On the Yankees beat

Here are some deets on Hughes's injury. Also, not to scare you all with another potential injury, but Johnny Damon had a huge wrap around his upper left leg after the game. I asked him what was wrong, and he said he tweaked his left groin during the day game in Cleveland. I asked if he's OK, and he said: "I've got to be. We've got too many guys out."

Anyway, back to Hughes, who was placed on the disabled list with a right obliqueu muscle strain. He said he first felt something when he woke up after his start in Chicago. But he didn't mention it to anybody because he didn't think it was that serious. He felt something during the fourth inning Tuesday night, though, and told a trainer when he exited the game that inning.

In explaining why he waited to say anything, Hughes said: "I honestly didn't think it was a factor at all in anything I did."

By today, though, he felt much worse. He was examined before the game and found to have a right oblique muscle strain. He will be shut down for a few days, until he feels nothing at all. Brian Cashman said he expects Hughes to miss more than the minimum 15 days, as he will have to get built up to start a game and also do a minor league rehab assignment.
Cashman said this isn't a good reason for time off, but that Hughes, who is 0-4 with a 9.00 ERA in six starts, could probably use a break. Said Cashman: “He probably needs a timeout, regardless, and he’s going to get it.”
Cashman said that right-hander Darrell Rasner will take Hughes’s rotation start. Rasner is 4-0 with a 0.87 ERA in five starts at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
“Who’s throwing the best down there is Darrell Rasner,” Cashman said, “and that’s the guy we’re going to tap.”

The Yankees just announced that they have placed Phil Hughes on the 15-day disabled list with a right oblique muscle strain. More info on this later, but so much for the question of whether he's staying in the rotation or not.

It's the end of April -- will the Yankees finish the month with a winning or losing record. Andy Pettitte's a pretty good guy to have going to the mound for you if you need a win.

Here's the lineup:

Tigers
Rodriguez C
Polanco 2B
Sheffield DH
Ordonez RF
Cabrera 1B
Guillen 3B
Renteria SS
Thames LF
Inge CF

Bonderman RHP

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

Pettitte LHP

Here are a whole bunch of pre-game roster moves:

Catcher Chad Moeller cleared waivers and the Yankees signed him to a major league contract. The Yankees are very happy about this, and he's happy to be back. He's on the roster

Catcher Chad Stewart, called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Monday, was optioned back to Triple-A.

Alex Rodriguez was officially placed on the disabled list for the first time since 2000.

To clear room on the 40-man roster for Moeller, Sean Henn was activated from the disabled list and then designated from assignment.

Chris Britton was re-called from Scranton to take Rodriguez's slot.

In other news:

*Brian Bruney has decided not to undergo surgery for now on his torn Lisfranc ligament. He said there was not unanimous consensus among the three doctors, and one said he did not think surgery would be a good move at all at this point. So he's going to try to rehab it using the boot. Given the timeframe of recovery, he would almost certainly miss the rest of the season if he had surgery. If he rehabs for six weeks and discovers he needs surgery, he could still have it and be back in time for spring training. So there's not much downside to doing it this way.

*Rodriguez said he thinks he made his injury worse, going from a Grade 1 strain to a Grade 2 strain (right quad), by playing too soon. But there's no way to know for sure. He never had an MRI the first time, because he went back to Florida first as his wife went into labor.
While he said he went back too soon, he put that on him, not the team: "I wanted to play. I begged to get in there. The team had nothing to do with it. I had every opportunity to sit down."
Rodriguez said he had a similar injury, though the pain was worse, in high school. He's hoping to miss just the two weeks. If he needs a rehab assignment in the minors, he said that's fine. Whatever the team wants.

*No updates on Posada.

*No further news on whether or not Phil Hughes is remaining in the rotation.

So Alex Rodriguez is on the DL now. I've seen a few people criticizing the Yankees for re-signing Rodriguez and Jorge Posada, in light of them both being on the disabled list. Saying things like Posada's getting old, etc. That's fine if you've thought that for a while. But we should remember that both Rodriguez and Posada have both been remarkably healthy for the last few years. Posada had never been on the disabled list in his career. Rodriguez had not been on the DL since before he signed his last contract in 2000. He spent half of July 2000 on the DL with a strained right knee.

Phil Hughes continues to struggle, and could wind up out of the rotation for a time. There's plenty on that in the paper: http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/yankees/ny-spyanks305668496apr30,0,3623021.story

Here's something on Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera. I was I was going to do something on this for the paper the past couple days, but with the Posada and Rodriguez injuries, I didn’t get a chance. So here’s a little more on the different starts by Cano and Cabrera.
Cano, as you’ve probably noticed, is mired in a terrible slump, last night's homer not withstanding. He seemingly can’t buy a big hit.
Melky, on the other hand, is tied for the team lead in home runs. He’s been on base in all but two games this season. Sunday, his homer off C.C. Sabathia was the difference in a 1-0 victory. Monday, he had the first hit of the game and started an inning in which the Yankees scored four runs in a 5-2 win.

Here’s a little perspective from Alex Rodriguez, who has kind of taken both players under his wing. Probably Melky in particular, as he’s worked out regularly with Alex this year and last.
Rodriguez on Cabrera: “He’s in a zone right now. He’s in just phenomenal shape. I think that’s a big thing. His body’s transformed.”
Rodriguez on Cano: “As far as Robby, he’s a great hitter. If I had to bet, I’d bet he’d be around .300 when it’s all said and done.”

The C-squared duo, while inseparable, are pretty different. Melky’s quiet and shy. Cano’s boisterous and outgoing. On Sunday, after Cabrera hit the game-winning homer, Cano translated for him, as Cano’s uncomfortable speaking in English to a crowd.

Cabrera: “I’m batting better, working every day with Kevin Long, trying to be consistent."
The home runs, he says, are a surprise.

Cano shot down those with the theory that either his new contract or the loss of third base coach/mentor Larry Bowa is causing his struggles. Yes, he likes Bowa and thinks Bowa helped him, but he has struggled at times when Bowas was here. And as for the contract, he scoffed at that idea.
Long is trying to make sure he doesn't get too down on himself. Cano said he's not, because:

"If I get frustrated now, I'm never going to come out of (the slump)."

More later on Newsday.com

The Yankees had a press conference today to announce they are hosting the All-Star Game.

Not kidding. There was no news there.

But it did focus our attention on the cost of tickets for the game and how to get them.

Click here to read more about this.

Just talked to Brian Cashman. He told us A-Rod left the stadium to get an MRI on his strained quad. He's going to be out two days at least.

Those cheery early reports on Posada today might have been a little premature. He's going to see Dr. David Altchek on Thursday for a second opinon after seeing Dr. James Andrews Monday.

Is surgery still an option? Cashman and Posada aren't saying. This one is going to drag on for a few days, I think, before we get the real answers.

Yankees

Damon cf
Jeter ss
Abreu rf
Matsui lf
Giambi dh
Duncan 1b
Ensberg 3b
Cano 2b
Stewart c
Hughes p

The Yankees finally return home today to face the Tigers, with Phil Hughes on the mound. Here are some thoughts on the just-completed road trip.

Joe Girardi stressed that he is not satisfied with the team’s 14-13 record. He believes they can play better, and if they played better, they would have a better record. Plus, he said you can never be satisfied – except perhaps if you win the World Series, for a little while. But he also admitted that things could be a lot worse. A LOT worse, given the things the Yankees have faced this month.
Last year, the Yankees may have had to deal with more injuries early in the season. But a lot of those injuries were to the fifth starter, long man or the guy picked to fill in for the fifth starter. There were some minor things with Hideki Matsui and Johnny Damon, and Chien-Ming Wang missed his Opening Day start. But the Yankees had plenty of people to play the outfield. I’m definitely not saying last year’s injuries did not hurt them.
This year’s injuries may not be as big in the quantity of players affected, but the quality of those players is huge. Alex Rodriguez – the defending American League MVP. Jorge Posada – an All-Star at a very tough to replace position. Derek Jeter – the captain and another All-Star. Joba Chamberlain gone to spend time with his hospitalized father. Jose Molina – if Posada’s out, then it’s tough to lose his backup.
I think that even without the injuries, a realistic person in the organization would have been happy to be a game over .500 (particularly since they’re only one game out in the division) at this stage, given the schedule. No other team has ever played 18 road games in April. The last time a team played 18 out of 20 games on the road in any stretch was the Orioles in the mid-1990s. That’s a grueling stretch.
Then add in the injuries. Plus the young pitchers have not fared as well as the Yankees hoped – neither Phil Hughes nor Ian Kennedy has a win yet. And the offense has yet to take off.
Several of those things – the young pitchers’ struggles, the offensive sluggishness and the injuries – are cause for concern. But at this point, I believe the Yankees should be ecstatic to be 14-13.

Alex Rodriguez re-aggravated his right quad during the game. He expects to miss a couple of games, at least.

Joe Girardi said there was a good chance that Rodriguez would sit at least a game, but Rodriguez's words were stronger. He said: "There's no way I can play (Tuesday)."
Rodriguez said he first felt something when he came out of the box on his ground ball to second in the fourth inning. In the sixth inning, it got worse, and he now thinks he needs at least a couple days off. Rodriguez admitted he probably came back from the quad strain he suffered April 20th too early, saying: "I just want to be out there so bad."

Pregame chatter

Yankees (13-13) at Cleveland Indians (12-13), 7:05 p.m.

Starters: Mike Mussina (2-3, 4.94) for the Yankees and Aaron Laffey (0-0, 0.00) for the Indians.

Last starts: Mussina goes for back-to-back wins. He gave up two runs and four hits in seven innings against the Chicago White Sox last Wednesday. Laffey fills in for Jake Westbrook, who is on the DL. Laffey has never faced the Yankees. He was 4-2 with a 4.56 ERA in nine starts for Cleveland a year ago.

Good times, bad times: The good - Chien-Ming Wang pitched sensationally on Sunday, allowing no runs, just four hits and nine strikeouts to pick up the win. The only run the Yankees needed was on a solo home run by Melky Cabrera, his team-leading fifth of the young season. Cabrera hit just eight all of last season. The bad - Jorge Posada is headed to the DL for the first time in his career with a shoulder injury. He will meet with noted orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews, who repaired his torn labrum in 2001.

Jorge Posada left today to go to Birmingham, Ala., and be examined by Dr. James Andrews. No report yet on his shoulder, but Andrews is renowned in his field, so Posada is in good care. Interesting notes:
1) the last time the Yankees played a game without Posada on the active roster was Sept. 1, 1996.
2) Until today, Posada was one of six players with at least 10 years big league experience who had never been on the DL. The others are Johnny Damon, Livan Hernandez, Brad Ausmus, Andruw Jones and Derek Lowe.

Chris Stewart joined the team today. He will be the backup catcher.

Lineup for finale of road trip (yay from all the Yankees)
Yankees
Cabrera CF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez DH
Giambi 1B
Matsui LF
Ensberg 3B
Cano 2B
Molina C

Mussina P

Indians
Dellucci LF
Carroll 2B
Hafner DH
Martinez C
Peralta SS
Garko 1B
Blake 3B
Gutierrez CF
Michaels RF

Laffey LHP

This was somewhat lost in the news of Jorge Posada's injury yesterday, as well as Chien-Ming Wang's seven shutout innings, and Melky Cabrera's homer off C.C. Sabathia.

But Mariano Rivera notched the 450th save of his career yesterday. Only two pitchers have saved more: Trevor Hoffman with 528 and Lee Smith with 478. If Rivera continues on this pace, he'll pass Smith later this year. Hard to say with Hoffman, since we don't know how much longer he'll close/pitch.
In his career Rivera is 62-44 with a 2.33 ERA in 796 games. He has 867 strikeouts and 238 walks in 963 innings. He has allowed only 49 home runs.
Hoffman is 53-62 with a 2.77 ERA in 890 games. He's struck out 1017 and walked 267 in 951 1/3 innings. He has allowed 84 home runs.
Smith was 71-92 in his career wtih a 3.03 ERA in 1022 games. He struck out 1251 and walked 486 in 1289 1/3 innings. He allowed 89 home runs.

Anyway that's a quick comparison of the tops in saves all-time. Congratulations to Mariano.

We don't know yet how long the Yankees will be without Jorge Posada. It could be a relatively minor thing that a couple weeks of solid rest will cure, or it could be something requiring surgery, which would obviously keep him out significantly longer.

I think one could make a strong case that Posada is the most indispensable Yankee. Top catchers are hard to find, and Posada is one of the best. The trade for Jose Molina last summer and the re-signing of Molina helps, as he was likely the best backup catcher in the bigs, and is a fully adequate regular. But he's not Posada, particularly on offense. And the leadership Posada brings to the team is substantial. The Yankees are going to miss him -- a lot.

What are your thoughts? Which Yankee would be the toughest to lose for an extended period? I'm not just considering that player's contributions but also how big the dropoff would be to a replacement.

Here's a little more on Posada. A couple of comments from Brian Cashman, who said Chris Stewart will likely be here tomorrow.

Posada signed a four-year, $52.4-million contract this winter. He batted .338 with 20 home runs, 90 RBIs and 91 runs scored last season. He has played in at least 137 games each of the past eight seasons. Given the position he plays and the level he plays it at, losing Posada for an extended period could be quite a blow to the Yankees.
“They’re all tough,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said by phone of injuries. “He’s one of the important ones, that’s for sure. He’s one of the best at that position of his generation, and obviously extremely tough to replace that. He’s at a position that’s extremely tough to replace anyway. We’ll just have to do the best we can.”

Jorge Posada is headed to the disabled list. Joe Girardi called it a "distinct possibility," but Posada left no room for interpretation: "I'm going on the DL."
Posada called it: "the biggest disappointment, probably, of my career, going on the DL."
He said he was apologizing to the Yankees, who signed him to a four-year, $52.4-million contract after the season.
Earlier in the month, Posada was diagnosed with a right shoulder strain as he had lost arm strength. He got back behind the plate April 22nd, and everything seemed to be going well until today, when he was scratched from the lineup about the time of first pitch. He's regressed. His shoulder hurts. He lost arm strength again. And now, Posada said, he wants to see Dr. James Andrews.
Bad news for the Yankees.
They designated Chad Moeller for assignment on Friday so chances are good that they will not be able to get him back.

Late lineup change for the Yankees. Jorge Posada has been scratched. No word on why. He seemed to be getting ready for the game in his normal routine as of 10 til noon.

new Yankees' lineup:

Damon LF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Duncan 1B
Ensberg DH
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF
Molina C

Good afternoon Yankees fans.

We'll bring back the new blog technology from Friday night for today's game at Jacobs Field (whoops, I mean Progessive Field).

Please check the live blog box below once the game gets going. You are free to send in some comments during the game. It's an interactive blog so you play a role.

We'll also have some polls going throughout the game. Enjoy.

Pregame chatter

Yankees (12-13) at Cleveland Indians (12-12), 1:05 p.m.

Starters: Chien-Ming Wang (4-0, 3.94) for the Yankees and C.C. Sabathia (1-3, 10.13) for Cleveland.

Aces rule: Sabathia has been horrible this season. He's allowed 27 runs in 18 innings. But the AL's reigning Cy Young Award winner beat Kansas City on Tuesday, giving up four hits over six scoreless innings. Sabathia is just 1-7 with a 7.13 ERA in eight career starts against the Yankees. Wang beat the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday, allowing three runs and 10 hits in six innings. Wang lost twice to the Indians in last season's ALDS.

Here's the lineup and pre-game notes, as the Yankees are set to face the Indians and lefty C.C. Sabathia. He is one of four left-handers on the Yankees' schedule in a six-game span. With that slate, Hideki Matsui and Jason Giambi both have the day off today.

Joba Chamberlain is available after his right hamstring tweak Thursday. He said everything's fine.
Ian Kennedy remains in the rotation.
Grady Sizemore is not in the Indians' lineup, which endangers his longest active consecutive games played streak (382). He hurt his ankle in the ninth inning yesterday, and the Indians called up Brad Snyder.

Here's the lineup:

Yankees
Damon LF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Posada C
Duncan 1B
Ensberg DH
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF

Wang P

Indians
Dellucci LF
Cabrera 2B
Hafner DH
Martinez C
Garko 1B
Peralta SS
Blake 3B
Gutierrez CF
Michaels RF

Sabathia LHP

Bottom of 9th: This one is over folks! Victor Martinez ripped a game-winning single to left to give the Indians a 4-3 victory. Ross Ohlendorf relieved Farnsie and was not sharp. He struck out Blake then served up back-to-back singles to Sizemore and Dellucci. After throwing a wild pitch, which moved both runners into scoring position, Ohlendorf intentionally walked Hafner to get the force at any plate, but couldn’t retire the talented Martinez. FINAL: Indians 4, Yanks 3.

Top of 9th: The Yanks missed yet another chance to score as the Captain grounded into an inning-ending double play with runners on first and third. Damon singled to center (his fourth hit) and took third on a base hit by Cabrera.

Here's the lineup, and pre-game news.

The Yankees brought Shelley Duncan back. The corresponding move was to option lefty Billy Traber to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. I was wondering about that after last night. Traber's had trouble getting lefties out, which as a left-handed reliever, is a problem. They're hitting .375 (6-of-16) against him, and he's walked four and hit two. Joe Girardi said: "We're going to call him in to get lefties out. He needs to be a little better at it. Just a little better control with the breaking ball."

Interesting lineup, with Cano, Posada, Abreu and Matsui all getting the day off as the Yankees face a lefty. Cano could get two days off, it sounded like, from reading between the lines on Girardi's talk.

Here's the lineup:

Yankees
Damon LF
Cabrera CF
Jeter SS
Rodriguez DH
Giambi 1B
Duncan RF
Ensberg 3B
Molina C
Gonzalez 2B

Kennedy P

Indians
Sizemore CF
Dellucci LF
Hafner DH
Martinez C
Garko 1B
Peralta SS
Cabrera 2B
Gutierrez RF
Blake 3B

Sowers LHP

C-Squared -- Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera -- are off to extremely different starts to the season.
Cano, the one who contended for the batting title the year before last, is batting only .156. He's got four extra-base hits in 90 at-bats, five RBIs, five runs scored, an on-base percentage of .216 and a slugging percentage of .222. Ouch.
Cabrera, meanwhile, has had an excellent April. He's hitting .296, with four home runs (as many as Alex Rodriguez and Hideki Matsui, and one off the team lead of Jason Giambi). He's knocked in 10 runs, scored 13, has an on-base percentage of .366 and a slugging percentage of .493. Cabrera has been on base in 20 out of 22 games (with last night's game being one of the exceptions).

Good evening Yankees fans.

We're going to try some new live blogging technology tonight. Below will be a live blog from the game. It will update automatically in most browsers. Your comments will also be seen as soon as you post them.

We'll also try a poll or two during the game.

Pregame chatter

Yankees (12-11) at Cleveland Indians (10-12), 7:05 p.m.

Starters: Andy Pettitte (3-1, 2.45) for the Yankees and Paul Byrd (0-2, 4.43) for the Indians.

Midges II? The Yankees return to Cleveland for the first time since Game 2 of last year's ALDS when a swarm of midges disrupted playoff dreams - and Joba's pitching. No midges in the forecast tonight since they haven't hatched yet. Read this story for more.

Strange, but true: Tonight's starting pitchers - Pettitte and Byrd - will match two players linked to HGH use.

Be back later. Please check below for the live blog once the game gets going.

Brian Bruney was diagnosed with a torn Lisfranc ligament in his right foot. It doesn't happen much in baseball, though John Olerud tore his ligament several years ago. The Giants' Michael Strahan also had it.
Doctors have recommended that Bruney undergo surgery. He's not here, but if he does in fact undergo surgery as expected, he will likely be out until late in the season if he does return this year at all.

The Yankees recalled both Chris Britton and Jonathan Albaladejo. Bruney was placed on the disabled list, and catcher Chad Moeller was designated for assignment. Moeller does not have options remaining, so he must clear waivers to remain in the Yankees' system. He said he would accept the assignment to Triple-A if he clears waivers.

Alex Rodriguez is back in the lineup at third base. He tested his leg (strained right quad) and reported no problems.

Well, Andy Pettitte pitched awfully well the last time the Yankees were in Cleveland. They didn't win that game -- the memorable "bug game"/Game 2 ALDS loss. But it wasn't through any fault of his.
Hopefully the Yankees are more awake than I am after their late night/early morning flight. Otherwise, Pettitte won't stand much chance.

Postgame updates:

Joba said he wasn't tired in the ninth, that he just left a couple pitches up.
Joe Girardi said there will likely be move(s) before Friday's game. I'd have to guess Brian Bruney is going on the DL, given that he could barely walk today. He's seeing a foot specialist in New York Friday.
Phil Hughes was disappointed not to be able to continue pitching, given that that was the best he'd felt in a while on the mound.
Kyle Farnsworth had been going to come out to pitch the eighth, but he felt something in his right elbow on his final pitch. He slipped on that pitch and said the extra pressure that put on his arm likely caused the pain. He expects to be able to pitch again soon, perhaps as early as Friday night.

Pregame news includes Alex Rodriguez rejoining the team following the birth of his daughter. He hasn't run since straining his right quad, but is confident of avoiding the DL and hopes to play soon.
Brian Bruney is wearing a boot on his right foot, and has a mid-foot sprain that occurred as he went to cover first base two nights ago. Judging from the sound of things, it may wind up putting him on the DL. He underwent an MRI and that has yet to be read by the New York doctors. He'll also see a specialist in New York tomorrow.

Lineup

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

Hughes RHP

White Sox
Swisher CF
Cabrera SS
Thome DH
Konerko 1B
Dye RF
Pierzynski C
Quentin LF
Crede 3B
Ramirez 2B

Floyd RHP

Bottom of Ninth: Guess Joba is human after all. First Pierzynski hit a long fly ball to center. Quentin then doubled off the leftfield wall. Joba got ahead in the count to Crede, but then got a pitch up and Crede lined it to left-center for a walk-off single at 12:41 a.m. White Sox 7, Yankees 6. Thank you for joining us and drive home safely.

Top of Ninth: Ozzie Guillen wins this chess match with Joe Girardi. After the Yankees put two men on with one out off Logan, Guillen brought in closer Bobby Jenks. Girardi countered by pinch hitting Jorge Posada for Ensberg, whose single tied the game two innings earlier. Posada grounded Jenks' 2-and-1 pitch to second and the White Sox turned a DP.

Bottom of Eighth: Joba didn't seem very comfortable with the muddy mound, but that didn't prevent him from getting the White Sox in order, including strikeouts of Konerko and Uribe. With Mariano going 1 2/3 innings on Wednesday night, Joba may be in for some extended duty tonight. It's 12:18 in the morning; thanks for hanging in there with us.

Top of Eighth: Boone Logan needed only seven pitches to retire the Yankees. Joba is coming in to pitch the bottom of the eighth.

Bottom of Seventh: Farnsworth kept the game tied with help from Jose Molina, who threw out Nick Swisher trying to steal second on a botched hit-and-run play. Farnsworth struck out Orlando Cabrera to end the inning but slipped after making his final pitch and appeared to injure himself slightly.

Top of Seventh: We told you the White Sox bullpen was putrid. After lefty Matt Thornton retired Damon and Jeter, Abreu singled and Matsui walked. Scott Linebrink, whom the White Sox overpaid with a four-year, $19-million free-agent deal, came in and gave up a game-tying single to Ensberg. According to YES' stat people, it was the 11th two-out hit of the series for the Yankees. Linebrink walked Cano to load the bases but somehow got out of the inning when Crede made a nice grab in foul territory of Giambi's popup. It's 6-6 with Farnsworth coming in to pitch.

Bottom of Sixth: Jekyll and Hawkins is at it again. Just when you think he can't be depended on, he comes through with a 1-2-3 inning like this one.

Top of Sixth: The Melk Man delivers again! Cabrera is now tied with A-Rod for the team lead in HRs with four after his two-run shot into the rightfield seats cut Chicago's lead to 6-5. You've got to like the Yankees' chances trailing by only one with three innings to go against the White Sox bullpen.

Bottom of Fifth: Baseball is a game of numbers. With No. 21, Paul O'Neill, analyzing from the YES TV booth, LaTroy Hawkins, now No. 22, was taken deep by Jim Thome for career HR No. 513. Hawkins' ERA is hovering in the 11-plus range. Giving up one run in one inning actually lowered it.

Top of Fifth: Floyd worked around a leadoff walk to Damon. He's pitching better now than he did before the rain delay.

Bottom of Fourth: Awful inning for Ohlendorf, who got hammered for five hits and five runs. He didn't get much help from Ensberg at third. A-Rod's fill-in ole'd one hot shot and made a bad throw home to allow Dye to score the go-ahead. With the bullpen shorthanded because of Brian Bruney's foot injury, it will be interesting to see how Girardi patches things together the last five innings. The Yankees are going to have win this one with their bats. Remember, Floyd can't be expected to go too much longer and the White Sox bullpen is nothing to write home about either. White Sox 5, Yankees 3

Top of Fourth: Floyd came out to pitch despite the long rain delay. He had more problems with the condition of the mound than the Yankees hitters. He gave up a two-out single to Cabrera and that was it. Cano's average is down to a mystifying .161 after striking out to lead off the inning. He looks like he could use another day off.

Bottom of Third: The Yankees made the right move by not bringing back Hughes after the 51-minute rain delay. He's too valuable a property to risk an arm injury. Ross Ohlendorf came in and retired the White Sox in order to preserve the Yankees' 3-0 lead.

Top of Third: If the White Sox are smart, they'll make a strong pitch for Bobby Abreu when he becomes a free agent after the season. He loves hitting at The Cell. His two-run double, which was inches from being a HR, followed Jeter's sac fly and gave the Yankees a 3-0 lead. Giambi made a great slide to score on Jeter's medium-deep line drive. lThe Yankees' main goal at this point is getting five innings in with a lead. It's pouring again and the tarp is going on the field. Just Hughes' luck. He's pitching well, but if it's a long rain delay, his night could be over.

Bottom of Second: These teams are playing like they want to get five innings in before the rain comes. They're up there hacking. Hughes allowed a leadoff single by Konerko but quickly retired Dye on a liner to center and Pierzynski on a DP started by Cano.

Top of Second: Yanks go quietly against Floyd, and it's starting to rain again.

Bottom of First: Hughes saved Giambi an error when he scooped up a low throw on Swisher's grounder to first. Most impressive part of the inning was Hughes blowing a full-count fastball by Thome for the third out.

Top of First: The game started after a 34-minute rain delay, which didn't seem to bother Floyd. The Yankees couldn't get the ball out of the inning in their first look at Floyd.

Weather report: It's raining in Chicago. The game is unlikely to start till at least 9 o'clock. Stay tuned for updates.

Pitching Preview: Two young pitchers going in opposite directions face each other as the Yankees go for their first sweep at U.S. Cellular Field since May 2002. Phil Hughes (0-3, 8.82 ERA) showed improvement in his last start on Friday in Baltimore, at least in the first five innings. He held the Orioles to one run before allowing four more in the sixth inning of the Orioles' 8-2 win. Hughes hasn't gone six innings since April 3 against the Blue Jays in his first start of the season. Hughes has never faced the White Sox.
White Sox righty Gavin Floyd, who's a grizzled 25-year-old veteran compared to the 21-year-old Hughes, has been solid in his first three starts. Floyd is 2-0, 1.40, allowing only three earned runs in 19 1/3 innings. This is Floyd's first start against the Yankees.

Joba Chamberlain may be getting the most headlines right now, but Mariano Rivera has been utterly dominant. In nine innings pitched, Rivera has allowed exactly four base runners. He's given up four hits and walked nobody, while striking out eight. He also has yet to allow a run.

Chamberlain has been excellent as well (one earned run on six hits and three walks in eight innings), but it's the combo that is truly impressive.

The Yankees head to Cleveland this weekend.

Will the midges be there?

Here's the bug forecast from a Cleveland meteorologist.

So this is humorous: Ozzie Guillen is what one might describe as a "big fan" of Derek Jeter. I wasn't on the White Sox side during Guillen's pre-game yesterday to hear this, but here's one account from the Chicago Tribune:
http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/cs-080423-downey-white-sox-yankees-derek-jeter,1,4494418.column

"I keep saying the best [Yankees] player who ever happened—bigger than someone else, but I'm not going to say the name here—is Derek Jeter," Guillen began, perched in the Sox dugout.

He merely was warming up.

"Derek Jeter has everything in his life. He's got money. He's got rings. He's got …"

Guillen paused, because timing means everything in comedy.

"He's not married."

Wait for the laugh.

"At the All-Star Game (where Guillen managed him in 2006), I looked around to see if he has anything I don't like. No. He's the perfect man. Too bad I don't have a daughter."

So, in other words, Ozzie, you like this Jeter guy, is that what you're trying to say here?

"He's the best thing ever in the game. He's got everything he wants. He lives in New York. Even [ George] Steinbrenner loves him. Nobody is better than Derek Jeter in the game. Nobody."

I'd say that's high praise, trying to marry your non-existent daughter off to someone.

So in the seventh inning tonight, after Mike Mussina gave up a solo home run to Carlos Quentin, Joe Girardi went out to the mound to check on Mussina. Initially it appeared that Girardi was calling for a reliever to come in.

So here's what happened. Mussina and Jorge Posada were talking about how to approach Joe Crede just before Girardi came out. Then Girardi came out and wanted to see what was going on, asking Posada what Mussina had. Posada meant to say: "Nothing's wrong." But what came out was: "He's got nothing." So Girardi quickly motioned towards the bullpen, but Posada backtracked and told him what he really meant to say. A little bit humorous.

Nice win for Mussina. Nice offensive efforts by Johnny Damon and Jorge Posada. Nice five-out save by Mariano Rivera.

Alex Rodriguez will rejoin the team tomorrow following the birth of his daughter, Ella Alexander. He probably won't play for a couple days though due to his right quad strain.

Not quite as much news today as yesterday. Shockingly, the Yankees have the same lineup for the second day:

Yankees
Damon LF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Matsui DH
Posasa C
Cano 2B
Giambi 1B
Ensberg 3B
Cabrera CF

Mussina P

White Sox
Swisher CF
Cabrera SS
Thome DH
Konerko 1B
Dye RF
Pierzynski C
Quentin LF
Crede 3B
Uribe 2B

Vazquez P

As you can see from the lineup, Jorge Posada came through catching yesterday with no problems. He said he wasn't too surprised nobody tried to steal on him, as that's not really the White Sox's style of game.
Jason Giambi is also OK after taking a ball off his hand on a play last night.
Alex Rodriguez is expected to rejoin the team tomorrow, but Joe Girardi said he would be "shocked" if Rodriguez plays tomorrow.
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