Tonight's Lineup (6/17)

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

Peter Abraham reports that Billy Traber has been called up to take Chien-Ming Wang's spot on the 25-man roster. He's also added a slider to his repertoire (which in his case meant "I stink" in French).

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Yankees Club Sox Early

The Yankees put up 7 runs on the board over the first two innings and then hung on to beat Boston in their only meeting this spring, 8-4. There's always interest when these two teams meet, but it was also a chance to see what Bartolo Colon could do in his comeback from arm woes. The Yankees kept his nemesis, Alex Rodriguez, on the bench, but it didn't do Colon any good. He retired just 2 of the 8 batters he faced, and allowed 3 walks. The Yankees tacked 3 more runs on in the 2nd against Julian Tavarez.

Andy Pettitte said after the game that "he didn't feel comfortable on the mound" and it showed in his performance. He struggled in the 3rd and 4th innings, allowing 3 runs before exiting with 1 out in the 4th. His pitch that pleased the crowd most? One up and in to David Ortiz that caused the big slugger to "jumping jack" out of the way.

Heath Phillips allowed a 4th Sox run, but Jon Albaladejo, Billy Traber, Brian Bruney, and Scott Strickland shut the Sox down over the final 5 innings.

Due to a clause in his contract, Traber was added to the 40-man roster over the weekend. Andrew Brackman was placed on the 60-day DL to make room. Traber has not been scored upon this spring and has the inside track for the lefty spot in the pen.

March 17, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Boston	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0		4	8	0
NY Yankees	4	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	X		8	12	1

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, LF	4	0	0	0	0	2	0	.242
Ransom, LF	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.269
Jeter, SS	3	2	1	0	0	0	0	.233
Gonzalez, SS	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.263
Abreu, RF	2	3	2	2	1	0	0	.462
a-Lane, PH-RF	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.257
Giambi, 1B	3	1	2	0	0	1	2	.375
b-Ensberg, PH-1B	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.333
Posada, C	3	1	0	0	1	1	3	.160
Anson, C	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.333
Matsui, DH	4	1	3	3	0	0	0	.333
Cano, 2B	3	0	2	2	0	0	1	.447
Castro, B, 2B	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.231
Betemit, 3B	2	0	0	0	1	1	2	.161
Green, 3B	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.167
Cabrera, CF	3	0	0	0	0	0	2	.375
Gardner, B, CF	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.417
Totals	35	8	12	7	3	5	11
a-Popped out for Abreu in the 6th. b-Singled for Giambi in the 6th.
BATTING 2B: Matsui (2, Colon), Giambi (2, Tavarez), Abreu (2, Tavarez). HR: Abreu (2, 2nd inning off Tavarez, 1 on, 1 out). TB: Jeter; Abreu 6; Giambi 3; Ensberg; Matsui 4; Cano 2; Green. RBI: Matsui 3 (4), Cano 2 (11), Abreu 2 (6). 2-out RBI: Matsui 3; Cano 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Cabrera; Betemit. GIDP: Posada. Team LOB: 7. FIELDING E: Anson (1, throw). Outfield assists: Abreu (Corsaletti at 2nd base). Pickoffs: Pettitte (Pedroia at 1st base).

NY Yankees IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Pettitte (W, 1-0) 3.1 3 3 3 2 3 1 5.63 Phillips (H, 3) 0.2 3 1 1 0 0 0 9.00 Albaladejo (H, 2) 1.1 2 0 0 1 1 0 4.91 Traber (H, 1) 1.2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.00 Bruney (H, 2) 1.0 0 0 0 1 2 0 3.38 Strickland 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 4.50

WP: Pettitte. HBP: Jeter (by Tavarez). Ground outs-fly outs: Pettitte 4-2, Phillips 0-2, Albaladejo 3-0, Traber 3-0, Bruney 0-1, Strickland 1-0. Batters faced: Pettitte 14, Phillips 5, Albaladejo 7, Traber 5, Bruney 4, Strickland 3. Inherited runners-scored: Traber 2-0. Umpires: HP: Andy Fletcher. 1B: Eric Cooper. 2B: Mark Carlson. 3B: Adrian Johnson. Weather: 76 degrees, sunny. Wind: 1 mph, Varies. T: 2:58. Att: 11,036.

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The Daily Yankeeland

In case you missed it over the weekend, the NY Times' Tyler Kepner had a good story on Billy Traber's road back from the reconstructive surgery he had in 2003. Traber's career highlight was a complete game shutout he pitched against the Yankees in 2003. He faced just one batter over the minimum, allowing a single to John Flaherty.

And yesterday, Kepner wrote up a great feature on the heart and soul of Yankees closer Mariano Rivera.

Hideki Matsui will be re-evaluated today to determine when he can play next. Godzilla went 0-3 as the DH in yesterday's game. Though his swings weren't very good, both he and Joe Girardi were pleased with the outcome. No word on when Matsui will return to the outfield.

Morgan Ensberg continued to help his chances yesterday, going 1-2 with an RBI, run scored, and a walk. He's now batting .429 this spring. Chris Woodward's 2-3 raised his average to .529 as he battles for a utility spot.

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