Here are some notes before the Yankees game on Tuesday night.  Girardi talked a lot about Phil Hughes and now that he did pitch well it makes things easier I suspect for the Yankees.  They would rather have to deal with sending Nova down then an ineffective Hughes and not knowing what to do with him. 
“There’s a lot of things we gotta talk about,” Girardi said. “The best thing that could happen is that he pitches really well, and then we have a tough decision to make in what we’re going to do. There are some different scenarios. (Ivan) Nova really hasn’t pitched out of the bullpen as much, and we’re going to need a starter August 27 when we go to Baltimore, so you want someone built up. There are some things after today and tomorrow we’re going to have to talk about.”

Hughes has been hit-and-miss since he came off the disabled list. He’s had one really good start, one really bad start, and two so-so starts full of ups and downs. Nova was very good in his return from Triple-A, and he’ll get another start on Thursday to further plead his case.

When the Yankees cut their rotation down to five starters, the most obvious changes would involved Hughes to the bullpen or Nova back to Triple-A. Girardi hasn’t said those are his top options, but he does talk a lot about Hughes’ bullpen experience and the Yankees desire to have someone stretched out for that Baltimore double header.

“What I am saying is that you gotta have someone built up,” Girardi said. “Maybe it’s not even someone here to make that start on the 27th. We’re going to do what’s best for everyone involved, what we think is best for people’s futures, what’s best for this team now, and what’s best for this team in the future. I’m not saying one of them would necessarily go down.”  Adam Warren would be another guy the Yankees could give a look at. 

Basically, anything is possible. Both Hughes and Nova seem to know and accept that.

“I thought (Hughes) made some progress his last start,” Girardi said. “But I think his stuff can even get better. He can give us more distance. His curveball wasn’t as sharp in his last start. CC’s slider wasn’t as sharp (last night) as it’s been, but when it’s Phil, we gotta get this guy on a roll, too. He’s had his struggles this year, so more red flags go up. His curveball wasn’t as sharp and we gotta get that going… It’s something that we have to talk about. You watch how he throws tonight, and you just have to talk about it and decide what’s best for everyone involved.”

 Has this rotation situation gotten in Hughes’ head? “I haven’t really noticed it,” Girardi said. “But we pay attention to it if a guy’s trying to do something out there. I haven’t really noticed it.”

 Has it been tough to get Rafael Soriano innings since he came back? “It hasn’t been tough,” Girardi said. “We had him in on Saturday. It would be a good thing if we needed him tonight. It hasn’t really been tough… We still want to continue to develop the arm strength, he’s had five appearances (counting rehab), but I think more would be beneficial for him.”

Alex Rodriguez is still on schedule to begin rehab work on Thursday.  He should be back in about two weeks. 

 It seems clear that Brett Gardner has lost platoon status and is now playing pretty much every day regardless of lefty/righty. “It is hard to take him out,” Girardi said. “Even on those days (when he used to sit), I didn’t necessarly want, to but I wanted to get Andruw going and I thought that was the best way to do it.

 Manny Banuelos makes his Triple-A debut tonight, and obviously the Yankees will be paying attention. “We’re looking at anyone and everyone who we feel can help us down this last 50 games or whatever we have left,” Girardi said.  Banuelos pitched five innings giving up two runs.  He walked three and struck out eight.  He threw too many pitches in five innings and he has to work on the walks but he showed promise.  It was a good first start for him in AAA. 

Yankees Postgame Notes

The Yankees now have 11 men on the disabled list with Derek Jeter joining the party.  It was hard to tell last night as they beat up on the Rangers 12-4.  They are having trouble with Boston but seem to be just fine with everyone else. 

Swisher said the show goes on and Gardner said that there are some guys that are irreplaceable but that they have other guys and they need to step up and get the job done.  He said it isn't something they can dwell on.  Nunez said "I can show everyone that I can play."  It is his oppurtunity and I can see him being the shortstop in a couple of years pushing Jeter out of the way.  Jeter was sitting with him last night in the dugout giving him some advice and all.  It looked like class was in session and that was good to see.  Nunez will play every game for the next two weeks and he will have a chance to shine.

The Yankees are 17-9 since May 17th.  They have won four out of their last five.  Three of the losses have come to the Boston Red Sox.  The Yankees scored nine of their runs with two outs which is good to see.  The offense has been getting back to more of what they can do in the last couple of weeks. 

This was the fifth time that they have scored at least 12 runs in a game started by Sabathia.  To say he has the run counter on is an understatement.  Granderson has three less homeruns then he had all of last year.  He hit his 21st and fourth in his last six games.  It was also his sixth in seven games against the Rangers. 

The Yankees and Rangers will be at it again tonight at 7:00PM on the YES Network.  It will be Ivan Nova against Derek Holland.

Yankees News and Notes

Rafael Soriano was placed on the DL today but there is no structural damage.  He just has elbow inflammation.  It is good for the Yankees to give him the rest and get him back in shape in a couple of weeks.  Chris Dickerson was called up to the major leagues, he found out around midnight last night on the bus coming back from Pawtucket to Scranton. 

Nick Swisher was out because he was sick.  He was throwing up after the game last night.  It might be best for him to have a couple of days off to clear his head and maybe he can get going once he feels better.  He landed at 2:30 in the afternoon today and went right to the ballpark. 

Joe Girardi would not committ to a new eighth inning guy saying that Joba Chamberlain and Dave Robertson will both be in the back end.  It means that depending on the day and the matchups I guess, that is what he will go too.  The Yankees do like to use Robertson more to get out of jams and Joba to start innings.  They used Robertson first tonight followed by Joba. 

Girardi said he had no doubt today of where he was putting Jorge Posada in the lineup.  He said "To me it was the place to put him today."  "There's a lot of things I look at, and I just thought it was the place to put him." 

Carlos Silva is starting for AAA Scranton on Thursday. 

Yankees at Orioles-Lets try this again

The New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles will begin what is now a two game series in Baltimore tonight.  The weather report there looks good for a game tonight.  I don't have any new notes from last night.  If I didn't say it already Buddy Carlyle was called up and Hector Noesi went down to AAA.  He was here for a couple of weeks and didn't pitch.  The Yankees want him to pitch every fifth day as a starter and may need him later in the year especially with three makeup games already needing to be played.  Here are the lineups

Yankees Lineup:Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano, Nick Swisher, Jorge Posada, Russell Martin, Brett Gardner

Baltimore Lineup:Brian Roberts, Nick Markakis, Derrek Lee, Vlad Guerrero, Adam Jones, Mark Reynolds, Matt Wieters, Fox, Andino.  Bergesen is pitching for them so both teams just pushed back their starters. 

Enjoy the game tonight 7:05 on the YES network then they finish the series tomorrow afternoon in an Easter game at 1:05on YES. 

Yankees at Blue Jays-Yanks try to Rebound from a bad loss

The New York Yankees suffered a bad loss last night to the Jays.  They lost 6-5 in 10 innings but it was something that usually doesn't happen, the greatest of all-time Mariano Rivera blew a save and not just a save but a two run save.  The Yankees had a 5-3 lead in the ninth inning and he gave up four runs, a walk, a wild pitch and it just didn't look like Mo out there.  He did get a double play to keep the game tied and put it in extra innings but that just prolonged the agony.  Rivera didn't walk a batter all year to last night and those were the first runs he gave up so yes he is human. 

The Yankees tonight will send Bartolo Colon to the mound for his first start of the season.  He has been pitching in back of Phil Hughes all year and now will pitch in place of him.  Colon has pitched well but who knows what you will get out of him in his first start and how long he can go, I would say five or six innings and probably no more then 80-85 pitches.  Brett Cecil who grew up a Yankees fan will pitch for the Blue Jays. 

Yankees Lineup:Derek Jeter, Nick Swisher, Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano, Andruw Jones, Jorge Posada, Russell Martin, Curtis Granderson. 

Alex Rodriguez returns to the lineup tonight after missing a couple of games.  Eric Chavez filled in well for him but you can't make up for the absence of Rodriguez.  The Yankees are still hitting homeruns at a rate of two per game.  They have hit 29 for the season and lead all of baseball. 

The game will be at 7:07PM and it is on the YES Network.  The Yankees will be off tomorrow and play a three game holiday weekend series in Baltimore.  The Yankees still remain the only over 500 team in the division.  The Tampa Bay Rays who started off really badly are 8-9 and the Orioles are also 8-9.  The Red Sox are 5-11 and playing right now in Oakland.  Enjoy the game everyone and I will have the recap and some notes after the game.

Yankees at Blue Jays

The New York Yankees begin a brief two game series up in Toronto tonight.  A.J. Burnett makes the start against Kyle Drabek.  Drabek is who they got from the Phillies in the Roy Halladay deal and he is the son of former big league pitcher Doug Drabek.  Here are some notes and the lineups.

Yankees Lineup:Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Nick Swisher, Eric Chavez, Jorge Posada, Russell Martin, Brett Gardner.  A-rod is still out with the sore back and oblique, hopefullly he will be back tomorrow night. 

Toronto Lineup:Escobar, Snider, Bautista, Lind, Hill, Molina, Patterson, Nix. 

It will be the first game back in the booth for David Cone.  He played for both the Blue Jays and Yankees in his career.  The Blue Jays lead the league with 21 stolen bases even though they don't really have speedsters in their lineup.  They are a team that will run a lot so Martin will get a workout. 

The Blue Jays activated Frank Francisco today their closer and sent down Jesse Litsch.  The Yankees are the only team in the AL east to have a winning record.  They are at 9-5, it is considered by many to be the best division in baseball.  This is the first roadtrip for the Yankees as they only played three games in Boston, otherwise all the games have been at home. 

Martin has only allowed three stolen bases in 117 innings behind the plate.  He is tied for fewest in the majors with backstops who have caught at least 100 innings.  He leads all catchers in baseball with four homers and is tied with 11 RBI.  He has been a great signing for the Yankees and if this continues you can bet he will be signed to an extension. 

Burnett has an eight game win streak in April tying him with Tim Lincecum of the Giants for longest active streak in the majors.  He has not lost a game in April in his Yankees career going 8-0 with a 4.04 ERA.  Nick Swisher is batting 526 against left handed pitchers this season, he came into the season with a career average of 260 against them. 

Robinson Cano has a nine game hitting streak going.  He is batting 351 with five doubles, three homeruns and nine RBI during the streak.  Bartolo Colon and Brett Cecil are the starters for tomorrow nights game.  The game tonight is at 7:07PM and will be on MY9 in New York. 

Yankees Vs. Rangers The Rubber Game

The New York Yankees will take on the Texas Rangers tonight in the third game of the series.  The two teams have split the first two games.  The Rangers won 5-3 on Friday night and the Yankees won 5-2 yesterday afternoon.  C.C. Sabathia will make the start looking for his first win of the year.  It is not his fault that he hasn't gotten a win as his ERA is at 1.45.  He will go up against Alexi Ogando who has not given up a run in 13 innings so far this season.  Here are some notes and the Yankees lineup for the game.

Today marks the 60th anniversary of the first game Bob Sheppard ever covered.  He hasn't done a game in four years and that seems amazing because he was such a part of the stadium.  There are a lot of things that aren't the same since leaving the old Stadium and that is definitely one of them but time moves on.  April 17, 1951 was the first game he ever worked.  He did 121 consecutive postseason games including 62 games in 22 World Series.  That was all from 1951-2006, his first game was also the debut of Mickey Mantle. 

Kevin Millwood made his first start at Trenton today and pitched seven innings which was what the game went since it was a doubleheader.  In the minors they do two seven inning games when it is a doubleheader.  He pitched a one hit shutout throwing 88 or 89 pitches depending on who you talk too.  Millwood said it was a good first step. 

The Yankees will try to make it four out of four in series wins at home this season with a win tonight.  In the last six games Yankee relievers have held opponents to five earned runs over 23 innings.  That is good for a 1.96 ERA.  Joba Chamberlain has looked really good this year and has not allowed a hit in five of his eight appearances.  He has struck out nine and walked two in 8 1/3 innings. 

The Yankees lead the majors with 24 homeruns this season.  They have homered in 11 of the 13 games this season.  They have had at least two homers in eight of the games.  The Yankees have scored at least four runs in a major league high 11 games this season.  They are 8-3 in those games. 

Yankees Lineup: Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Nick Swisher, Eric Chavez, Jorge Posada, Russell Martin, Brett Gardner.  Eric Chavez is taking A-rods spot, he must still be hurting, I am guessing he will be back in the lineup for Tuesday. 

Yankees vs. Orioles Game One of Series

The New York Yankees open up a three game series with the Baltimore Orioles tonight weather permitting at Yankee Stadium.  The Yankees lost two out of three in Boston over the weekend and will try and get back on track.  Here are some quick notes and the lineup for tonight.

The Baltimore Orioles are off to a fast start at 6-3 and first place in the AL East.  The Yankees are 5-4 on the young season.  The Yankees pitching has been erratic and the hitting has gone cold.  They are going to score runs though and every team goes through slumps.  They still have scored 50 runs in nine games. 

A.J. Burnett is starting tonight and will try to go 3-0.  He is still undefeated in the month of April as a Yankees and although he looks better this season he was 4-0 to start last year before he collapsed.  I think the main difference is that this year when Burnett does get in trouble he isn't allowing it to snowball, he is competing more and working out of things.  In the past he has looked lost and like he has given up when the going gets tough. 

Burnett will face Chris Tillman tonight, Phil Hughes will be vs. TBA tomorrow night and Thurday night it will be Ivan Nova vs. Jake Arrieta.  Robinson Cano will receives his silver slugger award prior to tonights game.  C.C. Sabathia is off to the second best start of his career in terms of ERA but has nothing to show for it.  He 0-1 in three starts with a 1.45 ERA. 

The Yankees are tied for the major league lead with 18 homeruns this season.  They have at least one homerun in seven of the nine games and at least two homeruns in six of the games.  The Yankees are 4-1 this season when holding their opponents to four or fewer runs.  Yankees batters scored in five different innings in consecutive games on Friday and Saturday in Boston marking the first time they have done that since 7/21 and 7/22/2007. 

Curtis Granderson already has two homers off left handed pitchers.  He didn't hit his second homer off of a lefty until August 24th of last year at Toronto.  Alex Rodriguez needs one RBI to pass Ken Griffey Jr. on the all-time RBI list for 13th place.  Derek Jeter needs two hits to tie Barry Bonds for 32nd on the all-time hits list. 

Yankees Postgame News and Notes

The New York Yankees bounced back this afternoon with a good win over the Red Sox.  They won the game 9-4.  Ivan Nova struggled having the shortest outing of his short career.  He only lasted 4 1/3 innings, Dave Robertson, Joba Chamberlain and Luis Ayala did a great job out of the pen not allowing a run.  Robertson came in with the game getting tense and was able to work out of trouble and pitch a clean sixth inning.  Chamberlain looked great striking out a couple of batters in the seventh inning and Ayala finished the game off. 

The Yankees offense had four homeruns with Russell Martin having two of them.  Martin has been great so far for the Yankees.  He has been great behind the plate but also offensively showing signs of what he was before the last couple of years when he was battling injuries and self proclaimed that he wasn't as focused.  Eric Chavez in his first start had three hits.  The other homeruns were hit by Curtis Granderson and Robinson Cano. 

The bottom third of the order today had six hits, five runs and seven RBI.  According to the Red Sox Martin is the first Yankees catcher with a multi homer game since Jorge Posada did it in 2003.  This was only the second time in the last 16 seasons that a Yankees catcher other then Posada has had more then a homerun in a game.  John Flaherty was the other in Baltimore in 2003. 

Robinson Cano is unbelievable in Fenway Park.  He has a 367 career average in the park.  Cano said he thinks it is luck and when you can hit in a ballpark that is where you always want to be.  He said that he doesn't do anything special, he does the same things he always does. 

Ivan Nova couldn't command his fastball and he said when that happens it will be a long day.  He wasn't very good today but a lot of pitchers don't survive Fenway Park so you can't go crazy over one start.  He will get back out there in five days and try to be better. 

Joba Chamberlain isn't being talked about much lately, that must be a good thing.  I guess when they don't talk about Chamberlain he is doing his job and he is locked into the role he is in which is seventh inning guy.  I guess when MO is off and Soriano is the closer he would move up to the eighth inning. 

The two teams will play the Rubber Game of the three game series tomorrow night at 8PM on ESPN.  The pitchers will be C.C. Sabathia vs. Josh Beckett, enjoy the night and see you tomorrow. 

Mets/Phillies Game Two of Three game Series

The Mets and Phillies will play game two of three in Philadelphia tonight.  The Mets have gotten out to a fast start which is exactly what they needed.  The Mets lost on Opening Day and have since won three games in a row.  The pitching matchup for tonight is Mike Pelfrey vs. Joe Blanton. 

Here is the lineup for tonight:Reyes, Harris, Wright, Beltran, Pagan, Davis, Emaus, Thole, Pelfrey. 

Phillies Lineup:Shane Victorino, Placido Polanco, Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Raul Ibanez, Ben Francisco, Orr, Schneider, Joe Blanton

Here are some notes, Terry Collins said tonight that he needs to get Francisco Rodriguez into a game since he has had three games off.  Carlos Beltran will most likely get a rest tomorrow since it is a day game after a night game.  He expects Mike Pelfrey to pitch better tonight and feels that he only made one real mistake in the first game and it was a grand slam. 

He wants to keep playing everyone to make sure all 25 guys are sharp.  He feels that David Wrights hot start has something to do with Beltrans presence in the lineup behind him. 

Mets at Phillies Game One of Three Game Series

The Mets head to Philadelphia tonight to battle the Phillies their arch rival.  The Phillies are one of only three undefeated teams left in the majors.  They swept the Houston Astros to begin the year.  Here are the lineups for each team tonight.  Chris Young will make his first start of the season against Cole Hamels who is the Phillies fourth starter because their rotation is that good.  He would be the number one or two on almost every other team. 

Mets Lineup:Jose Reyes, Angel Pagan, David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Scott Hairston, Ike Davis, Brad Emaus, Mike Nickeaus, Chris Young.

Phillies Lineup:Shane Victorino, Placido Polanco, Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Raul Ibanez, Ben Francisco, Wilson Valdez, Cole Hamels. 

The Mets will try to gain a little confidence and send a message early on this season and the Phillies will try to show that they are the best team and continue to be undefeated.  The Mets said today that Jason Bay will not becoming off the DL which isn't good news for the Mets.  The Mets also are looking at maybe playing Daniel Murphy a little more at second base. 

The game will be at 7:05PM on SNY.  The Mets will try to win their third straight game after losing the first game of the season and then blowing a save in the second but coming back to win the game.  The Mets have showed a toughness early on that has been lacking in recent years.  That is most likely a byproduct of the new manager Terry Collins. 

Yankees Vs. Twins Game Two of Four Game Series

The skies have cleared and we will have baseball in the Bronx tonight.  The Yankees and Twins will square off in Game Two of their four game series.  C.C. Sabathia vs. Brian Duensing is your pitching matchup for this evening.  Here is the Yankees lineup for tonight.  It is the first time this season there is a change in the lineup as it is also the first time they have faced a lefty starter. 

Derek Jeter, Nick Swisher, Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano, Jorge Posada, Russell Martin, Andruw Jones, Curtis Granderson. 

The game is scheduled for 7:05PM on the YES Network.  The Yankees have started off the season 3-1 and play game five of a seven game homestand tonight.  The Yankees will make their first roadtrip of the year on Friday when they head up to Boston to take on the Red Sox for three games over the weekend.  The Yankees will then have off on Monday and begin another homestand on Tuesday.  The Yankees play 18 home games in April which is the most they have ever played. 

Ivan Nova got the win for the Yankees last night pitching six innings and giving up three runs.  He had a lot of trouble last year with getting past the fifth inning so this was a step in the right direction.  The Yankees have scored 27 runs in 33 innings this season.  The Yankees have hit 11 homers which is one shy of the franchise record through four games of the season which was set in 2003. 

Nova became the first Yankees rookie to win a start within the first four games of a season since Al Leiter did it in 1988 at the age of 22.  Elias gets credit for that information, Nova is 24 years old.  Mark Teixeira has reached base safely at least twice in each game, he is usually a slow starter but changed his offseason and spring training routine and it is working so far. 

Enjoy the game everyone and I will be back later with postgame news, notes and reactions.  The Yankees will look to keep their hex over the Twins alive and win their second straight after losing their first game on Sunday after winning two straight to open the season. 

Yankees/Twins Game Four of Season and One of Series

The New York Yankees will take on the Minnesota Twins tonight from Yankee Stadium.  The game is at 7:05PM on the YES Network.  Ivan Nova vs. Scott Baker is the pitching matchup.  The Yankees have had their way with the Twins in the Bronx since Ron Gardenhire became the Twins manager.  The Yankees are 9-1 over the Twins in the New Yankee Stadium.  The Yankees have hit nine homeruns in the first three games which is a franchise record.  The previous record was eight which was set in 1932 and 1984.  Mark Teixeira will try and become the first Yankee to hit a homerun in his first four games.  The Yankees are 2-1 on the season and will play a four game series vs. the Twins before heading to Boston for three games and then returning home. 

Here are the pitching matchups vs. the Twins.  C.C. Sabathia vs. Brian Duensing on Tuesday, Freddy Garcia vs. Carl Pavano on Wednesday and A.J. Burnett vs. Francisco Liriano on Thursday afternoon.  All the games will be on YES with Thursday being at 1:05PM and the other games at 7:05PM. 

Here is the lineup for tonight, it remains the same as the first three games of the season.  Brett Gardner, Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano, Nick Swisher, Jorge Posada, Curtis Granderson, Russell Martin. 

Yankees Vs. Tigers Opening Day

The New York Yankees are set to play the Detroit Tigers Thursday afternoon Opening Day of the 2011 baseball season. C.C. Sabathia will face off against Justin Verlander. The Yankees already released their lineup on Wednesday and it is Gardner, Jeter, Teixeira, Rodriguez, Cano, Swisher, Posada, Granderson, Martin. Jeter will bat leadoff against lefties and Gardner will move to number nine with Swisher in the 2 hole. Here are some other things on the night before the season begins. The teams will take Friday off and then play Saturday and Sunday afternoon. The pitching matchup for Saturday is A.J. Burnett vs. Brad Penny, it is a 4:10PM start on Fox. Phil Hughes will face Max Scherzer on Sunday at 1:05PM on the YES Network. The Yankees placed Pedro Feliciano on the 15 day DL and have added Luis Ayala to the roster. They also added Gustavo Molina to the roster. The Yankees bench consists of Eduardo Nunez, Eric Chavez, Andruw Jones and Molina. Ayala is the last man in the bullpen, that consists of Mariano Rivera, Rafael Soriano, Dave Robertson, Joba Chamberlain, Boone Logan and Bartolo Colon. The Yankees are scheduled to play 13 of their first 16 games at home, 20 of their first 28 and 48 of their first 82. The 18 April home games are the most in franchise history. Sabathia will make his third consecutive Opening Day start for the Yankees becoming the first Yankee to start as many in a row since Roger Clemens did so in 2001-03. He is one of 12 players in franchise history to start three or more Opening Days. The Yankees three scheduled starters in the series are a combined 22-14 in their careers against the Detroit Tigers. The Yankees were 95-67 last season and finished one game behind Tampa Bay for the division. They were the AL wild card sweeping the Minnesota Twins in the ALDS but losing in six games to the Texas Rangers in the ALCS. The Yankees have reached the postseason 15 of the past 16 years. The Yankees begin their third season of play in this Yankee Stadium. They own the most home wins and best regular season home winning percentage in the majors since the stadium opened in 2009. They are 109-53 over that span. The 109 wins are the most by a ML team in its first two seasons at a particular venue. The previous mark was 106. The Yankees last season led the majors with a 988 fielding percentage. They committed a major league low 69 errors. It was the Yankees all time highest fielding percentage and fewest errors in a non strike year.

Yankees News and Notes on a Thursday Morning

The Yankees will play their second straight night game tonight at home against the Tampa Bay Rays. Here are some news and notes to get you through the day until game time. Remember I have a twitter account and can be read @gmarchesej and also on facebook. I will have the lineups up later on today through Twitter. Ivan Nova did not have a good feel for his curveball last night in the bullpen so he scrapped it. He went with what is supposed to be a cutter but it acts as a slider. Joe Girardi said "That is as good as it gets, the best pitching performance so far." He got 11 outs on the ground and only one of his last 12 outs were in the air, he wanted to keep the ball down last night and he sure did that. He said his slider is like a new toy, that he has to play with it sometimes but not too much because he has other pitches also. He said he feels good about all of his pitches right now. Nick Swisher had a typical Swisher type play during the game while running full speed after a foul ball, he jumped right over the fence into the bullpen to try and catch the ball. Joe Girardi said great effort and all but don't do that again. Russell Martin says his knee feels so good he has stopped using the protective brace, he said I don't need it, I don't even worry about the knee anymore. Martin hasn't been talked about much this spring and that is a probably a good thing, he is good behind the plate and no one ever complains about defense like they do with Posada or Cervelli. The thing to remember is this guy is still only 28 so after a rough couple of years he should bounce back. Rafael Soriano will pitch at the minor league complex today. He said he didn't want to pitch against any AL East team so the Yankees won't have him do that. Teixeira of course was hit in the hand, he is always getting hit, but he is fine, made the Yankees hold their breath for a couple of minutes. Boone Logan is scheduled to pitch today. He was shut down briefly early in the spring due to elbow fatigue but he feels fine. He said he just hasn't pitched in a game in a long time. Teixeira had two doubles last night giving him seven on the spring, he has worked hard this spring on trying to get off to a good start which he never does. He looks great though and ready to go for the season. Joba Chamberlain said he doesn't know the severity of his oblique injury but knows that he feels fine and can do everything. He said they just want to be cautious with him and even during the season he would miss a couple of days because he wouldn't want it to get worse and turn into a big problem. Yankees vs. Rays tonight at 7:00PM. As far as I know the game isn't televised.

More Yankee Notes

Jorge Posada is the emergency catcher for the next couple of days, he says hopefully he will be back in the lineup on friday. He will be reevaluated on Thursday but it doesn't look like he will go on the DL. Mariano Rivera was scheduled to throw a bullpen session today and if he came through it fine he could be available tonight. Joe Girardi said though that he would like to give him another day off. Joba would be the closer again tonight in that case. Chan Ho Park has been playing catch in Tampa and said he feels better. Park will throw off half a mound tomorrow. The Yankees plan to have him throw a bullpen session on Friday. If that goes well the Yankees will have him make a rehab appearance next week. It is not known how many rehab appearances he will need before coming back up but Girardi said one isn't going to be enough. Girardi said he may start Golson against some lefties. Marcus Thames had three hits against Matusz last week though so this made sense for tonight. Mark Melancon was optioned back to AAA-Scranton. Javier Vazquez said he still wishes he wasn't being skipped but understands it. There is no Jeter injury, Girardi just wanted to give him a day off in the field. He said as the team plays more and more days in a row you will see more of this. Girardi did this a lot last year and it worked, keeping the older players fresh.

Regular Season Game 14-Yankees at A's

The New York Yankees will take on the Oakland A's in game 2 of their 3 game series. The Yankees will try and win their 5th straight series to start the year and 6th game in a row. Here are some of the notes and lineups. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Johnson(DH) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Cano(2B) Posada(C) Granderson(CF) Winn(RF) Gardner(LF) Phil Hughes makes his second start against Ben Sheets. I will have the link to the rest of the notes pretty soon. The game is on the yes network and wcbs 880 radio in New York. Joba Chamberlain was officially named the 8th inning guy today by manager Joe Girardi.

Regular Season Game 13-Yankees at A's

The New York Yankees begin a 3 game series with the Oakland A's tonight and the start of a long 9 game roadtrip. Javier Vazquez starts tonight and is the only Yankees starter witout a win. He will face Gio Gonzalez. The A's have gotten off to a suprising start at 9-5, here are the notes and lineups for tonights game. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Johnson(DH) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Cano(2B) Posada(C) Swisher(RF) Granderson(CF) Gardner(LF) A's Lineup: Davis(CF) Barton(1B) Sweeney(RF) Kouzmanoff(3B) Suzuki(C) Chavez(DH) Ellis(2B) Buck(LF) Pennington(SS) Joe Girardi said that he expected Chan Ho Park to play catch at some point today. Gardner is in the lineup against the left hander today. He has faced Gonzalez quite a bit also in the minor leagues but Joe Girardi didn't realize he has had success against him. He is in the lineup because he has been playing well lately. Before the game while both teams were stretching the Yankees called former teammates Chad Gaudin and Edwar Ramirez over. The Yankees surrounded them and gave them their rings and had some fun with them. Nick Swisher is 0 for his last 16 and went 1 for 19 in the past homestand. The Yankees are sticking with him though in RF and Joe Girardi said that he has probably hit about 10 line drives in his past 4 games and has nothing to show for it. I don't know how long they will stick with him but maybe if this continues they will let Winn play a couple of games. Enjoy the game it starts at 10:05 eastern time on the yes network. It will be a late night so I don't know if I will have any more posts tonight or get my articles in for world news vine. IF not please check back tomorrow for all of your information from the game, enjoy the game.

Regular Season Game 14-Cubs at Mets

The New York Mets will try and win 2 games in a row for the first time this season when they host the Chicago Cubs this evening at 7:10PM. Mike Pelfrey is making the start against Carlos Zambrano. Here are some of the notes and the lineup for tonights game. Mike Pelfrey recorded his first save of his career on April 17th in the 20th inning when he recorded a scoreless inning. The Mets pitching staff has the 3rd lowest era in the NL and 7th in the majors at 3.50. They have a 1.19 era over their last 31 innings pitched. Jason Bay will e presented with the 2009 Tip O'Neill Award handed out by the Canadien Baseball Hall Of Fame and Museum before tonights game. He had a good day yesterday and will look to continue that and end his rough start. Mets Lineup: Reyes(SS) Castillo(2B) Wright(3B) Bay(LF) Francoeur(RF) Davis(1B) Pagan(CF) Blanco(C) Pelfrey(P)

Regular Season Game 13-Cubs at Mets

The New York Mets return home tonight to take on the Chicago Cubs. They will try to win their first series of the year. Here are some of the notes and lineups for tonights game. Ike Davis the Mets big time first base prospect has been called up and Tobi Stoner was sent down to AAA Buffalo. The Mets have lost their first 4 series to start the year. The last time they failed to win one of their first four series was in 1997. They had 2 longer streaks losing their first 6 series in 1962 and their first 7 in 1964. That was when they first came into being though. The Mets are one of only two teams that have yet to allow an unearned run. The other team is the Minnesota Twins. The Mets have 9 homers in their first 12 games ranking 23rd in the majors in that category. The only teams with fewer are Detroit, Washington, Oakland, Seattle and Houston. David Wright leads the majors in walks this season with 17, he also has 10 hits being one of 11 players to have double digits in both categories. He is the only one with more walks then hits. The Mets bullpen leads the national league and is second in the majors in era. They have a 2.34 era. 27 french high school students will be attending the game tonight. They are grounded in NY due to the volcanic eruption in iceland and can't get back home. They are staying at the Laguardia Marriot and are guests of the Mets tonight. Mets catchers have thrown out 3 of 6 base stealers which is tied for best in the majors. Mets Lineup: Pagan(CF) Castillo(2B) Wright(3B) Bay(LF) Francoeur(RF) Davis(1B) Barajas(C) Cora(SS) Niese(P)