce that The Journal News has hired Chad Jennings of the Times-Tribune in Scranton and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees Blog to cover the Yankees. Chad starts on Oct. 7.
Chad covered the Triple-A Yankees with distinction and his blog was a must-read for [...]

It’s all but official that the Yankees will choose the division series that starts Oct. 7. That series has an extra day off between the first two games and that allows them to use Mariano Rivera and Phil Hughes without concern. It also would allow them to use three starters instead of putting Game 4 [...]

I was going to post the link to my story. Then I noticed that a big chunk of the story was missing on the version that was posted on LoHud.com. Plus if you use Safari, you can’t get to the second page anyway. So here is the original version.
Once again, I apologize for the web [...]

It was spring training in the Bronx for a night as the Yankees ran a “B” lineup out there and beat the hapless Royals 8-2.
Joe Girardi was smiling after the game as he recounted the first career home run for Ramiro Pena. The veterans in the dugout gave him the silent treatment at first before [...]

YANKEES (100-56)
New lineup
Gardner CF
Cabrera LF
Cano 2B
Posada DH
Hinske 3B
Duncan RF
Miranda 1B
Cervelli C
Pena SS
Pitching: RHP Chad Gaudin (1-0, 3.71).
ROYALS (64-92)
Maier LF
Betancourt SS
Butler 1B
Jacobs DH
Callaspo 2B
Teahen RF
Olivo C
Gordon 3B
Anderson CF
Pitching: RHP Luke Hochevar (7-11, 5.98).
TIME/TV: 7:05, YES.
STATE OF THE STRIPES: The Yankees have clinched all there is to clinch in the regular season. They are the division champs, [...]

Back on April 2 on his blog I predicted that Phil Hughes would throw 80 innings in the majors and be an important piece. He’s at 84.1 innings.
Of course, none of us thought he would be a reliever.
I also questioned the merits of Jose Veras, Edwar Ramirez and Jonathan Albaladejo. But then so did anybody [...]