On the Yankees beat

Good evening everyone. Marc here as the Yankees open up a three-game series against the Texas Rangers. Mike Mussina (10-5, 3.93 ERA) will be going for the Yankees (44-38) as they look to shake off Sunday’s 3-1 loss to the Mets. In his last official outing, Mussina gave up four runs on 10 hits in eight innings in a 4-2 loss against the Reds on June 20. Last Thursday, the 39-year-old right-hander threw 46 pitches at Pittsburgh before the game was postponed. Scott Feldman (1-3, 4.60) will be on the hill for the Rangers (42-41) and is looking for his first career road win.

Stat of the Day: Mussina, who has not lost to Texas since May 18, 2003, is 6-0 with a 2.72 ERA in his last nine starts against the Rangers.

Top 1st: Mussina worked in and out trouble this inning. After giving up a single to Michael Young (though replays showed that Jeter threw him out), he walked Josh Hamilton before retiring the next three batters.

Bottom 1st: Newly arrived Brett Gardner grounded out in his first major league at-bat. As did Jeter. Abreu followed with a walk and was thrown out at second with A-Rod at the plate.

Top 2nd: 1-2-3 inning for Mussina, who fanned Davis and Saltalamacchia.

Bottom 2nd: The Yankees wasted walks by A-Rod (who also stole second) and Giambi as Posada, Cano and Melky were set down in order.

Top 3rd: Moose surrendered a run after giving up a double to Kinsler and an RBI single to Hamilton. Rangers 1, Yankees 0.

Bottom 3rd: Nothing for the Yankees this inning as Molina and Gardner struck out before Jeter grounded out.

Top 4th: Mussina issued another run this inning. After walking Murphy, who moved to second on a Byrd’s ground out, Moose gave up a run-scoring double to Davis. Rangers 2, Yankees 0.

Bottom 4th: A-Rod crushed a long homer. It was his 16th homer and 534th of his career, tying him with Jimmie Foxx for 14th place on the all-time home run list. Two batters later, Possada doubled to center, but he was stranded at second as Cano grounded out to end the inning. Rangers 2, Yankees 1.

Top 5th: Moose gave up a double to Young, but nothing else as he fanned Bradley for the third time this game. Bradley, not surprisingly, had words with the ump before walking away.

Bottom 5th: Gardner showed his speed this inning. He reached on a fielder’s choice and stole second on a pitch out. But the Yankees didn’t score as Jeter grounded out to end the inning.

Top 6th: Another 1-2-3 inning for Mussina, who is over 100 pitches.

Bottom 6th: Giambi missed a homer by a few feet as he ripped a two-out triple off the wall -- his first of the year -- to send Feldman to the showers. Frank Francisco came on and struck out Posada. Feldman’s line: 1 run, 4 hits, 3 strike outs, 3 walks in 5 2/3 innings. He is in line for his first road victory.

Top 7th: Edwar Ramirez replaced Mussina (2 runs, 5 hits, 8 strikeouts, two walks in 6 innings) and didn’t allow a run. Molina threw out Saltalamacchia, who singled, at second. He has thrown out 19 out of 44 base runners.

Bottom 7th: The Yankees, who have just four hits, can’t seem to get anything going. They go away quietly as Cano, Melky and Molina are set down in order.

Top 8th: Veras gave the Yankees a big lift as he got out of trouble. Veras issued a leadoff double to Young, who missed a homer by a foot, then hit Molina with a pitch on an apparent cross-up as Young took third. But Veras got Hamilton to line, fanned Bradley (who struck out for the fourth time) and got Byrd to line out.

Bottom 8th: Once again, the Yankees go down in order. This time it’s Damon, who hit for Gardner, Jeter and Abreu. By the way, Texas reliever Eddie Guardado injured himself during warm-ups at the start of the inning. He left with what appeared to be tightness in his shoulder. Jamey Wright replaced Guardado.

Top 9th: Dan Giese came on and issued a two-out walk to Vazquez before getting Kinsler to ground out. Last licks for the Yankees coming up as A-Rod, Giambi and Posada are due up.

Bottom 9th: Yanks go down in order. Rangers win. Final: Rangers 2, Yankees 1.

No sooner had Brett Gardner made it off Route 80 East from Scranton than he was in the starting lineup, batting first. Joe Girardi said that when a player is called up, he might as well play. The manager said there is no sense keeping him around for a couple days, thinking about it, getting nervous.

Gardner had been in the Stadium once before, when he played in the minors for Staten Island. He and some teammates took a tour of the park while the Yankees were out of town. But he did make a point to check out leftfield, study the way the ball caroms off the fence and just "see how big it is" before the game.

Girardi likes the plate discipline and basepath aggressiveness Gardner showed in Triple A. Then again, as the young outfielder from Holly Hill, S. C. said, "I've got to get on base first."

--Mark Herrmann at Yankee Stadium

This next nine-game stretch will give the Yankees a stiff test. They have the AL's best offensive team coming in in the Rangers, then their big rival the Red Sox, and the AL East first-place Rays. The Yankees could either make up some significant ground in the standings or make things more difficult for themselves.
Joe Girardi said yesterday that he doesn't like looking up in the standings. The Yankees could do something about that in the next 10 days (at least cut into the gap looking up).

Brett Gardner is joining the Yankees today. I saw this first on Chad Jennings's Yankees blog in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Times Tribune, but Gardner also spoke to his hometown paper, the Times and Democrat, about finally getting the callup.
No word what the corresponding move is. It could be something with Justin Christian, or perhaps Alberto Gonzalez. I'm guessing Melky Cabrera will be losing some playing time, though. His offense has not been as good as the Yankees would have hoped this season.

Here are thoughts on either playing the Mets or playing at Shea Stadium from two Yankees on opposite ends of the experience spectrum: Joe Girardi and Joba Chamberlain.

Chamberlain has so far been little more than a spectator in the subway Series. He has pitched one inning against the Mets, and gave up a run in that inning. But he'll pitch tomorrow and won't start against the Mets this season.

But Chamberlain watched a Subway Series game in person before he even made his big league debut. He was pitching for Double-A Trenton at the time, and had a day game. Afterwards, he and Jason Jones came up to New York to watch a night game between the Yankees and Mets, and Sean Henn left tickets for them.
"My first time at game was in the Subway Series. It was Duque (Orlando Hernandez) against the Wanger (Chien-Ming Wang)."
Asked who won, Chamberlain said: "We did, Rod (Alex Rodriguez) hit a bomb."

Girardi was asked for a favorite memory of Shea, which is of course in its final season of use. He said he didn't have one. However, one of his least favorite memories was of a trip to Montreal and New York while a rookie. Girardi recalled facing pitchers such as Sid Fernandez and Doc Gooden, and not faring very well against them. "I got sent down shortly after. ... The rotations weren't too kind to me."

Today's lineup was heavily stacked due to how tough Oliver Perez has been on lefties. That's why Bobby Abreu, Robinson Cano and Jason Giambi are sitting today, and Jorge Posada is at first. Girardi made clear he still views Posada as a catcher but that he can play first if they need him to.

In other sports news, big game this afternoon between Spain and Germany in the Eurocopa finals. I'm a fan of Espana, so I'm pulling for them. Your two biggest soccer aficionados on the Yankees are Abreu and Mariano Rivera. Rivera said "Of course" he wants Spain to win. Abreu is pulling for Germany, though he originally wanted Holland to win.

Yankees (44-37) v. Mets (49-41)

Pitchers: Darrell Rasner (4-5, 4.50 ERA) v. Oliver Perez (5-5, 5.29 ERA)

Hey guys - It's the fourth game of this Subway Series (the last at Shea) and the Yankees will be looking to take the series against Ollie Perez. Taking the hill for the Yankees will be Darrell Rasner, who has less than happy memories at Shea. Rasner broke his finger and prematurely ended his season last May after trying to field a comebacker off the bat of Endy Chavez. His last start, against the Pirates, was less than spectacular: the righty gave up seven earned runs on 10 hits and was pulled after five. He's struggled as of late but the Mets haven't seen much of this guy, and that might be to his advantage.

The Yankees will have to get past Oliver Perez, which is always a big old question mark. The issue, as always, is whether Perez can show signs of the ace that Rick Peterson was convinced he was. His last lost to the Mariners, 11-0, giving up seven earned runs - only one walk, though. This is a big one for Perez, since the Daily News reported that his spot on the rotation might be in jeopardy if he continues at this pace. He's done well against the Yankees, though, and his last start was an 11-2 victory. He pitched 7 2/3 innings (his longest start of the season) and allowed only three hits.

The Mets offense has been anemic of late, but Girardi is sitting his biggest bats - Jason Giambi, Robinson Cano and Bobby Abreu, against Perez, who's notoriously difficult against lefties.

Ok, let's get started. Laura Albanese here to take you through it.

FINAL: 3-1, METS.

Top of the ninth
Wagner in to pitch with the two-run lead. Jeter singles past the glove of Castillo. A-Rod comes up as the tying tun. Wild pitch by Wagner and Jeter moves to second. A-Rod hits a DEEP fly ball to left that just stays in the park. Chavez tracks it down for the out. Posada hits it to short. Reyes holds Jeter to second and gets the out at first. Betemit strikes out on a 1-2 slider. The Mets win the game and the season series.

Botton of the eighth
Substitution: Edwar Ramirez in to pitch. Marlon Anderson (hitting for Feliciano) flies out. Reyes flies out to Jeter is shallow left. Castillo flies out to left.

Top of the eighth
Substitutions: Pedro Feliciano in to pitch for Perez (who pitched seven with no walks) and Fernando Tatis to first for Delgado. Christian leads off the inning with an easy fly to left. Giambi comes in after Perez's departure and pops out to left on the first pitch. Feliciano strikes out Damon looking with an outside fastball.

Bottom of the seventh
Delgado flies out to deep right. Church lines one to right - he's 2-for-4 so far. Chavez lines a fastball to left with the hit and run on. It's first and second with one down for Schneider. Schneider hits it to Betemit, who starts the 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. Marlon Anderson, who was set to pinch-hit for Perez, is left on deck.

Top of the seventh
A-Rod pops out to third. Posada flies out to the track in right and Betemit hits a long home run to leftfield for a solo shot. 3-1, Yanks. Cabrera reaches on an error by Reyes, who threw the grounder high to Delgado (the ball was catchable, though). Cabrera goes to second. Molina pops out to Church. Interesting to note: Reyes threw his glove on the floor and kicked his glasses after the error - while Church was still making the catch and the game was on. Bad idea.

Bottom of the sixth
And here come Dave Robertson - just called up from triple-A. Seventeenth pick for the Yanks in the 2006 draft. He strikes out Ollie Perez on a 3-2 pitch. Reyes gets the one-out single on a pitch left up in the zone. Castillo sneaks a basehit past a diving A-Rod to put runners on first and second. A wild pitch to move up the runners. Wright flies out to shallow right. Reyes tags up and Christian throws to the plate on the hop. Reyes slides in and Castillo advances to third before the throw by Molina. 3-0, Mets. Beltran flies out to center. Decent showing by Robertson.
SCORE: 3-0, METS

Top of the sixth
Christian lines out to Church in right. Chad Moeller pinch hits for Rasner (call-up Dave Roberstson is warming up in the 'pen). Moeller hits a long fly ball to Chavez in left for the out. Damon hits a linedrive deep to right, off Church's glove, for a single. Jeter get jammed on the first pitch and Castillo takes it to second for the force.

Bottom of the fifth
Delgado fouls out to the catcher. Church grounds out to second and Chavez lines one down the rightfield line and Christian stops the ball to hold him to a single. Schneider flies out to left.

Top of the fifth
Betemit lines out to third. Cabrera fans on the slider. Molina pops up on his third straight slider from Perez. Well, Perez knows what works. It's an official game now. Let's see what happens.

Bottom of the fourth
Reyes grounds out to short. Castillo grounds it over the third-base bag for a single. Wright flies out to rightfield on the first pitch. Beltran strikes out to end the inning.

Top of the fourth
Giambi strikes out swinging on a Perez slider. Rain is threatening. Jeter lines one to right for the first Yankee hit of the game. Perez sails a wild pitch and Jeter moves up. Perez is throwing from the stretch and isn't anywhere close to the plate. Count is 3-0 on A-Rod. He hits a loooong fly ball, foul, on the 3-1 pitch. After a marathon at-bat, A-Rod strikes out on a fastball. Posada grounds out to second.

Bottom of the third
Beltran pops up to second base. Delgado hits a long shot off the scoreboard for a solo homerun. 2-0, Mets. Church bloops a single over the head of Derek Jeter. Chavez grounds out to Posada at first and Church moves to second. The Yanks intentionally walk Schneider. Perez strikes out swinging to end the inning.
SCORE: 2-0, METS

Top of the third
Jose Molina strikes out and Justin Christian pops out to shallow right. Perez strikes out Rasner for his fifth strikeout of the game.

Bottom of the second
Ryan Church is back in the lineup for the Mets. He lines out to first. Chavez bloops one into short center for a single. Brian Schneider singles to right to make it first and second. Perez lays down a bunt down the third-base line to move the runners over. Reyes walks and brings up Castillo with the bases loaded. Castillo hits a chopper up the middle, Jeter cuts across the second base bag, fields, but Castillo beats it my a step. Chavez scores. 1-0 Mets. Wright grounds out to third for the force.
SCORE: 1-0, METS

Top of the second
Posada strikes out on a slider. Wilson Betemit strikes out swinging and Melky Cabrera grounds out to short stop. Perez's fastball and slider are nearly unhittable right now.

Bottom of the first
Reyes takes the second pitch from Rasner and lines it to right for single. Wild pitch and Reyes goes to second. Rasner strikes out Castillo. Wright flies out to deeeeep rightfield. Reyes tags up and goes to third. Beltran walks. Delgado flies out to end the inning.

Top of the first
Perez strikes out Damon with a fastball. Jeter grounds out to second and A-Rod hits a foul pop-up to end an easy inning for Perez.

Back to Queens we go. This is Darren Sands, your live blogger for the evening. Today's game is the third in two days, and where I imagine a little fatigue begins to set in. It's quite the pitching match up for two lefties who haven't had anything to do but rest up and toss it around, and that's Andy Pettitte and Johan Santana.

Pettitte is 8-5 with a 4.04 ERA, and aside from Wang, has been the Yankees best pitcher this season. Left-handed batters are hitting .163 against him, and his ERA is 3.51 on the road. He'll have to cool down the white hot bat of Carlos Delgado.Meanwhile Santana, true to his reputation of being a second-half pitcher, has struggled at times. He's got a 7-6 record and has a 2.93 ERA.

Knicks draft pick Danilo Gallinari is throwing out the first pitch. Anyone know how to say "play ball" in Italian? In fact, how do you say, "Shouldn't have left Jerryd Bayless on the board" in Italian?

Only 43 more games left at Shea. Can you believe it? Here we go!

Top 1st -- Strong start for Santana.

Bottom 1st -- Pettitte got Delgado to fly out to right. Just missed a three-run home run. Great point made by. Giambi and Posada to follow in the top of the second.

Top 2nd -- Yankees bats can't do anything as Santana strikes out the side. Looks like he's feeling strong.

Bottom 2nd -- Vintage Jeter on that play to get Tatis for the first out. Perfect footwork. Watching him is a pleasure on plays like that. Pettitte gives up a solo bomb to slugger Ramon Castro. He strikes out Santana to end the inning.

Top 3rd -- Santana still rolling. He doesn't look like he's going to budge, though he is known to give up the long ball.

Bottom 3rd -- Pettitte fortunate to get out of that inning. He's had a couple of long ones here, whereas Santana has been efficient for the most part. Nice catch by Melky in center.

Top 4th -- There goes that efficiency. Santana walks Jeter and Abreu, A-Rod smokes a single to left. Giambi reaches on a grounder, Posada scores Abreu on a sac fly to center. Yankees lead 2-1.

Bottom 4th Jeter makes up for an error -- he'll be amazed to see it was called a hit -- with an unassisted double play to end the inning.

Top 5th -- Pettitte, Damon and Jeter go down in order.

Bottom 5th -- Andy Pettitte picked of Reyes at second. Reyes clearly left too early. Pettitte glad to get out of that inning with Wright up at bat and swinging for the fences. Nice break for the Yankees.

Top 6th -- Robbie Cano is swinging the bat well. His single to right scores A-Rod in from third. If Cano gets it together, the Yankees offense would be in a lot better shape. Yankees lead 3-1.

RAIN DELAY

Bottom 6th -- David Wright must have had a Power Bar during the 53-minute rain delay. He hits a shot to left field to bring the Mets to within one run. Yankees lead 3-2.

Top 7th -- Mets come back with Feliciano, who looks strong. Yankees have got to get to this guy. We've likely seen enough of Petitte...and as I'm writing, Jose Veras is on the mound.

Bottom 7th -- Veras does a nice job retiring Castillo, Castro and Marlon Anderson in order. This is quickly turning into a battle of the bullpens.

Top 8th -- A-Rod reaches on a bad throw by Wright, steals second, but Sanchez got out of the inning unscathed. Wright will be back up in the home half of the eighth inning. Kyle Farnsworth is in for the Yankees. Trouble.

Bottom 8th -- Terrific catch for Damon behind Farnsworth on a fly ball by Wright. Farnsworth holds it together for Mariano Rivera to come on in the bottom of the ninth.

Top 9th -- Cano just missed a pitch he usually drives. Clearly, Damian Easley still has ups, and his timing. Great catch for the second out. Sanchez got into a bit of trouble, but retires Jeter, whose 15-game hitting streak might have been snapped. Here's comes Rivera.

Bottom 9th -- Rivera gets his 22nd save. Rivera strikes out Delgado, gets Tatis to fly out to right, and strikes out Trot Nixon looking. Game over. Rivera looked great. Great movement on his fastball. Petitte improves to 9-5, Santana falls to 7-7.

Yankees win, 3-2.

Here's some pregame news and the lineup:

David Robertson was called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Whenever he pitches, it will be his major league debut. Robertson said the callup came: "a whole lot quicker than I thought. I wasn't really expecting it. I'm just glad to be here though."
Robertson had a combined 1.39 ERA in 29 games at Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He had allowed just 26 hits and 22 walks in 51 2/3 innings, and had 74 strikeouts.
We haven't gotten the corresponding 25-man roster move, but Sidney Ponson is going to be starting Wednesday and Dan Giese is moving to the bullpen, so it's neither of them.
Joe Girardi said of Ponson: "We like the way he threw the ball last night."
The Yankees are flip-flopping Mike Mussina and Joba Chamberlain in the rotation, since Mussina only threw 45 pitches in the rainout and Chamberlain threw 114 his last time out. Mussina will pitch Monday and Chamberlain Tuesday.

Lineup
Yankees
Damon LF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Giambi 1B
Posada C
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF
Pettitte LHP

Mets
Reyes SS
Castillo 2B
Wright 3B
Beltran CF
Delgado 1B
Tatis RF
Phillips LF
Castro C
Santana LHP

As a certain Yankees captain often says, the games aren't played on paper. In other words, you can't predict what's going to happen simply by looking at stats and matchups. If you could, I'm sure last night's Yankees-Mets matchup between Sidney Ponson and Pedro Martinez would have looked very different. Ponson was a recent minor league sign who had been released by the pitching-poor Rangers due to off-field brouhahas. Yet he pitched six shutout innings. Martinez is the pedigreed one, and even if his numbers this year (in limited action due to injuries) haven't been great, the easy money was on him to outpitch Ponson. Yet he gave up six earned runs in 5 2/3 innings.

So the Yankees salvaged the split. Now we'll see Andy Pettitte opposite Johan Santana today. And that's intriguing for reasons beyond the pitching, as the Yankees could have had Santana but decided Pettitte (and their young prospects) were enough.

Hey everyone! The Yankees will be looking for a split after losing 15-6 to the Mets in the opener. Carlos Delgado turned in a heck of a performance by belting two home runs and driving in nine runs. Delgado’s nine RBIs set a Met record -- he bested Dave Kingman’s eight RBIs in 1976 -- and tied for the most RBIs ever by a visiting player in Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees didn’t hit well when they had runners in scoring position, but the real problem was their pitching. And with Sidney Ponson (4-1, 3.88), who was released by Texas, going tonight it doesn’t seem like it will get any better. The portly Ponson is in his second stint with the Yankees (42-37). He went 0-1 with a 10.47 ERA in five games --- three starts -- in 2006. Today, he will be making his first appearance in the bigs since allowing six runs -- two earned -- over four innings against Cleveland on June 4 for a no-decision.

Pedro Martinez (2-1, 6.57) will be on the hill for the Mets (39-39). In his last outing, he gave up six runs on nine hits in 4 1/3 innings during a 7-1 loss to Colorado on Saturday. By the way, Matsui was placed on the DL to make room for Ponson. Also, Ohlendorf was optioned to Triple-A and Igawa was called up.

Top 1st: Following a two-out single by Abreu, A-Rod nearly hit one out, but it was caught at the warning track by Nixon.

Bottom 1st: Ponson allowed a two-out single to Wright and a walk to Beltran, but that’s it. He even retired Delgado, who had 9 RBIs in the opener, so it’s a good start for him so far.

Top 2nd: The Yankees go down in order.

Bottom 2nd: Ponson worked in and out of trouble this inning. After allowing singles to Nixon and Castro and walking Chavez to load the bases, Ponson struck out Martinez, got Reyes to pop out and Castillo to ground out. Not bad.

Top 3rd: Yanks wasted a leadoff single by Molina, as Ponson, who couldn’t sacrifice, struck out, Damon popped out and Jeter grounded out.

Bottom 3rd: Ponson is living dangerously. He wiggled out of trouble once again this inning as he loaded the bases before retiring Castro. Ponson, however, does seem to be getting squeezed by the ump somewhat.

Top 4th: The Yankees got two runs in the inning. Abreu and A-Rod walked and Giambi singled to load the bases before Cano had an RBI ground out and Molina hit a run-scoring fielder’s choice. Yankees 2, Mets.

Bottom 4th: So far so good for Ponson. He allowed a two-out single to Reyes, who was thrown out at second by Molina.

Top 5th: The Yankees added to their lead on an RBI single by Abreu and a sacrifice fly by Cano. Yankees 4, Mets 0.

Bottom 5th: 1-2-3 inning for Ponson.

Top 6th: Jeter extended his hitting streak to 15 games with an RBI double to end Pedro’s night. Schoeneweis came on and served up a run-scoring double to Abreu. Pedro was charged with six runs on six hits and five walks in 5 2/3 innings. Yankees 6, Mets 0.

Bottom 6th: Another perfect inning for Ponson as Delgado, Nixon and Castro go down in order. Ponson has thrown six scoreless innings. Who would have thought?

Top 7th: Looks like the Yankees are repaying the Mets with this one. They tacked on a few more runs as Cano belted a solo homer, Jeter hit a run-scoring groundout off Joe Smith (who replaced Schoeneweis) and Abreu followed with a two-run single. Yankees 9, Mets 0.

Bottom 7th: Farnsworth replaced Ponson, who scattered five hits with four strikeouts and four walk in six scoreless innings, and keep the Mets off the board.

Top 8th: The Yankees go down in order.

Bottom 8th: Jose Veras took over on the mound and allowed a single to Wright (which should have been an error by Betemit at third) and a walk to Delgado before getting Easley to ground out and Castro to fly out.

Top 9th: Wagner came on and worked a scoreless innings. Last licks for the Mets.

Bottom 9th: I bet you thought you would never see Igawa in a Yankee uniform again. Well, you were wrong. He was called up and allowed singles to Tatis and Reyes before getting Castillo to ground out into the inning ending double play. Final: Yankees 9, Mets 0.

Between games, the Yankees put Hideki Matsui (knee) on the 15-day DL, optioned Ross Ohlendorf to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, activated Sidney Ponson and recalled . . .

Kei Igawa.

Enjoy Game 2.

Good afternoon everyone! Marc here to blog today’s day-night, split-ballpark Subway series doubleheader. Dan Giese (1-2, 0.64) will start Game 1 for the Yankees (42-36). In his last outing, he allowed three unearned runs in 6 2/3 innings on Saturday, but despite taking the loss, Giese had a good outing. He tossed six scoreless innings before his costly error hurt him in the seventh as Cincinnati went on to score four runs in the inning. Overall, Giese has given up just one earned run in 14 innings, which includes three relief appearances. Mike Pelfrey (4-6, 4.30) will be on the hill for the Mets (38-39). The 24-year-old right-hander scattered three hits in 5 2/3 frames in his last outing and has not lost since May 26.

Let’s hope rain doesn’t come into play. Last night, the Yankees held a 3-1 lead in the third over Pittsburg before the game was rained out. Will be back after the Mets bat.

Oh, by the way, if you would like to read what Mets fans are saying, check out Laura Albanese’s game blog on the Mets.

Top 1st: The Mets got a run off Giese. He issued a walk to Castillo, despite having him at 0-2. Castillo stole second and scored on an RBI single by Wright. Mets 1, Yankees 0.

Bottom 1st: The Yankees tied the game at 1 as Giambi had a broken-bat run-scoring single -- his 45th RBI: he had 39 all of last year -- following a walk by Abreu and a bloop single by A-Rod. Yankees 1, Mets 1.

Top 2nd: Nice inning for Giese, who showed he can work out of trouble. He had first and third with one out following a walk to Anderson and a single to Tatis and got Schneider to pop out and Reyes to ground out.

Bottom 2nd: Cano doubled leading off the inning, but the next three hitters -- Betemit, Christian and Melky -- went down in order. Give credit to Pelfrey for not allowing a run.

Top 3rd: Beltran laced a two-out home following a single by Castillo. Giese has not looked like the same pitcher he was on Saturday. Mets 3, Yankees 1.

Bottom 3rd: The Yankees scored three runs in the inning to take over the lead. Jeter led off with a double (the 400th of his career) and scored on A-Rod’s single (which was a rocket hit right at Reyes). Following a walk by Giambi and a single by Posada, Cano hit a run-scoring fielder’s choice (Reyes made a nice play with a one-hand stop) and Betemit followed with an RBI infield single. By the way, Jeter, who just celebrated a birthday, has more hits at the age of 34 (2,438) than all-time hits leaders Pete Rose (2,346). Ty Cobb had the most hits at age 34 with 3,858. Yankees 4, Mets 3.

Top 4th: Giese retired the side in order.

Bottom 4th: It was long inning for the Yankees, who had first and second with one out and the bases loaded with two outs, but they came away with nothing. Melky and Abreu singled and Giambi reached on a walk before Posada flied out.

Top 5th: The Mets retake the lead as Giese didn’t last long in the inning. He quickly loaded the bases after walking Reyes and Castillo and serving up a single to Wright, before exiting the game in favor of Edwar Ramirez. Beltran greeted Ramirez with a run-scoring fielder’s choice and Delgado followed with a two-run single. Mets 6, Yankees 4.

Bottom 5th: The Yankees aren’t doing so well hitting with runners in scoring position. With two on and two outs, Jeter grounded out to first to end the inning.

Top 6th: The Mets scored five runs to blow this game open. Ross Ohlendorf came on in relief of Ramirez with two on and two outs and issued an RBI single to Wright and a grand slam to Delgado. It was Delgado’s 12th slam and first since Aug. 22, 2006. Ramirez had allowed a single to Nixon and a walk to Reyes before leaving. Mets 11, Yankees 4.

Bottom 6th: A-Rod belted a deep homer to right off Feliciano, who came on for Pelfrey: 4 runs, 8 hits, 5 innings. Mets 11, Yankees 5.

Top 7th: Holy cow! The Mets are set down in order.

Bottom 7th: Melky got a base hit off Heilman, but that was it for the Yankees.

Top 8th: Looks like Carlos Delgado’s career isn’t over just yet. He hit another home run. This time it was a three-run blast off Hawkins. Delgado has nine RBIs to set a Mets record. Ohlendorf allowed singles to Reyes, Castillo and Wright before getting pulled. Mets 15, Yankees 5.

Bottom 8th: Abreu drew a walk off Carlos Muniz but the Yankees don’t do anything after that.

Top 9th: OK, last licks for the Yanks.

Bottom 9th: The Yankees tacked on a meaningless run following a double by Betemit and a run-scoring single by Damon and will try to regroup in the nightcap. Mets 15, Yankees 6.

Joe Girardi just had his pregame press briefing at Yankee Stadium. The Mets aren't here yet.

The Game 1 players (batting order's not out yet):

1B Betemit 2B Cano SS Jeter 3B A-Rod C Posada LF Christain CF Melky RF Abreu DH Big G P Giese

Damon and Molina will play in Game 2.

Sidney Ponson is arriving here during Game 1 and will be fitted for a uniform. Insert your own joke here.

Matsui is going to get checked out by the doctor today. It would be a shock if he is not placed on the DL between games.

It's part two of this season's Subway Series, and it's a true Subway Series, with both stadiums in use. First up, it's the Yankees and Dan Giese against the Mets and Mike Pelfrey at Yankee Stadium. The next one will feature Sidney Ponson (are you excited yet?) against Pedro Martinez at Shea Stadium.
It will be interesting to see what happens with Ponson. He was pitching well for Texas, yet the Rangers released him for off-field altercations. According to sources, he had been pretty decent off-field early in the year, if not a model citizen. But he was signed with the knowledge that he was on a short leash. Sources say there was an incident at the hotel bar in St. Petersburg, Fla., in which he got intoxicated and was cut off by the bartender, but got angry and the manager had to be called. Eventually teammates had to escort him back to his room, according to sources. He didn't take the Rangers' reaction well and wound up being released. The Yankees plan to give him a fresh start, and we will see how that goes.

Here are links to a couple stories from today's paper:
Yankees prospects better than Mets prospects: http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/ny-spken275743369jun27,0,1829302.column

News on the rainout/sked: http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/ny-spyside275743372jun27,0,4279488.story

Clemente's impact on Yankees and baseball: http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/yankees/ny-spyinside0627,0,6056116.column

Hey everyone! Katie here blogging tonight. Mike Mussina (10-5, 3.93) will be on the mound tonight as the Yankees go for the series winner against Pittsburgh. Joba pitched well last night for his first win as a starter and Mussina will try and follow suit to give the Yankees a little momentum heading into the Subway series with their cross-town rivals, the New York Mets. On the hill tonight for the Pirates is Paul Maholm (5-5, 4.41). Maholm had an impressive last outing, earning his fifth win of the season by giving up only 3 runs in seven innings with just 99 pitches. He's been good this season at PNC Park (4-1), so we'll see if he can continue that success tonight....

Be back after top of the first!

Top 1st
Damon leads off by doubling to right off the second pitch of the game, and steals third with Jeter up to bat. Birthday Boy Jeter hits an RBI double to right that puts the Yanks on the board. Abreu triples off the wall at center to give NY a two-run lead in the first. A-Rod comes through for the fourth consecutive extra-base hit of the inning, but then gets doubled up on Giambi's pop-up.
3-0 NY

Bottom 1st
Mussina has a couple runs for cushion and retires the first batter. One away and Sanchez lines to right for a double. Doumit goes the other way to score Sanchez and cut the Yankees lead to two. Two on and two out and Mussina gives up his second walk of the inning to load the bases. Neither pitcher looking too hot right now. In and out of trouble for Moose, who only allows one run.
3-1 NY

Top 2nd
Molina smacks a one-out double to the warning track at right center, but it's wasted as Mussina and Damon ground out.
3-1 NY

Bottom 2nd
Two away and McLouth singles to right, but Mussina fans Sanchez to get out of the inning.
3-1 NY

Top 3rd
Two ground outs to lead off the inning. Rain begins and the tarp comes out. Tough break for the Yankees given their schedule tomorrow.

Rain Delay

I had a chance to visit the Roberto Clemente Museum in Pittsburgh today. Jorge Posada and Jose Molina went earlier this week, and Posada in particular is a huge fan of Clemente and what he stood for. You can read more about Clemente/the museum in my insider tomorrow, but it was an impressive place.

Johnny Damon is in the lineup tonight. He still has pain in the arch of his left foot, but told Joe Girardi he wanted to play and test it.
Hideki Matsui is not in the lineup. He still has knee problems, though said he might be able to DH tomorrow. If he's not able to do so, it sounds like he could be a DL candidate.
The rosters were announced for the Futures All-Star Game and Jesus Montero, the Yankees 18-year-old catcher for Charleston, is the organization's one representative as a player. Tino Martinez is managing the World Team and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre pitching coach Rafael Chaves is a coach for the World Team.

Yankees
Damon LF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Giambi 1B
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF
Molina C
Mussina RHP

Pirates
McLouth CF
Sanchez 2B
Bay LF
Doumit C
Nady RF
LaRoche 1B
Bautista 3B
Wilson SS
Maholm LHP

What if you could make one team out of the Yankees and Mets rosters? Who would you pick?
A-Rod or Wright?
Jeter or Reyes?
Mussina or Pedro?
Here's one man's opinion.

I think nights like last night are just what the Yankees had in mind when they converted Joba Chamberlain to a starter. I'm not sure they expected him to pitch 6 2/3 shutout innings just five weeks into the conversion process, but they got it. It was against the Pirates, who are a decent NL offensive team, but Joba's next two opponents, the Rangers and Red Sox, can really mash.

Still, great appearance by him with his first win as a starter.

Also, a plug if you don't mind: my friend Sam Borden, a columnist at the Journal-News, is planning to walk the 10 miles between Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium on Friday between games of the doubleheader. He is taking donations to raise money for the American Cancer Society, which I think all will agree is a great cause. Here's the link to his site: http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/Events/FriendsampFamily-NHO?px=7495956&pg=fund&fr_id=11240&et=_tcVEY4PlVo7eVgxxNnk8Q..&s_tafId=236677

Well, its hard to believe it could get any worse for the Yankees today after a dreadful performance at PNC Park last night. It's Darren Sands again live with you as Joba Chamberlain takes the mound on double duty -- to both right the Yankees ship and get his first win as a starter.

It'll be interesting to see how Justin Christian, batting eighth, responds to a second straight day in the lineup. He fit in very nicely yesterday, going 2-for-4 with that huge two-run double. According to our Kat O'Brien, Johnny Damon thinks he'll be ready to go tomorrow. But, y'know, should Christian perform well again today, one wonders how necessary it'll be to rush him back. We'll be here with updates, so stay tuned.

Top 1st -- Derek Jeter off to a nice start. After Zach Duke retires Melky Cabrera, Jeter rocks a double to left-center swinging on the first pitch. (Jeter has got to be on the quietest 13-game hitting streak ever). Alas, after loading the bases, Duke induces a double-play ball to Giambi, but a good, hard slide by A-Rod forces a bad throw by Jack Wilson. Abreu and Jeter score. These are the mistakes a team like Pittsburgh will make, the type of breaks the Yankees did not get last night.

Bottom 1st -- Joba sets Pittsburgh's formidable 1-2-3 batters down in order. And he hits third in the top of the second.

Top 2nd -- Joba taking some nice cuts in his at-bat, and clearly a few of Joba's teammates got a kick out of it, namely Jeter and Posada. Duke missed on a breaking ball and walked Joba. Luckily he just jogged into second for the force out to end the inning. Back to the mound, where he's much more comfortable. Yanks lead, 2-0.

Bottom 2nd -- Despite putting two runners on, Joba gets out of the inning as Abreu nails Doumit at the plate, and the score stays at 2-0.

Top 3rd -- Yanks bats come alive in the third. But what is going on with A-Rod? A Jeter ground-out turns into an error by the shortstop, Abreu advances Jeter from second to third. A-Rod pops up against the lefty (who he should be spraying balls all over the field against). Giambi pulls a nice single to left and scores Jeter to make the score 3-0. Abreu advancing Jeter to third all of a sudden looks very nice. Giambi to third on a single by Posada. Cano grounds out for last out of the inning.

Bottom 3rd -- Yet another 1-2-3 inning for Joba. He's rolling, and at this point I wouldn't think it impossible for him to pitch into the seventh. Good news, too, because the Yankees bullpen is shot.

Top 4th Justin Christian continues to contribute, laying down a nice bunt-base hit. Joba has the small-ball going too, advancing Christian to second. Whereas the Yankees seemed to want to rip everything out of the park yesterday, they seem content with just manufacturing runs National-league style. Also helps that they haven't given up a run, too. Christian scores on another rocket by Jeter, this time to left center, to give the Yankees a 4-0 lead. Abreu can't get in on the fun, grounding out again to end the inning.

Bottom 4th -- Joba with only 12 pitches that inning. J-0-0-0-0-B-A. Haha!

Top 5th -- A-Rod retired again, leading off Duke's first 1-2-3 inning. Joba is in the mid-sixties in his pitch count. He may make it into the eighth, set the stage for Mariano like the (not so) old days.

Bottom 5th -- Finally, a little adversity for Joba. He gave up his first walk of the game, and hit Jack Wilson with a pitch. That was the call anyway. With runners on first and second and one out, Joba induces a ground ball, and then strikes out Morgan on a close check swing. Got out of the inning, not unlike when he was a reliever. No one is warming up in the Yankees bullpen, they likely asked Joba how he feels.

Top 6th -- Robbie Cano hits a bomb deep into the Pittsburgh night, extending the Yanks lead to 5-0. Joba lines one to right, but it was caught by Morgan -- bet he wanted that one. With two outs, Bobby Abreu launches a three-run home run deep to right field. Yankees lead, 8-0. A-Rod finally gets a base hit in the series.

Bottom 6th -- Doumit gets a double off Joba after he retires the first two batters of the inning on hard hit, long fly balls. He strikes out Jason Michaels with a 98 m.p.h fastball. Still throwing gas, though it's likely he's seen his last action. Excellent start out of Joba. Just what the Yankees needed.

Top 7th -- Christian grounds into double play to end the inning.

Bottom 7th -- As Joba's pitch count crept well above 100, he struggled to retire the fiesty Doug Mientkiewicz. Mientkiewicz lined a single to the left, effectively ending his night. Six and two-thirds, no runs. Very nice. Ross Ohlendorf comes on in relief and gets the out. Everything rolling for the Yankees.

Top 8th -- Abreu is on fire, hits an RBI double to extend the Yankees lead to 9-0. Abreu really can hit, and he's just a triple away from the cycle, apparently. Looking toward tomorrow, Mussina has a shot to help the Yankees take two of three from Pirates. That's music to the ears of fans who saw their team hit rock bottom yesterday. Rasner had nothing. They couldn't advance the runners they had on. Girardi saying, "We stunk." Tough stuff to swallow from the Skipper. Now, all of a sudden, things are looking up.

Bottom 8th -- Ohlendorf sets down the Pirates in order -- looking good. If they're gonna do anything over the next few weeks against the Sox, Rays and Mets, he's going to have to be sharp. All those teams have solid offenses, that work pitchers deep into counts. So far, so food for Mr. Ohlendorf.

Top 9th -- Grabow loads the bases with no outs, but Betemit hit into a 5-2 double play. Melky gets an RBI-base hit, and this is all gravy, baby. Pirates will have Michaels, LaRoche and Bautista in the last of the ninth.

Bottom 9th -- Veras retires the Pirates in the last of the ninth. Nice win for the Yankees. Joba was fantastic, and obviously, the bats came alive for the Yankees. Mike Mussina gets the ball tomrorrow against a good Pittsburgh line up. Good night all!

Yankees win, 10-0.

It's official: Sidney Ponson will start for the Yankees on Friday. That was pretty much expected, but Joe Girardi confirmed it this afternoon. Dan Giese will pitch Game 1 Friday and Ponson Game 2.
Girardi said he's not concerned about the fact that the Rangers let Ponson go, calling him a bad influence. Girardi said: "I want to be able to make a conclusion for myself. My hope is that Sidney comes up and does what Sidney's capable of."
Asked if he has any fears about Ponson having a negative effect in the clubhouse, Girardi said: "It doesn't scare me one bit. 22 rookies in Florida. It doesn't scare me one bit."

Johnny Damon hopes to be able to play tomorrow. Hideki Matsui's still unavailable due to his knee.

LaTroy Hawkins clearly hasn't provided what the Yankees hoped so far this season, but give him credit -- he's well aware of that and he'll take full blame. "You can't point your finger. You've got to point your finger and your thumb. Who does that point back to?"
Asked if this season has had its ups and downs, he said: "That's an understatement."

The other hot topic around baseball is the frequently splintering maple bats, which are a safety concern. Johnny Damon estimated that he has broken 50 bats this year after breaking 50 al of last season. Said Damon: "It's crazy how they're actually exploding now."

Lineup
Yankees
Cabrera CF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Giambi 1B
Posada C
Cano 2B
Christian LF
Chamberlain RHP

Pirates
Morgan RF
Sanchez 2B
McLouth CF
Doumit C
Bay LF
LaRoche 1B
Bautista 3B
Wilson SS
Duke LHP

Thanks to everyone who stopped in for the chat today. We plan to make that a pretty regular thing, so hopefully it's something people enjoy.

Last night was an ugly one, as you all know, for the Yankees. A 12-5 scorcher of a loss. Darrell Rasner has not looked good in his last few starts, and the offense was awful. As Joe Girardi succinctly put it, "we stunk."
It was one thing when the offense struggled against Edinson Volquez, who may well start the All-Star Game for the National League. But it's another against a guy in his major league debut -- the Reds' Darryl Thompson -- or struggling Pirates lefty Tom Gorzelanny.

Newsday's Kat O'Brien answers your Yankees questions from Pittsburgh today at noon in a special live chat.

Hey fans, it's Darren live-blogging with you here. We're just minutes away from the first pitch. I can't help but to think about all of theYankees players excited to play in Pittsburgh, the same city as Puerto Rican legend Roberto Clemente. Must be pretty cool for all of the Latin-American players. My dad was just born during the 1960 World Series, but this match up is nostalgic for lots of folks for obvious reasons.

As for the pitching match ups, Pittsburgh starts a guy on the hill whose name sounds like he has a sandwich named for him somewhere in town, Tom Gorzelanny. Darrell Rasner will get the ball for the Yanks, with a 4-4 record and 3.64 ERA coming into today's game. It'd be nice for the Yankees if Rasner could follow up Andy Petitte's brillance from a day ago.

Also, the Yanks will meet up with old friend Doug Mientkiewicz, now with the Pirates after spending last year in New York. Almost set. Here we go.

UPDATES:

Top 1st -- Jeter hits into a double play, Abreu walks then steals second, but A-Rod strikes out. Gorzelanny got off the hook big time.

Kat O'Brien has a nice update on the Yankees' 28-year-old Justin Christian, who made an error in left on his first play. Nerves, perhaps? Meanwhile, Pittsburgh has taken a 2-0 lead on Rasner here in the early going. This could have gotten ugly, but Mientkiewicz grounds out to end the inning. Some would say that's Mientkiewicz being Mientkiewicz. Pittsburgh leads, 2-0.

Top 2nd -- Christian can't make up for that error in his first at-bat -- pops a lazy fly to Mientkiewicz in left. Pittsburgh still leads, 2-0.

Bottom 2nd -- OK Rasner! Settles down. Sits 'em all down in the 2nd.

Top 3rd -- Rasner puts a lump in Girardi's throat, and walks. That's the last thing the Yankees need, a pitcher running the bases. Interleague play has been a disaster. Gorzelanny walks Melky, and Jeter nearly hits into yet another double play -- that Abreu hits into for him. Gorzelanny was awful and the Yanks couldn't make him pay. Top of the order. Couldn't make him pay.

Bottom 3rd -- Sanchez scores for Pittsburgh, and the Yankees are down 3-0. A-Rod, Giambi and Posada all up for the Yankees. What are the chances they put a few runs up?

Top 4th -- Gorzelanny starts to fall apart. Posada slaps a double with two outs, Cano lines a base hit to left and scores the speedy Posada. Christian, meanwhile got the first base-hit of his career, a nice souvenir for the fam. With the bases loaded, Melky nearly goes yard, but grounds out for the force out at 2nd. Gorzelanny comes out virtually unscathed, Pirates lead, 3-1.

Bottom 4th -- Mientkiewicz lines a base hit to right. Jose Batista blasts a 2-run homer to take a 5-1 leads. Batting practice pitch. McClouth flies out for the third out.

Top 5th -- Ugh. Yanks go down in order. Gorzelanny looks like Gibson. Gossage, perhaps.

Bottom 5th -- Rasner rattled -- gives up two runs in the bottom of the fifth, Pittsburgh takes a 7-1 lead. To his credit, he has walked twice and hasn't gotten hurt on the bases.

Top 6th -- Giambi and Cano both reach. Justin Christian knocks them both in to pull the Yankees to within four runs. Molina pinch hits for Rasner and can't do anything with Christian at second. (At least Rasner would have walked, no?) Pittsburgh leads, 7-3.

Bottom 6th -- LaTroy Hawkins takes over for Rasner, and he was awful. Eleven hits in five innings, seven runs. Hawkins forces Rivas into a nice double play. McLouth leads the Majors in extra base hits and laces one to left center. Hawkins got out of the inning. He has been up and down for the Yankees this season. Can he keep the Yanks in this one through the eighth?

Top 7th -- A-Rod can't do anything (0-for-4 tonight) as Jeter extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a ground-rule double to right. Pirates bring out Damaso Marte to face Giambi and he retires him. He will likely be out in the eighth, too, Marte will, which does not bode well for the Yanks.

Bottom 7th -- Hawkins allows a pair of hits with no outs, Adam LaRoche scores Jason Bay. Ends up giving up two hits on three runs. His evening is done, as he will likely be pinch-hit for, unless Girardi lets him swing away to save the bullpen.

Top 8th -- Marte is back and sets down the Yankees in order. You can look at this game one of two ways; either they were aggressive (usually the case when they score a llot runs) or they were not patient enough at the plate (the case when they do not score runs). Seems to me if you wore down Gorzelanny, he'd have been forced out long before the third inning the way he was going.

Bottom 8th -- Hawkins can't complete the eighth as hoped -- he is replaced by Anwar Ramirez gets touched off for a two-run double and a RBI-double by Ryan Doumit. Three runs on four hits between Hawkins and Ramirez in the eighth. Whew. Long night for these guys.

Top 9th -- Yankees make it interesting in the top of the ninth. Wilson Betemit reaches on an error by LaRoche, but Melky hits into, you guessed it, a double play. Jeter walks, and of course, Abreu comes alive and makes it 12-5 with a home run to right-center. A-Rod grounded out to third for the final out of the game.

Will Joba will be better than Rasner tomorrow? We'll see tomorrow. So long!

Bad news for the Yankees' outfield: it's not in great shape. Hideki Matsui's left knee has been bothering him for some time, and Joe Girardi is not comfortable playing him in the outfield. Now Johnny Damon is having trouble with the arch in his left foot. That began Sunday, and Damon sounds far less optimistic about it than Girardi does. Justin Christian was brought up from Triple-A and is starting in leftfield.

Damon, when asked about the possibility of going on the DL, said: "We definitely hope not. We're hoping a couple days will do it some good."
Damon first felt pain during BP Sunday, and it got worse during the course of that game. He continued to play, as Matsui was unavailable. Said Damon: "On Sunday, it was real bad in the arch, and the foot wen ta little numb. It wasn't good and it's not good now."
This is a particular problem because Damon has been playing terrifically of late.
Girardi said, "No, no, no, no," when asked if Damon was a DL possibility.