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.