Cervelli Made A Game of It, But...

In the 9th inning of last night's game against the Diamondbacks, Francisco Cervelli gave the Yankees and the home crowd a reason to believe that, once again, a late-inning rally would precede another comeback win. But in extra innings, the Yankees would fall to Arizona and lose the game, 6-2.

Diamondbacks starter Patrick Corbin pitched a brilliant game, tagging the Yankees lineup with fast ball after fastball. He would pitch only one mistake--a 78 mph slider--to Robinson Cano who launched it into right center field on a line drive. he would keep the Yankees at bay from there until the 7th inning.

Then with JJ. Putz in for Arizona to close in the 9th, Cervelli launched a monster home run to left field, tying the game at 2-2. Brennan Boesch had already committed an out, so groundouts by Ichiro and Lyle Overbay sent the game into overtime.

And it would be all Arizona from there. David Robertson and David Phelps were able to keep the D-backs of the board through the 10th and 11th innings. But Phelps got touched up in the 12th. His first batter, Gerardo Parra, smacked a double to left. Two walks came from Paul Goldschmidt and Miguel Montero, on an interference call and hit by pitch, respectively. Then, Cody Ross singled to left scoring Parra. And finally, Eric Chavez, who I felt the whole series would get a big hit in somewhere, launched a double to center clearing the bases. Overbay, Brett Gardner and Vernon Wells would go down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning.

But one bright spot to last night's game was the pitching performance of Phil Hughes. Although he

Getty Images / Elsa

gave up two home runs last in the 3rd and 6th innings, Hughes pitched a good game, getting his fastball up to 93 mph and having good location on both his fastball and changeup. His demeanor on the mound was also markedly different from his last start when he got hammered in Baltimore. Hughes pitched with an intensity suggesting that his first two starts were needed warm-ups following his injury, and that perhaps he's good to go now. He couldn't get the win, but he didn't lose either. And being able to stay in the game and pitch 7 innings was key in the Yankees having a chance to comeback and win the game.

Tonight, Andy Pettitte is back on the mound to open the series against Toronto. He faces RHP Brandon Morrow. I'll be paying close to attention to Andy's face looking for any signs of a grimace, possibly indicating tightness in his back. Game time is 7:07 pm.

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Kuroda Sparkles; Yankees Take Series Against Baltimore

AP Photo / Kathy Willens

Hiroki Kuroda was at his best last night, limiting the Baltimore Orioles to 5 hits but no runs as he pitched a complete game shutout in the Yankees 3-0 series win.

You would think during a shutout game that a starting pitcher would have to mix in a bevy of different pitches going through a lineup several times. But Kuroda managed to shut down Baltimore throwing nothing but splitters and sinkers. There may have been a few times he threw a curveball and he only threw one fastball the entire night to Adam Jones. The result was the Orioles being mainly limited to hitting ground balls.

In the end, Kuroda would allow 5 hits, no walks, and would strikeout 5 over 113 pitches.

I don't think anyone believed that Joe Girardi would keep Kuroda in the game for the ninth inning. With the Yankees leading by three, it would have been a save opportunity for Mariano Rivera. Also, considering how important pitching is to the Yankees right now, it would have been the right move for Girardi to rest Kuroda for the last frame. But Kuroda showed no signs of fatigue, and would have pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 9th, if not for Jayson Nix's fielding error that allowed Nick Markakis to reach first base.

The Associated Press

And while the loud bats of Robinson Cano and Kevin Youkilis were silenced last night, the Yankees got all the offense they needed in the fifth inning from Brett Gardner. After Brennan Boesch scored on a sacfly from Nix, Gardner hit a two run home run to right field scoring Francisco Cervelli, who had previously singled to left field.

Alex Rodriguez was with the team in the dugout for the second game in a row last night. Looks like Alex is re-acclimating himself to the fans and the media following all the drama of the Biogenesis scandal. I like that he's supporting the team this way and besides, no need to stay "underground" if you're not guilty, right?

The Yankees get the night off tonight but will begin interleague play against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday. Ivan Nova will get the start--and a chance to keep his spot in the rotation--against RHP Brandon McCarthy. Andy Pettitte's start has been pushed back to Friday, as the Yankees want to proceed with caution and give him more time to rest his back. Game time is 7:05 pm.

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Clock Is Ticking On Phil Hughes

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There's really no way to say this except to be brutally honest: if Phil Hughes does not find a way to win games, he's going to find himself working out of the bullpen.

I could be way off about that, but it's what I believe to be true. Hughes laid another goose egg yesterday afternoon to the Orioles, helping the Yankees to a 5-3 loss. He gave up 3 home runs, 2 walks and 9 hits pitching in only 3 innings. In his two combined starts this sesson, Hughes has allowed 17 hits and 8 earned runs in a measly 7 innings.

Granted, Hughes is coming off of a back injury that had him sidelined during Spring Training. And he did pitch earlier than expected following the Yankees' horrific 1-3 start, so perhaps he simply needs more time to get his pitching groove back. But the Yankees may not be willing to show much more patience for Phil when they are relying on pitching to win games, and when they have David Phelps waiting in the wings.

Phelps was originally slated for last Saturday's start against Detroit which was eventually given to Hughes. Today, Phelps came in in relief and pitched brilliantly, allowing only one hit and striking out 6 in 4 innings. This was the kind of pitching performance that helped him earn in a spot in the rotation out of Spring Training. This will be the kind of pitching performance that will earn him a spot back on to the rotation in replacement of Hughes.

There is another variable to this situation, however. Ivan Nova was horrible in his first outing against Detroit and the Yankees appear to have a short leash on him also. If he bombs out in his second start, whenever that is, Phelps could replace him giving Hughes a reprieve. But if Nova bounces back with a solid win, the pressure will be on Hughes to make a decent game of it in his next outing.

And the Yankees offense wasn't great today, as the bats were cooled by Orioles pitcher, Jason Hammel. Only Travis Hafner, Vernon Wells and Francisco Cervelli were able to get hits, with Hafner and Wells both hitting solo home runs.

Hiroki Kuroda will get the start in Sunday night's game against LHP Wei-Yin Chen. Game time is 8:05 pm.

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Yankees Lineup for 4/9/13

Francisco Cervelli will catch Andy Pettitte tonight. Here is the lineup:

Brett Gardner CF - .167/.242/.267
Robinson Cano 2B - .222/.300/.481
Kevin Youkilis 3B - .370/.433/.630
Travis Hafner DH - .391/.481/.652
Vernon Wells LF - .381/.500/.762
Ichiro Suzuki RF - .182/.240/.182
Eduardo Nunez SS - .267/.333/.333
Lyle Overbay 1B - .174/.208/.217
Francisco Cervelli C - .308/.438/.615

Andy Pettitte LHP - 1-0, 1.13 ERA

Formula Works Against Verlander In Yanks Win

AP Photo / Carlos Osorio

It would take solid pitching and early runs to keep Detroit's Justin Verlander from dominating today's game. Fortunately, the Yankees were able to do both and secure their second win of the season, shutting out the Tigers 7-0.

CC Sabathia was not entirely on top of his game this afternoon, but he he gave the Yankees a strong outing, giving up only 4 hits and walking three in 7 shutout innings. CC mixed up his pitches today throwing more changeups than usual and putting more velocity on his fastball. He was only able to induce 4 strikeouts which is a low mark for him, but he managed to keep the bats of Detroit's lineup to grounders and fly balls; it proved to be enough to prevent the Tigers from scoring any runs.

But most notably, CC completely shut down the "meat" of the Tigers' lineup. Two of his 4 strikeouts came against Prince Fielder who struck out swinging in the first and fourth innings. All three of Miguel Cabrera's at-bats against CC ended in groundball plays. For the afternoon, Cabrera would never get on base.

David Robertson came in to pitch the 8th inning and would pick up where CC left off. Although he gave up singles to Torii Hunter and Fielder for his first hit of the afternoon, he struck out Cabrera and Matt Tuiasosopo swinging and induced a pop-up from Victor Martinez.

And although it was not a save situation, Mariano Rivera pitched the ninth inning. He too gave up 2 singles to Omar Infante and Ramon Santiago, but induced a groundout and flyout from Brayan Pena and Austin Jackson, respectively. He closed the game with a strikeout that caught Hunter swinging.

The offense got to work right away against Verlander. Although there were no runs produced in the first inning, Kevin Youkilis doubled on a fly ball to center field. In the second, Francisco Cervelli doubled on a flyball to left scoring Ichiro Suzuki, who was on first base after a force out. After Lyle Overbay flied out to left, Jayson Nix hit a monster home run to left. The Yankees were up 3-0 and never looked back.



AP Photo

Two more runs came in the third as Eduardo Nunez scored on a sacfly from Ichiro, and Vernon Wells scored on single from Cervelli. Nunez came in to pinch run for Travis Hafner on third base. Before the game, Nunez told Girardi that he could not go, as the pain and inflammation in his bicep muscle continues to prevent him from swinging a bat. He is however, available to pinch run.

In the ninth, after singles to centerfield, both Nix and Brett Gardner scored on another single from Youkilis.

And the Yankees are getting all that they've needed from Youkilis, Hafner and Wells. In place of Alex Rodriguez at third, Youkilis is batting .409 with 9 hits, 4 runs and 4 RBIs in his first 22 at-bats. Hafner is hitting to a .350 clip, having gotten a hit in all 6 games thus far. Wells is hitting .294 with 5 hits and 4 RBIs on two solo home runs.

Tomorrow, Hiroki Kuroda will keep his place in the lineup following his fnger injury, to face the Cleveland Indians against former phenom Ubaldo Jimenez. What I'm looking forward to, as I'm sure many of you are, is to see what Nick Swisher will do against his former team. Needless to say I'm hoping this won't be a good series for him. Game time is 4 pm.

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Andy and Mo Shine In Win

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It's been said for several weeks now that the Yankees would need to rely on pitching to secure wins in the absence of their superstar offense. After losing the first two games to the Red Sox, their pitch staff came through tonight in a big way to secure their first win of the 2013 season.

And it's only fitting that tonight's great pitching came off of veterans Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera.

In their 69th win/save combination, Andy and Mo were able to control the Red Sox offense, leading the Yankees to a 4-2 win and preventing what could have been their first sweep of the season.

Andy pitched 8 straight innings of stellar baseball, out-duelling righty Ryan Dempster by mixing all four of his pitches--fastball, curveball, changeup and slider--with exceptional placement and control. In the first, it seemed as though he might have a rough night, giving up two singles to Shane Victorino and Mike Napoli and then throwing a wild pitch that got past catcher Francisco Cervelli. On the wild pitch, Victorino attempted to score, only to be stopped by a fast-acting Cervelli who was able to recover the ball and make it to the plate in enough time to block it and get Victorino for the final out. Andy rolled from there.  He would end the game giving up only one run, two walks and three strikeouts.

In the ninth, Mo also struggled a bit, giving up a walk to Dustin Pedroia who would eventually score

The Associated Press

on a groundout by Will Middlebrroks. But Mo settled in, getting his first save of the season by catching Jackie Bradley, Jr. looking on his signature fastball cutter.

And the offense came through for the veterans in a big way. Lyle Overbay hit a 2-run single in the second inning, scoring Travis Hafner and Eduardo Nunez. Brett Gardner came through in the third with a first pitch, line-drive home run to right field. And Cervelli gave the Yankees their final run in the seventh with a monster home run to left center.

Tomorrow, the Yankees travel to Detroit to face the Tigers. Ivan Nova will get the start against Doug Fister. Game time is 1 pm.

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Yankees Lose Opener to Red Sox

Today was a "rainy" day for the New York Yankees two-fold. While what started as a sunny, warm afternoon turned into a stark evening of rain, the Yankees also got "rained" on by the Boston Red Sox, losing their home opener 8-2. No offense and subpar pitching conspired to turn the excitement of Opening Day into feelings of "concern" as to whether this game foreshadows what may be to come while many of the superstars are on the disabled list.

I threw that last line in there just to stoke the nervous Yankee fans that are already crying armageddon after today's loss. It's just the first game of the season, yet while I point that out, many fans are anticipating nothing but hard times for this team until the return of the bredwinners. Make no mistake, today's game did expose some problems that the Yankees need to work on--some in a hurry--but I have no doubt that this team will be okay.

AP Photo

One thing that needs to change is whatever goes on in CC Sabathia's head on Opening Day. While his role as the ace seemingly gets him the automatic start, he has yet to win a home opener for the Yankees. Today, mustering no better than 5 innings and giving up 4 runs in the second, doesn't do much to breed confidence in CC's ability to start this team's season on the plus side. He is now 0-2 in 5 Opening Day starts with an ERA over 7.

In that second inning, CC gave up a single to Jonny Gomes and walked Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Boston's new kid, Jackie Bradley, Jr. to load the bases. He then gave up singles to Jose Iglesias, Shane Victorino (for two runs) and Dustin Pedroia. The inning proved to be all Boston needed.

Some pluses for CC however were that he showed good movement on his changeup and slider. The fastball was not working well for him today, as he didn't have much speed on it and struggled to locate it.

AP Photo

And while CC did manage to hold the Red Sox at 4 runs until his departure after the 5th, the Yankees Kevin Youkilis double, Vernon Wells walk and Ichiro single. After Jayson Nix went down on strikes, Francisco Cervelli scored Youkilis and Wells on a line-drive single to right field. Boston starter Jon Lester held them at bay for one more inning, and Boston's next 4 relievers took over the rest. Boston would go on to score 4 more runs, one in the seventh inning and 3 in the ninth, to put the game away.
offense did little to nothing to back him up. Their only 2 runs came in the 4th after they loaded the bases on a

Other changes that need to happen now are hitters showing more patience at the plate; most notably Brett Gardner and Eduardo Nunez. Maybe the excitement of Opening Day made them take swings that they shouldn't have, but we've seen this in these two before and it's a big problem now. With so much offense now missing from the lineup, these two are the fastest and most explosive base runners the Yankees have. With the team needing to resort to small ball to get runs, these two have to get on. Speed and base stealing is what is going to propel this lineup until the home run hitters--Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson--return. I will say that Nunez did a very good job defensively today, making good throws and stops when he needed to.

Elsa / Getty Images

And speaking of A-Rod, seeing him in uniform in the dugout for the game today was a welcome sight. He was not introduced with the rest of the team, however, and I think that was right move. He would have surely been booed, and why /kill the excitement of Opening Day with that negativity. He did speak to the media briefly before the game, and as expected, would not answer any questions involving the Biogenesis investigation. He did tell the media that he was not worried, and that he felt everything would be good.

Game 2 resumes Wednesday at 7 pm. Hiroki Kuroda gets the start against Clay Buccholz,

Follow Rasheeda Cooper on twitter: @ra_cooper

Cervelli: I Consulted With PED Clinic Following My Foot Injury

via cbslocal.com
 

Francisco Cervelli is the latest Yankee named in what I'm dubbing the "Biogenesis PED Scandal."

According to this report by Tim Brown and Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports, Cervelli's name appears "crossed out" on a list of names which also now reportedly includes Baltimore Orioles third baseman Danny Valencia, but most notably, Milwaukee Brewers slugger Ryan Braun.

Upon news of his name being listed, Cervelli released this statement via Twitter:

Following my foot injury in March 2011, I consulted with a number of experts, including BioGenesis Clinic, for (cont)
— Francisco Cervelli (@fran_cervelli) February">https://twitter.com/fran_cervelli/status/298996276110970880">February 6, 2013

(cont)legal ways to aid my rehab and recovery.I purchased supplements that I am certain were not prohibited by Major League Baseball.
— Francisco Cervelli (@fran_cervelli) February">https://twitter.com/fran_cervelli/status/298996478972669953">February 6, 2013

Unlike Alex Rodriguez, Cervelli's name does not appear with "drugs taken or purchased" listed next to it. Regardless, Cervelli is now officially part of MLB's ongoing investigation

Cervelli's explanation sounds perfectly logical. What we don't yet fully understand about the Biogenesis clinic, is how it marketed itself in the anti-aging and sports industry. It seems reasonable that athletes may have used the clinic and Anthony Bosch to "consult" on injuries or anything related to the use of PEDs if the clinic marketed itself as such--that's what Braun is claiming he did, saying also that he has "nothing to hide." Braun is now the fourth player named in this scandal thus far that has failed a drug test administered by MLB. His result was "overturned" on a technicality.

Until MLB completes its investigation, I am withholding judgment on all the athletes named in this scandal thus far, and any other names that are yet to be released. However, I do applaud Cervelli for two things: answering the accusations immediately and having the guts to admit to purchasing supplements. That raised my eyebrow, and I'm sure many of yours, but his willingness to be as forthright as possible can only work in his favor.

Still waiting on you, A-Rod.

Follow Rasheeda Cooper on twitter: @ra_cooper

My Return and Moves for the 2012 Season

Fanatics!! Look who decided to come out of hiding. Yes, folks, I'm back. I have figured out a way to keep up with my busy life and continue to bring you guys my take on everything Yankees. The secret? Force myself to write at least every week no matter how tired I am, even if it's just a paragraph. I feel as though I've been completely disconnected from you all, and I can't have that. You guys are my extended family, and so, here I am, ready to talk Yankees.

On the ALDS - I won't go into great detail on this; the last thing I want to do is re-hash horrible memories of a loss that hurt like crazy. All that I will say is that the offense was abysmal and Joe Girardi's management was again, questionable.

It's time for a shake-up, people!

So where should it begin? Let's talk about this lineup. If I'm Brian Cashman, my first move is to put Nick Swisher on the trading block. It hurts me to say because I love Swish, but the downfall in his production this year, combined with another failed postseason, means it's time to go. The Yankees have a $10 million option on him for 2012, and if they decide to pick it up, it should only be for the sake of trading him. I give Swish much credit for the adjustments he made at the plate mid-season, which obviously helped him end the season batting .260, and for his home run production. But it's no longer enough. At this point, Carlos Beltran sounds like a viable option if he can stay healthy. If not Beltran, why not Andruw Jones? Jones is still a great outfielder and I believe he will produce more if he can play everyday.

Next up is Derek Jeter. For those of you who believe that to say anything adverse about Jeter is sacrilege, please skip ahead to the next paragraph. It is time to move The Captain to the end of the lineup. The days of Jeter being the fastest, most productive hitter and base stealing threat are long gone. Brett Gardner and Curtis Granderson have clearly taken over that role, and I say, they should fill the 1-2 spots, respectively. I'd place Jeter in the 9-hole to not only tighten the back-end of the lineup, but also to give him opportunities to hit as the second lead-off man. It would be quite the scene to watch eight players' names be called before Jeter's, but Girardi must not continue to allow the reality of Jeter's present to be superseded by the legacy of his past.

And it's time for a switch-up in the middle of the lineup. I say, have Robinson Cano, Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira hit in the 3-4-5 spots, respectively. Sure, the Yankees had nothing to show for this set-up in the playoffs, but over a season, I think this will work well. Robbie is clearly the best hitter on the team and should have the 3-spot. If Tex bats behind A-Rod, he'll see better pitches which will hopefully translate into more hits and a better batting average. And, regardless of what any of you fanatics may think, if A-Rod comes back as healthy as he was during Spring Training and the beginning of the season, he will still be their best clean-up man. In A-Rod I still trust!

Russell Martin will no doubt be back as the everyday catcher, but my vote for his back-up is Francisco Cervelli. If the Baseball Gods would allow this kid to get through a full season of baseball without injury, I see no reason why he can't back-up Martin. He's a decent hitter, he's fearless and he calls a great game; particularly when the ace of the staff is the mound.

Which brings me to all the hullabaloo over CC Sabathia. If any of you believe that he will not be back with the Yankees next year, you also believe that the Yankees will pick up David Ortiz. CC will opt-out of his contract, as he has every right to, but it will only be to force the Yankees to pay him more money. He's become accustomed to life in New York and his family loves it here. But besides that, he knows that the Yankees can't afford to let him walk; he's going to get every bit of money he asks for, even if it means Cashman giving up his own salary to do so.

Speaking of Cashman, he's expected to sign a new contract with the team any day now. Sorry to you fanatics that hate him, and too bad to the Red Sox fans who secretly pray that he will become the new GM in Beantown. It ain't gonna happen. With a questionable rotation to sort out last offseason, Cashman put on his best poker face with the signings of Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia and came out a winner; he also gambled and won by bringing in Jones and Eric Chavez. He's not going anywhere.

But Colon and Garcia will most likely not be back in 2012, so again, the Yankees head into another offseason in desperate need of viable starting pitching. Texas' CJ Wilson seems to be on the list of everyone's favorites; he's pitched .500 over the last 2 seasons with a 31-15 record and an ERA just over 3.00. He also ranked in the top 10 lowest ERAs this season with a 2.94. The cardinals' Edwin Jackson has also been mentioned as an option for the Yankees. Yu Darvish, the phenom from Japan, is also picking up steam around the blogosphere as a possible candidate, but I doubt if the Yankees are open to signing another Asian pitcher; it hasn't worked out very well for them so far. I'm guessing all roads will probably lead to Wilson and the resurgence of talk about "King" Felix Hernandez. I'm resigned to giving up on that dream, however; he's not leaving Seattle.

So as the offseason gets underway and the Hot Stove heats up, I'm gearing up for an exciting few months of ridiculous rumors, speculation and the chase for Sabathia. Should be a really good time, fanatics.

Follow Rasheeda Cooper on twitter: @ra_cooper

They Love Us in Minnesota

Let's gloat a little, fanatics. The Yankees OWN the Minnesota Twins. It's just a fact. I normally watch Yankee games feeling nothing but antipathy for the opposing team, and for me, the bigger the Yankee beat-down, the happier I feel. But when the Yankees play the Twins I actually feel bad, really. Of course I want my boys to win, but dang, sometimes I say to myself, "Will the Twins ever catch a break?" And will they? It just seems like they have no answer for the Yankees no matter who's on the mound or in the lineup; it's kind of sad, actually. Thank God I'm not a Twins fan.

Take last night's game. The Yankees won, 8-4. Another game where the home run dominance that the Yankees have shown all season was in the forefront. Mark Teixeira started the home run parade with a 2-run shot to left in the 3rd inning, scoring Curtis Granderson and putting the boys up 3-2. Speaking of Teixeira, I'm very disappointed in his .249 batting average, but if he continues to hit the long stroke with men on base, I'm more than willing to overlook it. Next up was Nick Swisher, who crushed another 2-run shot to left, scoring Tex and putting the Yankees up 5-2. Andruw Jones immediately followed with a solo blast to the 3rd level of the left field porch on a 3-1 count; Yankees go up, 6-2. I have to say that it's amazing how much you ignore great players that you're not privileged to see on a regular basis. I've never cared much about anything that I've ever heard about Jones throughout his career as far as his power goes, but I see now what baseball fans have been talking about; this guy can turn on a fastball like nobody's business. Not just the power behind it, but the speed on his swing is incredible. The blast was as Paul O'Neill would say, an absolute bomb!

Beside the homers, Yankees got hits from guys that have been coming up big in big situations. The Tex 2-run homer was made possible on a triple from Granderson. Brett Gardner hit a sac-fly in the 2nd inning that scored Eduardo Nunez, who has certainly earned the right to remain with the team for the rest of the season and the playoffs. In the 9th, a single from Francisco Cervelli scored Jones and Nunez, and pretty much put the game too far ahead for the Twins.

You would think that all this would have been enough to showcase the Yankees dominance over the Twins. But before a run was ever scored, the Baseball Gods, who can be downright cruel when they want to be, played the nastiest joke on Minnesota that could be played. CC Sabathia, who was beyond shaky in the first few innings of last night's game, gave up what was originally deemed a 2-run shot to Justin Morneau in the 1st inning, by the 1st place umpire. Unfortunately for Morneau, Joe Girardi, still reeling from the costly home run call the night before, had a better view of the shot and argued it a foul ball. The umpires reviewed the call and reversed it. Wow!! At that moment all I could do was shake my head, I mean, if this were any other team, reversing that call would have had me jumping out of  my seat. But I genuinely felt sorry for them. They have the absolute worst luck against the Yankees than any team I've ever seen. Really.

And it's becoming evident now how frustrating the bad luck is becoming. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, was ejected from last night's game after emphatically arguing the reversed call. It made no sense for him to argue the way he did; the umpires reviewed it. We can go back to Wednesday's game against the Royals and say that the umpires blew a call there that they reviewed, but this situation was completely different. Wednesday's call was to determine a homer or a double; last night was to determine a homer or a foul ball. It's highly unlikely that umpires will miss a foul ball call on a replay. But getting back to my point, Gardenhire's frustration, I believe, was less about the call, and more about the call coming against the Yankees. He knows that any opportunity given to the Bombers to take a game, they will, and they did last night. I really feel for Gardenhire.

Anyhoo, Alex Rodriguez was back with the team last night. He's not expected to be activated until either Saturday or next Tuesday, but it was a plus to just have him present in the dugout, eating quenepas. If you're curious about those "Spanish limes" that A-Rod tosses back, you can read up on them, here. I love them; got a batch in my fridge right now.

Follow Rasheeda Cooper on twitter: @ra_cooper