Kuzul

One swing of the bat erased 52 nervous hours for the Yankees.

Nick Swisher‘s two-run, walk-off homer to beat the Orioles, 3-2, on Wednesday afternoon in the Bronx cleansed the palette after a frustrating day by Joe Girardi and the Bombers’ offense, and prevented New York from taking a four-game losing streak into an off-day before a tough three-game series in Texas.

A loss would’ve given Baltimore its first three-game sweep in New York since 1986, been the first time the Yanks were swept at the new stadium and handed the Bombers their first four-game skid of the season. As it stands now, they remain the only team in baseball this year not to lose four straight.

A loss would’ve also put the Yankees in a tie in the loss column with the Rays atop the American League East, but Swisher took care of all that with an opposite-field shot off Koji Uehara.

Let’s take a look at the grades from this game:

Joe Girardi, Manager: (D) Girardi has made a slew of bewildering decisions of late. In the second game of this series on Tuesday, he pinch-hit Alex Rodriguez in the seventh inning. After A-Rod reached on a fielder’s choice, Girardi left him in the game to run, but he didn’t allow him to play the field in the eighth; meaning if his spot in the order came up again in the ninth with the Yanks down by four, he would be unavailable to hit.

According to Michael Kay, Girardi didn’t pinch-run for Rodriguez, because he wanted him to be available to to hit again in case the Yankees batted around in the seventh. Since A-Rod would’ve been the 13th man to come to the plate in that situation, New York would’ve already scored eight runs in the inning and been ahead, 10-6. Apparently, that’s a more important situation for Rodriguez to hit in than with the game on the line in the ninth.

On Wednesday, the questionable calls again arose in the seventh. With one on and one out and the Bombers down, 2-1, Buck Showalter brought in lefty Mark Hendrickson to pitch to Lance Berkman. This seemed to be an obvious situation to pinch-hit Marcus Thames, who is a .327 hitter against southpaws this year, for Berkman, who hits lefties at a .184 clip. However, Girardi stuck with the former Astro, who struck out swinging.

Thankfully, the skipper did bring in Thames with Granderson’s spot due up next as he is just a .246 hitter versus lefties, and the pinch-hitter proceeded to smack a single to right, advancing Robinson Cano to third. Of course, there were now two outs instead of one, so the next batter would need a hit instead of a sac fly or a groundout to tie the game. Before that could happen, Girardi sent out a pinch-runner for Thames, only to call him back to the bench. Even Girardi doesn’t have any confidence in what Girardi is doing.

Due up next was Francisco Cervelli, who Girardi let bat instead of bringing in Jorge Posada. That move seemed very strange at the time, but it was later revealed that Posada was dealing with concussion-like symptoms after being struck in the head on a foul-tip on Tuesday. I guess the Yankees didn’t reveal that until after the game, because they didn’t want the O’s to know he wasn’t available?

Finally, in the ninth, Girardi did his patented pinch-run for A-Rod after he reached with a single. It’s a good thing he did, because I don’t know if Rodriguez would’ve been able to trot around the bases on Swisher’s homer as quickly as Eduardo Nunez did.

I don’t have any stats to back this up, but I’d be willing to bet my Carlos Zambrano bobblehead that A-Rod has been pinch-run for more times in the past two years than he was in his previous 14 seasons in the bigs combined. Nunez didn’t appear to be stealing once during the six pitches to Cano and Swisher.

Brett Gardner, LF-CF: (B+) Gardner had an RBI double in the third, but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple. I don’t have a problem with that because he made the second out, not the first or third. Gardner is batting .329 in the leadoff spot, as opposed to .241 in the nine-hole.

Derek Jeter, SS: (F) The captain’s nightmare season continued on Wednesday as he went 0-for-4 and committed his sixth error. He’s now hitting just .262, his lowest average since he was at .207 on April 13, 2009, which was just seven games into that year. I’d still rather have him up in a big spot in the playoffs than anyone else on the team.

Mark Teixeira, DH: (F) Teixeira also had a rough day, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. He’s 5-for-34 (.147) as a DH in 2010. Let’s try and maybe keep him in the field.

Alex Rodriguez, 3B: (A) A-Rod got the ninth-inning rally going with his second single of the day. He’s played just one complete game since Aug. 15.

Robinson Cano, 2B: (C) Cano singled and struck out in four at-bats.

Nick Swisher, RF: (A+) I know I wasn’t the only one snickering when Kim Jones got some of Swisher’s pie in her eyes.

Lance Berkman, 1B: (C-) Berkman walked, but went 0-for-2 with a strikeout and couldn’t pick Jeter’s errant throw out of the dirt.

Curtis Granderson, CF: (B) Granderson walked, stole, and scored in the third. He’d have a lot more than 11 steals if his on-base percentage was higher than .318.

Francisco Cervelli, C: (C) Cervelli was 0-for-2, but he did his job by advancing Granderson to third with less than two outs using a grounder to the right side in the third.

Eduardo Nunez, PR: (INC) Pinch-trotter.

Marcus Thames, PH-LF: (B) .306/.379/.532. This guy needs to be in the lineup every day.

Ivan Nova, SP: (B+) Lost in Swisher’s walk-off was the rookie’s fourth straight solid outing. This may have been his best yet as he allowed just two runs on six hits and two walks with six strikeouts over six innings. His ERA is 2.92 and I’d rank him as the Yankees’ fifth-best starter, ahead of Javier Vazquez.

David Robertson, RP: (A) Robertson retired all four batters he faced.

Boone Logan, RP: (A)  The lefty struck out both batters he faced.

Joba Chamberlain, RP: (A)

Yankees Overall Grade: (B+) The Bombers have scored just 11 runs over their past four games, so they better pick things up if they want to outslug the Rangers this weekend. With Vazquez, A.J. Burnett and Dustin Moseley scheduled to start, chances are Texas will be putting up a lot of runs.

Follow me on Twitter at JordanHarrison .

Jordan Schwartz is one of Bleacher Report’s New York Yankees and College Basketball Featured Columnists. His book Memoirs of the Unaccomplished Man is available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and authorhouse.com.

Jordan can be reached at jordanschwartz2003@yahoo.com

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

When Buck Showalter was named the Orioles’ 17th full time skipper on July 29th, it signaled the completion of the American League East’s stranglehold on the title of Division with the Best Managers.

With Joe Maddon in Tampa Bay, Cito Gaston in Toronto, Joe Girardi in New York, Terry Francona in Boston and Showalter now in Baltimore, the AL East boasts a talented lineup of managers. Between them, they hold five World Series rings as skippers and four Manager of the Year Awards.

Let’s take a look at all their achievements.

Begin Slideshow

After a one-day plunge into second place in the American League East, the Yankees (67-40) are back atop baseball with the best record in the game as they get set to open up a big four-game series at home against the third-place Red Sox (62-47), who trail New York by six games.

Boston, which has been hampered by injuries to Jason Varitek, Dustin Pedroia, and Kevin Youkilis (who was lost for the season on Thursday), has a chance to jump back in the race for first place if it can pull off a sweep this weekend.

New York, on the other hand, can bury its rival if the Bombers were to win the next four games. But that seems unlikely, as the Red Sox appear to hold the advantage in at least two of the pitching matchups.

This series could come down to Sunday’s game between A.J. Burnett and Josh Beckett, and the Yankees would be very happy to just get a split and keep their distance from the Sox.

Friday, Aug. 6 – Javier Vazquez (9-7, 4.61) vs. Clay Buchholz (11-5, 2.59)

Vazquez continued his predictable season of dominating National League teams and weak American League clubs, while struggling against the better half of the AL when he surrendered four runs over 6 1/3 innings for a no-decision vs. the Rays in his last outing.

The right-hander now has a 5.09 ERA against the AL and a 4.89 mark vs. winning teams. Once again, the Red Sox fit into both of those categories.

Vazquez’s only appearance against Boston this season came on May 17, when he struck out the only batter he faced in relief to earn an 11-9 victory. In 12 career games (10 starts) versus the Sox, the 34-year-old is 3-7 with a 4.21 ERA.

Adrian Beltre (15-for-44, .441, 2 HR), J.D. Drew (10-for-28, .357, 4 HR) and David Ortiz (8-for-25, .320, 2 HR) have all had success facing Vazquez. But the same cannot be said for Victor Martinez (5-for-26, .192).

Buchholz has been brilliant over his past two starts, allowing a total of two earned runs through 15 innings to drop his ERA to second best in the league.

But the righty didn’t look so good against the Yankees on May 8, when he yielded six runs (five earned) on nine hits and five walks over five innings to take a 14-3 loss.

The opener of this series could turn out to be a high-scoring affair because Buchholz is 0-2 with a 6.53 ERA in four career starts vs. New York, including an 8.38 mark in the Bronx.

Robinson Cano is 4-for-11 (.364) off the 25-year-old, while Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter are each 3-for-9 (.333) with two RBI. Mark Teixeira is 3-for-5 (.600) with a homer.

However, Curtis Granderson, Jorge Posada, Nick Swisher and Austin Kearns are a combined 0-for-16 off him, so this may be a good day to give Francisco Cervelli (2-for-3, 3 RBI) the start.

Saturday, Aug. 7 – CC Sabathia (13-5, 3.19) vs. John Lackey (10-6, 4.48)

Sabathia has recorded 12 straight quality starts, but he’s lost his last two outings after winning nine consecutive decisions.

Three of the big lefty’s five no-decisions this season have come against the Red Sox. He has a 4.76 ERA over the 17 innings in those contests. In 14 career starts against Boston, Sabathia is 5-5 with a 3.56, and the current roster hits just .207 off him.

Some of the victims include Beltre (1-for-19, .053, 7 K), Martinez (4-for-19, .211), Drew (4-for-17, .235, 7 K), Jacoby Ellsbury (1-for-13, .077, 6 K) and Bill Hall (1-for-11, .091, 4 K).

The only Red Sox hitter with a lifetime average above .290 against Sabathia is Marco Scutaro (8-for-24, .333).

Lackey once again allowed way too many baserunners in his last start against the Indians. The right-hander yielded six runs on nine hits and five walks in 5 1/3 innings to increase his WHIP to a bloated 1.53.

He didn’t have that problem on April 7, however, when he held the Yankees scoreless over six frames on just three hits and two walks.

Lackey is 5-7 with a 4.40 ERA in 17 career starts against New York, including a 3-3 record and 3.76 mark at the old Yankee Stadium. This will be his first regular-season appearance at the new ballpark.

While pitching for the Angels, he surrendered four runs (two earned) on nine hits and three walks in a 4-1 loss in the Bronx during Game 1 of the AL Championship Series last year.

Teixeira is 19-for-50 (.380) with 11 RBIs and eight walks off Lackey. Jeter is 16-for-46 (.348) with six doubles and Posada is 12-for-31 (.387).

However, A-Rod is just 9-for-54 (.167) with an astounding 23 strikeouts and Swisher is 5-for-45 (.111) with 18 K’s, so this may be a good day to give him a rest.

Sunday, Aug. 8 – A.J. Burnett (9-9, 4.93) vs. Josh Beckett (3-1, 5.70)

The Red Sox have the pitching advantage in the first and last game of this series, while the Yanks should win Friday’s contest with Sabathia on the mound.

That means this game could be the difference between a split vs. Boston picking up two games in the standings.

The Pinstripes need a solid outing from Burnett, who gave up more runs in the fifth inning against the Blue Jays on Monday (7) than he did in all of July (6). The right-hander has a tendency to blow up once in a while, but I don’t think it’s reason to panic.

If you remove Burnett’s horrible June, during which pitching coach Dave Eiland was away from the team, his season numbers are pretty impressive at 9-4 with a 3.50 ERA.

The 33-year-old had one of his blow-up starts at Fenway Park on May 9, surrendering nine runs (eight earned) in 4 1/3 innings to take a 9-3 loss.

He pitched a little better in Boston on April 6, when he allowed three earned and struck out five in five innings to earn a no-decision as the Yankees won, 6-4. Burnett is 5-3 with a 4.92 ERA in 14 starts against the Red Sox.

Beltre is 10-for-31 (.323) with six doubles and seven RBI off the righty, but Mike Lowell, who was recently activated off the 15-day disabled list is just 4-for-20 (.200).

Beckett has pitched well since coming off the 60-day DL on July 23. He is 2-0 with a 2.18 ERA in his past three starts.

The right-hander’s last two outings before going on the DL were against the Yankees and he did not pitch well in either of them. In fact, in three outings this season vs. New York, Beckett is 0-1 with a 10.43 ERA.

In his career, he is 9-6 with a 5.95 against the Bombers, but has pitched well at the new Stadium (1-0, 3.06 in three starts).

Robinson Cano is 18-for-52 (.346) with seven doubles, three homers and 12 RBIs off Beckett. Posada is 11-for-33 (.333), but has struck out 10 times.

Teixeira is 4-for-28 (.143) with 10 K’s and Lance Berkman is 3-for-18 (.167) with seven strikeouts, so he better not start. A good replacement would be Marcus Thames (3-for-9, .333, HR).

Monday, Aug. 9 – Dustin Moseley (1-1, 4.13) vs. Jon Lester (11-7, 3.07)

Moseley makes his third start of the season in Monday’s matinee. He has been a serviceable fill-in for Andy Pettitte while the left-hander spends time on the DL.

The 28-year-old right-hander allowed five runs and two homers to the Blue Jays on Tuesday, but he was efficient, lasting into the eighth inning while throwing just 85 pitches.

Moseley was 1-0 with a 5.84 ERA in three appearances (two starts) against the Red Sox during his time with the Angels. He’s held Beltre hitless in six at-bats, but Lowell is 3-for-6 (.500) with two doubles.

Lester is in a rare funk, dropping his last four starts, including a five-inning effort against the Indians on Wednesday during which he suffered cramps in his left hamstring due to the humid weather.

The left-hander, who is second in the league with 154 strikeouts, fanned seven in a 9-3 win over the Yankees on May 9. He allowed four runs over five frames against New York on April 6, however.

Lester is 4-1 with a 4.01 ERA in 10 career starts vs. the Bombers, but is 1-1 with a 4.96 at the new Yankee Stadium.

Jeter (10-for-30, .333) is the only Yankee with more than three at-bats against Lester to have an average above .273. Teixeira and Swisher are each 4-for-19 (.211), while Posada is 3-for-18 (.167). Expect to see Kearns (1-for-2, RBI, walk) start this one.

Follow me on Twitter at JordanHarrison .

Jordan Schwartz is one of Bleacher Report’s New York Yankees and College Basketball Featured Columnists. His book Memoirs of the Unaccomplished Man is available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and authorhouse.com.

Jordan can be reached at jordanschwartz2003@yahoo.com

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

He didn’t want to wait another day.

Alex Rodriguez didn’t want to have to enter an off-day on Thursday answering more questions about why it was taking so long to hit his 600th career home run.

The Yankees, meanwhile, didn’t want to lose another game.

They didn’t want to be swept at home by the Blue Jays and carry a four-game slide into a big four-game series with the Red Sox this weekend.

A-Rod took care of both problems with a two-run blast to dead-center field off Shaun Marcum in the first inning, appropriately landing on the netting in Monument Park, where one day the slugger may be immortalized with a plaque, or maybe even a monument of his very own.

Rodriguez’s long ball snapped a 17 at-bat hitless streak as well as a 46 at-bat homerless streak, making him the youngest player in Major League history to reach the milestone, likewise propelling the Bombers to a 5-1 victory over Toronto at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.

Here are the grades from that contest:

Joe Girardi, Manager: (A) After tinkering with a few different lineups since the arrival of Lance Berkman and Austin Kearns, Girardi finally found one that worked, burying the struggling Berkman and Curtis Granderson deep in the order where they belong.

The skipper pulled starter Phil Hughes a little early with one out in the sixth and only 99 pitches, but the bullpen delivered 3 2/3 scoreless innings to make Girardi look like a genius.

Derek Jeter, SS: (A+) Overshadowed by A-Rod’s historic bomb was the captain’s 4-for-4 day, which included two doubles and three runs. But my favorite at-bat of the afternoon by Jeter came in the fifth inning when he laid down a beautiful bunt to advance Brett Gardner to third with less than two outs and picking up a hit on the play.

Nick Swisher, RF: (D) On the other hand, Swisher did not put down a bunt with Jeter at second and nobody out in the third and wasn’t able to advance the runner as he flew out to left field. Situational hitting is actually one of the only things Swisher hasn’t done well this season as he has gotten the runner home from third with less than two outs only seven out of 22 times this season.

Mark Teixeira, 1B: (A+) Teixeira had a big day, doubling home Jeter in the third and smacking a two-run single with the bases loaded in the fifth.

Alex Rodriguez, 3B: (A) A-Rod should go on a bit of a tear now that the monkey is off his back.

Robinson Cano, 2B: (C-) Cano snapped an 0-for-13 slide with a single in the eighth. He’s now hitting .325, his lowest mark since May 18.

Jorge Posada, C: (D) Posada handled all five pitchers well, but he went 0-for-4 and was struck by a couple of foul balls behind the plate, a place he will see a lot more of now that Berkman is serving as the Yankees’ primary DH. That’s a concern for Posada, who is not a good catcher and is getting older. New York does not want to lose his bat from the lineup because of an injury suffered while catching.

Lance Berkman, DH: (F) Berkman was robbed a couple times by Blue Jays first baseman Lance Berkman, but the bottom line is that the former Astro went 0-for-4 and is hitting just .133 since joining the Bombers.

Curtis Granderson, CF: (B+) Granderson went 1-for-3, stole his ninth bag of the season and made a nice play against the wall in left-center field in the sixth, but he struck out twice.

Brett Gardner, LF: (B+) Not surprisingly, Gardner looked a little better in left field than Kearns did the previous night. The speedster went 1-for-3 with a double and a run scored.

Phil Hughes, SP: (A-) For only the second time since June 2nd, the right-hander allowed fewer than three runs, as he was charged with just one in 5 1/3 innings, but Hughes’ high pitch count prevented him from pitching deep into the game.

Boone Logan, RP: (B-) Logan hit the first batter he faced, Adam Lind, but then retired the next two Jays to escape the sixth.

Joba Chamberlain, RP: (B) Joba has been demoted from the eighth to the seventh inning. If he continues to pitch poorly, he may work his way back to the first so he can start again.

David Robertson, RP: (B+) Robertson struck out two and walked one in a scoreless eighth.

Mariano Rivera, RP: (B) Rivera hit a batter in a scoreless ninth.

Yankees Overall Grade: (A) The Bombers really needed this one. They didn’t want to stew over a four-game losing streak on an off-day entering a big set with Boston.

Follow me on Twitter at JordanHarrison .

Jordan Schwartz is one of Bleacher Report’s New York Yankees and College Basketball Featured Columnists. His book Memoirs of the Unaccomplished Man is available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and authorhouse.com.

Jordan can be reached at jordanschwartz2003@yahoo.com

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Yankees and Rays enter this weekend’s three-game series in St. Petersburg in pretty much the same position they’ve been all season—holding the two best records in baseball.

But this set ends in August, and games become a little bit more important in August.

New York (65-36) currently holds a two-game advantage over Tampa Bay (63-38) in the American League East, but that could all change if the Rays pull off a sweep.

Let’s take a look at the pitching matchups.

Friday, July 30: Phil Hughes (12-3, 4.04) vs. Wade Davis (8-9, 4.32)

Hughes has a 6.52 ERA over the five starts that he’s made since having his turn skipped in the rotation in late June. That time period also coincides with the point when the right-hander eclipsed his previous high for innings pitched in a season, which was 86.

But we all knew this was inevitable when the Yankees spent all of last year building up Joba Chamberlain’s arm strength only to hand the fifth starter’s spot to Hughes, who had far fewer innings under his belt.

The 24-year-old has managed to avoid pitching against the Rays this year but is 2-1 with a 4.20 ERA in seven career appearances (two starts) versus them. He has allowed two earned runs in 7.2 frames at Tropicana Field.

The Tampa Bay roster is 8-for-24 (.333) off Hughes. Carlos Pena has been particularly troublesome, smacking two homers and walking three times in six plate appearances.

After losing all five of his starts in June, Davis has rebounded to win three straight starts. But keep in mind, those triumphs were over Cleveland and Baltimore.

The right-hander is 1-1 with a 4.63 ERA in two starts against the Yankees this year. He yielded four runs over six innings in a 10-0 home loss on April 10 but gave up just two runs and struck out seven through 5.2 in a 10-6 win at Yankee Stadium on May 19.

Against Davis, Derek Jeter is 4-for-9 (.444), Alex Rodriguez—still searching for that elusive 600th home run—is 4-for-8 (.500) with two homers, and Robinson Cano is 3-for-8 (.375) with a blast. Mark Teixeira, however, is 1-for-7 (.143) with three strikeouts.

Saturday, July 31: Javier Vazquez (9-7, 4.54) vs. Matt Garza (11-5, 4.06)

Vazquez continued his run of good performances against the National League and bad AL teams during his last outing, when he held the Indians to two runs over seven innings.

But overall, the right-hander has a 5.05 ERA against the AL and a 5.43 versus teams with winning records. The Rays fit into both of those categories.

Vazquez surrendered eight runs and 11 baserunners over 5.2 innings in a 9-3 loss at Tampa Bay on April 9. He is 5-5 with a 4.94 ERA in 13 career starts against the Rays and 3-3 with a 5.36 at Tropicana Field.

Carl Crawford is 11-for-29 (.379) with five extra-base hits off Vazquez, but that’s nothing compared to B.J. Upton’s 8-for-15 (.533). Upton is dealing with an ankle injury but could return on Saturday, just in time to face his whipping boy.

Vazquez, however, has had success against Pena, limiting the slugger to just three hits in 19 at-bats (.158) with 10 strikeouts, but two of those three hits have been homers.

Garza tossed the first no-hitter in Rays history and the fifth in baseball this season during his last outing against the Tigers. The other four pitchers to make history this year are 3-1 with a 3.29 ERA in their following starts.

The right-hander has pitched well against the Yankees in the past. Despite a 1-3 record, he has a 3.26 ERA in nine career appearances (eight starts).

Curtis Granderson’s run of good at-bats will be tested, as he is just 4-for-17 (.235) with four strikeouts facing Garza. The same is true for Teixeira, who is 1-for-13 (.077). A-Rod, however, is 7-for-15 (.467). 

Sunday, Aug. 1: CC Sabathia (13-4, 3.15) vs. James Shields (9-9, 4.79)

In a difficult series, this will definitely be the Yankees’ best chance of picking up a win. A lack of run support and two errors behind him snapped Sabathia’s string of nine consecutive victorious decisions in a 4-1 defeat at Cleveland on Tuesday.

He’ll look to bounce back against the Rays, a team he shut out on one hit over 7.2 on April 10 and held to three earned runs in a seven-inning no-decision on July 16.

The big lefty is 8-3 with a 3.03 ERA in 17 starts versus Tampa Bay, but a more pedestrian 3-3 with a 4.27 in St. Petersburg.

Jason Bartlett (13-for-41, .317), Upton (7-for-20, .350, .850 slg), Ben Zobrist (7-for-20, .350), and Evan Longoria (4-for-11, .364, two HR) have all had success against Sabathia. But Pena (4-for-32, .125, 17 K) and Willy Aybar (2-for-11, .182) have not.

Shields has looked better over his last three starts, going 2-0 with a 4.26 ERA, but he continues to give up too many home runs, including the two he surrendered to the Yankees in a six-inning, three-run no-decision in the Bronx on July 16.

Overall, the right-hander is 1-0 with a 3.86 in three outings against the Bombers this season, but is 2-7 with a 5.45 mark in 12 lifetime starts.

Jeter is 14-for-40 (.350) off him, and Cano is 14-for-32 (.438) with an astronomical .969 slugging percentage. Teixeira, on the other hand, is just 4-for-25 (.160) with 11 strikeouts, A-Rod is 5-for-23 (.217) with a homer, and Granderson is 2-for-23 (.087).

Follow me on Twitter at JordanHarrison .

Jordan Schwartz is one of Bleacher Report’s New York Yankees and College Basketball Featured Columnists. His book Memoirs of the Unaccomplished Man is available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and authorhouse.com.

Jordan can be reached at jordanschwartz2003@yahoo.com

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Yankees jumped out to an early 6-0 lead over the Angels on Wednesday, and Javier Vazquez nearly gave it all back.

The right-hander held Los Angeles scoreless over the first four innings, but you knew the Halos were going to break through at some point because they kept hitting the ball hard, and Vazquez was getting saved by good luck and good defense.

That changed in the fifth and sixth frames, when the Angels touched him up for five runs. New York’s starter finished the day allowing five runs on nine hits (including two homers) and exited without recording an out in the sixth.

But this is nothing new for Vazquez against good American League teams. The righty’s numbers have improved recently, but that’s only because he’s coming off a six-start stretch during which he faced only National League clubs or two of the three lowest-scoring teams in the AL, Seattle and Oakland.

Against the Angels, a team the Yanks could possibly face once again in the postseason, Vazquez is 1-2 with a 9.00 ERA in three outings this year. In fact, the 34-year-old is 5-6 with a 5.30 against all AL teams and 6-6 with a 5.43 versus teams with winning records. Is this a man you want pitching in October?

Here are the grades from the Bombers’ 10-6 win over the Angels on Wednesday at Yankee Stadium.

Javier Vazquez, SP: (D)

Joe Girardi, Manager: (C) I don’t understand batting Juan Miranda, who entered the game with a .226 average, behind an MVP candidate. It was no surprise that the Angels intentionally walked Robinson Cano twice to get to the sixth hitter. What was surprising was that Joel Pineiro, who’s been tortured by Cano over the years, gave the second baseman something to hit in the third when he launched a two-run homer.

The lineup didn’t hurt the Yankees in this one, as Miranda actually came through with a big homer off reliever Scot Shields in the seventh, but wouldn’t you rather have Jorge Posada batting behind Cano?

I did like, however, how Girardi didn’t manage to the save rule for a change and got Mariano Rivera in there in the ninth with a four-run lead to close things out.

Derek Jeter, SS: (A+) The captain had a much-needed three-hit day, to raise his average to .272, and scored each time he reached base.

Nick Swisher, RF: (A) Swisher continues to impress, going 2-for-5 with a double and a run scored. He’s now batting .302.

Mark Teixeira, 1B: (A+) Here’s another red-hot Yankees hitter. Teixeira went 3-for-5 with two doubles and three RBIs to increase his average to a season-high .256.

Alex Rodriguez, 3B: (D+) A-Rod didn’t get invited to the party. He went 0-for-5, but drove in a run with a grounder in the first and made a great diving stop on Howard Kendrick in the top of that inning to prevent a rally from starting.

Robinson Cano, 2B: (A) Cano now has 18 homers and 63 RBIs.

Juan Miranda, DH: (B+) Miranda went 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position, but came up with a big solo shot to shift the momentum back into the Yankees’ corner once and for all.

Curtis Granderson, CF: (A) Granderson had his first two-hit game in 11 days. Not surprisingly, it came against a righty.

Francisco Cervelli, C: (A) Cervelli went 2-for-4 with a run scored and despite his struggles at the plate since Memorial Day, he continues to be a viable option to split time with Posada.

Brett Gardner, LF: (F) Gardner was not only not invited to the party with his 0-for-3 day, but he got bounced at the door for arguing balls and strikes with home-plate umpire Paul Emmel in the seventh. But that turned out to be a good thing.

Colin Curtis, PH-LF: (A+) Curtis replaced Gardner and wound up connecting for his first Major League homer, a three-run shot that sealed the win.

David Robertson, RP: (B-) The right-hander pitched a scoreless sixth, but not before yielding two hits and a walk.

Boone Logan, RP: (B) The lefty got two outs in the seventh.

Joba Chamberlain, RP: (D) On July 29, 2009, Chamberlain was 7-2 with a 3.58 ERA in 20 starts. On July 21, 2010, Vazquez is 7-7 with a 4.70 ERA in 17 starts.

Mariano Rivera, RP: (A) Rivera struck out one in a perfect ninth.

Yankees Overall Grade: (C+) Vazquez fell apart in the middle innings, but the Yankees’ bats provided plenty of support to get the win. A two-game sweep by the Angels would’ve been bad, so New York has to feel good getting a split with eight games coming up versus AL Central bottom-feeders Kansas City and Cleveland.

Follow me on Twitter at JordanHarrison .

Jordan Schwartz is one of Bleacher Report’s New York Yankees and College Basketball Featured Columnists. His book Memoirs of the Unaccomplished Man is available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and authorhouse.com.

Jordan can be reached at jordanschwartz2003@yahoo.com

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

It’s not working.

When the Yankees acquired center fielder Curtis Granderson this past winter in a trade with the Tigers for top prospect Austin Jackson, New York knew that Granderson struggled against left-handed pitching.

Last year, Granderson, who only hit .249 overall, batted a measly .183 versus southpaws. But the Bombers thought they could turn him around with the help of hitting coach Kevin Long.

As of July 19, the 29-year-old is batting .216 with a horrid .295 slugging percentage against lefties.

He’s not much better facing right-handers, putting up a .237 average overall with just seven homers and 24 RBIs. Granderson has been perfect on the basepaths, stealing seven bases in seven attempts, but it’s hard to get the total much higher than that when you only reach base only 30 percent of the time.

Remember when all those people said Granderson, who clubbed 30 homers at the larger Comerica Park in ’09, would connect for 40 this season thanks to the much shorter porch in right field at Yankee Stadium? He has only three blasts in 32 games there.

I’m not advising to release Granderson, but he certainly shouldn’t be starting against lefties right now. Right-handed-hitting Marcus Thames should be in the lineup versus all southpaws because he has a .314 average facing them this year.

By the way, Jackson is hitting .304 with 16 steals for Detroit.

Follow me on Twitter at JordanHarrison .

Jordan Schwartz is one of Bleacher Report’s New York Yankees and College Basketball Featured Columnists. His book Memoirs of the Unaccomplished Man is available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and authorhouse.com.

Jordan can be reached at jordanschwartz2003@yahoo.com

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Before writing this article, I had set out to prove that the Home Run Derby has no effect on a participant’s second-half performance.

But after crunching the numbers, I’m not so sure.

Over the past decade, players competing in the Derby have seen their first-half at-bat-per-home-run ratio increase, on average, from 14.2 to 15.6 in the second half. This means they are going an extra 1.4 at-bats between dingers after the All-Star break.

But maybe that’s normal; maybe all players get tired as the season wears on.

Well, not necessarily.

Over the same time period, all of Major League Baseball has seen a decrease in AB/HR ratio from 32.2 to 32.0. This means they are going 0.2 at-bats fewer between blasts in the second half.

In fact, since 2000, the only year during which Derby participants experienced an increase in power after the contest was 2001, when the likes of Sammy Sosa, Jason Giambi, Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez were competing.

I wonder why?

Meanwhile, Major League Baseball as a whole saw a rise in power during the second half six times.

Maybe the most publicized drop-off in power after the Derby was Bobby Abreu in 2005. He won the contest with a record 41 homers and went on to see his AB/HR rate balloon from 17.9 to 44.2.

But that’s actually unusual. Six of the past 10 Derby winners have seen their rates improve in the second half. For example, Prince Fielder went from hitting long balls once every 14 at-bats before the All-Star break last year to once every 11.8 afterwards.

So maybe the key is to win the thing.

Or maybe there’s a whole different kind of factor at play here. As a friend of mine pointed out, “Derby participants are more likely to be having great first halves, which do not correlate to their full season norms. So they are more likely to regress to the mean to get back to their norms.”

That may be true with players like Joe Mauer and Brandon Inge, but what about perennial power hitters like Lance Berkman and Miguel Cabrera, who have seen unusual drops during the second half?

Common sense tells me that taking an extra session of batting practice, which essentially is what the Derby is, shouldn’t have a negative impact on players that take part in BP every day.

No matter what your feeling is on this topic, however, I think most baseball fans can agree that the Derby is too long. We don’t need to hear Chris Berman yelling, “Back, back, back!” in different languages for three straight hours.

So the solution may be to just shorten the event to two rounds with four participants. You may even be able to attract bigger names who won’t be as scared of a shorter Derby’s effect on their second halves.

Follow me on Twitter at JordanHarrison .

Jordan Schwartz is one of Bleacher Report’s New York Yankees and College Basketball Featured Columnists. His book Memoirs of the Unaccomplished Man is available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and authorhouse.com.

Jordan can be reached at jordanschwartz2003@yahoo.com

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Yankees manager Joe Girardi wasted no time pulling starter A.J. Burnett after 6 2/3 scoreless innings once Burnett surrendered a two-out single. But the skipper was nowhere to be found as reliever Joba Chamberlain struggled through the eighth inning, eventually yielding the tying run.

Such is baseball in the 21st century.

So is this: With runners on first and second and no one out in the bottom of the sixth, Francisco Cervelli stepped to the plate with a chance to help the Yankees add to their slim 1-0 lead.

So with New York struggling offensively all week, and entering the at-bat hitless in their last 17 tries with runners in scoring position, did Girardi have the catcher bunt?

Of course not. Cervelli swung away and grounded into a rally-killing double play.

Facing the same situation in the top of the 11th, Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston had Jarrett Hoffpauir lay down a successful sacrifice, which led to a game-winning five-run rally.

But Girardi wasn’t entirely to blame for the 6-1 loss. The Yankees’ lineup, which has now mustered just five runs in the past three games, collected only five hits on Friday and stranded eight baserunners, including three with nobody out in the third.

Here are the grades from the Bombers’ defeat in the series opener.

Joe Girardi, Manager: (D-) I’ll give Girardi credit for the double steal he put on in the third, but that’s about the only thing he did right in this game.

A.J. Burnett, SP: (A-) With pitching coach Dave Eiland back in the Yankees’ dugout, Burnett rebounded from a horrific June to toss 6 2/3 scoreless innings in his first start of July. The right-hander gave up only four hits with six strikeouts, but he was wild at times, walking three, delivering two wild pitches, and hitting his league-leading 10th batter.

Derek Jeter, SS: (B) The captain was 1-for-4 with a walk, run scored, and stolen base.

Nick Swisher, RF: (A-) Swisher was 1-for-3 with two walks and a steal, but he struck out twice.

Mark Teixeira, 1B: (C) Teixeira walked twice, but his 12-game hitting streak came to an end with an 0-for-3 performance. However, he did do his job by advancing runners to second and third with less than two outs via a grounder to first in the first, which led to the team’s only run.

Alex Rodriguez, 3B: (D) A-Rod had a productive plate appearance in the first, driving in the Yanks’ only run with a sacrifice fly, but he was retired in his following four at-bats, including a strikeout with the bases loaded and nobody out in the third.

Robinson Cano, 2B: (D-) Cano had a rare bad day, going 0-for-5 at the plate and striking out with the bases loaded and one out in the third. He also should’ve been charged with an error on Lyle Overbay’s rally-starting single in the 11th. I’ll give the second baseman a little bit of credit, though, for his nice snare earlier in the game.

Jorge Posada, DH: (D) Posada was 1-for-5 with two strikeouts.

Curtis Granderson, CF: (C-) After making a poor read on Overbay’s deep drive to center in the fourth, Granderson recovered in time to make an outstanding catch near the warning track. But at the plate, the outfielder was once again useless versus left-handed pitching. He walked once, but he went 0-for-3 to fall to .232 on the season and 14-for-73 (.192) against lefties. In unrelated news, Austin Jackson is hitting .308.

Franciso Cervelli, C: (B) To use Cervelli’s two hits in his first two at-bats as a reason why Girardi didn’t bunt with him in the sixth is ridiculous because the catcher also entered the game hitless in his last 13 tries and 14 for his last 79 (.177). Cervelli also had a passed ball on Friday and should’ve been charged with a second that was ruled a wild pitch.

Brett Gardner, LF: (D+) Gardner went 0-for-4 with a strikeout, but he made an incredible leaping grab against the left-field wall to rob Alex Gonzalez of an extra-base hit.

Damaso Marte, RP: (B) Marte went to a full count before retiring the only batter he faced in the seventh inning.

Joba Chamberlain, RP: (F)

Mariano Rivera, RP: (A-) The “greatest reliever ever” is too fragile to pitch more than one inning on a consistent basis anymore.

David Robertson, RP: (F) The right-hander has worked just three perfect outings in his 28 appearances this season. That’s good for a guy who throws only one inning at a time, right?

Chan Ho Park, RP: (F) Garbage.

Yankees Overall: (D) It’s nice to see Burnett back on track, but the offense and bullpen were once again miserable, and Girardi didn’t give his team the best chance to win.

Follow me on Twitter at JordanHarrison .

Jordan Schwartz is one of Bleacher Report’s New York Yankees and College Basketball Featured Columnists. His book Memoirs of the Unaccomplished Man is available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and authorhouse.com.

Jordan can be reached at jordanschwartz2003@yahoo.com

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Alex Rodriguez’s eighth-inning two-run homer off Mariners closer David Aardsma helped the Yankees salvage the finale of a three-game series and avoid a possibly crushing defeat thanks to Jorge Posada.

The catcher, who is one of the worst defensive backstops in the American League, was charged with a passed ball in the top of the eighth when he whiffed on CC Sabathia’s 2-1 offering to Russell Branyan.

The blunder allowed Josh Bard to move to third and the speedy Ichiro Suzuki to advance into scoring position as the tying run.

On the next pitch, Branyan laced a two-run single into right to tie the game at 2 and put Sabathia’s great outing into jeopardy of resulting in a no-decision.

A-Rod dashed those worries, however, with his 595th career blast in the bottom of the inning, propelling the Yanks to a 4-2 victory on Thursday afternoon in the Bronx.

Let’s take a look at the grades from this game.

CC Sabathia, SP: (A+) The big lefty won his sixth straight start—his 10th victory of the year—by allowing just two runs (one earned) on five hits and two walks, while striking out four. Following two poor outings by Phil Hughes and Javier Vazquez, Sabathia once again played the role of stopper.

Joe Girardi, Manager: (A) On a different day, Girardi may have pulled Sabathia when he appeared to lose the strike zone in the seventh or again in the eighth when the southpaw got into trouble. But the skipper let CC work through the jams and toss a season-high 117 pitches, which was wise because bringing in the bullpen probably would’ve gotten the Yankees into a deeper hole.

Derek Jeter, SS: (C) After a poor June, during which he hit .243, the captain started July with a slightly better day at the plate, going 1-for-4 with a run scored.

Nick Swisher, RF: (C) Swisher doubled in four at-bats.

Mark Teixeira, 1B: (A) Teixeira extended his hitting streak to 12 games and is now batting a season-high .234.

Alex Rodriguez, DH: (A+) A-Rod is tied for fourth in the American League with 56 RBIs.

Robinson Cano, 2B: (A) Just another MVP-type day for Cano. He picked up his 16th homer and a walk, but because he only went 1-for-3, his average dropped to .353.

Jorge Posada, C: (C-) Posada is tied for the second-most passed balls in the AL with four and those have come in just 30 starts behind the plate.

Curtis Granderson, CF: (F) Granderson left the bases loaded in the sixth and went 0-for-3 to drop his average to .235. He’s hitting .209 versus lefties. By the way, Austin Jackson is batting .308.

Brett Gardner, LF: (F) Gardner was 0-for-3 with a strikeout.

Ramiro Pena, 3B: (F) Pena found his way into the lineup again. His 0-for-3 drops him to .176. Maybe it’s time to send him down?

Mariano Rivera, RP: (A) Rivera worked a perfect ninth for his 18th save.

Yankees Overall Grade: (B+) Getting shut down by Cliff Lee and Felix Hernandez is understandable, but scoring just two runs in six innings off Ryan Rowland-Smith, who entered the game 1-7 with a 6.18 ERA, is a little scarly. The Yanks need to hope their bats wake up this weekend and A.J. Burnett turns things around this weekend against Toronto.

Follow me on Twitter at JordanHarrison .

Jordan Schwartz is one of Bleacher Report’s New York Yankees and College Basketball Featured Columnists. His book Memoirs of the Unaccomplished Man is available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and authorhouse.com.

Jordan can be reached at jordanschwartz2003@yahoo.com

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com