The LoHud Yankees Blog

Good stuff for Nick Swisher, who donated $500,000 to the Ohio State baseball program and had the baseball field named in his honor. The dedication was yesterday.

“The word honor comes to mind,” Swisher said. “I never would have thought I would have been at Ohio State. When I came here, I experienced that passion, pride and tradition that Ohio State has. I think everyone on the team experiences that every single day. It’s been an amazing thing.”

You’ve probably noticed that Swisher’s a pretty passionate guy. He talks up Ohio State quite a bit in the clubhouse, and one can only imagine how excited he was to see that Nick Swisher Field sign for the first time.

Photo from Swisher’s Twitter feed

Joe Girardi said he woke up this morning feeling no different than any other day. He didn’t hear from anyone in the Yankees front office, didn’t change his daily routine. It was just another day, except this one came with the possibility of elimination looming large in tonight’s game.

“You understand that,” Girardi said. “And you think about how hard you worked. With the players, how hard they worked all year long. You don’t want it to end today. You don’t ever want it to end until it’s the last out of the World Series that you get. And that’s hard if it does.”

On the mound, the Yankees have A.J. Burnett, the team’s embattled starter who had a bit of a resurgence in September but ultimately finished with another disappointing season. The Yankees didn’t plan to have him start a game today, but Friday’s rain forced them to use a four-man rotation.

“I’m not underestimating him a bit,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. “He’s got great stuff. A.J. Burnett is capable of going out and throwing a two-hitter tonight. I know that. He has great stuff. You know the scenario is — this is a good situation for A.J., I think, on this stage tonight. People are hot and cold about A.J. and everything. Not us. We know what a great talent he is. If he gets it going, he can wipe you out. We’re very concerned about it.”

Girardi said it’s hard to say how long or short his leash will be. CC Sabathia got into trouble in last night’s third inning, and Girardi it’s “very possible you pull him” if Burnett has a similar third inning tonight.

Phil Hughes is available for roughly 50 pitches. Freddy Garcia has been told to be ready. Ivan Nova is available if things get “crazy” and the Yankees absolutely need innings.

“I don’t think there’s no exact science,” Girardi said. “You look at how (Burnett)’s pitching, getting outs. You can walk a guy, get a double play and then roll. You’ve just got to manage the game, and if you think there’s a time you need to pull him or you think there’s a time you leave him in, you go with your gut.”

• As he so often does, Girardi said he trusts his players who have track records. That’s why the lineup remains unchanged despite struggles by Alex Rodriguez, Nick Swisher and Mark Teixeira. “Everyone wants to throw stuff out, but it’s a couple of games,” Girardi said. “Adrian Beltre was 0-for-9 before today. Ron Washington didn’t move him, and he hit three homers. I don’t think you can make too much of a few games. You (can’t) start shaking up your lineup. These guys have done it all year long, and you expect them to do it.”

• Girardi on Mark Teixeira: “I think he’s just missed some balls in this series, I do. I think he’s had some pretty good swings and I think his at-bats have been pretty good. I thought he missed a ball the other day at home, I thought he hit a ball hard yesterday. I think sometimes you can get caught up in the numbers and not necessarily look at the at-bats. I think his at-bats have been OK.”

• Basically, the Girardi quote is the exact same for Swisher.

• Asked about Derek Jeter’s late-inning outs the past two games, Girardi pointed to the guy on the mound. “That’s why they get paid the big bucks, the closers, to get those big outs,” Girardi said.

• Girardi called the mood in the clubhouse “loose and relaxed” and said he felt no need to address the team before tonight’s game. “It’s not like I have a bunch of kids,” he said. “I have guys that understand what this is about.”

• The only pitcher no available tonight is CC Sabathia. “If he could throw right-handed he’d be available,” Girardi said. “If he was Mr. Venditte, he’d be available.”

• Nova threw a bullpen yesterday to prepare for a Game 4 start. “If you get in a crazy game you might have to (use him tonight),” Girardi said. “Then I’ll figure it out Thursday.”

• Obviously Hughes is the go-to long man tonight, but Girardi said he won’t necessarily got to Hughes first if Burnett struggles. “You might choose to bring someone in who’s used to coming into the middle of the inning a little more,” Girardi said. “That’s a decision I’ll have to make. I’ll look at some things and who they’re facing.”

• In case you missed it, Texas wrapped up the other division series this afternoon. If the Yankees come back in this series, they’ll head for an ALCS rematch against the Rangers.

Associated Press photos

Literally and figuratively, the storm clouds were gathering at Yankee Stadium this afternoon.

The Tigers had a four-run lead before the Yankees had a hit, then the rain started falling, Alex Avila slipped in foul territory, the tying run reached base and Robinson Cano came to the plate. This one had the potential for a wild walk-off that would give the Yankees a flood of momentum heading into Detroit. Instead, Cano hit a ground ball to second, and the Tigers claimed home field advantage heading into tomorrow’s delayed showdown between CC Sabathia and Justin Verlander.

“Tomorrow is big,” Alex Rodriguez said. “Going back to when I first got here, we always thought that Game 3 was the biggest. It’s almost like hitting; the 0-0 pitch is the most important, then the 1-1 pitch becomes the most important. Same goes for a series. There’s no need to get caught up in emotions. Whoever plays better, whoever executes fundamentals, is going to win the series. “

The Yankees seemed to have a favorable matchup against Max Scherzer, but aside from walks and a hit batter, Scherzer didn’t allow many scoring opportunities. The Yankees didn’t have a hit until the sixth, and they didn’t score until Curtis Granderson’s home run in the eighth.

Good things started happening for the Yankees in the ninth — Nick Swisher’s home run, Jorge Posada’s first postseason triple, Avila slipping and missing a potential game-ending popup — but this was never a game that felt good for the Yankees. They weren’t hitting, and the Tigers were perpetually doing just enough.

“You think that something is going to happen good for us (in the ninth),” Derek Jeter said. “But with Valverde, it’s hard enough to score a run off him, let alone four. But I thought we had some good at-bats. We battled there at the end, but we just fell short. For a moment there, you think we might catch a break.”

The Yankees did not catch a break. They didn’t create a break for themselves in the first eight innings, and they couldn’t do quite enough in that wet and rainy ninth. Sabathia vs. Verlander was the marquee matchup when this series began, and it’s the marquee matchup now that the series is tied at a game apiece.

“It’s huge,” Mark Teixeira said. “Tomorrow’s a really big game. You don’t want to go down 2-1 with them having a chance to close it out in their home park. It’s a big game for us.”

Here’s Jeter.

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Two curious decisions by Joe Girardi tonight, each of which will surely lead to plenty of second guessing. As always, Girardi had reason behind his choices, but they didn’t workout. The question will be whether you agree with the logic.

With two on and one out in the seventh, Girardi sent left-handed Eric Chavez to pinch hit for left-handed Brett Gardner. He was hoping for a three-run home run. It’s worth noting that Gardner had lined out sharply in his previous at-bat, and that Chavez hit just two home runs tonight. It’s also worth noting that Scherzer has a tendency to give up a lot of home run.

“Gardner is fine,” Girardi said. “Just hoping (Chavez) might pop one… When you’re losing the game 4-0, you’re looking for a three-run homer is what you’re looking for, so no, it’s not a hard move.”

With the Yankees down by three runs in the ninth, Girardi elected to use Luis Ayala — essentially the last man in the bullpen — instead of going to either Dave Robertson or Rafael Soriano.

“We still have two more games in a row,” Girardi said. “And we’re down three. If we got it down to two, we were going to maek a change. Being down there runs and you know what Valverde has done all year long, we decided to go to Ayala.”

Chavez struck out in the seventh. Ayala allowed a run in the ninth.

Here’s Girardi.

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• Jim Leyland said a lot about the production of the Yankees third and fourth hitters tonight when he admitted that the Tigers seriously considered pitching around Cano in the ninth inning to load the bases for Alex Rodriguez. “I thought about it,” Leyland said. “But that other guy has been known for the dramatics, and I figured it’s wet, it’s slippery, one gets away, one run is in. Something like that would happen, a groundball, a ball slips. I just couldn’t do it. He hit a ball in the infield, you get him over there, and somebody throws it away, the game is tied. It did cross my mind.”

• Rodriguez has struggled since returning to the lineup, but Girardi said he has no plans of taking Rodriguez out of the cleanup spot. “I thought he swung the bat pretty good yesterday,” Girardi said. “Today they made some tough pitches on him. I don’t have any plans in changing my lineup. It’s only two games. I’m not going to make too much of two games.”

• Most of the damage against Freddy Garcia was done by Miguel Cabrera, but Garcia was happy with his approach and his pitches to the Tigers’ best hitter. “First inning, I think that was a good pitch down and away,” Garcia said. “He made good contact. After that, I shut it down waiting for us to start hitting. It never happened, but that’s part of the game.”

• Garcia said the sixth-inning pitch that Cabrera looped into center field for an RBI single was a split. “I was trying to make a great pitch and I did,” Garcia said. “But great hitters do that.”

• Although he allowed three hits in the sixth, Garcia said he wasn’t tired. “I’ve got like 70 pitches,” he said. “I was really good. I finished strong. Base hit here, base hit there. It’s part of the game.”

• Russell Martin is fine. The pitch that hit him got part of the bat and a little bit of the bottom of his left hand. “A little bit of acting there, but it did get me,” Martin said.

• Boone Logan’s balk didn’t matter — he struck out the next two batters — but he was embarrassed by it. Mid-delivery, Logan heard someone shout behind him and thought timeout had been called. The result was a sudden halt in his motion. “It was probably the worst balk in the history of baseball,” Logan said.

• Jeter on his costly error in the sixth: “I had no problem catching it, I just threw it low. With Austin (Jackson) running, you really don’t have much time.”

• Chavez on his approach pinch hitting for Gardner: “That’s not really my thought process to hit a home run there. I’m just trying to put the barrel on the ball and have the same approach every at-bat. I don’t think I go up there trying to do one thing or the other other than put a good swing on the ball.”

• Jeter said he thought, once Posada got between first and second in the ninth inning, that there was no way Posada was stopping until he got to third. “I don’t know about that,” Posada said. “I can’t get thrown out there. My run doesn’t mean anything.”

• It was the first postseason triple of Posada’s career.

• You don’t see Jeter arguing with a home plate umpire too often, but Jeter had a lengthy conversation after striking out looking in the seventh. He said he thought the ball was outside. “I was just asking him if he knew the weather forecast for the rest of the game,” Jeter joked.

• Everyone in the Yankees clubhouse seemed to mention Scherzer’s changeup, which doesn’t seem to a pitch you hear about very often with him. “He was really good, best I’ve ever seen him,” Teixeira said. “Great fastball, his changeup was really, really good. The numbers don’t lie, he dominated us.”

•• Posada gave an honest evaluation of Pettitte’s first pitch, calling it low and away. “I think it was a ball,” Posada said, laughing.

Associated Press photos

Ten starts in a row, Freddy Garcia didn’t allow a single home run. When he finally coughed one up on August 29, it was the only run he allowed all game. Since then, Garcia has allowed multiple home runs in three straight starts, including two tonight to Adam Lind.

“I try to make good pitches, and sometimes I’m not able to do it,” Garcia said. “That’s why I’ve been giving home runs… Last three starts, I don’t be doing my job. I’m really frustrated about it, but that’s part of the game. Sometimes you pitch good. Sometimes you pitch bad. You just have to go continue to try to do the best that you can do, and hopefully everything goes well for you.”

This weekend did little to clarify the Yankees rotation situation. Bartolo Colon couldn’t pitch beyond the fourth inning on Saturday, and Garcia couldn’t get out of the fifth today. At times, one of those two has been the Yankees second-best starter, but they’ve struggled recently.

“Bart had a good start on this road trip and had one that wasn’t so good,” Joe Girardi said. “Freddy’s kept us in the games. We talked at the beginning of the season how we worried about innings for both these guys. There’s some concern there, but they’ve just got to find a way to get it done.”

Garcia said tonight’s home run was a good pitch, a splitter that Lind put a good swing on. The second was a slider that “didn’t do much.”

As good as Garcia has been this season, there is some risk with him. He’s never been an overwhelming or overpowering pitcher. His value is in his experience and savvy, and sometimes that leaves little margin for error.

“He’s just missing some spots, that’s all,” Girardi said. “That’s going to happen. Freddy’s not going to be a huge strikeout guy and they’re going to put the ball in play. If you miss some spots, that’s the chance you’re going to take.”

Here’s Garcia.

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• The Yankees won only four of 10 on this road trip, but they still managed to gain two games in the standings. After today’s game, the team just seemed relieved to be finally going home. “From now on every game is important,” Alex Rodriguez said. “Every game is meaningful. We’re looking forward to playing at home, playing well, start cleaning up some of the small mistakes that we’ve been making. We understand we’ve got to get better.”

• After Monday’s makeup game against the Twins, the Yankees play their final 10 games against the Red Sox and Rays. With seven games at home against those two teams, the Yankees home stand could either put the division away or make it a race to the finish. “It will be a great opportunity to do that there,” Mariano Rivera said. “We still have to perform good and take care of business at home, get this thing over.”

• The Yankees magic number to clinch a playoff spot is five, to clinch the division is seven.

• Obviously Brandon Morrow completely shutdown the Yankees offense today. “He had us baffled all day with his slide,” Rodriguez said. “He probably threw 70 to 75 percent sliders, which is a very high percentage for him. He’s usually the opposite, 70 to 77 percent fastball guy.”

• Of the Yankees five hits, three were by Eduardo Nunez, and Nunez was the only Yankee to advance beyond first base.

• Of course, Nunez also made the second Yankees base-running mistake of the weekend. “He’s just making an aggressive turn,” Girardi said. “In that situation, you’ve got to know the score. You’re not going to get to second unless it really bounces off himn, so you’ve got to be cautious there. He was just overaggressive.”

• Why not pinch hit for Ramiro Pena in the eighth? “Pena’s had some success off him,” Girardi said. “Grandy is 1 for his last 15 with 10 strikeouts. If we had a couple guys on, I might have pinch-hit Grandy and taken a chance.”

• Impressive Yankees debut by Raul Valdes, who retired four of the five batters he faced, including all three left-handers. The Yankees have been giving Aaron Laffey a lot of chances to emerge as a legitimate second lefty candidate, but that Valdes appearance might earn a few more looks. I still don’t think the Yankees will actually carry a second left-hander in the postseason, but I’m sure they’d like to have a backup option in mind.

• Random fact about tonight’s game: The phone from the dugout to the bullpen stopped working for a while. “The phones haven’t worked real good here the last couple days,” Girardi said. “Danny (Iassogna) handled it and we used the policeman’s walkie-talkie for a few minutes, then they got the phones working again.”

• Girardi’s assessment of going 4-6 on the road and still gaining two games in the standings: “I think we are fortunate,” he said. “We’ve got to go home and play better, there’s no doubt about it. At times, we didn’t swing the bats on this trip. Is it good pitching? Is it fatigue? I don’t know, but I know our guys are pretty worn down. Now they’ll get to sleep in their own beds and hopefully catch up a little bit.”

Alex Rodriguez feels fine after yesterday’s return to the lineup, and Phil Hughes said he feels considerably better since Friday’s back spasms. Compared to a week ago, the Yankees seem relatively healthy today, and Joe Girardi said he wants to keep it that way.

Hence today’s lineup.

“The guys have been going so hard,” Girardi said. “I figured we’ve got an important 10 days coming up, try to get them a little bit of a blow. Grandy and Jeet have really struggled against Morrow in their career, and I just thought today was the day.”

Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira — the usual 1 through 3 hitters — are all out of the lineup. Robinson Cano, the usual No. 4, is starting at designated hitter. Girardi said none of those four have complained about injuries, and that’s not what today’s about.

“None whatsoever,” Girardi said. “Just trying to give them a little blow. I think they’re fatigued, as well as some of our other guys, and that’s why we’re going to DH Robbie.”

Girardi plans to have his regulars — most of them anyway — back in the lineup tomorrow.

“The other guys have had a little bit more rest than these three,” Girardi said. “I might not play Al tomorrow. We’ll see about Al, how he physically feels, but I would imagine I’d have most of the guys in there tomorrow.”

• Although Girardi is willing to discuss the idea of having Jorge Posada catch a possible record-breaking save by Mariano Rivera, he seems to be leaning against it. “It’s not something that we’ve done a lot,” Girardi said. “We’ve caught him one time, and the games are important right now. It’s something that we can talk about, but I’m probably going to stick with our catchers. That’s what I’m going to do.”

• A.J. Burnett is flying out of Toronto this afternoon so that he can get to New York the day before his day game start tomorrow.

• The Yankees rotation for the Tampa Bay series:

Tuesday: Ivan Nova
Wednesday: CC Sabathia and Phil Hughes
Thursday: Bartolo Colon

• Girardi said Hughes “continues to improve” and Hughes said he’s certain he would be available for Tuesday if necessary, but the Yankees are going to have him pitch one of those doubleheader games instead.

• Girardi’s not sure whether Hughes or Sabathia will start the first game on Wednesday.

• Girardi’s still not willing to discuss his playoff rotation. “A lot of it will probably, if we’re fortunate enough to get in, be determined by the matchup,” he said. “Until we get there or see how guys are doing, we’ve always said things have sometimes a way of working their way out. So, we’ll see.”

• Some of Nick Swisher’s throws from right field have been at less than 100 percent, but Girardi said that’s by design. “I told him, be smart about it,” Girardi said. “Don’t air it out if you don’t have to air it out. Sometimes outfielder just like to throw, and I just said, ‘If you don’t have to let it go, don’t let it go. Be smart.’”

• As you might have guessed, Rafael Soriano is not available today.

• The Yankees would love for Rivera to break the saves record at home, but if there’s a save situation this afternoon, Girardi said he will absolutely use his closer. “You got it,” Girardi said.

BLUE JAYS
Mike McCoy SS
Eric Thames LF
Jose Bautista RF
Adam Lind DH
Edwin Encarnacion 1B
Kelly Johnson 2B
Brett Lawrie 3B
Colby Rasmus CF
Jose Molina C

Associated Press photos

CC Sabathia matched season-highs tonight by allowing 10 hits and four walks. He also matched a season-low by pitching only 5.2 innings.

Since the Yankees went to a six-man rotation at the end of July, Sabathia has made nine starts, seven of them on extra rest. He’s allowed 10 hits in five of those extra-rest starts, something he’d done only once in 23 starts before the six-man rotation became a somewhat permanent situation.

“I don’t think (extra rest has been the problem),” Sabathia said. “I’ve felt great. My arm feels good. My body feels good. It’s just been not executing pitches when I need to. The Lind at-bat, not being able to make the pitch and get out of the inning… Command is the big issue, but my stuff has been there. That’s what’s so frustrating.”

The Lind at-bat was in the fifth, when the Yankees had given Sabathia a 3-1 lead. Sabathia allowed a pair of two-out walks, then he faced Adam Lind with the bases loaded. Lind doubled in all three runs, and when Sabathia loaded the bases again in the sixth, Luis Ayala had to bail him out.

“I still felt good about him getting Lind out,” Girardi said. “Lind hurt us tonight with a couple doubles and a single. I still felt good about it. I thought his stuff was okay, and I thought he’d get him out. He didn’t… I still really believe in (Sabathia). I think he’s going to be great for us and he’ll continue to be great for us. Tonight, he struggled a little bit, but he gave us a chance to win that game. We weren’t able to score after we tied it up 4-4. I still think CC’s going to run off some good starts, I really do.”

Could extra rest be an issue? Sabathia notoriously thrives with less rest rather than more.

“It could,” Girardi said. “He’s going to be on regular rest his next turn, so we’ll get a good chance to see that. That’s just been the way it’s been for us, but we’ll get him on regular rest.”

Actually, to line up Sabathia for Game 1 of the division series, the Yankees might have to pitch him on short rest Sunday against Boston.

“The past couple of starts it’s just been tough, throwing a lot of pitches in a short amount of time. Just frustrating,”

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• After batting practice, Alex Rodriguez explained that he spent the day learning to hit with a ring of tape separating his uninjured top hand and his sore left thumb. He believes he’s allowed to use the taped bat during the game. “We’ve never tried it, but Kevin had me split my hands, and after that it felt really good because I didn’t put any pressure on the thumb,” Rodriguez said. “If it goes well — you know how us baseball players are, we just won’t change — it will definitely alleviate any pain on my thumb, because the only pressure I have is when I press down on the point of contact.”

• Rodriguez took a ton of swings today. He did tee and toss with Kevin Long before batting practice, then he took eight rounds of regular BP, hitting with two different groups.

• Girardi said after the game that he still plans to play Rodriguez tomorrow. Everything he saw in BP makes him think Rodriguez will be ready. “I’d like to pencil his name in there,” Girardi said. “I’d actually like to use a pen.”

• Sabathia’s short-and-sweet explanation of what went wrong on the pitch to Lind: “Just got a ball out over the plate. He put a good swing on it. He had been putting good swings all night and got a pitch he could handle.”

• Sabathia walked Jose Bautista three times. “I didn’t want Bautista to beat me,” Sabathia said. “He’s one of the better hitters in the league, and you never want that guy to beat you in the lineup.”

• The Yankees have lost six of their past nine games, five of their past six loses have come in one-run games.

• Three days ago, Cory Wade had not lost a game since joining the Yankees. He’s now allowed two straight walkoffs, giving up a walkoff homer on Wednesday and Jose Molina’s walkoff single tonight.

• Boone Logan took the loss after allowing a sharp leadoff double in that decisive ninth.

• Until the ninth, the bullpen had been a bright spot for the Yankees. Ayala got Sabathia out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth, Rafael Soriano struck out the side in the seventh and Dave Robertson left the bases loaded in the eighth.

• Eric Chavez hit his second home run of the season… Nick Swisher twice tied the game with two-out hits… Derek Jeter’s 13-game hitting streak ended.

• Brett Gardner stole two bases tonight. He’s been successful in 40 of his past 47 attempts.

Associated Press photos

The Yankees are paying attention to what’s happening around them. They were well aware that tonight was a chance to increase their lead in the American League East, and they were well aware that they had their chances to win.

“You want to win this one,” Robinson Cano said. “Especially because the Red Sox lost today.”

The Yankees had just four hits tonight and got their only run on Nick Swisher’s home run. It wasn’t enough offense, even on a night when the pitching staff was tremendous except for two costly mistakes.

The wild pitch
Two outs, runners at the corners in the third inning, Nova threw a curveball to Miguel Olivo. It nearly hit the batter, shot past Russell Martin and let the Mariners take a 1-0 lead.

“It was a curveball that fell out of my hand a little bit, and I couldn’t get it down,” Nova said. “I didn’t give Russell Martin a chance to catch it. That happens. I don’t want that to happen to me, but it’s going to happen.”

Martin never really had a chance to stop it.

“It’s a curveball that backed up and that’s the one thing you can’t really predict as a catcher,” Joe Girardi said. “You can anticipate down, down, block the ball, block the ball, but that one backed up and it happens.”

The home run
Cory Wade pitched out of trouble in the 11th, but the first batter he faced in the 12th was Luis Rodriguez, who already had two doubles. The 2-1 pitch was a changeup, and Rodriguez hammered it to right.

“It’s rough,” Wade said. “Everybody’s going out and contributing and did what they needed to do, and it came down to me and I made a mistake.”

The changeup has been a good pitch for Wade, and he didn’t second guess the pitch selection. He just missed his spot.

“I threw the pitch essentially right down the middle of the plate,” Wade said. “He gets paid to hit, and he did exactly what he’s supposed to… Nova shut it down for, I think, seven innings, and everybody came out of the bullpen and threw the ball really well. It’s just unfortunate that I had to be the lone wolf to go out there and struggle a little bit.”

• Cano was hobbling quite a bit in the clubhouse, but x-rays were negative and he seems fairly certain that he’ll play on Friday. The pitch in the 12th inning hit him right in the side of the right foot. “I knew it was a lot of pain, but I didn’t think it was broke,” he said. “… We can do ice treatment tomorrow and be ready to go Friday.”

• Girardi said the plan is still for Alex Rodriguez to play on Friday. Rodriguez came through fielding drills with no problems.

• The Yankees hit several balls hard tonight, but they never got much going against Jason Vargas. Obviously they made a mistake trying to score Andruw Jones in the third, but Girardi seemed more focused on deep fly balls that didn’t quite get out of the yard. “Think about the ball Grandy hit, the ball Tex hit,” Girardi said. “We hit some balls good. I thought we were patient on Vargas, I thought the guys put good at-bats. I thought he just located well. They made him work, we just didn’t get hits.”

• Nova came out of the game after 87 pitches. Although he acknowledged it was the right call to bring in Dave Robertson, he also felt strong enough to keep going. “I threw 80 something pitches,” he said. “So I was feeling really good. I think if we got two more runs, at least a run or two more, I think I can finish the game. But unfortunately, we don’t hit today, and I’ve got to be out of the game.”

• Speaking of the decision to pull Nova, Robertson did it again, getting out of the eighth with a shallow fly ball and a strikeout to strand runners at the corners. “I’ve always said he has the ability to strike people out,” Girardi said. “You can bring him in tough situations and he did it again tonight.”

• The Yankees were held to one run or less for the 16th time this season, and the third time in their past six games. They are 4-10 in extra innings this season.

• Derek Jeter extended his season-high hitting streak to 13 games and is batting .368 in his past 29 games, since August 11. He’s hitting .346 in his past 46 games, and he’s hitting .332 since returning from the disabled list on July 4.

• This is Jeter’s 16th consecutive season with 150 hits, tying Pete Rose for the second-longest 150-hit streak in baseball history. Hank Aaron has the record with 17 straight.

• Swisher has eight home runs in his past 19 games dating back to August 23. He his just five homers in his first 60 games this season.

• Girardi didn’t know Pedro Feliciano had surgery until reporters told him about it after the game. “I would be surprised if he pitched next year,” Girardi said. “But I’d have to hear the details.”

Associated Press photos

Three and half hours before first pitch, Joe Girardi still wasn’t sure who would be starting in right field. Nick Swisher was going to make some throws in the outfield, and his availability would depend on how he felt.

Obviously, he felt good enough to get in there.

“Tendinitis is going to go away,” Girardi said. “It could irritate him a little bit. It’s when it irritates him a lot that you worry about. There are a lot of guys that are probably playing with tendinitis in their arm right now, it’s just when it becomes too painful that you can’t do what you need to do.”

Just a few days ago, the Yankees seemed incredibly beat up, but the pieces are slowly falling back into place. Swisher is back in the outfield, Russell Martin is back behind the plate and Alex Rodriguez seems to be getting closer.

“It is good to see,” Girardi said. “It seemed like they all came at once, so we could have two back tonight and maybe a third – Alex – when we get to Toronto.”

• Curtis Granderson has a standard day off. Girardi figured it was a good day — as good as any, anyway — with a left-hander on the mound.

• Initially, the Yankees said Rodriguez would sit out three to four days. This is the fourth game he’s skipped, but Girardi is now planning to give him tomorrow, plus Thursday’s scheduled off day. “I think Friday is reasonable for Alex,” he said.

• Francisco Cervelli has been placed on the disabled list retroactive to Friday.

• Girardi said it’s still uncertain whether the Yankees will get Cervelli back this season. “I think it’s really hard to predict what’s going to happen,” he said. “Concussions today have become so unpredictable, you think you’re getting a guy back, he plays one game and then goes right back to the symptoms. I have no idea.”

• Phil Hughes pitched well last night. Now it’s A.J. Burnett’s turn. “I think he can get better and better,” Girardi said. “His changeup was the best I’ve ever seen it the other day. It still comes down to being able to locate your fastball, and I think his curveball has been better with the depth rather than going across.”

• Both Dellin Betances and Andrew Brackman were getting loose during last night’s game, but neither actually got in. “I thought about using one of them,” Girardi said. “They were just throwing after that.”

• For those of you curious, four first-year pitchers have been carrying kids backpacks to and from the bullpen. George Kontos got Elmo, Hector Noesi got Dora the Explorer, Dellin Betances got Hannah Montana and Andrew Brackman got some sort of fairy character that I’ve never seen before.

MARINERS
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Kyle Seager 3B
Dustin Ackley 2B
Mike Carp LF
Justin Smoak 1B
Miguel Olivo C
Adam Kennedy DH
Casper Wells CF
Brendan Ryan SS

Associated Press photos

Joe Girardi chose today’s starting catcher based on two Double-A games in June. When Phil Hughes was in Trenton for rehab, his catcher was Austin Romine, and so Romine will catch Hughes again tonight in Seattle.

“I’m not saying I wouldn’t start (Jesus) Montero again,” Girardi said. “I just chose to do this because he caught him those times at Double-A… Romine’s been catching longer in his lifetime than Montero, but they’re both works in progress. We’re probably going to see things from them that you may not see in a couple years, just because they’re young catchers. Romine has been considered one of the top defensive catching prospects in baseball, so that’s why I brought him in.”

At this point, the Yankees are looking at Montero and Romine a little differently than expected. Girardi acknowledged today that one of them might have to be the Yankees backup catcher in the postseason.

Today’s MRI on Francisco Cervelli came back negative, but he’s still suffering from concussion symptoms, and the Yankees aren’t sure when they’ll have him back. Russell Martin is expected to be back tomorrow, but his backup is to-be-determined. In some ways, it’s similar to spring training, with Montero and Romine given an opportunity to prove themselves.

“They might be called into duty if we do get to the playoffs,” Girardi said. “You do have to find out what they can do.”

Even before the Cervelli injury, Montero seemed to be opening some eyes with his offense. He was trying to win a roster spot as a designated hitter anyway, now his ability to catch takes on some added importance. That said, the Yankees made it clear on Sunday — when Romine came in as a defensive replacement — that they prefer Romine’s glove behind the plate.

“You think about what we asked them to do yesterday, two really young catchers that had never had a big-league start and neither one had caught in the big-leagues,” Girardi said. “They did a pretty good job.”

• Alex Rodriguez has not swung a bat since being shutdown on Saturday. Girardi said today that Rodriguez might not play against until this weekend’s series in Toronto. “I’m kind of a cage rat over there with Kevin and I can’t even do that,” Rodriguez said. “You sit around patiently (until) it heals up.”

• Nick Swisher is back in the lineup. He said swinging from the left side — like he’ll do tonight against Felix Hernandez — was completely pain-free during a pregame BP session. Swinging from the right side was only slightly painful, more of a slight tug than the sharp pain he was feeling a few days ago. “I just have to stay within myself and not try swing too hard,” he said.

• Swisher’s not ready to play the outfield. He did some throwing pregame and felt fine with shorter throws, but his elbow began bothering him when he stretched it to 120-130 feet. “Just want to make sure we get it all right,” he said. “But first base I think it will be perfectly fine.”

• One last Swisher note: “If I have to get a shot, maybe, to get through this pain toward the end of the season, we’ll go ahead and do that. My biggest thing is I want to be on the field, I want to play, and I’m going to do anything I can to get there.”

• Girardi on Martin: “He’s better. He’s going to come out and throw today and see if he can be an emergency guy for me today, if possible. His thumb is better.”

• Everyone is available in the Yankees bullpen, including Boone Logan.

• Even without Rodriguez in the lineup, the Yankees are sticking with Derek Jeter as the leadoff man, abandoning the use of Brett Gardner in the top spot against right-handers. “Jeet’s been doing a great job, so we’ve just kind stuck with it,” Girardi said.

• Girardi liked the idea of giving Mark Teixeira a half day off. “Unfortunately he got two and a half days off when he got hit in the leg, and I think that kind of rejuvenated him a little bit,” Girardi said. “But this schedule hasn’t done anything for any of our players, so that’s why I chose to DH him today.”

• Girardi on Hughes: “We want some distance from him tonight. He’s going to have to shut them down because of who we’re facing tonight. There’s usually not a lot of runs scored off of Felix, so he’s going to have o be on top of his game.”

• Girardi was asked about calling Romine’s girlfriend on Saturday to finally get in touch with Romine about the call-up. He said the Yankees got the girlfriend’s number from Romine’s agent, and she was apparently very polite when caught off guard by the Yankees manager suddenly calling her cell phone. “She asked me how I was,” Girardi said.

MARINERS
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Kyle Seager 3B
Dustin Ackley 2B
Mike Carp DH
Justin Smoak 1B
Miguel Olivo C
Trayvon Robinson LF
Brendan Ryan SS
Michael Saunders CF

Associated Press photos

Just a few days ago, the mounting injuries in the Yankees clubhouse seemed to be a minor issue. A handful of guys were banged up, but none of the issues seemed serious. If anything, most guys seemed to be getting better.

Today, the feeling was different. Alex Rodriguez’s thumb injury just won’t go away. Nick Swisher isn’t sure how long he’ll be out. Francisco Cervelli was a late scratch (again). Boone Logan is still not available.

“I’m trying to win, just like I was last year,” Joe Girardi said. “If they can play, and be productive, I’m going to play them. If we feel like they’ll play and not be productive, we might as well let them get healthy so they can be productive. That’s what I have to measure.”

One-by-one, these are the issues the Yankees are dealing with.

Alex Rodriguez
This is the same thumb injury that’s bothered him ever since he made the awkward backhanded play in Minneapolis three weeks ago. The Yankees have tried to manage it with occasional days off, but it hasn’t quite gone away, and Rodriguez told Girardi after last night’s game that it was still bothering him.

“I feel like there’s a big difference between being hurt and playing through bumps and bruises,” Rodriguez said. “I can certainly play through bumps and bruises. Even with bumps and bruises, I can do serious damage. But the way I am right now, I don’t think it’s possible.”

Since coming off the disabled list — he injured the thumb the first day back — Rodriguez has hit just .194/.370/.389 with three extra-base hits in 10 games. He went for an additional MRI in New York last week, but Rodriguez thinks it’s actually been getting better, it’s just not fully healed yet.

“We’re trying to get him going, that’s the bottom line,” Girardi said. “If you keep taking these breaks, it’s hard to get going, and that’s the frustrating part.”

Nick Swisher
The test results could have been much worse. Swisher’s MRI revealed no structural damage, but it did show what Swisher described as “a lot of inflammation.” Girardi called it tendonitis, but the bottom line is this: Swisher is day-to-day, but he doesn’t seem to have a long-term issue.

“It’s a bummer because, right now, you want to be in there every day,” Swisher said. “Everyone is tired, everyone is going through their aches and pains, but you definitely want to try and be out there. Right now, we have relax a little bit. We just need to chill for a couple days.”

Swisher doesn’t seem to have a timetable. He’s going to do treatment today, and what he does tomorrow will depend on how he feels. Girardi expects this to be a smaller issue that Rodriguez’s thumb.

“I think Alex’s thumb might be more of a continual problem,” Girardi said. “Swish is probably just a few days rest of some medicine, some treatment. He should be ok. Tendonitis usually clears up. But Alex, we’ll just have to wait.”

Francisco Cervelli
After being run over by Nick Markakis on Thursday, Cervelli has been in the Yankees lineup two days in a row, only to be scratched each time. Girardi said Cervelli has some concussion symptoms, and he was sent for an ImPACT test tonight.

Andruw Jones
There’s no injury here, but the Yankees are cautious because Jones’ has a history of knee problems, and they don’t want to push him too hard when he’s not used to playing every day. Jones has missed only one day so far this month, so Girardi wanted to give him a day off. That’s why he’s not in right field tonight.

Boone Logan
Girardi plans to stay away from Logan again tonight. He’ll also stay away from Luis Ayala, and he has to check with Cory Wade, but Rafael Soriano is available again. Logan hasn’t had more than one day off since August 27, and in that span he’s thrown three days in a row once, and three out of four twice. His velocity has dipped lately, and the Yankees think fatigue and dead arm might be the cause.

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Eduardo Nunez was pretty funny when he saw the lineup posted this afternoon. His reaction was a single word that can’t be printed in this space, and he was laughing about it when reporters asked about his first career start in right field.

“I knew if they needed me, I could play outfield, but I didn’t know I was starting today,” he said. “They didn’t tell me… It’s fun. It’s a new experience. I’ll do the best I can.”

Nunez has played right field only once in his life. It was earlier this season in Baltimore, and he caught the only ball hit to him. He played some left field in spring training, and he’s played both corners during batting practice.

“The way he’s swung the bat (was a factor),” Girardi said. “And I liked his at-bats against Haren the last time we played. And it might be something we have to do… Sometimes you have to look at it, and if we’re fortunate enough to get a lead, we can always make a switch.”

Here’s Nunez. At the end of the group interview someone wished him luck. “I need luck,” Nunez said.

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• Terrific pitching matchup tonight with CC Sabathia and Dan Haren. “Two guys who really know how to use the strike zone,” Girardi said. “They know how to mix their pitches, they know how to throw offspeed behind in the count. When you look at Danny Haren, he’s going to throw a split, a lot of cutters, he’s going to throw curveballs, he’s going to mix his pitches.

• The Yankees have lost three in a row, all by one run. “It could be fatigue,” Girardi said. “That’s the only thing that I could think of. We have not swung the bats very well lately, and maybe we could turn that around tonight.”

• Girardi is hopeful that he’ll have Rodriguez and Swisher back by the end of the road trip. “We’ve got a long way to go this road trip, so I would sure hope so,” he said. “I would hope to have both of them back before that.”

• Swisher on Nunez taking his spot in right: “He’s an athlete. He can do it.”

ANGELS
Maicer Izturis 3B
Peter Bourjos CF
Howie Kendrick 2B
Torii Hunter DH
Mark Trumbo 1B
Vernon Wells LF
Mike Trout RF
Erick Aybar SS
Jeff Mathis C

Associated Press photos