Joba not good, Phil Hughes appears to be in the lead

The New York Yankees defeated the Detroit Tigers today in Lakeland. Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes both pitched renewing the 5th starter battle. Joba was not very good giving up 5 hits and 6 runs in 2 1/3. He breezed through the first 2 innings and then ran into trouble in the 3rd. He gave up 4 consecutive hits and a grand slam. He also had 3 walks and a strikeout. Phil Hughes came out of the bullpen and pitched pretty well. He gave up 1 run and 3 hits in 2 2/3 innings with 0 walks and 2 strikeouts. I think the Yankees want Hughes to be the 5th starter and Joba to be in the pen and so far Hughes hasn't done anything to not win the 5th starter job. The interesting thing to me is that Sergio Mitre and Alfredo Aceves are pitching the best, I do think they could also both end up in the pen with Gaudin getting traded but we will see what happens. Jason Hirsh is a darkhorse but he threw another perfect inning today with 2 strikeouts. He has made several appearances without giving up a run and has a bunch of strikouts this spring. Andrew Brackman pitched a inning giving up 2 hits and a run with a strikeout. Grant Duff got the win pitching a scorless inning and giving up a hit. Ryan Pope got the save pitching one inning and giving up a hit but he had 2 strikeouts. Mark Teixeira had a homerun today, his first of the spring. He finished the day with 2 hits, a rbi and walk. Curtis Granderson has started to get his bat going the last couple of days. He was 2-3 with a walk and rbi in his first appearance against his old team. Johnny Damon did not play for the Tigers as he sat out with turf toe. Greg Golson was 1-2 with 2 rbi, Colin Curtis was 1-2 with a rbi. Jaime Hoffman was 1-2 and Brett Gardner was 1-2 with a walk. David Winfree was 2-2 with a rbi and Mike Rivera was 1-3 with a rbi. Jorge Vazquez was 1-2 with 2 rbi and Reegie Corona was 2-2. The Yankees will take on the Atlanta Braves tomorrow night under the lights in Tampa. A.J. Burnett will get the start against Jair Jurrjens.

Yanks at Braves

The New York Yankees will try and get a win tonight in Atlanta with Joba Chamberlain on the mound against another guy they have never seen in Kenshin Kawakami. Before I get to the pregame notes and lineup via Peter Abraham, we have the news that Jose Veras was traded to the Cleveland Indians for cash considerations. I wonder how much cash they got for this guy. The Yankees are 4-9 in their last 13 games and have lost 5 out of 6. Cody Ransom rejoins the team today from the 60 day DL and if Angel Berroa isn't DFA'D I really don't know what this team has become, no reason for him to be on the team. The Yankees are now tied for the wildcard with the Angels and Texas. Toronto is only 1 game back in the loss column with Tampa 2 back. Atlantas pitchers have thrown 18 consecutive scoreless innings. The Yankees are 10-9 in one run games, they were 9-4 before this bad streak. Joba is 3-0 with a 2.72 era on the road this year, I wonder if that has anything to do with the new stadium playing so small. MO hasn't pitched since June 16th, it may be wise to get him into the game tonight somehow. Brett Gardner is 16 of his last 46, now batting 285 with a 361 on base percentage. The Yankees are now 5-8 in interleague play this year which is not good at all, Boston is 8-5. CC Sabathia threw his bullpen, throwing 30 pitches. He said he is fine and ready to go for Friday so that is good news. Brian Cashman is in the house and after Melky was originally in the lineup he was pulled for Nick Swisher. I am not sure what is going on but apparently Joe and Cash had a meeting with Swish and then the new lineup was posted. The hitters are in a meeting at this time, i wonder with who and what can they be told, guys hit the ball, I mean Kevin Long should be giving them better strategies but I doubt he is doing that now. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Cano(2B) Swisher(RF) Gardner(CF) Cervelli(C) Chamberlain(P)

MLB Notes

I saw that the Pirates traded Nate McClouth to the Atlanta Braves today for Charlie Morton a right handed pitcher, Jeff Locke a left handed pitcher and Gorkys Hernandez a outfielder. This is an interesting trade because it happend a month plus ahead of the trade deadline. This is a significant upgrade for the Braves in centerfield and puts the Mets and Phillies on notice that the Braves think they can contend this year. The Braves also realeased Tom Glavine. The Red Sox won today to move into a first place tie with the Yankees with Josh Beckett pitching into the 7th inning with a no hitter. Kevin Youkilis left thgh the game with a ankle injury though that will be worth monitoring. I wonder if there will be more trades made ahead of the deadline now that there was already a big deal. I am sure guys like Nick Johnson some relievers like Heath Bell etc will be on the block.