Kuzul

I was busy all day and missed today’s game. In fact, when I left the house I assumed it would be rained out so I didn’t even know what happened till I got home around 6 p.m.

If they had won I would have watched the replay, but there’s nothing about a 6-0 loss that makes me want to see it, so I’m not going to get too much into a game I didn’t see.

The obvious problems were C.C. Sabathia and the lineup. C.C. allowed six runs on nine hits, did not walk a batter, and struck out four in six innings. He threw just 79 pitches, 55 of them for strikes. After the game, C.C. had this to say to Chad Jennings : “I felt pretty good, actually. Just hung a couple of balls. When my pitches were right they were swinging early in the count, getting ground balls. Just one of those days today where I kind of lost it.”

C.C. allowed a lone run in the second on a Gerald Laird single. Then he was hurt by the long ball in the fourth when he allowed back-to-back blasts by Miguel Cabrera and Brennan Boesch. He allowed three more runs in the sixth before being removed from the game.

However, the way Justin Verlander shut down the Yankees today all Detroit needed was one. Verlander held the Yankees to just four hits in 6.2 innings pitched. Joel Zumaya and Eddie Bonine pitched the final 2.1 innings to finish off the shutout, the Yankees second of the series.

Obviously, there’s not much to talk about offensively. The Yankees picked up just four hits on the day; a single and a double by Jorge Posada , and singles by Brett Gardner and Derek Jeter . They also went 0-for-8 with RISP and left 11 men on base.

Their best chance to get on the board came in the eighth, when they had runners on first and second with one out, but they failed to score after Juan Miranda popped out and Randy Winn flew out. Still, by that point the Tigers were up 6-0 and a run or two wouldn’t have made much of a difference.

The Yankees are going through their first rough stretch of the season now, and the injuries aren’t helping matters. With Curtis Granderson and Nick Johnson on the DL, and Nick Swisher nursing a sore biceps the Yankees are in need for someone at the bottom of that order to step up. Jeter’s recent slump, and Alex Rodriguez ‘s lack of power also haven’t helped.

Looking for some positives? Well, there wasn’t many besides Ivan Nova ‘s debut. Throwing a mix of fastballs, curves and changeups, the 23-year-old right-hander allowed just two hits and struck out one over two scoreless innings, and threw 17 of his 30 pitches for strikes.

Hopefully a series at home in the Bronx will get their bats going. We’ll find out tomorrow when the Yankees come home to open a series with the Minnesota Twins. A.J. Burnett looks to rebound from his awful start in Boston when he takes the mound. Opposing him with be left-hander Francisco Liriano for the Twins. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. and the game will be on YES.

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The Yankees have signed Tim Redding to a minor league contract. Redding, 32, who was pitching for the Colorado Rockies’s Triple-A affiliate but was released yesterday morning. So far this season for Colorado Springs he is 1-1 with a 4.32 ERA with 7.6 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 in 25 innings. He’s now headed to Scranton.

This is obviously a depth move for the SWB Yankees rotation. The only way he sees major league time with the Yankees is if there are significant injuries to the starting staff, or they see him as a long man if Aceves and Mitre both go down. Nothing wrong with this move, Redding will most likely not see time in the show and if he does the Yankees will have bigger problems than him.

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MLB Trade Rumors is reporting that the Yankees have signed 17-year-old Venezuelan catcher Rainiero Coa. The original report comes from Annelida Yoris Rivas at the Venezuelan paper Nueva Prensa . Here’s a little more from MLBTR:

A lengthy bio in the decidedly lo-fi Diario el Progreso gives more details: Coa is a recently converted third baseman/shortstop whose hitting in international junior tournaments drew interest from a number of clubs. However, his defense and arm behind the plate were what sealed the deal at a recent Yankees tryout in Venezuela.

If I can find any more info on the kid I’ll pass it along.

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Andy Pettitte wasn’t too pleased when he found out the Yankees decided he would skip his next start. Here are the quotes from Mark Feinsand:

I’m really not happy at all,” Pettitte said Friday before the Yankees’ 10-3 victory over the Red Sox. “I would have loved to have been able to throw, to come in and play catch or something, to see how I feel.”

With an exasperated look, Pettitte spoke with a frustrated tone, eschewing his standard wordy answers for short, measured responses.

When asked what his schedule was between now and his next start, which will come during the Yankees’ May 14-16 series at home against the Twins, the southpaw replied, “I don’t know. You’ll have to ask them.”

…

“I understand why. It’s just hard that whenever I feel really good and don’t feel like anything’s bothering me at all right now to be skipped.”

…

“As soon as the doctor told me that it looked exactly like it did from when I had the surgery, I didn’t have any concerns at all,” Pettitte said. “I could have kept pitching the other day for sure.”

Girardi and Eiland explain that this was a big picture decision, and felt it was the best move for Pettitte and the team. I agree. No need to take the risk for one game in May. His pitching coach was also happy to that he was upset about the decision. “If he wasn’t mad, I’d be a little concerned,” Eiland said.

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When I posted that video of Dallas Braden where he basically threatened to fight A-Rod, I wondered how A-Rod’s teammates would feel about his comments. Well, now we know:

“He’s a clown,” CC Sabathia said of Braden. “Guy says he’s from the 209, what the [bleep] is that? That’s where I’m from, and I don’t know what he’s talking about. Two-oh-nine. He needs to just calm down – put that in the paper. That’s just tired.”

Hahahaha…Owned!

“I don’t know why he keeps bringing it up,” said Derek Jeter. “Go ask him, because I have no idea why he’s talking about it again.”

“Braden is wrong and Alex is right,” said general manager Brian Cashman. “The more Dallas talks about it, the sillier he looks.”

Even Oakland’s GM, Billy Beane, is upset:

The comments embarrassed A’s general manager Billy Beane, who prides himself on running an intelligent, forward-thinking franchise. The A’s might be living on baseball’s equivalent of food stamps, but they’re generally regarded as hard-nosed, clean players who aren’t given to excesses like Braden’s.

Beane, who was on a scouting trip in Mississippi on Friday, ended Braden’s publicity tour in a brief but emphatic phone call with his starter. Reached later on, Beane said, “The player has been spoken to, and hopefully the matter should be over.”

As for the man himself, here’s what Alex said:

A-Rod said it was “tempting” to respond, but ultimately decided against it, noting, “I don’t want to extend his 15 minutes [of fame].”

These two teams don’t face each other until July, so this will probably be the last we hear about this, at least for a while. But it’s great to see the Yankees standing up for their teammate.

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(Photo by Darren McCollester/Getty Images)

W: P. Hughes (4-0) L: J. Beckett (1-1)

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First some notes: The Yankees signed Justin Christian out of the independent Atlantic League. He was in the Yankees system from 2004-2008. … Dellin Betances is a week to 10 days away from returning from the DL . He’s been recovering from ligament reinforcement surgery. … Manuel Banuelos is still recovering from his appendectomy, and there is no timetable for his return. … Paul Bush , who is on the DL, will begin working in an extended spring training.

(Triple-A) Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (15-12) lost to Durham (19-10) 9-3: Box Score – Recap

Batting:
Kevin Russo, RF: 1-for-4, 2B, R
Eduardo Nunez, SS: 1-for-4, RBI
David Winfree, 1B: 0-for-2, BB, R
Jesus Montero, C: 0-for-1, left game in third. Apparently because he didn’t run hard on a ground ball. People thought it was injury related at first, but he was seen warming up pitcher in the bullpen after leaving the game.
Jon Weber, DH:1-for-4
Chad Huffman, LF: 2-for-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, R
Robby Hammock, 3B: 1-for-3
Greg Golson, CF: 0-for-2, BB

Pitching:
Kei Igawa: 4 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K (5.40 ERA)
Amaury Sanit (L, 1-1): 1.2 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, WP (7.36 ERA)
Royce Ring: 1.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K (0.82 ERA)
Kevin Whelan: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K (12.79 ERA)

Pitches-strikes : Igawa 74-49, Sanit 47-26, Ring 31-18, Whelan 30-15.
Groundouts-flyouts : Igawa 1-6, Sanit 2-2, Ring 2-0, Whelan 0-2.

Batting:
Jack Rye, RF: 2-for-5, 2B
Corban Joseph, 2B: 2-for-4, RBI, BB
Bradley Suttle, 3B: 1-for-4
Addison Maruszak, SS: 2-for-3, 2B, BB, 2 R
Neil Medchill, LF: 1-for-4, R
Mitch Abeita, DH: 1-for-3, 2 RBI, BB
Myron Leslie, C: 1-for-4

Pitching:
Jario Heredia (L, 0-6): 5 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 K (6.93 ERA)
Brandon Braboy: 0.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K (3.00 ERA)
Philip Bartleski: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (4.08 ERA)
Jonathan Ortiz: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K (2.53 ERA)

Groundouts-flyouts : Heredia 10-2, Braboy 0-0, Bartleski 2-1, Ortiz, J 0-2.

(Low-A) Charleston (13-16) beat Delmarva (15-13) 6-4: Box Score – Recap

Batting:
Jimmy Paredes, SS: 3-for-5, 3 R
Justin Milo, LF: 1-for-4, BB, R, SB (1)
Luke Murton, 1B: 3-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI
Zolio Almonte, RF: 1-for-4, RBI, BB
Robert Lyerly, 3B: 1-for-4, BB
Kyle Higashioka, C: 2-for-4, 2B, R
Garrison Lassiter, DH: 0-for-4, RBI
Kelvin Castro, SS: 1-for-3, BB, R, SB (3)

Pitching:
Jose A. Ramirez: 5 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K (2.62 ERA)
Gabriel Tatis: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, WP (2.35 ERA)
Ryan Flannery (W, 2-2): 2 IP, 1 HH, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, WP (4.72 ERA)

Groundouts-flyouts : Ramirez, Jo 8-3, Tatis 4-0, Flannery 1-1

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(AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

WP: A. Pettitte (4-0) LP: D. Hernandez (0-4)
SV: A. Aceves (1)
The Yankees finished off their sweep of the Orioles today, with their 7-5 victory today in the Bronx. It was their fourth win in a row, and seventh in their last eight games. The only problem is that Andy Pettitte had to leave the game with a stiff elbow after just 77 pitches. An MRI later revealed minor inflammation and the Yankees expect him to miss at least one start. That makes it three members of the Core Four to be hit with recent injuries and I’m actually starting to believe in the whole SI cover jinx thing. At least none of the injuries have been major, so far. Still, the Yankees are 19-8 and if they can avoid any major injuries will remain one of, if not the best team in baseball.

On to the game itself, Pettitte was solid while he was in there, allowing just a run on six hits and two walks, and struck out two to pick up his fourth win of the year. He was in trouble for most of the day as he allowed at least one base runner in four of his five innings, but was helped out by three double plays. His roughest inning was the fourth when the O’s loaded the bases with one out. Pettitte walked Nolan Reimold to force in a run, but was able to get out of the jam without allowing another run. Pettitte remained in the game for another inning before leaving with the elbow injury.

The O’s run cut the Yankees lead to 3-1, but they’d put up three more in the bottom half of the inning to extend their lead to 6-1. The Yankees then put together a National League style rally in the fourth. Brett Gardner started it with a walk. That was followed by a bunt single by Francisco Cervelli and a sac bunt by Randy Winn. Derek Jeter drove in a run on a fielder’s choice to make it 4-1. Then, following a walk by Johnson, Mark Teixeira gave the Yanks a five run lead with a two-run double. Johnson would drive in the Yanks seventh run with an RBI single in the eighth. He had a very good game, going 3-for-3, with two walks, an RBI, and a run scored. Johnson was the only Yankee who picked up more than one hit, but every Yankees starter besides Robinson Cano had a hit in the game.

Sergio Mitre replaced Pettitte in the sixth and held the O’s off the board until the top of the eighth. With one out in the inning Julio Lugo singled and Ty Wigginton blasted a two-run homer to knock Mitre out of the game. David Robertson came in to finish the inning, but ran into trouble of his own in the top of the ninth. With one out in the inning he allowed back-to-back homers by Matt Wieters and Nolan Reimold before being replaced by Boone Logan. Robertson continues to struggle and now has an ERA of 14.21. He’s allowed 10 earned runs and three homers in 6.1 innings and if he doesn’t correct things quickly he might need to be sent down to fix whatever problems he’s having.

Logan walked Rhyne Hughes, then retired Lou Montanez before being replaced by Alfredo Aceves. Like Logan, he walked the first batter he faced, putting the tying run on base, but got Wigginton to fly out deep to right to end the game.

The Yanks have tomorrow off before starting a three-game series with the hated Red Sox in Fenway on Friday. Phil Hughes will be going up against Josh Beckett in the opener. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. and the game will be on YES.

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