The Yankees hitters were off balance all night as CC Sabathia did his best to keep his team in the game. Despite not having his best stuff or control, the big man allowed just two runs, both Chase Utley solo home runs, in seven innings of work.

The Phillies scratched across four more against a suddenly very shakey Yankees bullpen. Phil Hughes, David Robertson, and Brian Bruney were chief among those who didn’t get their job done.

The Yankees had never been shut out in the opening game of a series, but nearly were last night. They got a run in the 9th, in part thanks to a Jimmy Rollins throwing error. It snapped a streak of 17 scoreless innings by the Yankees in World Series play (they had been shut out by Josh Beckett in the final game of the 2003 series).

Chase Utley joined Babe Ruth as the only left-handed hitters to have a 2-HR game against a left-handed pitcher. The Bambino accomplished the feat against the Cardinals in 1928.

The Yankees enjoyed some afternoon delight on Wednesday, defeating the Baltimore Orioles 6-4 to complete their second straight 3-game series sweep.  In doing so they extended their current winning streak to six games and moved two full games ahead of Boston in the AL East.  A.J. Burnett threw an effective 7 innings to pick up his 9th win, buoyed by a pair of RBI each from Jorge Posada and Nick Swisher.  Mariano Rivera picked up his 28th save after Brian Bruney allowed a pair of 9th inning home runs.

The Yankees jumped on Orioles starter, and loser, Jason Berken for four runs in the 1st inning.  Derek Jeter led off the ball-game with a double to left-center and moved to third base two batters later when Mark Teixeira singled to center.  Alex Rodriguez drove his 10th run in his last 9 games with a single through the left side for a 1-0 lead.  With the bases loaded and two out, Robinson Cano doubled the lead with an infield single and Swisher followed with a 2-run single to put the Yankees up 4-0. On the day, the Yankees were 7-15 with runners in scoring position. They came through with no on base as well-Posada added his 12th home run two innings later for a 5-0 advantage.

Burnett put men on base in every inning but the 5th, but the Orioles couldn’t deliver they key hit to score a run. They finally got on the board in the 7th on Nick Markakis‘ sacrifice fly and a Burnett wild pitch.  Burnett also got help on defense from Swisher, who made the worst and best plays of the day.

The right fielder dropped Brian Roberts‘ fly ball to star the 3rd inning for a 2-base error.  But with two aboard and two outs, he made a leaping, over the shoulder catch of a ball driven to right by TyWiggington to end the frame.  Swisher later took an extra base hit away from Luke Scott in the 6th inning with a leaping catch at the wall.

Bruney, working for the first time in 12 days had an up and down appearance in the 9th.  He struck out the first two batters he faced, but then gave up back to back home runs to Adam Jones and Markakis.  Joe Girardi quickly called on his closer, Rivera, who struck out Aubrey Huff looking to convert his 24th consecutive save opportunity.

Game Notes

The Yankees begin a 4-game series with the Oakland A’s on Thursday night (7:05 p.m. ET).  CC Sabathia will oppose New Jersey native Vin Mazzaro in the opener.

The Yankees are in 1st place this last in the season for the first time since the final game of the 2006 season.  They’re at a season high 20 games over .500.  It’s the first time they’ve accomplished that feat since the ’07 season.

Phil Hughes tossed a scoreless 8th inning to lower his ERA in relief to 0.81.  He has not been scored upon in 20 innings.

WP – Bulger (4-1)  SV – Fuentes (25)  LP – Melancon (0-1)

The Yankees are going to have make a decision soon on the immediate future of Joba Chamberlain.  The Yankees young star imploded once again last night, lasting just 4 1/3 innings in a 10-6 loss to the Los Angeles Angels.  To make matters worse, the Yankees had staked him to a 5-1 lead.  Chamberlain wasn’t completely at fault though- the Yankees are still snake bitten in Anaheim.  Errors by Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter and another poor relief outing from Brian Bruney all contributed to the “Mess out West“.

Chamberlain’s night started out in fine fashion.  He struck out Chone Figgins to start the game and retired the side in order in the 1st inning on just 9 pitches.  But a 29-pitch 2nd inning was a portend of things to come.  He worked his way out of a 2-on, no-out jam in the 4th, but he wouldn’t be so lucky in the 5th.

Yankees killer Figgins reached on a bloop single and stole 2nd base, though replays showed he was out.  One batter later, former Yankee Bobby Abreu roped a single to left to cut the Yankees lead to 5-2.  After Abreu stole 2nd, clearly safe this time, another former Yankee Juan Rivera reached on A-Rod’s throwing error.  Kendry Morales followed with a game tying 3-run blas,t and I mean blast, to dead center field.  Joe Girardi finally gave Joba the heave ho after Mike Napoli doubled.

It meant another no-decision for Chamberlain, who has the ignominious record of the least amount of decisions by a pitcher in his first 29 big league starts.  The Angels took the lead for good in the 6th on a Figgins RBI triple and another RBI single by Abreu.  Both runs were charged to Mark Melancon, who had been recalled from Scranton earlier in the day.

Melky Cabrera’s RBI single in the 7th cut the deficit to one, but Bruney ran into more trouble after replacing Melancon in the bottom of the inning with one and two out. (The inning would have been over but Jeter, who had just gone into play defense, dropped a pop up.)  Bruney walked Jeff Mathis and then gave up a 3-run home run to light hitting Erick Aybar.  The Yankees put two aboard with two outs in the 9th, but Angels closer Brian Fuentes struck out Jorge Posada to end the game.

Things had started out promising in the 1st inning.  Jeter lined the game’s first pitch past Joe Saunders head for a lead off single.  Johnny Damon followed with a walk and two batters later, A-Rod singled in the game’s first run.  Nick Swisher then lined a 2-run single to left for a 3-0 Yankees lead.

Jose Molina, making his first start since returning from the DL, Jeter, and Damon each singled in the 2nd to make it a 4-0 game and A-Rod belted his 15th home run of the season in the 5th for a 5-1 advantage.

Game Notes

Alex Rodriguez‘ home run gave him 568 in his career, one behind Rafael Palmiero for 10th place on the all-time list.  This won’t be a passing of the torch.  More like a passing of the syringe.

The Yankees still couldn’t beat the Angels despite the fact that Torii Hunter and Vlad Guerrero were each placed on the 15-day DL earlier in the day.

Jorge Posada caught a foul pop up, barehanded last night.  Chone Figgins got in his way and Posada dropped his glove in the process.  Posada caught the ball and then questioned home plate ump C.B. Buckner as to why interference wasn’t called on Figgins.  For video of the play, check out My Pinstripes.

Andy Pettitte goes for the win today against righty Jered Weaver.  It’s a nationally televised game on FOX, beginning at 4 p.m. ET.

WP – Romero (7-3)  SV – Frasor (3)  LP – Pettitte (8-4)

Late Rally Falls Short

No lead is safe at Yankee Stadium this season and the Yankees are confident they can come back from any deficit.  So trailing 7-1 to the Toronto Blue Jays this afternoon, they knew they could mount a rally. But, unfortunately, they came up short.  The Jays took advantage of poor showings from Andy Pettitte and Brian Bruney to beat the Yankees 7-6.

Pettitte continued his home struggles (4-3, 5.72 in 10 starts), surrending home runs to Alex Rios and John McDonald to put his team in a 5-1 hole.  Pettitte was charged with another run when Bruney allowed a 2-run double to Scott Rolen. (The Blue Jays’ third baseman extended his hitting streak to 23 games.)

Trailing 7-4 in the 9th, the Yankees mounted a 2-out rally on a single by Jorge Posada and Robinson Cano’s double.  Hideki Matsui, pinch-hitting for Melky Cabrera, continued his success against Blue Jays’ reliever Jason Frasor with a 2-run double that cut the Yankees deficit to a single run.  But Eric Hinske, who had earlier hit his first home run as a member of the Yankees, struck out on a 3-2 delivery from Frasor to end the ball game.

Yankees Manager Joe Girardi watched most of the game from the clubhouse after being ejected in the bottom of the 1st inning.  Derek Jeter led off the ball game with a walk and moved to 2nd base when Blue Jays’ starter Ricky Romero balked.  Jeter attempted to steal 3rd base and appeared to be safe even though the throw beat him.  But umpire Marty Foster ruled Jeter was out and then tossed Girardi from the game when he came out to argue.

Romero extended his scoreless string to 24.1 innings pitched before allowing Hinske’s home run in the 5th.  He was also charged with two more runs in the 7th when Nick Swisher stroked a 2-run single.

Game Notes

The Yankees finished the homestand with a 5-2 record.  They head to Minnesota for a 3-game series before going out to Los Angeles to face the Angels for three games prior to the All-Star break.

Mark Teixeira was 0-5 this afternoon with a pair of strikeouts and is in a 9-45 skid.

WP – Bruney (3-0)  SV – Rivera (19)  LP – White (2-1)

Jorge Posada congratulates Mo Rivera after ceremonial 1st pitch

Joba Chamberlain and Brandon Morrow have both heard the debates.  Should they be closers, future closers, set up men, starters (though we’re sure that Morrow has no equivalent of the bag of hot air that is debating it onJoba’s behalf.)?  Last night’s Yankees-Mariners game was a good fodder for throwing them both back in the pen.  Both starters were mediocre, but the Seattle bullpen did a worse job than the Yankees’ relief corp.  The end result was an 8-5 Yankees win that moved them to within 2.5 games of Boston in the AL East.

Brian Bruney had just blown a two run lead when the Yankees came to bat in the bottom of the 8th against Sean White.  Hideki Matsui greeted him with a double up the alley in right-center and the Yankees had an instant rally.  Nick Swisher ill advisedly laid down a bunt, but it was a perfect one.  Pinch-runner Brett Gardner moved to 3rd base and Swisher reach 1st base safely for a base hit.

Melky Cabrera’s double to center put the Yankees ahead 6-5 (the Melkman’s 3rd Ribbie of the night) and Derek Jeter followed with a 2-run single to give Mariano Rivera plenty of breathing room in the 9th.  Rivera had the honor of throwing out the game’s first pitch in commemoration of his 500th save and then had the opportunity of throwing the night’s last pitch as well.  He cruised through a 1-2-3 9th inning for the 501st save of his illustrious career.

Things weren’t so illustrious for Chamberlain, who reverted back to “the nibbler” after his excellent start against the Braves his last time out.  He couldn’t hold the 3-1 lead his teammates had given him and lasted just 5 1-3 innings.  Of his 96 pitches, just 55 were strikes.  He allowed 9 hits, 3 walks, and went deep into counts all night.

Morrow’s night was worse (98 pitches, 58 strikes)- 4.2 IP, and although just 1 of the 3 runs he allowed were earned, he issued 5 walks and gave up 5 base hits.  Both teams failure with runners in scoring position is the only thing that kept the game from being a 14-12 shootout.

Alex Rodriguez belted a long 2-run home run off of Chris Jakubauskas in the 7th to put the Bombers back on top 5-3.  But Joe Girardi pulled Phil Hughes, who had pitched a dominant 9-pitch 7th inning, in favor of his 8th inning “follow the script” guy.  It backfired as Bruney allowed 3 hits and a walk.   Russell Branyan’s bases loaded sacrifice fly tied the game before Bruney finally got Jose Lopez to ground out to end the inning.

Game Notes

The Red Sox have had their way with the Orioles all season, but last night the O’s suddenly woke up.  Boston built a 9-1 lead before the rains came to Camden Yards and delayed matters.  Down 10-1, the Orioles rallied late and pulled out a stunning 11-10 victory.

Eric Hinske’s flight out of Pittsburgh was delayed by the weather and he wasn’t able to get to the game in time.  Ramiro Pena is expected  to be sent down to learn to play the outfield.  The Yankees envision a Mark Mclemore type of player.

Telling stat from mlb.com’s Noah Coslov – 12 of Melky Cabrera’s 29 RBI have came in the 7th inning on and have tied the game or given the Yankees the lead.

Mariners 3rd baseman Adrian Beltre is expected to miss 6-8 weeks after undergoing surgery Tuesday to remove bone spurs in his shoulder.

The Yankees-M’s series continues tonight with Andy Pettitte facing Jarrod Washburn (or is that Keifer Sutherland?).

WP – Burnett (6-4)  LP – Redding (1-3)

No one would have expected A.J. Burnett to go out and top CC Sabathia’s performance from Friday night (7 IP 3 H 1 ER), but that’s exactly what the fellow “initialed” starter did last night.  Burnett had a no-no for 5 innings and threw 7 innings of 1-hit, shutout baseball in the Yankees’ 5-0 win over their crosstown rivals, the New York Mets.

The Yankees’ bats also continued their offensive resurgence in picking up their 4th straight win. Home runs by Jorge Posada and Nick Swisher sent Tim Redding to the showers in the 6th inning and again broke up  a close game.  Burnett was the story in this one, though, as the veteran right-hander took advantage of a Mets lineup weakened by injuries.  He walked two batters in the 2nd inning, but got catcher Brian Schneider to pop out to end the inning.  Burnett would allow one more walk, but didn’t allow a base hit until Alex Cora led off the 6th with a single.  In the two games of the latest version of the Subway Series, the Mets have had hits in just two innings.

Nick Swisher hit his 14th home run to left field to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead in the 3rd inning, but Redding kept his team in the game until the 6th.  Mark Teixeira drilled a one-out double to right-center field and scored on Alex Rodriguez‘ single back up the middle.  It was A-Rod’s 9th RBI in the last four games.

Robbie Cano doubled to left and the switch-hitting Posada, batting from the left side, followed with an opposite field 3-run blast to break the game open. It was Posada’s 10th home run of the season and his first since June 10th.

Burnett struck out a season-high 10 batters, including the last batter he faced (Jeremy Reed), in ending his evening.  Brian Bruney and David Robertson completed the shutout with one scoreless inning each.

Game Notes

Both Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon sat out the game with the flu.  As expected, Jeter feels he can play in tonight’s (8:05 p.m. ET, ESPN) series finale.

Chien-Ming Wang (0-6, 11.20) goes for his first win tonight when he faces Livan Hernandez (5-2, 4.05).  El Duque’s younger brother (who knows what ages the two really are) got a no-decision in the Luis Castillo game.

From the Elias Sports Bureau on Brett Gardner’s big Friday night: Rookie center-fielder Brett Gardner went 5-for-6 with a home run in the Yankees’ 9-1 rout over the Mets Friday night. Only two other rookies in Yankees’ history have recorded at least five hits and a home run in a game: Joe DiMaggio in 1936 (five hits and a home run) and Shane Spencer in 1998 (five hits and two home runs). Gardner’s five hit performance was the first by an individual player in a Yankees-Mets game in the regular season or postseason. Gardner has now hit a home run and a triple in the same game three times this season. He is the first Yankee to do that at least three times in a single season since Hank Bauer in 1957 (three).

And even though Derek Jeter sat out Friday, he joined some very select company on his 35th birthday: Derek Jeter turned 35 years old yesterday. His career total of 2623 hits is the seventh highest by age 35 in major-league history. The top six: Ty Cobb, 3055; Hank Aaron, 2792; Rogers Hornsby, 2754; Robin Yount, 2733; Sam Crawford, 2678; and Willie Keeler, 2675. Pete Rose had 2558 hits before turning 35 on April 14, 1976.

WP – Sabathia (6-4)  SV – Rivera (15)  LP – Villone (3-4)

Robinson Cano spent Tuesday afternoon at P.S. 55 in the Bronx as the school’s honorary principal.  Tuesday night he schooled the Washington Nationals, going 4-4 with the game winning RBI and made several stellar plays in the field in the Yankees 5-3 victory.

The Yankees fell behind 3-2 in the 5th inning when CC Sabathia surrendered a 3-run home run to Anderson Hernandez.  It was the first home run of the year for the former Met.  But the Yankees jumped on one of their former players, Ron Villone, in the 7th inning.  Johnny Damon led off with a single and scored from first when Mark Teixeira’s blast to left-center eluded a leaping Elijah Dukes for an RBI double.

Villone struck out Alex Rodriguez, but Cano’s hit a line drive over the head of Dukes, who misjudged the ball, to put the Yankees on top 4-3.  Cano was credited with a double, but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple.

Sabathia retired the first two hitters in the 8th before walking Nick Johnson with his 109th pitch.  Joe Girardi called on Brian Bruney, who kept his mouth shut and retired Ryan Zimmerman to end the inning.  The Yankees tacked on a run in the bottom half of the inning against Nats’ reliever Mike McDougal.

Hideki Matsui drew a lead off walk and was replaced by pinch-runner Brett Gardner.  The speedy outfielder stole second base, moved to third on Nick Swisher’s ground out and scored on Ramiro Pena’s bloop over the drawn in infield.  Pena had entered the game in the 7th for Derek Jeter, who left with stiffness in his left ankle.

Mariano Rivera converted his 11th straight save opportunity with a 1-2-3 9th inning.  It was his 15th save of the season and number 497 all time.

Game Notes

The Yankees defense was on his display tonight.  In addition to Cano’s glove work, Melky Cabrera made a diving ice cream cone catch in center, and Pena looked smooth on the game’s final play- a grounder up the middle that he ranged far to his left on, spun around and fired a strike to first base.

In addition to Nick Johnson and Villone, the Nationals roster also includes former Yankees Alberto Gonzalez and Wil Nieves.

Yankees’ first round draft pick Slade Heathcott attended the game and took batting practice beforehand.

New daddy Chien-Ming Wang goes for the Yankees on Wednesday in what could be his last start if he doesn’t show some improvement.  Left-hander John Lannan starts for Washington.

It’s time to review how the Yankees did in their first marking period, better known as the month of April.  It was an up and down month, but a 3-game winning streak enabled the Yankees to finish above .500 at 12-10.  That left them two games behind the first place Red Sox and Blue Jays entering May.

Player of the Month

Nick Swisher

No question, Robinson Cano’s numbers – 17 game hitting streak, .366-5-16, 18 runs – were tremendous, but without Nick Swisher the Yankees wouldn’t have finished the month with a positive record.  Swisher filled the void left first by Alex Rodriguez, and then by fellow outfielder Xavier Nady.  He led the team in home runs (7), RBI (19), runs scored (21), and OPS (1.144).

Highlights
3 Hits, 5 RBI in first win of season, 11-2 at Orioles
3 RBI, 3 runs in 6-1 win at Royals
1 RBI, 3 runs in 11-0 win at Tigers
2 HR, 4 RBI in 8-6 win at Tigers
MLB Player of the Week Award

Worst Player of the Month

With Alex Rodriguez out, not much was expected of Cody Ransom, but the Yankees got even less before a torn quad shut Ransom down for the next several months.  He hit just .180 in April and that was after going 6-20 (.300) in the last 6 games.  Ransom’s OPS was a mere .546 and he drove in just 6 runs,  3  of them in one game.  His defensive game let the Yankees down too (.946 Fielding PCT).

Pitcher of the Month

A.J.Burnett

It may seem odd for a pitcher with a 5.40 ERA, but A.J. Burnett won the award hands down.  Burnett’s ERA, of course, is warped because of the smackdown he took in Boston (5 IP 8 ER).  He stopped a pair of 2-game losing streaks and threw 111 pitches in a no-decision (the Yankees eventually won) against the Indians to rest the Yankees beleaguered bullpen.

Highlights
2-0, 5.40   Yankees are 4-1 in games Burnett starts
8 IP 3 H 2 ER 9 K in 7-2 win at Rays
5.1 IP 2 ER 6 K in 11-2 win at Orioles

Worst Pitcher of the Month

34.50.  That’s all you need to know.  Chien-Ming Wang.

Biggest Win of the Month

April 15 at Tampa Bay – The Yankees were in the finale of the opening 9-game road trip and were clinging to a .500 (4-4) record.  Andy Pettitte pitched a great game, but the Yankees trailed the Rays 3-2 after seven innings. Back to back doubles by Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon to start the eighth tied the game at 3-3.  Then in the top of the 9th, Cody Ransom reached on a one out double, and two batters later, Jeter came through again with the game winning single.

Worst Loss of the Month

Some fans will think it was the 22-4 opening day humiliation or the 16-11 Saturday loss to Boston that started as a 6-0 Yankees’ lead.  Clearly though, the Friday night game (April 24) in Boston takes the cake. A bitter cake.

The Yankees led 4-2 in the ninth with Mariano Rivera on to close things out, but Jason Bay smacked a game tying 2-out, 2-run home run.  Kevin Youkilis homered off Damaso Marte in the 11th inning for a Boston victory that set the tone for the rest of the weekend series.  It also again showed that Rivera is very mortal when facing the Red Sox.

Most Devastating Injury

A-Rod’s hip issues occurred in Spring Training, so he doesn’t qualify. (sorry Selena Roberts, I know you were counting on it.)  Xavier Nady’s elbow strain hurt the offense, but Swisher picked up much of the slack.  Without a doubt, the key injury was to Brian Bruney, the lone effective set up man to Mariano Rivera.  Bruney recorded a pair of wins and had four Holds.

Clutch Performer

Derek Jeter

The Captain, Derek Jeter, got this one.  His 9th inning home run against the Rays on April 14 busted the game open in a 7-2 win.  The next night Jeter singled in the game winning run in the 9th inning, which enabled the Yankees to take 2 of 3 from Tampa Bay.  Two nights after that, he gave the Yankees their 3rd win in 4 games with an eighth inning, game winning home run against the Cleveland Indians.

Report Card

Robinson Cano A+
Nick Swisher A
Brian Bruney A
Johnny Damon A-

Mariano Rivera B+ (that Boston game took a serious hit on his grade)
Derek Jeter B+
A.J. Burnett B+
Jorge Posada B
Jose Molina B
Andy Pettitte B
Melky Cabrera B
Ramiro Pena B
Joba Chamberlain B-

Hideki Matsui C+
Jonathan Albaladejo C
Phil Coke C
CC Sabathia C
David Robertson C

Mark Teixeira D (Walks and Defense saved him a little)
Brett Gardner D (Steals and Defense kept this, barely, from an F)
Edwar Ramirez D

Cody Ransom F
Damaso Marte F
Jose Veras F
Chien-Ming Wang F
Angel Berroa F (was only 4 games, but it showed plenty)

Incomplete
Xavier Nady
Anthony Claggett
Mark Melancon
Phil Hughes

First and foremost, Chien-Ming Wang’s woes are due to a strained abductor muscle in his hip.  At least that’s what GM Brian Cashman would like everyone to believe.  But no matter what the reason, some mental rest for Wang and his 34.50 ERA has to be a good thing.

Phil Hughes is the likely pitcher to be recalled when Wang’s spot in the rotation comes up on Tuesday, but for now reliever David Robertson has gotten another call up to the majors.

Brian Bruney was nowhere to be found in the late innings of last night’s game.   The YES cameras panned the bullpen to no avail.  It turned out that Bruney was sent back to New York in the middle of the game to get his sore pitching elbow checked out by team physician, Dr. Chris Ahmad.

Peter Abraham of the Journal News reported this afternoon that Bruney was diagnosed with a strained flexor mass and placed on the DL.   Highly touted reliever Mark Melancon has been recalled to take his place.  However, he won’t arrive in time for the start of today’s game.  To make room for Melancon on the 40-man roster, Humberto Sanchez has been released.  The injury prone right-hander was acquired in the Gary Sheffield deal.

Cody Ransom also went down last night with an injured quad.  He suffered it when he stole second base in the eighth inning.   He’s been placed on the 60-day DL and will be replaced by Angel Berroa.

On the lighter side, Alex Rodriguez is feeling great and should start a rehab assignment soon.

WP: Pettitte (2-0)   LP: Eveland (0-1)

Andy Pettitte crafted a solid outing, giving up two runs on nine hits and no walks as the Yankees take a 1-0 lead in the rain-abbreviated series with the Oakland A’s.  Mariano Rivera earned the save which marks the 57th time that Pettitte and Mo have combined to win and save, tying Bob Welch and Dennis Eckersley for the most such instances in baseball history.

The action started early, as Ryan Sweeney led off the game for the A’s with a single.  After Orlando Cabrera executed a sacrifice bunt, up stepped Jason Giambi with a runner in scoring position and one out.  The crowd reacted gracefully to the former Yank, who responded with a whole-hearted tip of the helmet.  Jason swung hard at the first offering from Pettitte and slammed a liner to straightaway center, but Brett Gardner, who has been feeling his way around the warning track in his new digs, made a leaping  catch for the out, effectively snuffing out the A’s threat.

The Yanks struck hard in the second inning, lead by Nick Swisher who started off with a walk.  Hideki Matsui, who has been showing glimmers of his old self since getting his bum knee drained, sliced a double down the left field line to make it second and third with no out.  After a struggling Cody Ransom weakly flied out to right field and did not advance the runner, A’s manager Bob Geren inexplicably drew the infield in for Brett Gardner.  On the first strike that he saw, Gardner poked  a single passed diving secondbaseman Mark Ellis to score both runners and take a 2-0 lead for the Yanks.  Immediately, Brett then stole second, and advanced to third when Derek Jeter singled.  Johnny Damon then drove Brett in with another single, but was thrown out at second trying to stretch it into a double – or perhaps attempting to draw a throw so that Jeter may advance.  In any case, Jeter would score and the Yanks would go up 4-0 when the next batter, Mark Teixeira, singled Derek in.  Jorge Posada would hit safely in the inning before Robbie Cano would fly out sharply to end the inning.

Teixeira warded off a run in the third inning by keying a heads-up double-play.  Kurt Suzuki had led off the inning with a double, reaching third on a follow-up single by Rajai Davis.  Ryan Sweeney came up and ground a bouncer to Mark, who promptly tagged first and tossed the ball home upon seeing Suzuki trying to score.  Jorge Posada gloved the ball and ran Suzuki up the line, turning a first-and-third, no-out jam into a two-out, man-on-second situation.  Andy Pettitte induced a groundout from Cabrera to, again, end the threat and the inning.

The Athletics did come back in the fourth, finally getting to Pettitte after making hard outs the previous three innings.  Consecutive singles by Jason Giambi, Matt Holliday, and Jack Cust loaded the bases with no out.  Giambi scored on a groundout by Ellis, and Holliday scored on a Suzuki single, tightening the gap for the A’s at 4-2.

After the A’s plated two, Pettitte and Posada would fall into a rhythm and Andy would barely be touched for the next three innings, at one point retiring eight batters in a row. 

Johnny Damon tacked on an insurance run in the sixth inning with a no-doubter over the right field wall. 

The A’s would loom again, briefly, versus reliable reliever Brian Bruney, who gave up a run on a single, a wild pitch, and a double.  Mariano Rivera came to pitch a scoreless ninth for the save.

Game Notes:

Robinson Cano was moved into the five-hole in the batting order after reaching safely in twelve of the first thirteen games this season.  He made outs his first two at-bats, looking at and not swinging at only one pitch between the two.  In histhird at-bat, Robbie took three consecutive pitches before singling.  Brian Bruney had his streak of hitless batters stopped at 22 last night in the eighth inning when Jack Cust singled to right.  Hideki Matsui had two hits in his first multi-hit game of the season.  Nick Swisher has reached base in all fourteen games this season.

Today, it’s CC Sabathia (1-1) vs. Brett Anderson (0-2) at the Stadium.  Start time is 1:05pm EST.

WP: Bruney (2-0)  LP: Lewis (1-1)

Derek Jeter hit a go-ahead solo home run in the eighth inning to capture the Yanks’ first victory ever in the New Stadium.  The series with the Cleveland Indians is tied 1-1.

Joba Chamberlain was ineffective in four and two-thirds innings, giving up all of Cleveland’s five runs and walking five while finding the zone with less than half of his 93 pitches.

The Indians jumped out in the first inning when Mark DeRosa parked a grooved 0-1 offering from Joba into the right field stands.

The Yanks returned fire in the third inning, when Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira went back-to-back on big flies over the right field wall (or in Johnny’s case, basketed off top of the wall by a soft-handed fan).

That lead would not last.  The next inning, after walking Travis Hafner and Shin-Soo Choo, Joba gave up a one-out single on a 1-0 groove ball to left field Ben Francisco to drive Hafner home and tie up the score.

Again the Yankees struck back immediately with another solo home run. Melky Cabrera, who started the game in right field because Nick Swisher DH’d to spell an ailing Hideki Matsui, turned on a 2-2 fastball and launched it into the right field stands.  The score stood 3-2.

Again, the Indians answered immediately.  After walking the leadoff man, Joba gave up consecutive singles, a wild pitch, a sacrifice fly, and a double, giving Cleveland a 5-3 lead.  Phil Coke replaced Joba after the double and retired Choo for the final out of the inning, stranding Ryan Garko on second base.

But the Yanks weren’t finished.  Leading off the sixth inning, Robinson Cano blasted a home run to right, the fourth solo shot of the game for the Yanks and Robbie’s third home run overall.  In the seventh, Johnny Damon led off with a walk.  Mark Teixeira then grounded to the pitcher Vinnie Chulk, who threw away the easy out, allowing Damon to round the bases and tie the game at five apiece.  Finally, Derek Jeter stepped up with none on and two outs in the eighth inning.  He fouled off the first pitch, then took three balls before lofting a fly ball to deep right that cleared the fence and took the lead for the Yanks.

Mariano Rivera came in to pitch the ninth and earned the save, freezing Mark DeRosa on a 3-2 cutter for the final out of the game.

Game Notes

After starting the season by giving up two runs in an inning versus Baltimore, reliever Brian Bruney has settled into a groove by logging twelve strikeouts and no hits in his last six appearances.  Brian has been figured by most to become this season’s 8th inning setup man for Mariano Rivera.

With today’s five home runs, the Yankees lead the Majors with 22 dingers going into tonight’s action.

Tomorrow, the rubber match of the series will begin at 3:40pm EST and will pit Chien-Ming Wang (0-2) versus Francisco Carmona (0-2).