The Captain's Blog

After taking it on the chin in last night’s game, the Yankees look to Andy Pettitte to halt a two game losing streak and even the score with the Rays. With a win, the Yankees would also eke out a winning home stand by finishing 4-3.

The Yankees not only hope that Pettitte will be able to quiet the Rays’ bats, but also slow down their running game. Pettitte’s legendary pick-off move could be a key weapon in a close game as the Rays will undoubtedly seek to run wild on the bases.

After a three game absence, the Yankees welcome Nick Swisher back to the lineup. Swisher had been unable to swing the bat left handed because of a right biceps injury. Although Swisher’s return is certainly a welcomed sight, it is tempered a little by the loss of Marcus Thames, who will miss tonight’s game with a sprained ankle. A makeshift lineup has become an everyday occurrence for the Yankees, so they’ll need to make the most of their opportunities against James Shields, who comes into the game not having allowed more than two earned runs in a start since April 17 in Boston.

Before the game, the Yankees also made a series of roster moves precipitated by Jorge Posada’s trip to the DL. Chad Moeller has been recalled from Scranton to serve as the back up for Francisco Cervelli. To make room for Moeller on the 40-man roster, Nick Johnson was transferred to the 60-day DL. Finally, Kevin Russo has once again been promoted, while Mark Melancon rides the shuttle back to Scranton.

Although there are no must win games in May, this one is still very important. Should the Rays gain the two game sweep, it would not only open up a sizeable five game gap in the standings, but also introduce an air of panic heading into the always frantic Subway Series. A win, however, would send the confident Rays a message and keep the Yankees within shouting distance as they wait for their walking wounded to rejoin the roster.

• With a win Andy Pettitte would start the season at 6-0 for the first time in his career. At 5-0, he matched a career best set in 1997.
• Tonight’s match up pits the leagues best home and road teams. The Yankees currently have a 13-5 record at the Stadium, while the Rays sport a 16-4 record when living out of hotels.
• The Rays 29-11 record after 40 games is the fourth best mark in major league history. Only the 1984 Tigers (35-5), 1998 Yankees (31-9) and 2001 Mariners (31-9) burst out the gate in better fashion.
• At 0-4, the Yankees are the only team in the majors without a victory in one-run games.

The Yankees were no match for the Rays tonight. In fact, the two teams didn’t even look like they belonged on the same field. Tampa not only embarrassed the Yankees, but seemed to relish doing so.

Brett Gardner makes diving catch, but Ben Zobrist tagged up and scored from second base on the catch (Photo: AP).

When Jason Bartlett led off the game with a home run, it was as if the Rays were announcing their presence in the Bronx with the authority of a dominant team. The Yankees went into the game hoping AJ Burnett would turn in another strong outing against Tampa, but instead he was soon pitching mop up duty. After yielding another run in the third without allowing a hit, Burnett imploded in the fourth inning, allowing the Rays to break open the game with four more runs.

At 6-0, the game was pretty much over at that point, but the Rays were relentless. Not only did they steal six bases, but Tampa also bunted late in the game and even scored a runner from second on a deep outfield fly. At times, it seemed as if the Yankees were just standing around watching.

If only momentarily, the Yankees did spring back to life in the sixth inning after Alex Rodriguez launched a majestic home run off the blue padding beneath the batter’s eye in center. The blast seemed to jolt Rays starters Wade Davis, who surrendered two more hits (albeit wrapped around a double play that required an extraordinary effort by Evan Longoria to initiate) before being lifted in favor of Lance Cormier. A walk and an error then loaded the bases for Derek Jeter, who entered the box as the tying run. With the count at 3-0, the crowd came alive for the first time since the early part of the game, but Jeter was eventually overpowered on a 3-1 fastball that was clocked at 90mph. As he has done all too often this season, Jeter rolled over on the pitch and grounded out to short stop.

Although he clearly did not pitch well, Burnett was able to save the bullpen by going 6 2/3 innings. However, Boone Logan and Mark Melancon were unable to provide relief. Each pitcher gave up two runs a piece in their brief outings, which allowed the Rays to extend their lead to 10-2.

Those extra runs would ultimately prove costly because the Yankees roused themselves one more time in the ninth inning. After the first two outs were recorded, Brett Gardner hit would seemed to be a harmless single to extend the ballgame. Mark Teixeira then followed with a walk and busted it down to second base on Arod’s ground ball up the middle. By beating the attempted fielder’s choice, Teixeira prolonged the game for hits by Robinson Cano and Ramiro Pena, but the comeback ended when Juan Miranda waived over a breaking ball in the dirt.

Over the past 10 games, the Yankees have been able to tread water with a severely depleted roster. However, with the Rays in town, they were facing a step up in competition. All of the warts that had only slowly started to emerge were all of a sudden completely revealed. The Yankees ability to keep winning despite their injuries was admirable, but tonight’s game was a wake up call. After Marcus Thames was forced to leave the game after stepping on his own bat while running to first, the Yankees outfield consisted of Winn, Gardner and Pena. Clearly, that’s not how Brian Cashman drew things up in the off season.

The Yankees desperately need their injured players to get better soon. If no reinforcements are on the horizon, the Yankees may soon find themselves mired in a wild card morass, and catching the Rays will become only a rumor.

The first place Rays make their first visit to Yankee Stadium and have a real opportunity to put some space between themselves and the World Champions. The Yankee team they’ll encounter, however, is a far cry from the one who took two of three in the teams’ first series down in Tampa.

Once again, the Yankee lineup includes a less than intimidating bottom of the lineup, while the bullpen is short on desireable options. In other words, the Yankees will need the good AJ to show up tonight. Otherwise, the game could get ugly fast.

Despite an offense that has struggled for most of May, the Rays continue to win ballgames behind the sterling pitching of their youthful five man staff and resurgent bullpen. The Rays come into tonight’s game with a team ERA of 2.69 (ERA+ of 159), which makes tonight’s starter Wade Davis and his 3.38 ERA one of the weaker links.

In many ways, this short two game series could go along way toward defining the first half for both teams. If the Yankees can manage to beat the Rays despite being depleted, it sends a clear message that the World Champs are not yet ready to turn over first place to the upstart Rays. However, if Tampa is able to take two games from the Yankees in the Bronx, it could set them apart in the division for the foreseeable future.

For the second game a row, the Yankees jumped out to a big lead, squandered it and then rallied off Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth. This time, however, the rally came up short and the Yankees took their turn suffering a crushing defeat.

Joba walks off mound after blowing four-run lead in the eight inning (Photo: AP).

The reason the Yankees had the lead was because C.C. Sabathia was able to persevere through a lack of early command and adverse weather conditions, while Red Sox starter Josh Beckett was not. In between kicking at the mound and scowling at Yankee batters who stepped out between pitches, Beckett served up five runs in 4 2/3 innings, albeit with the help of more shoddy infield defense.

Even Beckett’s exit from the game was eventful. After Robinson Cano’s two-run double extended the Yankee lead to 5-1, Beckett was removed with what was later called discomfort in his back. At the time, however, it sure looked like the real cause was ineffectiveness. Despite the lack of an apparent injury, Manny Delcarmen was allowed an unlimited number of warm-up pitches, which prompted Joe Girardi to play the game under protest. At the time, it looked as if the protest would be a moot point, but that was before Joba Chamberlain entered the game.

Earlier in the season, Girardi definitively named Chamberlain as his “eighth inning” guy, but the Yankees’ inconsistent righty hasn’t exactly provided a safe bridge to Mariano Rivera. Chamberlain’s biggest problem has been is inability or unwillingness to throw strikes. That tentativeness was on display to the first batter in the eighth. Despite having a 5-1 lead, Chamberlain seemed unwilling to challenge Marco Scutaro until the count reached 3-2. Scutaro wound up reaching first base on a throwing error by Arod, which only seemed to make Joba shy away even more from the strike zone. What followed next was a barrage of hits. Pedroia singled, Drew doubled and then Youkilis singled to narrow the deficit to 5-4. Then, after Youkilis moved to second base on a ground out, Girardi committed the first of his several blunders. Instead of walking the suddenly resurgent David Ortiz to pitch to the righty Adrian Beltre, Girardi seemingly instructed Chamberlain to pitch around the big lefty. Unfortunately, that’s not quite what happened. Once the count reached 3-2, Chamberlain finally picked a spot to be aggressive. The only problem was Ortiz was aggressive too, and sent a long drive that just missed going over the right centerfield wall. Luckily for the Yankees, the ball bounced right to Brett Gardner and Big Papi spent too much time admiring his blast, a confluence of events that resulted in Ortiz being thrown out at second base.

The Yankees had a chance to untie the game in the bottom of the 8th, but Daniel Bard induced a harmless fly from Mark Teixeira with two outs and runners on first and second. So, with the game knotted at 5-5, it was time to enter Sandman. After Darnell McDonald lined a one-out single off Rivera, Scutaro then lofted a harmless pop up to right field. Harmless, that is, for a normal right fielder. The Yankees, however, had Marcus Thames playing the position. Even though Nick Swisher announced himself ready to play before the game, Girardi still saw fit to leave the defensively challenged DH in the game. So, when Thames dropped the Scutaro pop, it was hard to blame him as much as the manager who left him in a situation to fail. That error would eventually come home to roost when Jeremy Hermida lined a double over the head of Randy Winn, who was playing so shallow that it seemed as if he thought the Green Monster was standing behind him. Continue Reading »