Phils at Yanks

The Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees play the rubber game of a 3 game series this afternoon at 1:00PM. The game is on the YES network. The Yankees also finish off their 10 game homestand, they are currently 8-1 on this very exciting homestand that has featured 4 walkoffs, plenty of homeruns of course at this new bandbox, some great defense, great games and some good pitching by the Yankees. Here are the notes and lineup via Sam Borden who has filled in admirably for Peter Abraham, Peter will return tomorrow from his week off. Melky Cabrera's 3 walkoff rbi's this year are the most in a season by a Yankee since Claudell Washington had 4 in 1988. CC Sabathia's last start against the Phillies was his last start before becoming a yankee as he got rocked in the playoffs by them. Cole Hamels started slow but is 2-0 with a 2.31 era in his last 5 starts. This should be a great matchup of left handed pitchers. The teams have combined for 11 homeruns in the 2 games so far and the Yankees have pushed their errorless streak to 10 games which is best in the majors. Yankees lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Cano(2B) Cabrera(RF) Matsui(DH) Cervelli(C) Gardner(CF)

Updates roster moves

Brian Bruney had his MRI and he has a strained flexor mass. He will not throw for a week and could be back in two to three weeks. Humberto Sanchez was released as he has been a huge disappointment since coming over in the Gary Sheffield trade. Angel Berroa will be the everday third baseman, he hasn't really played third in the majors but has been hitting well and has much more pop then Cody Ransom so that may not be the worst thing, it will be interesting to see if he is bad if A-rod gets rushed back. Phil Hughes will be taking Wang's spot in the rotation as expected and will remain there. Joe Girardi said it wouldn't be fair to have him make one start and then decide from start to start, he is in the rotation. I am very excited to see Mark Melancon and we have seen some of Dave Robertson already, they are two power arms that could become late inning guys in this bullpen for a long time to come, this is their oppurtunity as well as Phil Hughes. Phil Hughes gets to redeem himself and see what happens.

The Day In Tampa

These Notes are via Peter Abraham of the Journal News and Yankees Lohud Blog with my own thoughts and opinions mixed in of course. CC Sabathia went home with a stomach flu, he was scheduled to throw live BP today but didn't make it. Bernie bailed out today and won't be back until Monday. Joba threw 2 sets of 20 pitches today resting in between. The idea was to simulate 2 innings, he started out rocky but was better in the second set. Joba said "For Feb. 21 it was just fine." Christian Garcia was impressive, he has great stuff but with him it is a matter of staying healthy. He was a top prospect but always seems to have something go wrong with him. If he stays healthy this year he could be knocking on the door to the majors. It was almost all baseball questions today, which im sure the players were thrilled with. ESPN has had a reporter there the whole camp, you would think they might give up soon. I would say that eventually unless something major happens what else can they do, Arod will be leaving March 1st for the WBC and that should clear everyone out of camp also. The Yankees do seem to be going about their business and not too bothered by it. CC and Nick Swisher seem to be helping with keeping the team loose, they are great guys and im sure everyone is going to love watching them play this year and seeing them in interviews. Arod did banter back and forth with the media today about the economy,traveling to Mexico City and some other assorted topics not related to baseball or steroids. He said he isn't involved with the same group that Nady and Damon got caught up with. Jason Johnson was late to camp because he had a cancerous growth behind his right eye and was receiving radiation treatments. This is scary stuff and it is good to see that he seems to be doing ok now. Joe Girardi did speak today about the strengths of Melky and Brett Gardner and it seems to come down to whoever hits in spring training will get the job, although I do think they will both be on the team. Melky is out of options so they risk losing him if he isn't on the 25 man roster. Dante Girardi-The managers son was in the clubhouse with some of his buddies and they tried to attack Shelly Duncan. At one point he had a kid wrapped around his legs on his shoulder etc, they looked like midgets trying to attack Andre The Giant.