The Yankees salvage the final game in Seattle

The New York Yankees defeated the Seattle Mariners by the score of 7-1 on Sunday afternoon.  They needed a game like this after two heart breaking losses Friday and Saturday nights.  The Yankees had a chance to win all three games in Seattle and should of won at least two but they only ended up getting the one victory.  They head to Oakland now to take on the Athletics a team that is rolling right now winning four games in a row for the first time this season.  The Yankees will see more good pitching but like Michael Pineda and Felix Hernandez, the ironic thing is the Yankees didn't do so bad against them, they just couldn't hit the bullpen of Seattle. 

Nick Swisher hit a homerun in this game and also drew a walk.  It looks like he may be starting to come out of it.  Eduardo Nunez had his first career triple and didn't make a throwing error.  Derek Jeter is only 20 hits away from 3000 now.  He should be able to get it on the next homestand.  He still has these six games to go on the West Coast so we will see how he does in those and then a homestand to see if he can get it done. 

C.C. Sabathia pitched like the ace that he is, the Yankees offense helped him like they usually do but he still went eight innings and was really only in trouble in the fifth inning and he turned a 1-2-3 double play on Ichiro Suzuki to end the inning.  Sabathia was pumped up on that one, he pumped his fist as he left the field.  It was 7-0 Yankees at the time but the Mariners had the bases loaded with one out and could of jumped right back in the game. 

In Sabathia last eight starts the Yankees have averaged more then eight runs per game.  Sabathia said he has noticed it.  Andruw Jones had the big hit of the game with a three run double with two outs in the third inning.  It made a 2-0 game 5-0 and send the Yankees cruising to victory.  Sabathia leads the majors in wins since his debut in 2001.  In his past three starts Sabathia has pitched 25 innings and he has an ERA of 1.80, the Yankees have won all three of those starts.  Sabathia truly is an ace, he gives the Yankees everything he has and he pitches deep into games especially when they need it the most like todya. 

Teixeira has a six game hitting streak and five game RBI streak.  In his past ten games he is hitting 262 with six homeruns and 13 RBI.  Lance Pendleton pitched another scoreless inning, every reliever has appeared in the three game series.  Pendleton still hasn't been charged with a run in his brief major league career. 

Phil Hughes update:He threw a 30 pitch bullpen on Sunday morning and felt good.  He did mix in his changeup and curveball.  The first 20 were all fastballs, then he mixed up the last ten.  Hughes said no problems and no pain, he is scheduled to take a couple of days off and throw another bullpen on Wednesday.  Hughes said he thinks he could throw BP this coming weekend in Anaheim. 

Yankees Roster Move

The Yankees placed reliever Chan Ho Park on the 15 day DL today and called up left handed reliever Boone Logan. It is more precautionary then anything but better to let him rest and not hurt it more. Boone Logan had a great spring and deserved to make it but didn't, he has pitched well in AAA and will get an oppurtunity now. The weather doesn't look good right now but it isn't pouring so hopefully they will get this game in tonight.

Grapefruit League Game 22-Phillies at Yankees

Here is the lineup for tonights game followed by some pregame notes. Jeter(SS) Thames(DH) Teixeira(1B) Rodriguez(3B) Cano(2B) Swisher(RF) Granderson(LF) Gardner(CF) Cervelli(C) Phil Hughes is starting tonights game. Rivera and Marte are also scheduled to pitch out of the bullpen tonight. Hughes is scheduled for about 75 pitches, remember he is on short rest. I know you are wondering is that A-rod in the lineup, yes it is. He was supposed to be in Buffalo meeting with the FEDS but we are not sure if that happened. Here is what he had to say today. "There was no meeting, no meeting today." He said "What I can tell you is that nothing has changed. We're going to continue to work together. We're going to cooperate and we're going to talk to the feds and major league baseball shortly." He said he is meeting with MLB because the league wants to hear what he has to say. He said he doesn't know where or when that meeting will take place. He said they are still working on it. He said "Whether I talk to them today or next week it will get done and hopefully it will be done before Opening Day and we can move on." The reports were that he was to meet in Buffalo today with the Feds, Rodriguez never said he wasn't in Buffalo just that he was in Tampa last night. This is still all fuzzy as usual with A-rod but I really don't believe he has done anything wrong in this case. The Yankees may be mad because they didn't give him permission to even meet with Dr. Galea but I am sure they will get past this. Marcus Thames is hitting second to get more at bats against the lefty Jaime Moyer. He will also start tomorrow against lefty Nate Robertson. Joba is scheduled to pitch out of the bullpen tomorrow. He said he will continue to use a changeup and curveball in his bullpen sessions but plans on going primarily back to a fastball-slider combo as a reliever. Joe Girardi said "I think Joba can do both, I really do." He was talking about starting or relieving and I do also but right now he is best used as a reliever. Joe Girardi said the same thing that right now they need him as a reliever. I think also if MO gets injured knock on wood then they have Joba who can step right in. The game is not on TV but is on WCBS radio in NY. It is 880AM on the dial. I will be out and about tonight so I won't be able to get to a game recap but I will have that tomorrow. Here is the Phillies Lineup: Rollins(SS) Polanco(3B) Utley(2B) Howard(1B) Werth(RF) Ibanez(LF) Victorino(CF) Gload(DH) Ruiz(C)

Joba Rules

The New York Yankees and Joba Chamberlain have gone back and forth between starter and reliever. He was a started last year until the playoffs and stated just the other day he intends on being a starter this season. He was at the Thurman Munson Awards dinner last night and had some things to say. He did state that he wants to be a starter but the Yankees have the final call and if the told him you are going to be a setup man and be ready to inherit MO's job when he retires he would be ready and able to do that. He stated he just wants to be told what to do and then stick with that. Joel Sherman of the NY Post had a article in todays paper about this and stated that Joba is going to be the setup man and Phil Hughes will be the 5th starter. I have been saying this for a while and I agree with it. The thing about Joba is he just seems different out of the pen. I have been in the Joba as a starter camp and I still believe he can be a very good starting pitcher. The thing though that the Yankees couldn't ignore and most of the fans was that he was sitting at 89-91 as a stater and looked tentative. Joba went back to the pen for the postseason and was back up in the high 90's and just looked dominant again. The Yankees will never admit it publicly but I do think they believe he is better suited for the bullpen now. It is very hard for them because of what they invested for him to be a starter. They went through all this Joba Rules stuff and now finally he is ready to be unleashed this season and what do you know he will most likely end up in the pen. The thing is Phil Hughes will have the rules but the Yankees have Sergio Mitre, Chad Gaudin and some others in the minors to cover the 5th starter role and if there is injury. I think the Yankees best team will be with Joba in the pen and Hughes starting. It will be a debate that will be ongoing but I am sure this is what most people want and will be happy as long as Joba executes in this role the way everyone thinks he will.

Yankees remain busy

The New York Yankees have aquired Javier Vasquez and Boone Logan from the Atlanta Braves for Melky Cabrera, Mike Dunn and Arodys Viscaino. Mike Dunn was a left handed reliever from the minors who had a cup of coffee in Sept with the Yankees and Arodys Viscaino was a lower level starting pitcher. Javier Vasquez was with the Yankees in 2004 and most people will not forget him giving up the grand slam to Johnny Damon in game 7 of the ALCS but he is now a #4 starter not 1 or 2. He is actually I think a better pitcher then people give him credit for. He has pitched 200+ innings every year since leaving the Yankees and has won a pretty good amount of games, last year being his best season at 15-10 with a sub 3 era. Logan is a left handed reliever who has bad overall numbers but if you look at his numbers against lefties they are pretty good and he will be a lefthanded specialist with Marte as the other leftie who can face more guys. I will get into this trade more later but with Melky gone the Yankees currently don't have a leftfielder so who will they get Holliday, Bay, Damon, DeRosa, Dye?? I think DeRosa makes the most sense fitting into the budget of under 200 million but the Yankees being the Yankees I wouldn't put anything past them.

Yankees at Mariners(The Rubber Game)

The New York Yankees take on the Seattle Mariners this afternoon at 4:00PM on the Yes network. The Yankees bounced back nicely yesterday from a bad loss on Friday. The Yankees lost on a 2 run walkoff homerun on friday by Ichiro and won yesterday 10-1. The Yankees are 6 games ahead of the Red Sox and 6 1/2 ahead of the Angels. Joba will take on Ian Snell today, how many innings will Joba go today, maybe 5 we will see. I have a feeling Ian Kennedy may pitch after him which would be cool. Here are the pregame notes and lineup via Peter Abraham. Hideki Matsui is 17 of 40 with 12 rbi's. He is second on the team with 86 rbi's but only 8th in plate appearances. It will be interesting to see this offseason, you can't bring him and Damon back but they are making it tough. Johnny Damon is 6 for 8 in this series with 3 doubles. Mark Teixeira is first in the AL with 118 rbi's and second in homers with 37, he is also batting 289. Robinson Cano is batting 368 this month and is a career 351 hitter in Sept and Oct. That is the best among active players. Joba in his last 2 starts has shown some progress pitching 7 innings allowing 7 hits and 3 runs with 1 walk and 5 strikeouts. Dave Eiland the pitching coach thinks he fixed a hitch in his delivery and that is the difference, hopefully they are right. Mariano Rivera has appeared in at least 60 games 12 times in his career. The record is 13 held by Mike Stanton. The Yankees bullpen has a 3.47 era since Phil Hughes joined it. It was 4.88 prior to that so he has been a huge difference. Opposing hitters are 1-16 with runners in scoring position against Hughes since he became a reliever. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Cabrera(RF) Gardner(CF)

Orioles at Yankees

The Yankees are going for their seventh win in a row and CC Sabathia is looking for his first win at home. They trail the Red Sox by one game and of course Toronto is still in first, I am one to not believe in them though. The Sox and Jays begin a three game series in Fenway tonight. Big Tex is batting 458 with 11 rbi's during the six game winning streak. The team hasn't made a move for Bruney yet, it should come shortly. They haven't decided what to do with Wang and Hughes yet although Wang appeared to be confident after his bullpen session today. Girardi said there will be no decision with Wang today and they will cross that bridge when they come to it speaking of the rotation and what happens to Hughes. It does appear a reliever will get sent out as the Yankees still feel they need Angel Berroa and Ramiro Pena, why I don't really know but I guess they feel its protection for A-rod which I don't agree with but I am not making the decisions. The lineup for today is as follows Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Swisher(RF) Cano(2B) Cabrera(CF) Cervelli(C)

Arod Back sort of

Alex Rodriguez is back at Steinbrenner Field in the next step of his rehab. He was taking grounders and hitting off a tee. Peter Abraham is reporting he was hitting mostly everything the other way. Alex is expected to meet with the media after his session is over and then later on tonight before the game. I think he won't say much and be just fine but you never know with Alex, the bottom line is they need him, Cody Ransom is struggling really bad and Alex Rodriguez make the lineup as a whole better. I hope he will be in the dugout with the team and bring inspiration to them, they have been playing well and maybe he will offer some encouragement to Cody. The lineups will be posted later and I am sure I will be back with more on Arod. I knew after the bullpen blew a game for Joba the Joba to the pen stuff would heat up again. Here is my take on this, Joba pitched 6 innings allowing 1 earned run, if it was someone else pitching they may have not got to the bullpen with the lead, he is a starter and that is where he will be until the playoffs when a 5th starter isn't needed. Joba is showing he has the stuff to be an elite pitcher, remember he is only 23 and will get better and better with more experience. I think Joe Girardi actually messed up that inning, I may have left Marte in, the worst that would of happend is Butler hits a homerun to tie the game but then after Veras came in and walked the guy maybe he should of just left him in. I have no problem not using MO as it is early in the year, he is getting older and coming off of shoulder surgery. If the Yankees come back now and win 2 out of 3 it was a pretty good trip and then they need to reestablish the home field dominance and they will be fine.

Ian Kennedy Dominant

The Scranton Yankees-AAA affiliate of the New York Yankees beat the Lehigh Valley Ironpigs yesterday by a score of 2-1 in 11 innings. Ian Kennedy made his first start of the year and went a strong 6 innings giving up 1 run on 4 hits with 0 walks and 11 strikeouts. Dave Robertson had a strong 2 innings of relief giving up 1 hit, 0 runs and 3 strikeouts. Brett Tomko pitched 2 innings giving up 2 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks and had 3 strikeouts and JB Cox closed it out with a walk and hit but no runs allowed. The offense had Kevin Russo go 3-5, Shelly Duncan 1-5 with a rbi and Juan Miranda also go 1-5. Austin Jackson went 2-5 but also had 3 strikeouts. Angel Berroa went 1-4 with a rbi. Chad Jennings of the Times-Tribune and the Scranton Yankees blog had some postgame notes and reaction. Chris Stewart the catcher said that Kennedy was as good as he ever was last season and Manager Dave Miley said it was as good as he as ever seen him pitch in AAA. Chad Jennings thought he looked aggressive and confident like he did when he breezed through AAA on his way to the majors in 2007. He said you can be as aggressive as you want but it still comes down to execution. I think Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy are going to have big years and be waiting for another chance at the big leagues. The Trenton Thunder AA affiliate of the Yankees lost to the Binghamton Mets 4-3 yesterday. Zach McAllister pitched 5 innings for Trenton allowing 4 hits and 3 runs only 1 earned though with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts. Kevin Whelan pitched a scoreless inning giving up a walk and having a strikeout. The offense saw Eduardo Nunez go 2-5, Edward Gonzalez was 3-4. Tampa the A affiliate of the Yankees won 2-1 in a strong debut by Dellin Betances. He has been called the Baby Unit and keep your eye on him, he is young and has had some injury problems but if he stays healthy he could be in AA at some point this year and definitely next year and expect to see him in the Big Leagues in a couple of years. He pitched 6 innings giving up 3 hits, 1 run, 2 walks and 7 strikeouts. The offense saw Jesus Montero go 1-4 and Austin Romine go 0-3. Damon Sublett went 0-4 and Brandon Laird was 1-4. Tampa has a bunch of pretty good prospects so I expect to talk a lot about them this year. Charleston A affiliate of the Yankees won 4-2. DJ Mitchell pitched 6 innings giving up 1 hit, 1 run with 6 strikeouts. The run was unearned. Pat Venditte who is the ambidextrous reliever pitched a scoreless inning giving up a hit and had a strikeout. He picked up the save, he is a guy I will be watching this year as it is a fascinating story. DJ Mitchell is another good prospect for the Yankees but is in A so we can't get too excited over him with so many guys in front of him.

Phil Coke News

I forgot to mention this before but Peter Abraham of the Journal News did ask Joe Girardi in the clubhouse today about Phil Coke. Phil Coke was told to prepare to be a starter but then of course the Yanks went out and signed CC,AJ and resigned Andy Pettitte. Joe Girardi said he is a reliever and that is how the organization now views him. Phil Coke said although he was always a starter he enjoyed being a reliever last year and would like to continue in that role especially if thats how he will make the team. I think there is a good chance he will make it and be a second lefty in the pen which i think is important. I do think Phil Coke can be this teams left handed version of Ramiro Mendoza as he could spot start, long relieve, face one lefty or pitch an inning. A guy like that can be very valuable and I expect Coke will be used in that way. There is no word yet on Edwar Ramirez shoulder, hopefully I will find out tonight and be able to post something about it later on.