Young or Old, Yankees Stink

That smell you smell emanating from Yankee Stadium is the scent of mediocrity and Ben Gay. The Yankees were hoping their veteran stopper Andy Pettitte, would end their modest 1-game losing streak, but for the second straight start the left-hander fell apart in the middle in the innings, and the Yankees lost the lead and the game. This time it was the Detroit Tigers going on to a 6-2 vicory. To top things off the team lost yet another player, Phil Hughes, to the disabled list. Hughes will sit 15 days with a strained oblique, hopefully time enough to get him straightened out physically and mentally. It wouldn't be surprising at all for the Yankees to send him to Tampa for a rehab start or two when he's ready.

But back to tonight's fiasco. Armed with a 2-1 lead in the 5th, Pettitte (3-3) surrendered a 2-run home run to former Yankee Marcus Thames to put the Tigers ahead for good. In his previous start, Pettitte had a 3-1 lead in the 5th when the Indians' Jhonny Peralta belted a 3-run HR off of him. Franklin Gutierrez later added a solo shot in the same inning. This time it took an inning before Placido Polanco hit the first of his two solo home runs in the 6th inning.

We spoke earlier about the problems Jeremy Bonderman has been having with his control and velocity since the second half of last year. Tonight's 1st inning was no different as Bonderman again had trouble throwing strikes. Bonderman immediately fell behind lead off man Johnny Damon, 3-0, before coming back to get the count full. Damon then sliced a ball over the 3rd Base bag for a double. Derek Jeter singled through the left side and Bobby Abreu walked on four pitches to loaded the bases.

The lack of a big hit hurt again though as Hideki Matsui flew to shallow left-center for the first out. Jason Giambi's deep drive to left scored Damon with the first run before Melky Cabrera had a big 2-out single to score Jeter just ahead of Thames' throw from left. But the slump of Robinson Cano continued as he flew out routinely to left.

Having escaped without too much damage done, Bonderman (2-2) was a different pitcher after that He only allowed 3 hits through his remaining 6.2 innings and didn't walk another batter until Damon drew a free pass in the 8th inning.

News and Notes

Placido Polanco's 2nd home run of the game came against Kyle Farnsworth, who has surrendered 4 home runs in just 13.1 innings.

Brian Cashman announced after the game that Darrell Rasner will get Phil Hughes' start against Seattle on Sunday.

Chad Moeller passed through waivers and rejoined the ball club. Chris Stewart was designated for assignment. sent down to Scranton. One and Done.

April 30, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Detroit	0	1	0	0	2	2	0	1	0		6	10	0
NY Yankees	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		2	5	0

Detroit	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Rodriguez, C	5	0	0	0	0	1	3	.255
Polanco, 2B	5	2	2	2	0	0	2	.228
Sheffield, DH	4	1	2	0	0	1	0	.183
Ordonez, RF	3	1	1	0	1	1	1	.301
Cabrera, 1B	4	0	1	0	0	1	3	.270
Guillen, 3B	3	0	1	1	0	2	1	.321
Renteria, SS	4	1	1	1	0	1	1	.309
Thames, LF	2	1	1	2	0	0	1	.200
Granderson, CF	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	.375
Inge, CF-LF	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	.257
Totals	34	6	10	6	2	7	13
BATTING 2B: Granderson (3, Ramirez). HR: Thames (2, 5th inning off Pettitte, 1 on, 1 out), Polanco 2 (2, 6th inning off Pettitte, 0 on, 0 out; 8th inning off Farnsworth, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Polanco 8; Sheffield 2; Ordonez; Cabrera; Guillen; Renteria; Thames 4; Granderson 2. RBI: Renteria (17), Thames 2 (5), Polanco 2 (9), Guillen (12). 2-out RBI: Guillen. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Thames; Rodriguez; Guillen; Polanco. S: Guillen. GIDP: Cabrera. Team LOB: 5. BASERUNNING SB: Sheffield (3, 2nd base off Farnsworth/Molina). PO: Guillen (1st base by Pettitte).

Detroit	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Bonderman (W, 2-2)	7.2	5	2	2	2	1	0	3.86
Rapada	1.1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, LF	3	1	1	0	1	0	0	.276
Jeter, SS	4	1	1	0	0	0	1	.277
Abreu, RF	3	0	0	0	1	0	1	.269
Matsui, DH	4	0	1	0	0	0	3	.322
Giambi, 1B	3	0	0	1	0	0	1	.164
Cabrera, CF	4	0	2	1	0	1	0	.299
Cano, 2B	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	.151
Molina, C	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.231
Gonzalez, 3B	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	.273
Totals	30	2	5	2	2	2	9
BATTING 2B: Damon (10, Bonderman). TB: Damon 2; Jeter; Matsui; Cabrera 2. RBI: Giambi (13), Cabrera (12). 2-out RBI: Cabrera. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Cano. SF: Giambi. Team LOB: 4. BASERUNNING CS: Cano (2, 2nd base by Bonderman/Rodriguez). FIELDING DP: (Jeter-Cano-Giambi). Pickoffs: Pettitte (Guillen at 1st base).

NY Yankees IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Pettitte (L, 3-3) 6.0 7 5 5 1 3 2 3.93 Hawkins 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 0 7.47 Farnsworth 1.0 2 1 1 0 2 1 4.05 Ramirez 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0.00

HBP: Inge (by Ramirez). Pitches-strikes: Bonderman 100-57, Rapada 16-9, Pettitte 92-65, Hawkins 20-14, Farnsworth 27-21, Ramirez 18-14. Ground outs-fly outs: Bonderman 11-10, Rapada 3-0, Pettitte 13-1, Hawkins 2-0, Farnsworth 0-1, Ramirez 1-1. Batters faced: Bonderman 29, Rapada 4, Pettitte 24, Hawkins 4, Farnsworth 5, Ramirez 5. Inherited runners-scored: Rapada 1-0. Umpires: HP: Chad Fairchild. 1B: Rick Reed. 2B: Jeff Kellogg. 3B: Scott Barry. Weather: 53 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 11 mph, L to R. T: 2:48. Att: 49,513.

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All-Star Baseball

We absolutely loved All-Star Baseball. It was much better than Strat-o-matic in our opinion. We couldn't get enough.

"What are you still doing up?"

"It's the 12th inning"

"Go to bed already"

"We'll be done soon"

Oh how many times that snippet of conversation was repeated over the years. It's amazing we never suffered an elbow or finger injury from all the times we hit that spinner.

The All-Star game will also be returning to the Bronx this summer for the first time since 1977. And you better be ready to spend a small fortune if you want to take part.

MLB has set up a registration for the chance to buy tickets to the game, home run derby, and futures game. The registration period started yesterday and runs through June 15.

Home Run Derby tickets range from $100 (bleachers) to $650 for premium box seats. The Futures game can run you anywhere from will run $50 - $225, and the big game itself will cost you from $150 (bleachers) to $725 for the boxes. First born child need not be included. This of course does not include food, transportation, and merchandise.

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Yankees vs. Tigers - April 30

The Yankees and Tigers go at it again in the Bronx tonight. Andy Pettitte (3-2, 3.23), coming off of a rough start in Cleveland, goes up against Jeremy Bonderman (1-2, 4.28). Pettitte had strung together three good outings in a row, before he couldn't hold a 3-1 lead in a 5 inning stint against the Indians. Pettitte has to put together a 10-8, 3.49 record against the Tigers in 22 career starts.

Bonderman is having a rocky April after a very tough second half of 2007. Going into last year's All-Star break Bonderman was on fire. His 9-1 record and 3.48 ERA put him in San Francisco for his first All-Star game. But something was clearly not right in the second half. After walking just 24 batters in 106 innings, Bonderman issued the same amount of free passes in just 68.1 innings after the break.

After losing 8 of his last 10 decisions, a September MRI showed a pinched cartilage in Bonderman's right elbow, and though it didn't require surgery, his season was over. This season hasn't gone much better.

Bonderman has already walked 21 batters in 27.1 innings. He was removed in his last start with 2 outs in the 5th inning after walking in the tying run. It was his 7th walk of the game.

Tigers vs. Pettitte

Miguel Cabrera 3-9 2 HR 3 RBI
Curtis Granderson 0-7
Carlos Guillen 9-24 (.375) 3 RBI
Brandon Inge 5-14 (.357) 2 RBI
Jacques Jones 2-16 (.125) 7 K
Magglio Ordonez 12-35 (.343) 2 HR 6 RBI
Placido Polanco 2-4
Edgar Renteria 3-13 (.231)
Ivan Rodriguez 16-40 (.400) 2 HR 5 RBI
Gary Sheffield 0-3
Marcus Thames 0-3
Ramon Santiago 0-4

Yankees vs. Bonderman

Bobby Abreu 6-9 (.667) 1 HR 3 RBI
Melky Cabrera 5-13 (.385) 3 RBI
Robinson Cano 5-18 (.278)
Johnny Damon 14-32 (.438) 2 HR 6 RBI
Jason Giambi 3-15 (.200)
Derek Jeter 5-26 (.192) 2 HR 6 RBI
Hideki Matsui 10-19 (.526) 3 HR 9 RBI
Jose Molina 2-8


Tonight's lineup courtesy of Peter Abraham:

Damon LF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Matsui DH
Giambi 1B
Cabrera CF
Cano 2B
Molina C
Gonzalez 3B

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The Blog Zone

If you haven't heard about it already, Deadspin's Will Leitch was on with Bob Costas for his "On the Record" gig the other night and a "discussion" broke out about a blogging. Author Buzz Bissinger is less than thrilled, that's putting it politely, about blogs.

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Catcher in the Sling

Jon Heyman is reporting that Chad Moeller passed through waivers, which means he could be back with the big club very soon. Chris Stewart's Yankees debut was awful last night. He couldn't get on the same page as Phil Hughes and went 0-3 at the plate.

Peter Abraham is reporting that Jose Molina was limping a lot when the Yankees-Indians series ended on Monday, leading to speculation that he could have re-aggravated his hamstring injury (it would also explain why he didn't start last night).

It's going to be a limp along kind of year.

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Minor League Recap - 4/30

Scranton outscored Buffalo 10-6 last night as Juan Miranda drove in 3 runs and Eric Duncan homered. Jose Veras continued his outstanding season, picking up his 9th save. Duncan has gotten his average up to .279 by hitting .367 over his last 10 games.

The Thunder came back from a 1-0 deficit late to beat the Connecticut Defenders, 4-1. After the Thunder tied the game in the 7th, Cody Ehlers had the big in the 3-run 8th inning with a 2-run home run. Chase Wright allowed 4 hits in 7 innings for the win.

Prospect Watch - Austin Jackson, 0-5, P.J. Pilliterre 2-4 (.324), Jose Tabata had the night off.

Tampa Yankees had the night off.

Zach McAllister (3-1, 1.13) pitched 5-hit ball for 8 innings, and Brandon Laird and Walt Ibarra each homered in the Charleston River Dogs 6-3 win over the August Green Jackets.

Prospect Watch - Jesus Montero was 1-3 with an RBI double.

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For Shame

As we muttered angrily at Phil Hughes' pitching and the inability of the Rangers to stop the Penguins power play last night, we started machine gunning the remote. When we landed we were dismayed. There on Dancing With the Stars, Def Leppard.

While we've never been huge Def Leppard fans, we've liked a number of their songs. DTWS? Disgraceful. First Sheryl Crow. Now this. We know it's harder to sell records as you get older, but this is a show that has shlock acts like Michael Buble, Barry Manilow, and Celine Dion.

We're not sure, but we think they were singing, "Poor some Samba on me".

For shame.

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Some Thank You's and More

When we wrote our piece and accompanying poll on Michael Kay, we never expected to have such a positive reaction. We would like to thank Was Watching, the Baseball Think Factory (which had some lively discussion on the topic), the Big Lead, who is always good to My Pinstripes, and Why Don't We Get Drunk and Blog for picking up the story and running with it. The traffic increase to our site has been fantastic.

We also thank all of you who have read the post thus far and taken the poll. We wish more people would leave comments, but that's never been too popular around these parts.

A lot of talk has emerged from this whole thing about Ken "Hawk" Harrelson. The Hawk was actually somewhat amusing when he broadcasted Yankees games in 1987 and 1988. We laughed when he said "jelly leg", "duck snort", and we could even tolerate "put it on the board".

But Harrelson is hands down the worst announcer in baseball. Granted, we haven't heard them all, but his homer bias makes Phil Rizzuto sound as if he hated the Yankees. His latest phrase, "he gone" to describe an opponent's strike out is beyond obnoxious, as is his use of the word "we" when talking about the White Sox.

It's not uncommon for fans, we do it, to use "we" when referring to the team they are rooting for. But it is beyond unprofessional for an announcer to use it. His use of "good guys" and "bad guys" is just plain sophomoric. (Hmm, sophomoric sounds like something Kay would say; we should have gone with stupid.)

There are honorable mentions of course. We haven't heard too many Red Sox telecasts, but even Red Sox fans are not necessarily enamored with the job Jerry Remy does. In the past we've documented our dislike of Joe Buck, Tim McCarver (who we actually liked when he did the Yankees games), Josh Lewin, Tom Brenneman, Skip Carey, Joe Morgan, Steve Lyons, and Keith Hernandez to name a few.

And of course we can't fail to mention the man who ruins every sport he touches, Chris Berman.

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Young Pop Guns

The Yankees knew that having an infusion of youth, Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, and Ian Kennedy, in the pitching staff would make 2008 a transition year, but they also thought it would make it a successful year. It's been anything, but that.

While Chamberlain continues to excel in his bullpen setup role, Hughes and Kennedy have struggled in the starting rotation. Hughes was on the hill last night and came out on the losing end of a 6-2 game with the Detroit Tigers. To make matters worse the Yankees announced after the game that Alex Rodriguez had been placed on the 15-day DL with a Grade 2 Quad strain.

Hughes had a poor night right from the start, walking lead off man Curtis Granderson. A single by Placido Polanco, a wild pitch, and a single by Magglio Ordonez quickly gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead. The inning epimotized Hughes' night. He had no command and his catcher, the newly called up Chris Stewart, was crossed up several times. (On a side note, why did Joe Girardi start a newbie instead of having Jose Molina catch Hughes and then have Stewart catch a veteran, Andy Pettitte, on Wednesday.)

The Yankees quickly tied the game back in the 2nd on Robinson Cano's 2-run home run, his 2nd of the season, off of Tigers start Kenny Rogers. (Despite the home run Cano has the second lowest batting average among league qualifiers.) But the Tigers jumped right back on Hughes in the 3rd inning.

Granderson blasted a long home run to center field and two batters later, Gary Sheffield hit a 2-run laser into the left field seats for a 5-2 Tigers lead. When Hughes have up a double to Granderson and an RBI single to Polanco in the 4th, Joe Girardi had no choice but to pull his young right-hander.

The Yankees offense, without both A-Rod and Jorge Posada, was anemic at best. Jason Giambi grounded out to end the 1st inning with two men aboard. Rogers walked three straight hitters with two out in the 3rd, but Cano flied out.

In the 8th, they mounted a rally against wild right-hander Denny Bautista. Shelley Duncan drew a lead-off walk, and after Morgan Ensberg and Cano were retired, pinch-hitter Melky Cabrera and Johnny Damon both walked to load the bases. Bautista hit Derek Jeter with a pitch to force home a run, cutting the lead in half at 6-3. Jim Leyland called on Clay Rapada to face Bobby Abreu and Rapada won out, getting Abreu to bounce into an inning ending force out.

The Yankees had one more chance in the 9th against closer Todd Jones to bring the tying run to the plate. Hideki Matsui drew the 8th walk of the game and moved to 2nd on a wild pitch. Giambi ripped a single down the right field line (it's possible Miguel Cabrera has less mobility than Giambi) to score Matsui. That gave the Yankees three shots with the tying run at the plate. And they failed miserably. Duncan and Ensberg grounded out and Cano struck out on a pitch up in his eyes.

News and Notes

One of the few bright notes on the night was the performance of Ross Ohlendorf who has struggled in the long man role. But last night the Big O threw 3.1 scoreless innings, striking out 5.

No word on who will be recalled to replace A-Rod on the roster. Ensberg and Alberto Gonzalez will split time at 3rd Base.

Gary Sheffield's home run was career #482.

Hideki Matsui at .326 was the only Yankee to appear last night with an average above .290.

April 29, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Detroit	2	0	3	1	0	0	0	0	0		6	11	1
NY Yankees	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	1		4	8	0

Detroit	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Granderson, CF	3	3	2	1	2	0	1	.348
Polanco, 2B	5	2	4	1	0	0	1	.216
Sheffield, DH	4	1	1	2	1	2	3	.164
Ordonez, RF	5	0	1	2	0	0	3	.300
Cabrera, 1B	4	0	1	0	0	0	1	.271
Guillen, 3B	3	0	0	0	1	2	1	.321
Renteria, SS	4	0	0	0	0	2	1	.311
Rodriguez, C	4	0	2	0	0	0	0	.269
Jones, J, LF	4	0	0	0	0	2	2	.185
Raburn, LF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.250
Totals	36	6	11	6	4	8	13
BATTING 2B: Polanco (3, Hughes), Granderson (2, Hughes), Rodriguez (8, Ramirez). HR: Granderson (3, 3rd inning off Hughes, 0 on, 0 out), Sheffield (2, 3rd inning off Hughes, 1 on, 0 out). TB: Granderson 6; Polanco 5; Sheffield 4; Ordonez; Cabrera; Rodriguez 3. RBI: Ordonez 2 (19), Granderson (5), Sheffield 2 (5), Polanco (7). 2-out RBI: Polanco. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Jones, J; Ordonez; Granderson. GIDP: Cabrera; Ordonez. Team LOB: 7. BASERUNNING SB: Rodriguez (3, 2nd base off Hughes/Stewart). FIELDING E: Jones, J (1, fielding).

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, CF-LF	4	0	1	0	1	2	0	.274
Jeter, SS	4	0	1	1	0	1	1	.278
Abreu, RF	5	0	1	0	0	1	4	.276
Molina, C	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.245
Matsui, LF-RF	4	1	2	0	1	0	0	.326
Giambi, DH	4	0	1	1	1	0	3	.171
Duncan, S, 1B	2	2	1	0	3	0	1	.154
Ensberg, 3B	4	0	0	0	1	0	4	.233
Cano, 2B	5	1	1	2	0	2	5	.155
Stewart, C	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000
a-Cabrera, PH-CF	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	.289
Totals	35	4	8	4	8	7	18
a-Walked for Stewart in the 8th.
BATTING 2B: Duncan, S (1, Rogers). HR: Cano (2, 2nd inning off Rogers, 1 on, 1 out). TB: Damon; Jeter; Abreu; Matsui 2; Giambi; Duncan, S 2; Cano 4. RBI: Cano 2 (7), Jeter (14), Giambi (12). 2-out RBI: Jeter. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Giambi 2; Cano 3; Ensberg; Abreu 2. Team LOB: 13. FIELDING DP: 2 (Jeter-Duncan, S, Ensberg-Cano-Duncan, S).

Detroit	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Rogers (W, 2-3)	6.0	6	2	2	4	4	1	6.75
Seay	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	3.00
Bautista	0.2	0	1	1	3	1	0	2.25
Rapada (H, 1)	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Jones, T (S, 5)	1.0	1	1	1	1	1	0	2.45

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Hughes (L, 0-4)	3.2	8	6	6	3	2	2	9.00
Ohlendorf	3.1	1	0	0	1	5	0	5.40
Ramirez	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
Hawkins	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	7.98

WP: Jones, T, Hughes 2.
HBP: Jeter (by Bautista).
Pitches-strikes: Rogers 101-60, Seay 13-11, Bautista 25-9, Rapada 2-2, Jones, T 15-9, Hughes 82-50, Ohlendorf 46-32, Ramirez 14-10, Hawkins 9-6.
Ground outs-fly outs: Rogers 8-6, Seay 1-1, Bautista 0-1, Rapada 1-0, Jones, T 2-0, Hughes 6-3, Ohlendorf 3-2, Ramirez 0-2, Hawkins 2-1.
Batters faced: Rogers 28, Seay 4, Bautista 6, Rapada 1, Jones, T 5, Hughes 21, Ohlendorf 12, Ramirez 4, Hawkins 3.
Inherited runners-scored: Rapada 3-0, Ohlendorf 2-0.
Umpires: HP: Mark Wegner. 1B: Chad Fairchild. 2B: Rick Reed. 3B: Jeff Kellogg.
Weather: 55 degrees, clear.
Wind: 14 mph, R to L.
T: 3:26.
Att: 49,194.

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Only in California

The U.S. Men's Water Polo team throws out the first pitch.

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Tonight's Lineup (4/29)

Inexplicably, the Yankees have sent Chris Britton back to Scranton without throwing a pitch, and have recalled Edwar Ramirez. We love K-Ram and he's done great for Scranton this year, but what does Britton have to do to get a chance to pitch? Ross Ohlendorf keeps getting run out there and he's awful. He's gives up runs in every appearance.


Here's tonight's Yankees lineup, via PeteAbe:

Damon CF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Matsui LF
Giambi DH
Duncan 1B
Ensberg 3B
Cano 2B
Stewart C

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Around the Horn - 4/29

Not too much action in the major leagues last night. The Orioles and White Sox had rain interrupt play at the start and the end of their game. It ended up a 3-3 tie with the game suspended after 12 innings. Since it was the end of 4-game series, there's no word on when it would be continued. Daniel Cabera (2 ER 6.1 IP) and Javier Vazquez (1 ER 8 IP) both turned in good starts.

The A's scored 8 runs in the 7th inning to blow away the Angels, 14-2. Frank Thomas was a HR short of the cycle when he left the game, and Daric Barton, Emil Brown, and Jack Hannahan each homered. Chad Gaudin has come back from injuries well to post a 3-1, 3.00 record. John Garland gave up 7 runs in 6 innings for the Angels.

The Mets and Pirates were rained out in Flushing. The Reds held off the Cardinals 4-3 as Bronson Arroyo finally picked up his first win. Rick Ankiel hit his 5th HR for the Cards.

Dan Haren improved to 4-1 in the Diamondbacks 5-3 triumph over the Astros. Mark Reynold's 2-run double gave him 24 RBI for the month.

The Giants moved Barry Zito to the bullpen, but Matt Cain and the pen gave them some relief last night. Cain was the victor in the Giants 4-0 win against the Rockies. Aaron Rowand knocked in a pair of run and is hitting .308.

News and Notes

After passing through waivers, Hideo Nomo was officially released by the Royals.

Mike Lieberthal will be signing a 1-day contract shortly with the Phillies, so that he can officially retire as a Phillie.

Rich Harden is scheduled for rehab start on Thursday as he tries to come back from yet another injury for the A's.

Scott Kazmir threw an 81-pitch rehab start on Monday and could be activated by the Rays this weekend.

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Minor League Recap - 4/29

Kei Igawa pitched like the Kei Igawa we all know and hate in last night's Scranton loss to Buffalo, 5-2. Igawa was charged with 4 runs and 7 hits in 5 innings. Cody Ransom homered and Bernie Castro had 3 hits for the Yankees. Steven Jackson made his Triple-A debut, after 7 appearances for Trenton, and threw 1 scoreless inning.

The Thunder had the night off and will start a series against Connecticut this evening.

Ivan Nova pitched decently for the Tampa Yankees, but the offense couldn't get anything going in a 3-1 loss to the Clearwater Threshers. Edwar Gonzalez had 3 of the Yankees, who have lost 2 straight, 9 hits. Mark Melancon threw 2 scoreless innings and has allowed just 1 earned run in his last 11.1 innings pitched.

The Charleston River Dogs and their league best 19-5 record had the night off. They'll start a series at home tonight against the August Green Jackets.

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Hockey Gods be Kind!

Game 3 back at Madison Square Garden tonight. The Rangers trail the Penguins 2-zip. MUST MUST MUST win games 3 and 4 at home and go back to P-Burgh tied at 2 games apiece.


LETS GO RANGERS!!!

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Breaking News: Posada Has No Structural Damage

Buster Olney has reported on ESPN News that an examination of Jorge Posada's shoulder by Dr. James Andrews showed no major damage. If true, that's fantastic news. Rehab and rest would be the way to go.

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Yankees vs. Tigers - April 29

The Yankees finally return to Yankee Stadium tonight for the start of a 9-game homestand. It won't be an easy 9 games either, with 3-game series against Detroit, Seattle, and Cleveland.

Things kick off tonight with Phil Hughes (0-3, 7.85) taking to the mound against Tigers veteran Kenny Rogers. Hughes will again be trying to right the ship after a rocky start this season. He appeared to be on the right track in Chicago when the rains came and forced his removal from the game after just two innings.

Hughes faced the Tigers just once last season without success. He got saddled with the loss after allowing 5 runs in 6 innings pitched. He allowed just four hits, but three of them were home runs.

Rogers has struggled this season as well, compiling a 1-3 record with a 7.66 in 5 starts. The 43-yr old left-hander made just 11 starts last season after a blot clot removed from left shoulder. Rogers has faced the Yankees 35 times in his career, only 14 of them as a starter. He's put a 5-7, 6.45 record and the team has a .325 average against him.

Tigers vs. Hughes

Curtis Granderson 1-2 1 HR 1 RBI
Carlos Guillen 1-3 1 HR 2 RBI
Brandon Inge 0-2
Magglio Ordonez 0-3
Placido Polanco 1-3
Ivan Rodriguez 0-1
Marcus Thames 1-3 1 HR 2 RBI

Yankees vs. Rogers

Bobby Abreu 1-5 2 RBI
Johnny Damon 15-49 (.306) 2 HR 7 RBI
Morgan Ensberg 1-5 1 RBI
Jason Giambi 10-23 (.435) 4 HR 9 RBI 7 BB
Derek Jeter 8-20 (.400) 1 HR 2 RBI 5 BB
Hideki Matsui 2-3 1 HR 1 RBI
Jose Molina 5-12 (.417) 3 RBI

It's unfortunate that A-Rod and Jorge Posada are out of the lineup since they have destroyed Rogers in the past. Arod is 10-19 (.526)-5 HR-9 RBI with 5 BB. Posada is hitting .500 (8-16) against Rogers with 1 HR, 2 RBI and 9 walks.

News and Notes

According to a Star Ledger report yesterday Harlan Chamberlain was released from the hospital and is back home. Great news!

The Yankees are really reaching out to find catchers. The Times Tribune's Chad Jennings reports that the Yankees have brought in 29-yr old catcher Eladio Rodriguez to take Chris Stewart's spot at Scranton. "E-Rod" was the one time MVP of the Israel Baseball League.

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Minor League Folly

No, this isn't our minor league recap, but just some words on a couple of events that have hit the headlines the last few days. In each case they have to do with a 15-yr old.

First we've got the Roger Clemens - Mindy McCready fiasco, though now the NY Daily News is saying she was 18 when the affair started. Still seems really unseemly, if it's true. There are rumors that McCready leaked the story since she has a reality show coming out and is trying to resurrect her career from drug, alcohol, and fraud problems. She may get more than she bargained for. Brian McNamee's attorney, Richard Emery, is considering serving a subpoena to McCready for the anti-defamation suit against Clemens.

Next up is the whole Miley Cyrus uproar. In case you haven't heard, renowned photog Annie Liebowitz took a bunch of photos of the Hannah Montana girl, alone and with her Dad, Billy Ray Cyrus for Vanity Fair magazine . Well after the good ol' boy left, Liebowitz took some risque photos of Miley, with her grandmother and teacher present. Liebowitz, of course, thinks its no big deal, and it's an art. We strongly disagree.

This is a 15-yr old girl...let's say that again...this is a 15-yr old girl. There's absolutely no reason to see her in a sultry or provocative pose. Especially with pedophiles running rampant in this country. (Hopefully Roger Clemens doesn't see it). Wait until she's 18 and do what you want, but in the meantime let a kid be a kid. Because that's what she still is, star or not.

And while we're at, shame on you to NBC. Bravo used to be a great channel. Then you bought it and shit all over it with your reality crap. One of those shows is about a bunch of trash called stage mothers, who dress their 6-yr olds like they're 20 and throw them into pageants. Idiots.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled My Pinstripes.

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A-Rod Out for Start of Homestand

Well we presumed incorrectly; Peter Abraham reports that Alex Rodriguez did indeed leave tonight's game after aggrevating his quad injury.

Alex Rodriguez left the game tonight after aggravating the quadriceps strain in his right leg. He said there was “no way” that he would play tomorrow night against the Tigers.

Not cool.

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Yankees Bounce Their Way to a Split

It wasn't pretty, there wasn't a classic rally, but the Yankees will take it. A 5-2 win over the Cleveland Indians tonight gained them a split of the 4-game series and finished off their road trip with a two game winning streak. The Yankees finished the last section of the road trip 4-2 and went 10-10 during the arduous 20 road games in 23 days schedule from hell.

It wasn't easy tonight though. The Yankees have historically struggled against pitchers they haven't seen before and pitchers who throw a lot of off-speed stuff. Tonight presented a combination of both in Aaron Laffey. Melky Cabrera lead off the game with a walk and Derek Jeter reached on 2nd Baseman Jamey Carroll's error. Laffey would not allow another base runner through the 5th inning.

Trailing 2-0 in the 6th, Cabrera ended the no-hitter with a high chopper in the hole between shortstop and 3rd Base. Jhonny Peralta fielded it, but had no play. Jeter followed with a slow bouncer to 3rd that took a bad hop on Casey Blake. Blake grabbed the ball bare handed, but his throw had no chance of getting Jeter.

Bobby Abreu hit the first hard hit ball of the inning, a slapped liner to left, to load the bases with no one out. Laffey got ahead of Alex Rodriguez 1-2, but then hit A-Rod in the left leg to force in a run. Jason Giambi and Hideki Matsui followed with RBI ground outs to 1st Baseman Ryan Garko, and just like that the Yankees had the lead for good, 3-2. Morgan Ensberg added an RBI on yet another infield single, for the fourth and final run of the inning.

Mike Mussina kept his team in the game with 5 innings of smoke and mirrors, allowing a pair of runs in the 5th on consecutive singles by Casey Blake, Franklin Gutierrez, and Jason Michaels, and a sac fly by Travis Hafner. But after walking Victor Martinez to load the bases, Mussina retired Peralta on a line out to Jeter to end the inning.

Mussina (3-3) won his second straight game to reach .500 for the season and picked up career victory number 253, tying him with Hall of Famers Carl Hubbell and Al Spalding for 42nd place on the all-time list.

Joe Girardi got a big lift from his bullpen as well. Jonathan Albaladejo put two men on with two outs in the 6th, but struck out David Dellucci to escape trouble. Kyle Farnsworth, Joba Chamberlain, and Mariano Rivera then set down the final nine Indians in order to preserve the win.

The save was Rivera's 8th this season in 8 tries and career save number 451. Remarkably, the league is just 4-36 (.111) against Rivera this season. He is yet to issue a walk and has struck out 11 in 11 innings pitched.

News and Notes

After sitting out two games, Hideki Matsui added an insurance RBI, his second of the game, with a double in the 8th inning.

The crazy AL East now has the Rays, Blue Jays, and Red Sox tied for first (the Sox are actually .004 behind) and the Yankees just 1 game back.

Alex Rodriguez DH'ed to rest his sore quad and left the game in the 8th for a pinch-hitter, Johnny Damon, presumably to rest his quad and not because of the hit by pitch he suffered in the 6th inning.

Game time temps were 46 degrees. Baseball Fever in April...catch it!

Jorge Posada saw Dr. James Andrews today, but there's no word yet on his prognosis.

April 28, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
NY Yankees	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	1	0		5	5	1
Cleveland	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0		2	8	1

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Cabrera, CF	4	1	1	0	1	1	0	.289
Jeter, SS	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	.279
Abreu, RF	4	1	1	0	0	1	2	.280
Rodriguez, DH	2	1	0	1	0	0	2	.286
a-Damon, PH-DH	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	.275
Giambi, 1B	4	0	0	1	0	0	5	.167
Matsui, LF	4	0	1	2	0	0	1	.317
Ensberg, 3B	4	0	1	1	0	1	1	.256
Cano, 2B	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	.153
Molina, C	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	.245
Totals	33	5	5	5	2	3	13
a-Walked for Rodriguez in the 8th.
BATTING 2B: Matsui (5, Lewis, J). TB: Cabrera; Jeter; Abreu; Matsui 2; Ensberg. RBI: Rodriguez (11), Giambi (11), Matsui 2 (13), Ensberg (3). 2-out RBI: Ensberg; Matsui. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Giambi; Ensberg. Team LOB: 5. FIELDING E: Jeter (2, fielding). DP: (Jeter-Cano-Giambi).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Mussina (W, 3-3)	5.0	7	2	2	1	2	0	4.73
Albaladejo (H, 1)	1.0	1	0	0	1	1	0	2.08
Farnsworth (H, 2)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	3.65
Chamberlain (H, 6)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1.59
Rivera (S, 8)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00

Cleveland	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Dellucci, LF	5	0	1	0	0	2	4	.268
Carroll, 2B	4	0	0	0	0	0	5	.219
Hafner, DH	3	0	0	1	0	2	0	.219
Martinez, C	3	0	1	0	1	0	0	.365
Peralta, SS	4	0	1	0	0	0	4	.247
Garko, 1B	4	0	0	0	0	0	2	.227
Blake, 3B	3	1	1	0	1	1	0	.224
Gutierrez, CF	4	1	2	0	0	1	1	.241
Michaels, RF	3	0	2	1	0	0	0	.200
Totals	33	2	8	2	2	6	16
BATTING TB: Dellucci; Martinez; Peralta; Blake; Gutierrez 2; Michaels 2. RBI: Michaels (8), Hafner (15). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Carroll 2; Garko; Peralta 2; Dellucci. S: Michaels. SF: Hafner. GIDP: Garko. Team LOB: 8. FIELDING E: Carroll (1, fielding).

Cleveland	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Laffey (L, 0-1)	5.2	3	4	4	1	1	0	6.35
Lewis, J	2.0	2	1	1	1	1	0	4.20
Julio	1.1	0	0	0	0	1	0	3.97

WP: Mussina.
HBP: Cano (by Laffey), Rodriguez (by Laffey).
Pitches-strikes: Mussina 92-60, Albaladejo 22-14, Farnsworth 12-8, Chamberlain 11-6, Rivera 15-10, Laffey 78-48, Lewis, J 32-21, Julio 12-9.
Ground outs-fly outs: Mussina 5-8, Albaladejo 1-1, Farnsworth 1-1, Chamberlain 1-1, Rivera 1-1, Laffey 10-6, Lewis, J 1-4, Julio 0-3.
Batters faced: Mussina 23, Albaladejo 5, Farnsworth 3, Chamberlain 3, Rivera 3, Laffey 24, Lewis, J 9, Julio 4.
Inherited runners-scored: Lewis, J 1-1, Julio 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Derryl Cousins. 1B: Angel Hernandez. 2B: James Hoye. 3B: Marty Foster.
Weather: 48 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 5 mph, In from RF.
T: 3:02.
Att: 20,689.

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