Bruney Activated

Despite the results of a YES Network Quiz (bottom right of the page), Brian Bruney is probably the most important person for the Yankees to get back. There starting rotation can live without Chien-Ming Wang (although he'll be back shortly according to RAB's Chad Jennings) and the Yanks have proven that they're offense is strong enough to absorb the loss of Jorge Posada (who will also be returning soon as he got some running in today). They're bullpen however, has struggled mightily without Brian Bruney. The only really reliable arm out there this year has been that of Phil Coke. The rest have been extremely inconsistent. It'll be nice to get a strong arm to bridge Mariano Rivera. 

The Yankees sent down RHP Edwar Ramirez to clear up roster space for Bruney. Ramirez, 28, has a 5.19 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 17.1 IP. He has been criticized mostly for his poor command. Already this season, he's dealt 15 free passes and 6 home runs.

3 Games; 3 Walk-Offs

You could not ask for a more exciting weekend. The Yankees have played three games of this four game series against the Twins and have had walk-off wins in each of them.

Friday: MIN 4-5 NYY

Hero(es): Melky Cabrera, Brett Gardner

Things were looking bleak for the Yankees when Johnny Damon was tossed by HP Umpire Wally Bell. The strike zone was very frustrating for Yankees hitters and it reached its climax when in Johnny Damon's 2 at-bats, he struck out twice looking, both on questionable calls. You could say that Minnesota's loss was all Johnny Damon's fault as his ejection gave way to Brett Gardner. Gardner, who earlier this year lost the starting CF job to Melky Cabrera (stay tuned), went on to go 3-for-3 in that game with his biggest hit being an inside-the-park-home run. Gardner blooped Twins' starter Francisco Liriano's pitch down the LF line and once Denard Span overran it, you knew Gardner would be racing around the bases. 

Well that made the score 4-2 Twins, but it would be Gardner again who sparked the Yankees rally as he led off the 9th inning with a triple and then was driven in quickly by Mark Teixiera to make it a one run game. Well after the Twins got 2 more outs and the Yanks added a baserunner, Joe Nathan intentionally walked Robinson Cano to load the bases up for Melky Cabrera. Well the Melk-Man delivered and on the first pitch he saw, blooped a 2-run, walk-off single to end the game.

Saturday: MIN 4-6 NYY

Hero(es): Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixiera

Everywhere around baseball, writers are saying that the person who would benefit most from A-Rod returning to the Yankee lineup would be Mark Teixeira. Well that became very obvious on Saturday as Teixiera went 4-for-4, drove in the Yankees first 4 runs, and ended up a triple shy of the cycle. He raised his batting average over 30 points. In the end however, it would be the higher-paid star that would end the game. In the bottom of the 11th inning, after Mark Teixeira drew a lead-off walk, Alex Rodriguez belted a 2-run, walk-off home run to win the game for the Yankees. It was just A-Rod's second game at the New Yankee Stadium.

Sunday: MIN 2-3 NYY

Hero(es): Johnny Damon, Mark Teixeira

What started out as a pitchers dual, this game saw some great defense throughout. After A.J. Burnett loaded the bases with nobody out, the Yankees brought in RHP Jonathan Albaladejo to try to work out of the jam. Well facing Denard Span, he threw a fastball down and in and Span hit a sharp grounder to first. However, Mark Teixeira showcased his defensive abilities as he made a great diving stop, but then (as he was pretty much lying down) made a good through to catcher Kevin Cash to record the second out. The Yankees would get out of the jam and then would also get out of a similar one the following inning. 

That meant that in a tie game in the bottom of the ninth inning when Nick Swisher lined a base hit, the Yankees would pinch-run Brett Gardner. After a Melky Cabrera sac-bunt (the 3rd one of the game after the Yanks had just 8 the rest of the season) Francisco Cervelli hit one back up the middle. But this is when the Twins' great defense struck. The ball hit off of the Twins' lefty as Gardner was approaching third. Well Mijares threw home to Joe Mauer who started running to first and faked a throw. Well that fake was a good one as it caused Gardner to start running home where Mauer made a great diving stop to get him.

That play kept the game tied until the bottom of the 10th when Johnny Damon could wait no longer. After he worked the count full against Jesse Crain (the same pitcher who served up A-Rod's shot a day earlier) Damon got a pitch down and in and he didn't miss it. Johnny cranked it into the second deck (tagged the Johnny zone by a Yankees' broadcaster) to give the Yankees the 3-2 win. It was Damon's second walk-off hit as a member of the Yankees.

Yanks Scouting Darvish

According NPB Tracker, the Yankees had several scouts watching Yu Darvish earlier this week. The scouts witnessed Darvish hurl his shortest outing of the year: 7 innings. He shut down Orix in Nippon Ham's 10-1 win. 

Dispite Darvish not carrying his best stuff with him, he still threw 7 innings of 1 run, 4 hit ball. His fastball topped out at 91 MPH.

The Yankees sent Gene Michael to Japan last year in order to watch Darvish pitch. This story just proves further the Yank's interest in the Japanese righty. Although Yu won't be a free agent until 2014 due to Japan's rules and the fact that he's denied wanting to play in the MLB, many teams still have significant interest in acquiring him down the road.

A-Rod Update

First AB: On the very first pitch the A-Rod saw this season, he crushed to left field. Welcome back! 

Second AB: Unfortunately he struck out in his second AB. It looks like he hasn't seen a Major League curveball in a while. He looked fooled facing Jeremy Guthrie's hook.

Third AB: Once again a K on A-Rod's box. The only difference this time is that it's a backwards one (Also the pitch actually looked a little high and tight).

Fourth AB: Alex got jammed and just hit a weak grounder to short so he's 1-4 but than 1 was big.

Vote Swisher

With the 2009 All-Star Game balloting already underway (wayyyyyyyyy too early there MLB) I realized that they have the opening day lineups only. This means that Nick Swisher is not on the ballot. Well I noticed this as I was voting and I actually started wondering "will some fan create a site to elect swisher sort of how the how "Support the Stash" thing worked last year with Giambi. Well sure enough, someone did and here they are. You gotta check em out!

A-Rod's Comin' Back

We just need to hold until then. Friday. When the Yankees will travel to Baltimore and Alex Rodriguez will rejoin the Yankees lineup, and boy it couldn't come at a better time. Losing their fourth-consecutive game on Wednesday, the Yankees have proven three things to their fans: Number 1: (The only good one) Joba Chamberlain can dominate as a starter and should probably remain their for a while. Number 2: The Yankees' bullpen is a definite weakness. They're bullpen ERA is worst in the majors and Joe Girardi has shown that he only really trusts two members of it: Mariano Rivera and Phil Coke. Well this year, Mo has become mortal and Coke just gave up a game-winning home run. 

One of Girardi's strong points last year was not going to the same relievers day in and day out (something that Joe Torre did a lot of and was criticized for). However, that has faded this year as it appears he really likes to go to Edwar Ramirez, Phil Coke, Jose Veras, and Jonathan Albaladejo. All of which have been very hittable and wild so far this season. I think that Girardi should look more to the likes of Mark Melancon and David Robertson. Even though he had a rough last outing, I still believe the pieces are their for Melancon to succeed. Same goes for Robertson. However, the main thing is that the Yankees just need to find somebody in the bullpen who can get hitters out.

Finally number 3: the Yankees can't successfully hit with runners in scoring position. They only had 6 hits out of 25+ tries during their 4-game losing streak. Mark Teixiera was greatly applauded for his clutch, 3-run double in the bottom of the 8th, however, that over-shadowed his failure in the 10th. With the Yankees down 4-3 with 1 out and runner on third, Teixeira got a 2-0 fastball right down the middle but he hit it too shallow for the runner to score. After him, Matsui got out to end the game. 

It's those kinds of scenarios where the Yankees really need A-Rod back. Hopefully, he can become clutch-Rod like he was in '07.

Update From New York: Joba Dominating

Joba Chamberlain is absolutely DOMINATING! After a rough first inning in which he gave up 4 runs, 4 hits, and didn't record any K's, he has given up only 1 hit, no runs, and has had 12 strikeouts since then. Oh and by the way, the 12 strikeouts (9 looking), career high! He has all his pitches working for him, including the change-up, which he's possibly thrown more tonight than he has in his entire career. 

If this doesn't silence all you Joba-back-to-the-bullpen fans, than this stat might: since his first start back in 2008, Joba has a 2.85 ERA. Now since that same time, only 5 pitchers in the MLB have better ERAs. Among those are such pitchers as Johan Santana, Dan Haren, Derek Lowe, and Roy Halladay. That's pretty good company. He also had a K/9 ratio of 10.58 last season. That's 3rd for all MLB starters last year (top 2 are Rich Harden and Mark Mulder, both of whom missed significant time due to injuries). 

An update on Chamberlain, he left with 2 outs in the 6th after recording the last 8 outs with punch-outs. When Girardi took him out, he was booed like crazy! But Joba was given a great hand when he exited. Now lets just hope the bullpen can keep this game close for the Yankees offense. Joba won't be getting a win in this one (although he certainly deserves one). If not for the 4 runs, it was the best start of Joba Chamberlain's career.

Other Game Notes:

Earlier today, Jorge Posada was placed on the 15-day DL with a strained hamstring. However, Joe Girardi said that those 15 days would be the only ones that he missed. The Yankees called up C Francisco Cervelli from Double-A Trenton to replace Jorge on the roster.....Alex Rodriguez played another extended Spring Training game today. He went 3-6 with 2 HRs and also played the field for all 7 innings. However, he only got two chances at third, but he fielded both of them perfectly. Although the Yankees are still saying May 15th, there are whispers that he will be back this weekend and possibly Friday for the series against Baltimore (where he ironically injured his quad last season)......Ramiro Pena is in the lineup again today, the Yankees seem very fond of him and he is certainly opening a lot of eyes for the future.

Bits 'n' Pieces: Marte, Fossum, Melky

Marte Injured:

Well this explains a lot. Yankees' LHP Damaso Marte has been placed on the DL because of a sore elbow. He came out of the WBC with his left elbow sore but pushed through it. However, it has now caused him to land on the DL. Marte, the second-highest paid player in the Yankees bullpen (Rivera's no. 1), holds an 0-1 record and a crazy-high 15.19 ERA. Anthony Clagget (should be better than his terrible MLB debut) has been called up to take his roster spot. 

Yanks Sign Casey Fossum; Sharp in Triple-A Debut:

The Yanks signed LHP Casey Fossum to a minor-league deal after he was released by the New York Mets. Since he cleared waivers before he was released and the Yankees signed him as a free agent, Fossum does not have to be added to the 40-man roster. He was mainly signed as a fill-in in Scranton's rotation as he takes the spot of Phil Hughes (who goes today against Joe Saunders).

 Casey made his Scranton Wilkes-Barre debut yesterday and it was sharp. Even with a pitch-limit, he went 3 2/3 innings, only allowed 1 run on 2 hits and 2 walks, and K'd 4.

Melky Takes Over Center:

Melky Cabrera's hot start, combined with Brett Gardner's slow one, has led to the 24-year old Cabrera overtaking Gardner for the Yankees' starting center fielder. He has taken over the same position that lost just a couple weeks ago. 

So far this season, Cabrera is hitting .321 with 4 HRs (including one walk-off one) and 10 RBIs. In that same time Gardner, is only hitting .222 with no homers (although you can't expect them), only 4 RBIs and 5 stolen bases (he should have a lot more than Derek Jeter who's currently tied with him). Will see how long this move lasts