Game 93 WPA Chart

Game 87 Recap

[WE data via FG]

Highlights:

• Ichiro makes a great catch on Cano's sac fly
  
  
• Posada drives in a run with a single to center
  
  
• Franklin Gutierrez robs Derek Jeter of an extra base with with an incredible, ranging catch up against the wall in the second.
  
  
• A two run, fourth inning double by Jeter
  
  
• Teix with another two bagger in the 4th, driving in the Captain
  
  
• Marcus Thames' dinger off the foul pole
  

Not In The Highlights:

• The Mariners, who are typically play excellent defense, committed two errors in the first inning and had a lot of trouble tracking down balls in the sun.
  
  
• There was a lot of putting the ball in play today, as the Yankees worked only two walks and struck out four times, while the M's worked just one walk and K'd twice
  
  
• John Flaherty caught a foul ball in the booth during the seventh inning
  
  
• CC Sabathia induced 15 groundballs during his seven innings of one run ball. He's now won eight starts in a row, the longest such streak of his career.
  
  
• Mark Teixeira was 4-5 with two doubles one of which only missed being a home run by a couple of feet.
  
  
• Dustin Moseley pitched the ninth inning and allowed a homer to Casey Kotchman

Up Next:

• The All-Star break. The home run derby, which Nick Swisher will be participating in, will take place on Monday night at 8pm and the game itself will be on Tuesday.

Game 85 Recap

[Data via FG]

Highlights:

• In the wake of his victory in the Final Vote and resulting selection to the All-Star team, Nick Swisher had another big night, going 4-4 (two doubles) and a walk in addition to making a nice sliding catch in the 5th. One of those two-baggers set the table for A-Rod's game-winning hit in the ninth as it put runners on second and third with one out.
  
  
• Andy Pettitte was brilliant yet again, striking out nine in eight innings and allowing just one run. His only real rough patch came in the 6th. He gave up two straight singles to begin the frame and Ichiro dropped a bunt right in front of the plate. Pettitte fielded it cleanly but sailed the throw wide of first, allowing a run to score and the runners to move to second and third.
  
  There was still no one out at this point and it looked likely that the game would be blown wide open. However, Pettitte retired Chone Figgins, intentionally walked Franklin Gutierrez and then proceeded to strike out Russell Braynan and Jose Lopez to wriggle out of the jam with minimal damage.
  
  
• The Yanks put runners on first and second with no one out in the 8th on a walk by A-Rod and a single by Robby Cano. Jason Vargas uncorked a wild pitch and A-Rod moved to third, but Cano didn't take the opportunity to advance to second, possibly influenced by the batter, Jorge Posada initially gesturing for the runners to stay put. As it turns out, Posada grounded into a double play, which scored the run but shut down a further rally. It was a big mistake at the time, regardless of whose fault it was, but thankfully the Yanks got away with it when they got to Mariners' closer David Aardsma for the second time in just over a week.

Not In The Highlights:

• In the first inning, Ichrio was attempting to catch a pop up off the bat of Mark Texieira and bumped into a "fan", who was brushing her hair and proceeded to absolutely freak out and immediately text everyone she knows, "OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG ICHIRO LIKE TOUCHED ME!!!11!1!!!////".
  
  
• Seattle fans, apparently still bitter over him leaving the team ten fucking years ago, threw fake money at Alex Rodriguez when he game to bat in the 8th inning.
  
  
• The Yankees put at least one man on base in every inning last night, but didn't score until the 8th. Particularly frustrating were 1st (1st & 2nd, no outs) and 4th (1st & 2nd, one out). They were 1-11 with runners in scoring position and left 12 men on base.
  
  
• Brett Gardner was 0-4 with three strikeouts, but he did gun down Ichiro at third base in the first inning.
  
  
• Mark Teixeira had a pretty terrible night, hurting the Yanks chances of winning by 38%. he grounded into a double play in the first, and failed to get the runner in from third in the ninth when he popped out to the catcher. Luckily A-Rod was there to pick him up with a huge two out hit.

Up Next:

• Yet another late start as Phil Hughes takes on Cliff Lee.

Game 75 Recap

[WE data via FanGraphs]

When Joba Chamberlain gave up an RBI double to Rafael Furcal with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, the Yankees looked to be dead to rights. It cut the Yanks' chances of winning from about three percent to one percent. When Mark Teixeira struck out looking on a 97mph fastball from Jonathan Bronxton leading off the ninth inning, it hacked the Bombers' odds of pulling it out by a third once again from 1.2% all the way down to 0.4%.

There wasn't much reason to be hopeful, either. Andy Pettitte had a bad start (by his high standards this year) despite not getting hit all that hard. The Dodgers laid down three consecutive bunts in the third inning and none resulted in outs - Andy made throwing errors on two of them and the third was a single. He gave up two more on a sac fly and a homer in the fourth, putting the Yanks in a 5-0 hole. The offense had been stagnant up until that point, the only two runs they scored coming on a home run by Alex Rodriguez, but unfortunately he was up after Teixeira and you can't hit a grand slam with the bases empty.

A-Rod did his job of not using up an out, poked a single through left field and advanced on defensive indifference before Robinson Cano drove him in with a double. Jorge Posada singled, moving Cano to third, and advanced on indifference as Curtis Granderson was in the process of working a tough 8 pitch walk from Broxton to load the bases. All of a sudden the Yanks had the go-ahead run at the plate and still only one out.

Recent call-up Chad Huffman (who came in for an injured Brett Gardner) let two 96mph heaters pass, one for a ball and one for a strike, but smacked the third one into right field, driving in Posada and Cano. Colin Curtis, who was also in Scranton not too long ago, battled through a 10 pitch at bat against Broxton and grounded a ball to first. James Loney fielded it and instead of trying to start an inning-ending double play at second or throw home to save the run, he attempted to get the force at first and then throw home. However, Granderson beat the ball to the plate and the score was tied at six runs apiece.

The Dodgers intentionally walked Derek Jeter and retired Frankie Cervelli, but the Yankees had made a divine comeback and gave themselves a chance to steal the series on their way out of the City of Angels.

It wouldn't take long. Riding the momentum of the moment, Girardi went to Mariano Rivera and he took down the side in order in the bottom of the ninth. Robinson Cano rewarded the aggressive move by launching a two run homer in the 10th off of George Sherrill (who Torre brought in specifically for him) to give the Yanks the lead. James Loney led off the bottom half of the inning with a single but Rivera struck out Russell Martin (who got ejected after throwing a tantrum over a pitch that was obviously a strike) and Reed Johnson (who was 3-4 on the night at that point) before inducing a game inning grounder from Jamey Carroll.

Without looking up the specifics, it's feels like it's been a long time since the Yankees have had a miraculous late comeback like this one [Update: Larry says it's the biggest 9th inning rally since April 2007]. It would have been sweet regardless, but the fact that it nailed down a series victory and came against some old friends makes it a little bit sweeter. The team has the day off today as they head back home and rest up before a three game set against the Mariners.

Game 70: Cursed Diamond

Good evening Fackers. Sorry, once again, for the lack of content of late. We were planning on getting back into the swing of things today until other obligations got in the way.

The Yankees roll into Arizona, papers in hand, for a three game series at Chase Field against the struggling Diamondbacks. Moving to an N.L. park, the Yankees figure to be cautious this week in doling out playing time to their banged up veterans Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada.

A.J. Burnett takes the mound for the Yankees, his foot, bruised by a comebacker in his last start, having passed the test of a bullpen session Saturday. He'll be opposed by Rodrigo Lopez. The Yankees faced Lopez numerous times during his years with the Orioles, and beat him around to the tune of a 5.90 ERA over 126.2 innings. This will be the first time they've faced him since 2007.

2007 was also the last time the Yankees and Diamondbacks faced each other. Overall, this will be the fourth interleague series between the two clubs, and the first in Arizona since 2004. The Yankees are 7-2 against the Snakes in interleague play, and went 2-1 during their series six years ago at what was then Bank One Ballpark.

Of course no one has much of a memory of that 2004 series. For any Yankee fan, the first thought that springs to mind at the mention of the Diamondbacks is the 2001 World Series, when the Yanks went 0-4 at the BoB, failing in two chances to clinch on enemy soil in Games Six and Seven. Looking back on it now, it's still hard to believe: certified Big Game Pitcher Andy Pettitte tipping his pitches and getting absolutely slaughtered in Game Six, and the great Mariano squandering a ninth inning lead in Game Seven.

It was enough to prompt Buster Olney to declare it The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty. I have mixed feelings about that, as the Yankees won five consecutive division titles following that season and made another World Series appearance just two years later, but certainly the end of that 2001 season was the start of a process that saw the stalwarts of the 1996 through 2001 teams move on.

As enjoyable as many parts of that 2001 World Series were, with the Yankees heading back to Chase Field to face the Diamondbacks, it's hard to think of the place as anything but a Diamond Cursed.

I want to shine for you
I want to sparkle too
Just like a diamond cursed
Well you know it don't get worse
You know that I'll save you time
Your trouble now is mine

[Song Notes: Yes, I'm still on a Black Crowes kick, and this is one of my favorites. When I went to see them on their reunion run at the Hammerstein Ballroom five years ago they opened with this one. This video is an acoustic performance, featuring the brothers Robinson as well as guitarist Marc Ford, who is unfortunately no longer with the band.]

-Lineups-

We'll add these later on. Tonight's game starts at 10:10 EDT, the remaining games of the series start at 9:40 EDT. All three are on YES, and nationally, tonight's is on ESPN.

Yankees:
Chad Jennings reports that the Yankees have called up Colin Curtis from Scranton. Curtis had a good Arizona Fall League last year, a strong spring, and was off to a good start in AAA before missing a month with a high ankle sprain. Since coming off the DL he's been seeing a lot of time in center field, which in retrospect may have been an indicator that they were preparing him for this. Brian Cashman said earlier in the year that Curtis would have been under consideration for a promotion if not for his ankle injury. Curtis was not on the 40 man roster, so there may be multiple moves taking place.

[UPDATE 7:20 PM] Chad Moeller isn't listed on the lineup card, so he's likely the departing player. This makes it a clean transaction, as Moeller will be outrighted or DFA'd, opening spots for Curtis on both the 25 and 40 man rosters. The organization will likely look for a way to keep Moeller; he was willing to stick around through two different DFA's in 2008. This is also likely good news about Jorge Posada's ability to catch moving forward, as the the club wouldn't have bid goodbye to Moeller if they weren't confident in Posada's ability to catch on a semi regular basis.

Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada C
Curtis Granderson CF
Brett Gardner LF
A.J. Burnett RHP

Diamondbacks:

Game 65 Recap

[WE data via FanGraphs]

This game was pretty much the inverse of last night's. The biggest hit was an second inning triple by the center fielder and the losing pitcher gave up six runs before being yanked. Each game was close for about two-thirds of a second later on but was pretty much decided by the end of the third. The difference was that last night A.J. Burnett wasn't getting unlucky, and unlike Roy Halladay, had to be pulled from the game in the fourth.

There's no sugar coating it, Burnett was terrible last night. Just about half of his pitches were out of the strike zone - 39 of them in 3 1/3 innings, to be exact. He allowed more men to reach base (11) than he retired (10) and gave up a triple and two homers. He couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with his curveball.

A.J. dug his own grave in the second inning as he walked two guys and gave up two singles before running the count to 3-1 on Shane Victorino. Since Burnett's aforementioned Uncle Charlie didn't show up, he ended up and feeding Victorino a meatball smack dab in the middle of the plate, about dinner table-height. All that was missing was a fork, some spaghetti and some spicy tomato oil and some bread to mop up after it.

The coupe de grace came during the fourth inning when Chase Utley smoked a ball down the first base line that Mark Teixeira fielded and got ready to toss to first - except Burnett wasn't there to cover the bag. The crowd erupted in a loud chorus of boos and Burnett was yanked before he had a chance to face another batter.

There were some good pitching performances last night as well. The only baserunner Boone Logan allowed in his 2 2/3 innings was an intentional walk to Jayson Werth, which was a direct result of him having to clean up A.J. Burnett's mess. Chad Gaudin was just as good, pitching perfect 7th, 8th and 9th innings.

Of course, Jamie Moyer was excellent as well. He gave up only three hits and a single walk in eight innings, but two of the hits were solo homers by Robinson Cano and Jorge Posada, so it doesn't look quite as dominant in the box score as it actually was. The Yanks brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth against Brad Lidge but Posada struck out on a slider to end the game.

Andy Pettitte faces Kyle Kendrick tonight as the Yanks try to salvage a series victory and forget about the turd A.J. Burnett just laid.

Game 65: Slow Train Coming

I'm not sure what's more mindboggling, the fact that Jamie Moyer is still pitching in the Major Leagues at age 47 or that, ever since they've been tracking with PitchFX, his fastball has been clocked at speeds roughly between A.J. Burnett's curveball and slider.

In a lot of ways, Moyer is the inverse of what Burnett used to be. When he was with the Marlins, Burnett used to throw hard for the sake of throwing hard and lighting up the radar gun, strike a lot of guys out but also walk a ton of them too. He was a young, tall, menacing presence on the mound for a team in Southern Florida. Meanwhile, Moyer was already well over a decade into his MLB career, an average-sized and easy-going type, pitching in the opposite corner of the country, left handed, throwing in the low 80's and just trying to hit his spots.

Still, their level of performance was pretty similar. From 1999-2005, Burnett had an ERA+ of 111. Moyer? 110. They both struck out about twice as many as they walked, but Burnett was giving out four free passes per nine innings while Moyer was allowing just 2.2. Their WHIPs during that span were a very similar 1.284 and 1.258.

Before last Friday, Moyer and Burnett each had six wins and ERAs under 4.00 on the season. However, Moyer got absolutely hammered in Fenway, allowing nine runs in 1+ IP and raising his ERA a full run in the process.

Burnett hasn't exactly had a smooth go of it as of late, either. He's given up 13 runs in his past three starts against Cleveland, Toronto and Baltimore and hasn't turned in a so-called quality outing in over a month (the five shutout innings he threw in the rain-delayed affair against the Twins not withstading). After sporting an ERA under 2.00 through his first six starts, Burnett has tallied a 5.61 mark over his next seven, raising his overall tally to a much-higher-but-still-respectable 3.86. The lefty-heavy Phillies lineup - as anemic as it has been lately - isn't likely to provide much of a relief for A.J.

The same could be said for the Yankee hitters in relation to Moyer. The Bombers tagged Roy Halladay for three homers and six runs last night but are going to be seeing a wildly different look from the crafty lefty on the hill this evening. Look out boys, the slow (and slower) train is coming.

They say loose your inhibitions, follow your own ambitions
They talk about a life of brotherly love,

show me someone who knows how to live it,
There's slow, slow train coming up around the bend.

[Song Notes: Matt here with the song notes. "Slow Train Coming" is a Bob Dylan song, and was the title track to his controversial 1979 album of the same name. The album was Dylan's first release since announcing his conversion as a Born Again Christian, and most of the songs on the album have some element of spirituality to them. The above performance comes from the North Mississippi Allstars at the 2007 Newport Folk Festival.

As Jay detailed last year, it was at Newport where Dylan became embroiled in the first major controversy of his career, as he played his notorious first electric set at the 1965 Festival. The 2007 Festival was also distinctively un-folk, as the NMA set was sandwiched after the John Butler Trio, and before Gov't Mule and the Allman Brothers Band. Perhaps as a nod to the non-traditional line up that year, but certainly as a nod to Dylan, NMA wove a mini-Dylan set into their performance that day, playing Dylan's "Masters of War", "Oxford Town", and "Slow Train Coming"

I was at that show, and if I recall correctly, I was standing just to the right of the guy filming it (and no, I am not of the shirtless hippy dancers in the video). This was the second of seven NMA shows I saw in a ten day period that summer, and it was a very cool trip. Newport was great - right on the water, excellent views, a great line up. That was also the day Alex Rodriguez hit his 500th career HR.]

-Lineups-

Yankees: A-Rod comin', yo. After five games out of the lineup, A-Rod's groin or thigh or whatever injury has apparently healed up enough for him to return. He'll be eased back into action with an appearance at DH as Jorge Posada tries catching after being removed a bit early from Sunday's game. Kevin Russo is playing third base and hitting eighth but this is the closest the Yanks line up has been to Opening Day form in quite some time.

Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez DH
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada C
Curtis Granderson CF
Kevin Russo 3B
Brett Gardner LF

Phillies:

Victorino CF
Polanco 3B
Utley 2B
Howard 1B
Werth RF
Ibanez LF

Dobbs, DH
Schneider C
Valdez SS

Leftover Weekend Notes

Good morning Fackers. We're easing our way out of the weekend and yesterday's off day, with a World Series rematch against the Phillies looming tonight. Before we turn our focus to that, we'd be remiss if we didn't point out a few items from the weekend series where the Yankees swept up after Astro like they were Rosie the Robot:

On Friday, Andy Pettitte became just the third pitcher in Yankee history to record two hundred wins. Yes, wins aren't a very good means of measuring a pitcher's effectiveness, but for Pettitte to join elite company in the franchise's storied history is noteworthy. Pettitte has been flirting with retirement for the past four off-seasons. Even if he finishes 2010 pitching as well as he has thus far, he's still a good season plus away from catching Red Ruffing (231) and Whitey Ford (236). If he had never left for Houston he'd likely already hold the record.

As Jay mentioned yesterday, Jorge Posada hit grand slams on Saturday and Sunday. He now has 251 career home runs, pushing him past Graig Nettles (250) for seventh place on the Yankees' all-time list. Next up is Bernie Williams (287), but A-Rod is lurking just five behind Posada.

Derek Jeter's leadoff home run on Saturday broke Rickey Henderson's club record for career leadoff home runs.

Marcus Thames injured his hamstring Saturday and was placed on the DL. Chad Huffman was recalled to take his roster spot. Huffman made his Major League debut Sunday, legged out an infield single in his first at bat, and later reached on a walk and a dropped third strike.

Former Yankee Oscar Azocar passed away yesterday at age 45 in his native Venezuela. Azocar was one of several young players the Yankees brought up during their last place season in 1990. He wasn't particularly good, but much like Francisco Cervelli, he had an enthusiastic style play that endeared him to fans and to Phil Rizzuto. Azocar frequently sprinted from his post in left field to back up third base on plays where he was otherwise uninvolved. A free swinger, Azocar walked just twice in 218 plate appearances that season, but he made enough contact where he only struck out 15 times. He was traded to San Diego following his rookie season and washed out of organized baseball after two years there.

Wrapping Up The Weekend

Good morning, Fackers. Hope your weekend was as relaxing as the Yanks' was. En route to a sweep of the Astros, the Bombers hardly trailed at all in three games - only in the early going and for just one third of an inning yesterday - and that latter gap was promptly erased by an RBI single by Nick Swisher and left behind indefinitely by a grand slam by Jorge Posada on Saturday afternoon.

Jorgie had a eventful weekend as he added another salami yesterday, making him the first Yankee to accomplish that feat in back to back games since Billy Dickey in 1939. He also returned behind the plate yesterday for the first time since May 16th, just before being placed on the DL with a stress fracture in his foot. While he was certainly fine on offense, Posada had to give up catching duties after the eighth inning. While he initially complained of "soreness", he later claimed he was just "fatigued". The former is quite concerning, but the latter is to be expected from a 38 year old who hasn't caught a full game in almost a month. Either way, the Yankees are obviously going to be careful about how often they put him behind the plate and the upcoming day off will certainly help him get past any pain or exhaustion.

Taking a step back, now seems like an appropriate time to reflect on what we earmarked as a significant stretch of games for the Yanks.

Heading into Memorial Day Weekend, the squad was starting down a 16 game stretch against the Indians, Orioles, Blue Jays and Astros and looking up at a 4.5 game deficit in the standings. At that point, we surmised that anything better than 10-6 during the soft stretch of the schedule would have been acceptable.

It turns out that the Yankees passed the test. Even though they dropped two of three to Toronto, they ripped through the last place cupcakes at 11-2, bringing their final tally to 12-4, outscoring their opponents 103-61. It was as good of a stretch as can be reasonably expected in the MLB.

Aside from the 13 run disaster (and more specifically, seven run seventh inning) against Cleveland, the pitching was excellent, holding foes to three runs or fewer 11 times. Phil Hughes picked up four victories over that time while Javy Vazquez won three and Sabathia and Pettitte each picked up two.

Of course, as was on display yesterday, putting up almost six and a half runs per game gives starting pitchers a little more cushion in their quest to pick up victories. The Yanks cranked out just about 10 hits and five walks per game and when you put that many men on base, good things are going to happen.

Good things like multi-run home runs, for instance. Of the 18 round-trippers the Yankees hit during this run, five of them have been grand slams (two by Posada this weekend and one each by Granderson, Cano and A-Rod) and just four of them have been solo shots. To put that in perspective, the Yanks had only hit one GS coming into the Cleveland series and over half of their homers to that point were solo shots.

While the Yankees were tearing through a soft portion of their schedule, the Rays began to fall back to earth. Since April 28th, they've gone 7-8 against the White Sox, Blue Jays, Rangers and Marlins. Certainly their slate of 15 games was much more difficult, having to play Toronto twice and face teams that aren't dragging their asses across last place in the division and all, but this is the schedule evening out in the long run.

The Rays' mediocre stretch also allowed Boston to play some catch up. The Sox are sitting just four games behind the two teams at the top and any talk of how there was no way they could make the playoffs now seems pretty foolish.

With four more series of interleague play in queue for all three teams, a lot could happen in the division over the next two weeks, much of it based on a completely unbalanced schedule. The three division rivals share only one common opponent - the Diamondbacks - over that time.

Game 63: Astronomy

So far in this series, as was expected coming in, the Yankees have taken care of business. The Astros are a one of the very worst teams in baseball and anything less than a series victory would have been a serious letdown. Now that the Bombers have taken the first two games by totally different means - one tight contest with no home runs and one blowout with five of them - they look to Phil Hughes to put them in position to complete the sweep.

Phil has gone through a mildly medicore stretch (by his standards) over his last five starts, allowing 15 runs in 30.2 IP (4.40 ERA) but has still struck out a batter an inning (29) - just about five times more than he's walked (6). The difference is that he's been slightly more hittable over this stretch, surrendering 34 hits over that span as opposed to just 22 knocks in the first 39 frames he pitched this season.

Houston sends 38 year old journeyman/swingman Brian Moehler to the mound for his fourth start of the season. Between starting and relief, the junk-balling righty has allowed 22 runs in 31 1/3 innings (6.12 ERA) while giving up 46 hits striking out 13 and walking 11. Jeter, A-Rod and to a lesser extent, Posada are the only three Yanks to have faced him in somewhat significant sample sizes (from his days in Detroit over 10 years ago, most likely) and the results have all been good for our guys.

In terms of the pitching match up, the stars seem to have aligned in favor of the Yankees. Hopefully the cosmos have a sweep in store for the Bombers.

It's the nexus of the crisis,
And the origin of storms,
Just the place to hopelessly,
Encounter time, and then came meeeeee.

-Lineups-

Same deal as yesterday, both Matt and I are all sorts of tied up. You know where to find them.

Game 59 Recap

[WE data via FanGraphs]

Unlike last night, when the Yankees got ahead early and stayed there, there were plenty of point when it looked like this one wasn't going to end up in the win column. Through the first three innings, CC Sabathia had allowed eight baserunners (two of whom came around to score) and thrown 63 pitches. Meanwhile, the Yanks had put five men on but stranded four of them, while the other, Derek Jeter, was caught stealing by Matt Wieters.

Although forecasts predicted the rain would hold out a bit longer, the skies opened up as Robinson Cano led off the top of the fourth. With only three half-innings still to be completed before it became an official and a deficit of two runs to make up, it appeared the clock was ticking on the Yankees. But Cano bought a little time with an opposite field base hit. Chris Tillman gave the Yankees a little more when he sailed a pickoff attempt wide of first, allowing Cano to advance to second. Jorge Posada moved Cano over to third on a grounder and Curtis Granderson scored him easily on a deep sac fly to left to bring the Yanks within one.

The bottom of the fourth and top of the fifth came and went with the minimum number of batters and the score stuck at 2-1. Mercifully, when the broadcast returned for the home half of the fifth, they showed the grounds crew retreat from the post behind the tarp back underneath the stands, their presence apparently no longer needed.

It was still raining, but not quite as hard, and the Weather Gods had apparently granted the Yankees a reprieve. Sabathia worked around a lead off single to Miguel Tejada and kept the Yankees one behind heading into the top of the sixth.

The tides were about to turn, but the Yankees needed some help from the O's defense and perhaps the sloppy conditions. Leading off the inning, Mark Teixeira bounced a ball in between first and second just out of the reach of Julio Lugo. Next up, A-Rod ripped a single to left-center that hopped over Luke Scott and allowed Teixeira to advance to third. Cano followed with a smooth game-tying base knock to right that moved A-Rod ninety feet away from putting the Yanks ahead, still with no one out. Posada tapped weak double play ball to first that would have got the run home either way, but Caesar Izturis couldn't deliver the throw back to first in time. Still, the damage was done and the Yanks were up 3-2.

While Sabathia struggled mightily in the early going, he threw scoreless 10, 11 and 11 pitch innings in the 4th, 5th and 6th and was available to come back out for the seventh and was greeted by a bunt single by Izturis. Julio Lugo dropped another bunt to sacrifice him to second and the O's were threatening. After Miguel Tejada grounded out to third, Nick Markakis stepped to the plate with two outs. Instead of hitting it the opposite way like he so often does, he chopped one up the first baseline. Cano had a great read on it and made a ridiculous diving stop, popped to his feet and nearly threw Markakis out at first base to end the inning. He had preserved the Yanks' lead but they weren't out of the woods yet.

Ty Wigginton ran the count full before drawing a walk to load the bases and pass the baton to Luke Scott. Sabathia had allowed a single to Scott on the night but also struck him out twice on sliders. CC started him off with a curveball outside and then Scott fouled back a fastball to level the count. The count was 1-2 after Scott swung over a sinker and Sabathia went back to the well for one more slider and struck him out swinging to escape the inning.

Frankie Cervelli knocked in an insurance run a few batters later and Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera combined for a scoreless eighth and ninth as the Yankees locked up their tenth straight win against Baltimore. It was far from perfect as the Yanks had another rough night with runners in scoring position (2 for 13) and Jeter both grounded into a double play and got caught stealing but they got the job done and look to complete the sweep tonight behind A.J. Burnett.

Wednesday Linktacular

Good morning Fackers. It's been a while since I've pulled together one of these, so grab a seat in front of the Coleman Lifelike Scoreboard (via Neyer) and let's take a trip around the baseballing interwebz.

Some quick Yankee items first before we get to the big stuff.

Here's a nice wrap up of the Yankees' second day of the draft from MLB.com with a video and a listing of all their picks.

Brian Costa of the WSJ took a look at some of the Yanks' late round picks of yesteryear.

Sean from Pending Pinstripes had a great post about giving more than lip service to the concept of "trusting the process" around draft time.

Brett Gardner was removed from last night's game with some discomfort in his thumb, likely stemming from the time that he broke it last year. As anyone who has fractured a digit can attest, pain can flare up at times for quite a while after the initial injury. Gardner said it's happened about 20 times since Spring Training, but it was a little worse tonight. Still, it's probably nothing to worry about.

Jorge Posada started taking catching practice once again, and hopefully should be available to resume that role part-time in the near future.

This isn't exactly news, but Dave Eiland was granted personal leave for an undisclosed reason and is not with the team at present. Bullpen coach Mike Harkey is occupying his role as pitching coach and Josh Paul - the coach of the short-season Staten Island team - is holding things down out in the bullpen for the time being.

Okay, onto the biggest topics of the last two days:

On Monday, Joe Posnanski went to great lengths to put the debut of Steven Strasburg into perspective and in so doing, said this:

But we live in a different time, our Christmas morning time, when expectation is more fun than realization, when potential costs as much or more than performance, when we happily get carried away, when it isn’t so much about that tired cliche of “what have you done for me lately?” but, instead, “what can you do for me tomorrow?”

If anything, Strasburg's jaw-dropping performance only served to increase the impossibly high expectations for him. Had he done something impressive but repeatable like striking out nine while walking two or three, that would have been one thing, but ripping of 14 Ks without issuing a single free pass? You have to go all the way back to 2007 to find any pitcher in the Majors that's done that, let along a rookie, let alone in his debut.

I'd obviously recommend reading through Poz's live blog of the game, but the most entertaining thing I found this morning about Strasmas was Dashiell Bennett's spot on vivisection of Bob Costas' call of the event over at Deadspin:

Bob Costas did more in just nine innings to craft the Legend of Stephen Strasburg then a lifetime supply of Baseball Almanacs ever could. Yet, he wants to use his same breaths to tsk-tsk the big bad media for losing their heads over the man. If you can't restrain yourself, Bob, why should anyone else?

If you think Dash is being harsh, click through for a mash-up of the historical name-dropping and "on the other hand" detachment Costas employs. I'm not saying there was a clear and easy path to walk for this kind of a game - something truly special was unfolding and it's tough to talk about that without going overboard - but it's the tone with which Costas speaks out both sides of his mouth, listing off legends of the game while saying that "others" might be going overboard with the hype, that neatly encompasses why so many people don't like him.

Deadspin was actually right in the middle of yesterday's second biggest baseball story as well - the one about Pete Rose's corked bat. Barry Petchesky did some real journalism and brought together the story of a PR4192 - a stick used in a game by Mr. Rose himself with an unbroken chain of custody - that X-rays show has a 6" piece of cork inserted right into the barrel.

Craig Calcaterra and Kevin Kaduk ask whether we should care about this and does it really matter, respectively. Beyond the story being a thoroughly enjoyable read, I do care and think it does matter.

It's not surprising by any stretch. We've long known that Rose has a shaky moral foundation (to put it kindly) and accusations of him corking date back to 2001. But his play on the field has always been unimpeachable. He was Charlie Hustle and any tarnish on his name had been confined to things he did without a batting helmet on. To my knowledge, no one ever questioned the veracity of his all-time hits record, save for the jab that he probably shouldn't have put himself in the lineup at the end of his career when he was a player-manager.

Even if MythBusters and other empirical research concluded that corking a bat doesn't really help. Fine, but it's still cheating, regardless of how much of an edge is provides. Again, not that this is shocking, but the one last leg that Rose had to stand on, now looks considerably more unstable.

Game 53 Recap

(WPA data from Fangraphs)

Well that is one pretty looking chart for the Yankees. At only one point in the game did the Orioles have a better than 50% chance of emerging victorious, as Luke Scott's one out double in the second inning pushed the O's WE to a whopping 51.7%.

That speaks volumes as to how well the Yankees played last night. Phil Hughes was brilliant yet again, going seven strong, allowing six hits, one run, a walk, and fanning seven. He threw 72 of his 101 pitches for strikes.

On the offensive side, the Yankees continued to feast on the teams they should be roughing up, and once again, Robinson Cano led the charge. He went 3 for 4, with three runs scored and two RBI. He blasted his team-leading 12th home run of the season into the right field bleachers, extended his hitting streak to 16 games, and boosted his line for 2010 to .373/.412/.632. He now leads the AL in batting, is fourth in OBP, and third in SLG. His 12 HRs is tied for sixth.

Cano wasn't alone on offense though. Curtis Granderson continued his hot post-DL hitting, going 3 for 4 with a big two run double in the second to open the scoring. Nick Swisher chipped in three hits of his own, one of them also a two run double in the second inning. Alex Rodriguez had two hits and two runs scored, Brett Gardner doubled and scored twice, and Jorge Posada singled and walked in his return from the DL.

The end of the game saw Chad Gaudin finish off two scoreless innings, with subs Ramiro Pena, Kevin Russo, and Marcus Thames behind him in the field as the Yankees cruised 9-1. You can't draw it up any better than that. They'll go for the sweep behind CC Sabathia this afternoon at 1 PM.

Game 53: Mean Old World

When an MRI determined that Jorge Posada had a hairline fracture back on May 19th, the Yankees' catcher wasn't buying the three to four week timetable offered by the Yankees' doctors.

"It's not going to take that long," said Posada, who wore a protective walking boot on his right foot. "They can say whatever they're going to say. I'll be here before that."

I personally rolled my eyes at this a bit, but as it turns out, Jorge was right. Here we are two weeks later and makes his triumphant return to the lineup. We don't yet know who he is replacing on the roster because the Yanks are waiting until after batting practice to make a move. [Update: It's Miranda]

At the present time, Jorge is only fit to DH since getting down in the catcher's crouch could potentially aggravate the stress fracture that put him on the DL in the first place. However, as our buddy Joe Pawlikowski pointed out over at FanGraphs the other day, Jorge is one of the few catchers in the game who is fit to occupy the role of designated hitter. He's appeared in fewer than half of the Yankees' games this year but has the same OPS+ (177) as Robinson Cano does in those 101 plate appearances.

When the Yankees signed Posada to that four year, $52M contract in November of 2007, they surely knew that he was only going to play a limited amount of games behind the plate. However, he's played sparingly in general, not just behind the dish. Jorge missed almost one-third of the 2008 season, played in just 111 games last year and has already missed a good portion of this season with three different injuries, all of which may have stemmed from the same single pitch.

Jeremy Guthrie hit Posada in the knee on April 28th, the lingering effects of which may have caused the calf strain which sidelined him for five days, which may or may not have contributed to this recent stress fracture. When you play through injuries, there could be a tendency to favor that side and put more pressure in places that the body isn't quite used to. Perhaps those hours behind the plate, putting too much weight on one side or the other could have weakened his foot to the point where the impact of a foul ball set off the fracture.

Jorge isn't an old guy in the grand scheme of things, but he certainly is up there when it comes to being a baseball player. He's downright ancient for a catcher.

As we all get older, we notice that we don't recover from the little injuries like we used to. A small tweak from a pick-up basketball game might linger for a couple of days. A run that you used to knock out without a problem now leaves you with aches and pains in places you aren't accustomed to. Hell, sometimes you might just sleep wrong and end up with a stiff back. Luckily for us, we can take a fews days off and be okay. Baseball players often try to work through minor issues and end up making things worse.

It was no secret that the Yankees were a little long in the tooth coming into this season, but I think it would be surprising to even a pessimistic observer just how many nagging injuries they've suffered. However, the world is a cruel place and they aren't getting any younger. It's just good to have Jorge back and put another solid stick in the lineup. It's not quite having Nick Johnson at DH and Posada behind the plate, but it's certainly a step in the right direction.

This is a mean old world, try and live it by yourself.
Can't get the one you love, have to use somebody else.

[Song Notes: I really wanted to use the version of this song that Eric Clapton did with Duane Allman but the embedding on YouTube is disabled by request. This one from the movie Hail Hail Rock & Roll featuring Chuck Berry, Clapton, Keith Richards, Johnnie Johnson, Chuck Leavell and Steve Jordan is plenty good, however. The original version was recorded by Little Walter in 1953.]

-Lineups-

Yankees: As we may have mentioned, Posada is back and DHing. He'll be batting sixth. Mark Teixeira is in the line up after being removed from yesterday's game with a bruised foot.

Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Francisco Cervelli C
Brett Gardner LF

Phil Hughes P

Orioles:

Corey Patterson, LF
Miguel Tejada 3B
Nick Markakis RF
Ty Wigginton 1B
Luke Scott DH
Matt Wieters C
Adam Jones CF
Scott Moore 2B
Caesar Izturis SS

Six Days Worth Of News, Notes, & Links

Good morning Fackers. I'm still getting myself back up to speed here, but I suppose, that like the majority of the Yankees roster at present, I'm day-to-day. Hope you all had a good Memorial Day Weekend. Mine wasn't too bad. In fact, if I were a Yankees minor league prospect and I was assigned to Charleston, I think I might intentionally tank in hopes of repeating the level and spending another year there. Let's get caught up on the past several days with some news, notes, and links:

As we mentioned in last night's preview, Jorge Posada was not activated in time for last night's game, despite being eligible to come off the DL and having run and taken BP without incident over the past few days. Rumor is he'll be activated in time for tonight's contest.

Posada's return likely means the end of Chad Moeller's tenure with the club, at least for the time being. However, Posada has yet to catch, which is likely to be the most strenuous activity as it relates to the fracture in his foot. It's also rumored that Posada may ease his way back into the lineup as a DH. It's not entirely out of the question that the team might keep Moeller around for a few more days, but with just a four man bench I can't see the team carrying three catchers right now.

In other roster news, Cleveland has claimed pitcher Shane Lindsay off waivers from the Yankees. Lindsay was claimed from Colorado just two weeks ago, but was promptly DFA'd to make room when Chad Gaudin was signed last week. Interestingly enough, Cleveland passed on an opportunity to claim Lindsay when he was waived earlier this month, but thought better of it this time around. The tall Australian spent the entirety of his brief Yankee career in Extended Spring Training, trying to improve upon his career 6.1 BB/9.

Speaking of relievers with control problems, former Yankee Brian Bruney, late of the Nationals, has signed a minor league deal with Milwaukee. Bruney handed out 20 free passes in just 17.2 innings of work this year.

Meanwhile, the Yankees may soon be stocking another arm in their minor league system. On Monday, reliever Kanekoa Texeira was designated for assignment by Seattle. Texeira was a Rule 5 pick from the Yankees system this past off-season. Seattle now has ten days to trade, waive, or release Texeira. Any team that picks him up inherits the Rule 5 requirement of keeping him on the 25 man roster for the remainder of the year. If he happens to clear waivers, Seattle must offer him back to the Yankees for $25k, half of the initial Rule 5 purchase price. The Yankees would not be required to carry him on either the 40 or 25 man rosters. As Mike Axisa at RAB noted, it never hurts to have depth, so I'm sure the club would taken him back if given the chance.

If he were to return, Texeira would likely be assigned to Scranton, who faced the great Stephen Strasburg over the weekend, and handed the phenom his first professional loss. Catcher Rene Rivera hit the first home run surrendered by the top pick in last year's draft. Rivera's job is likely in jeopardy when Posada is activated and Moeller goes back down, but at the very least he has a good story to tell for the rest of his days.

Scranton is getting somewhat healthy again as well, as outfielder/first baseman David Winfree and outfield Colin Curtis both returned over the weekend after missing time with injuries. As we noted last week, Curtis had been playing good ball prior to spraining his ankle and Brian Cashman stated that he would have been under consideration for a promotion had he not been injured. As we approach the one third mark of the season and the club begins to evaluate their roster needs for the remainder of the year, including looking for "versatile outfield bats", don't be surprised to see Curtis get a look before the trade deadline.

We're a few days late on this one, but weekend contributor Steve H, of Mystique and Aura, had a good post at RAB on Saturday, pointing out that handing a Major League job to Kevin Russo right now may hurt his development long term. At some point we may see Colin Curtis replace Russo so he can continue to develop as a supersub at the AAA level.

On Friday, Scranton lost a player, as pitcher Amauri Sanit was suspended for 50 games. The diminutive 30 year old Cuban tested positive for Mephentermine and had posted an 8.69 ERA through 19.2 IP this year.

In AA Trenton, slugger Jorge Vazquez made his 2010 debut last night. The 28 year old corner infielder was part of the Yankees haul out of the Mexican League in recent years, joining Alfredo Aceves and Ramiro Pena as useful pieces plucked from south of the border. He hit 13 home runs in just 225 at bats last year, but had missed the entirety of this season following an appendectomy. Fellow appendix-less prospect Manny Banuelos has yet to return action this year.

Fangraph's Jack Moore checks in on Tampa switch picher Pat Venditte.

For more minor league info, Pending Pinstripes' Greg Fertel has a post on how his top thirty prospects have faired thus far.

On Friday, ESPN's Rob Neyer riffed on Steve Goldman's pondering about making Curtis Granderson a platoon player. Granderson has recorded a hit off a left handed pitcher every day since that post published.

Seinfeld debuted just over twenty years ago, and went off the air just over twelve years ago. ESPN New York put together a list of Yankees references throughout the show's history.

Ok, that just about clears out all the things I had stashed away in Google Reader over the past few days. Back with more later on.

Game 41: Mr. Big

Somewhere along the line, tonight's Tampa Bay starter, James Shields, picked up the nickname "Big Game James". Apparently started as a joke during his minor league days, the handle has stuck on Shields, even if no less an authority than JoePos himself questioned if it was really deserved.

Deserved or not, it's a pretty cool nickname, and one that Shields is doing his damndest to grow into. He was the top starter on Tampa Bay's 2008 pennant winning team, got the win in the first post-season game in Tampa Bay history, and threw five shutout innings in Game Two of the 2008 World Series, the first, and thus far only World Series game ever won by the Rays.

Shields took a small step back in 2009, seeing increases in his ERA, FIP, as well as jumps in his BABIP, walk and home run rates. Still it's splitting hairs. Despite a sub-.500 record, he was still worth 4.1 WAR, his xFIP was right in line with what he'd done in previous years, and he led Tampa Bay pitchers in innings for the third consecutive season, finishing in the top ten in the AL for third straight year.

He's off to an outstanding start this year, leading the AL in strikeouts and K:BB. There are a handful is statistical anomalies in his overall line: his HR rate has jumped up, but his walk rate is down, his strand rate is up, but he has an insanely high BABIP. All in all, they balance out as his ERA (3.00), FIP (3.45), and xFIP (2.94) all seem to indicate a pitcher who's quietly become amongst the twenty or so best in the game over the past three plus years. He may not have fully earned his "Big Game James" nickname just yet, but if Shields keeps pitching this way the Rays will be playing in plenty of big stage games in which he can prove his mettle.

Shields will be opposed by a pitcher who lacks the Big Game nickname, but certainly has the Big Game reputation. Through fifteen Major League seasons, Andy Pettitte has appeared in the post-season twelve times. Though his 3.90 ERA through 40 post-season starts doesn't stand out as overwhelmingly ace-like, he's won twice as many as he's lost (18-9), and his big game reputation extends from his 1-0 Game Five masterpiece against Atlanta in his second season, to winning the clincher in all three rounds of the 2009 post-season. Yes, he's tossed a clunker or two along the way, but when the stakes are highest, you'd be hard-pressed to find another pitcher Yankee fans would rather have on the mound.

Tonight's contest isn't exactly a Big Game, but a typically solid Pettitte performance would go a long way towards calming the nerves of a suddenly on edge fan base. The Yankees suffered bullpen meltdowns in three straight games to start the week, then followed that up with their worst overall performance of the season last night. They're a Jonathan Papelbon implosion away from having lost four straight against three teams who figure to have a good a chance to be playing when the Big Games come along in October.

Compounding matters is the seemingly never-ending string of injuries that adds to the-sky-is-falling sentiment that's starting to crop up. Pettitte himself was part of the leading edge of those injuries, exiting his May 5th start after five innings due to tightness in his elbow. He was skipped next time through the rotation, contributing to some of the pitching staff woes from which the club is just now emerging. He returned to the mound last Saturday, tossing 6.1 shutout innings during the last game in which the Yankee bullpen allowed fewer than four runs. Pettitte's strong performance in that game did much to quell concerns about him having lingering elbow issues. A similar performance tonight will go along way towards talking some fans back from the ledge and reminding folks that all is not lost after a rough patch in May.

So we'll see two Big Game pitchers take to the hill tonight. Much like Thunderdome, only one of them can emerge victorious. Will it be the wily veteran or the up-and-comer? Just remember, if the Yanks can't bury Big Game James tonight, a five game deficit with four and a half months to go isn't the end of the world.

So Mr. Big, you'd better watch out
Don't you come hanging around
Because for you, I will dig
A great big hole in the ground

[Song Notes: "Mr. Big" was initially recorded by Free in 1970, but Gov't Mule immediately made it part of their repertoire upon forming in 1994. And while Free is a fine band, I'm not choosing them over the Mule. YouTube has several excellent Mule versions of this tune, including one featuring Chris Robinson and Marc Ford of the Black Crowes during their joint tour in 1996. That tour took place in the fall, and that performance took place in Atlanta. The same time and place that Andy Pettitte established his big game reputation.

The video above is of better quality than the one featuring Robinson and Ford, but is of the same vintage, coming from Martyrs in Chicago on 6/7/96, one day after Andy Pettitte threw a one run complete game gem against the Blue Jays in the Bronx. It features the late, great Allen Woody on bass - the above video that is, not the complete game.

Lastly, the cheesy pop rock band Mr. Big also covered this tune, and presumably took their name from the song as well. I'll be damned if I ever embed a Mr. Big video here, but I bring this up if only to mention that 17 years later I still can't believe that my buddy Arty got the out-of-his-league Becky to slow dance with him to Mr. Big's "To Be With You" at the junior high Halloween Dance. But I digress.]

-Lineups-

Yankees:
First, the roster moves. Jorge Posada has been placed on the DL. Kevin Russo has been recalled to take his place. Nick Johnson has been shifted to the 60 day DL, opening a spot on the 40 man roster. Chad Moeller's contract was purchased from Scranton, thereby placing him in that open 40 man spot. Mark Melancon was optioned back to Scranton, and Moeller was recalled to take his place. In terms of roles Moeller is clearly replacing Posada, but because Kevin Russo hasn't been down for ten days yet, he can only be recalled in place of a DL'd player. As such, he is technically taking Posada's spot on the roster, with the Melancon/Moeller move happening independently. Meanwhile, Boone Logan lives another day.

Russo is a bit of interesting choice as he isn't a pure outfielder, but he's seen a lot of action there in Scranton recently, with four appearances in center field and one in both corners. As the nagging injuries heal up though, the need for a strict outfielder will diminish and Russo's versatility will be an asset heading into interleague games in NL parks.

The lineup is currently on hold thanks to Nick Swisher. He is expected to play tonight, but Joe Girardi wants to watch him take BP before penciling him in officially. Nick Swisher returns to the lineup. I wouldn't call 6 through 9 formidable, but it's far better than what we've seen for the past three games.

Please note tonight's game is on MY9, not YES

Jeter SS
Gardner CF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Cano 2B
Swisher RF
Miranda DH
Cervelli C
Winn LF

Rays:

Jason Barlett SS
Carl Crawford LF
Ben Zobrist 2B
Ecan Lognoria 3B
Carlos Pena 1B
B.J. Upton CF
Willy Aybar DH
Dioner Navarro C
Gabe Kapler RF

Roster Moves Coming Today

Good morning Fackers. As we mentioned in last night's recap, Jorge Posada's MRI revealed a hairline fracture on the bottom of his right foot. He's expected to be out three to four weeks, though in typical Posada fashion, he said he'll be back sooner than that.

In some ways, his upcoming DL stint could be a blessing in disguise. While the last thing the Yankees need right now is another injury, the soon to be 39 year old Posada hasn't been healthy in three weeks. Nagging injuries to his knee, calf, and foot, have kept him out of the starting lineup for 11 of the past 20 games. He's only started seven games behind the plate in that time. Placing him on the DL for at least the next two weeks should allow him the time he needs to heal up. But obviously, this will necessitate some additional roster shuffling.

Let me throw some cold water on two of the hotter suggestions that will be bandied about today. As much as we'd like to see either top prospect, neither Jesus Montero nor Austin Romine will be brought up to take Posada's place. Neither is Big League ready. Both need to be playing, and catching, everyday as a critical part of their development right now. It would be a disservice to either to call them up; they aren't ready. Montero has struggled a bit offensively this year, for the first time in his career, and is just now starting to come out of his slump. Romine has been hitting very well at AA, but recently missed several games behind the plate due to a period of dead arm. Patience. We'll see them soon enough.

Who we will see is veteran catcher Chad Moeller. Moeller was released by Baltimore at the end of Spring Training, and the Yankees quickly grabbed him up for this express purpose: to serve as the veteran emergency catcher at AAA. Moeller is currently not on the 40 man roster, which is full, so room will have to be made for him. Nick Johnson will likely be transferred from the 15 day to the 60 day DL to open a spot.

Moeller had a brush with the Yankees in 2008, joining the club when Posada went down with a shoulder injury, then being pulled from team once Ivan Rodriguez was acquired at the trade deadline. Moeller had little impact on the roster during that time; he'll try to take a bite out of the competition this time around and give the team something to chew on. (Ok, that's enough teeth jokes from me. I wouldn't want Rick Reilly to accuse me of stealing his schtick).

The Moeller for Posada swap likely won't be the only move made today. The Yankee bench has been woefully short the past two nights, due to Posada's injury, Nick Swisher's nagging biceps problem, and the 13 man pitching staff. With Marcus Thames adding his name to the list of the walking wounded last night, another outfielder will be needed. Low men on the bullpen totem pole Boone Logan and Mark Melancon soaked up all the necessary relief innings last night, and Sergio Mitre now has had three days rest following his Sunday spot start. As such, the bullpen should be sufficiently fortified and rested moving forward, allowing a return to a more manageable 12 man staff.

With Posada heading to the DL, the Yankees have the option of recalling Greg Golson, who was sent down Tuesday. Since he'd be replacing a DL'd player the ten day demotion requirement would be waived. The same applies to Kevin Russo, who was demoted last Thursday, and has been playing all over the field since heading back to Scranton. And as we mentioned yesterday, it appears that Scranton has been prepping outfielder/first baseman Chad Huffman, hitting .274/.344/.460 on the season and .317/.457/.548 over his last ten games, for a potential recall.

So it appears we'll see a series of roster moves today. Nick Johnson will be transfered to the 60 day DL so that Chad Moeller can be added to the 40 man roster. Jorge Posada will be placed on the 15 day DL, and one of Golson, Russo, or Huffman will be recalled to take his place. And the extra pitcher, either Boone Logan or Mark Melancon, will be optioned back to Scranton allowing for Moeller's recall. We'll update you on the finalized roster moves in today's preview.

Game 40: Da Two

After splitting a rollercoaster two game series with the Red Sox, the Yankees welcome in the division-leading Rays for another couple of games in the Bronx.

Starting for Tampa Bay is Wade Davis. The right-handed Florida native has already faced the Yankees once this year, starting against CC Sabathia during the game the Big Fella took a no-hitter into the 8th inning. The Yankees got seven hits and worked four walks against Davis, the biggest blow coming on a two run homer by Robinson Cano.

Since then, the twenty four year old has been pretty effective, allowing only 11 runs in 34 innings (2.91 ERA). However, he's walked 17 while striking out only 24 during that span, leading to an FIP and xFIP of almost 5.00. Davis is averaging fewer than six innings per start and given that the Yankees are seeing the fifth most pitches per plate appearance in the Majors, if they are patient enough or potent enough tonight, they should be able to get him out of the game relatively early.

That's the good news. The bad news is that the Rays relievers have allowed the second fewest runs of any team in the MLB this season - fewer than one per game. Perhaps some of their effectiveness will rub off on the Yanks bullpen and help them escape the terrible stretch they've been going through.

It's A.J. Burnett's turn to go for the Yankees and if he's right, the bullpen won't need to do very much. After a scintillating start, Burnett has cooled of considerably, thanks mostly to his dreadful start in Boston. He bounced back from that 9 run shellacking with a much more respectable 6 2/3, 2ER effort against the Twins.

Burnett had talked about pitching to contact and throwing his fastball with movement to both sides of the plate during his run of early success, but ever since he dominated the Orioles and supposedly found his curveball, he's been giving out more free passes; he's walked seven batters in his last two starts, where as he only walked 11 in his first six outings.

One of those first six was against the Rays at Tropicana Field and while he struggled early - giving up two runs in the first inning - Burnett held on to throw six scoreless frames after that en route to his first win of the year.

As of now, the Rays have a three game lead over the Yanks and when this quick meeting wraps up tomorrow, the most likely outcome is that the two teams split and the margin is still three games. However, a mini-sweep in one direction or the other could put the Yanks either one or five games back in the standings. While most of the media attention will be devote to the tilts with the Red Sox and Mets throughout the week, these are the two games the Yankees most need to win.

Don't start what you can't finish,
When you bubble with skills that never diminish,
Your best team against mine is a light scrimmage,
So play like popeye and eat spinach.

-Lineups-

Yankees: The same exact lineup as last night, which is not exactly a good thing. Nick Swisher and Jorge Posada are still out, as Swish tried to swing left handed and felt more pain in his biceps and Posada's ailing foot isn't getting any better. Jorge is going for an MRI but no such procedure has been ordered for Swish.

Jeter SS
Gardner CF
Teixeira DH
Rodriguez 3B
Cano 2B
Cervelli C
Thames RF
Miranda 1B
Winn LF

Rays:

Jason Bartlett SS
Carl Crawford LF
Ben Zobrist RF
Evan Longoria 3B
Carlos Pena 1B
B.J. Upton CF
Hank Blalock DH
John Jaso C
Reid Brignac 2B

Current Roster Construction & Potential Recall Options

The Yankees 25 man roster currently consists of 13 pitchers and 12 position players. Skipping Andy Pettitte two turns of the rotation ago and a rainout in Detroit over a week ago have necessitated some serious shuffling of the deck that is still impacting daily bullpen decisions and roster decisions at large.

These issues, as well as the devotion to concepts like "there must be a longman in the pen at all times" and "Boone Logan is deserving of Major League roster spot" have left the Yankees with the ever popular eight man bullpen. Because apparently if you subtract the longman from that equation, the remaining seven (seven!) pitchers out there aren't enough to get you through a game.

Regardless, I understand why the team feels the need for an extra pitcher right now, but it's coming at a rather inopportune time. With Curtis Granderson and Nick Johnson on the DL, the Yankees are already down two starters. And at the risk of spoiling part of our preview, starters Jorge Posada and Nick Swisher are both out of the lineup again today thanks to nagging injuries.

As such, just as it was last night, the today's Yankee bench consists of a gimpy-footed Posada, a gimpy-armed Nick Swisher, and a gimpy-batted Ramiro Pena. So for the third consecutive night in a row, the Yankees line up drops off pretty significantly after the number five hitter. But more importantly, Joe Girardi's hands are essentially tied when it comes to making late game defensive or pinch hitting changes. As you may recall, this was a problem last night. Still, the Yankees feel having that extra extra pitcher is more important right now.

There will not be a roster move today. Scranton played a late morning game in Indianapolis, and all position players eligible for recall - Chad Huffman, Reegie Corona, and Eduardo Nunez - were in the lineup. Neither Kevin Russo nor Greg Golson have been down long enough yet to be recalled, unless they replace someone who is placed on the DL.

It's worth noting that Huffman, who we profiled when he was claimed on waivers at the start of the season, has started the last two games at first base after playing exclusively in the outfield this year. This could just be coincidental as Scranton shuffles players through the lineup, or it could be indicative of the organization getting him some experience at various positions in advance of a recall. That 13th pitcher won't be sticking around forever and with Russo and Golson still inside of the ten day window there aren't a lot of other options for recall right now.

Game 36 WPA Chart