The Captain's Blog

The Yankees make their first visit to Baltimore to face the struggling Orioles, who have started the season at a disappointing 3-16. The Orioles entered the season amid a swirl of unusual optimism thanks to promising young players such as Matt Weiters, Adam Jones, Nick Markakis and Brain Matusz, but have been felled by a struggling offense and abysmal bullpen that has blown 5 saves and lost 6 games.

Coming off one of the best starts of his career, Phil Hughes hopes to add to the Orioles misery. If Hughes can establish his fastball early in the game, he should have another strong start. With the way the Yankee lineup has hit Orioles starter Kevin Millwood, Hughes should also be able to rely on plenty of run support. Despite a 0-3 record, Millwood has actually pitched well, but he can’t like some of the matchups he will encounter tonight. In total, the Yankees’ lineup has an astonishing line of .345/.406/.602 in 192 PAs. There are lusty batting averages up and down the lineup, but Randy Winn’s .611 at the bottom of the order stands out the most. With Nick Swisher taking over the DH slot from the still ailing Nick Johnson, the outfield of Winn, Granderson and Gardner represents the Yankees’ best defensive alignment.

• The Orioles are currently 0-6 at Camden Yards, their worst home losing streak to start a season since going 0-8 at Memorial Stadium in 1988.
• Arod remains one HR behind Frank Robinson on the all-time HR list, while Derek Jeter needs one 2B to pass Don Mattingly on the Yankee list.

Home Away From Home

• Derek Jeter has had 45 multi-hit games at Camden Yards, the most ever by a visiting player. He also has the most hits (140), doubles (25) and plate appearances (516).
• Alex Rodriquez has the most HRs (23) and RBIs (80) by a visiting player at Camden Yards.
• Nick Swisher has the highest OPS (1.220) by a visiting player at Camden Yards.

Javier Vazquez took another step back in his quest to right the wrongs of 2004. Vazquez saw his ERA balloon back up to 9.00 after squandering an early 3-0 lead by giving up 5 earned runs in only 3 2/3 innings. Even more than the poor results, Vazquez’ inability to find either velocity or command on his fastball is quickly becoming a major concern. In his Cy Young caliber seasons last year with the Braves, 50% of Vazquez’ pitches were fastballs, which averaged 91.3mph. In today’s game, however, Vazquez only threw 40% fastballs, by an unofficial account. Part of the reason Vazquez maybe reticent to throw the fastball in the zone, if at all, is because his velocity has been down. Coming into the game, his fastball was averaging only 88.8mph, and today 16 of his 31 fastballs were below 90mph. If Vazquez continues to struggle with his fastball, the Yankees may need to consider other options.

Javier Vazquez dejectedly walks off the mound after another poor outing (Photo: AP).

Despite earning the victory, Scott Kazmir didn’t pitch much better than Vazquez. In fact, the only difference between the two is Kazmir didn’t have Marcus Thames in left field. Thames misplay in the 4^th inning tacked on an extra run to Vazquez’ ledger, and that run could have been the difference in the game had Girardi not mismanaged the bullpen for the second game this series. With two outs in the 7^th inning, and Alfredo Aceves pitching well, Girardi inexplicably decided to go with the under worked and inconsistent Damaso Marte. Even worse, Girardi failed to walk the dangerous Kendry Morales, instead allow Marte to serve up a game wrecking 3-run blast.

• By failing to win six straight series at the start of the season, the Yankees failed to tie a franchise record set by the 1926 ball club.
• Javier Vazquez is responsible for half of the Yankees losses.
• In his last match up against Scott Kazmir, Robinson Cano hit two HRs. In his first AB in today’s game, Kazmir hit Cano. The plunking, which occurred on the second pitch, followed a brush back on the first, giving the impression that there was intent. Later in the game, Cano responded by hitting another long ball of the Angels’ lefty. In his career, Cano now has 3 HRs against Kazmir, the most by a lefty.
• In the third inning, Bobby Abreu hit his 10^th career HR off of Javier Vazquez, which is tied for the most by an active batter against an active pitcher (Manny Ramirez has 10 HRs against Jamie Moyer).
• In addition to his struggles in the field, Thames has also had trouble judging his home run swing. For the second time this season, Thames went into an early HR trot, but then had to hustle into second for a 2B when the ball failed to clear the wall.

The Yankees can make franchise history today by becoming the first team to win six consecutive series to start a season. In order to do that, they will need Javier Vazquez to build on his last outing, a victory against the Athletics that started the West Coast swing. Angels starter Scott Kazmir will also have something to say about the issue. To counter the lefty, the Yankees have gone with a right-handed dominant lineup, including Marcus Thames in left field and Francisco Cervelli behind the plate. Both Cervelli and Jorge Posada will be in the lineup together for the first time.

• Nick Swisher is hitting in the 2-slot for the second time this season. So far, he has hit in four different spots in the lineup. Last year, he hit in every spot in the order except last.
• Robinson Cano and Derek Jeter each had their 75th multi-hit game since the start of the 2009 season. The only player in the major leagues with more is Ichiro Suzuki.
• Arod remains one HR behind Frank Robinson on the all-time HR list, while Derek Jeter needs one 2B to pass Don Mattingly on the Yankee list.
• Bobby Abreu has 9 career HRs against Javier Vazquez, including three multi-HR games. The only other active hitter with more HRs against an active pitcher is Manny Ramirez, who has 10 long balls off the Phillies Jamie Moyer.

The Yankees look to snap their first losing streak of the season by sending Andy Pettitte to the mound. Pettitte, who earlier in the season pitched six shutout innings against the Angels, has had quality starts in all three of his outings. The Angels counter with Joel Pineiro, who has also pitched well in all three of his starts, including a 7 inning, 1-run victory over the Yankees.

Mired in one of the worst slumps of his career, Nick Johnson takes a seat on the bench for the first time all season. In his place, Arod gets a half-day off by occupying the DH slot. With Jorge Posada also getting another day of rest, the lineup is one of the weakest fielded by the Yankees all season. However, with Gardner and Pena inserted, speed is aplenty. Look for the Yankees to be more aggressive with their base runners in an attempt to build runs off of Pineiro.

• Yesterday’s loss by the Yankees ended a string of 17 straight victories in games when the team was tied after 7 innings. The streak is a new major league record.
• With a win, Andy Pettitte will go 3-0 for the third time in his career. He also accomplished the feat in 1996 and 2003.
• With one more double, Derek Jeter will tie Don Mattingly for third place on the Yankees all-time list.
• Alex Rodriguez’ next HR will be his 586^th, tying him with Frank Robinson for 7^th on the all-time list.
• The Yankees need a win to avoid losing their first series of the season. Should the Yankees rebound to win the last two games against the Angels, it will extend their series winning streak to 6, the longest such stretch in franchise history.
• On this date in 1917, George Mogridge became the first Yankee to pitch a no hitter. Mogridge’s milestone came against the Boston Red Sox.