Guzman Added, Hinske Dropped

Joe Girardi announced today that Freddy Guzman will be on the roster and that he will be replacing Eric Hinske's spot. Also A.J. Burnett was officially announced as the Game 2 starter and Andy Pettitte will pitch Game 3. Girardi continues to keep everyone on their feet as a Game 4 starter is still yet to be announced.

I really like this move out of Girardi. The Angels are a very fast team and the only way to beat them may be to make their greatest strength a strength of ours as well. Hinske would only have been used in a pinch-hitting situation, which is highly unlikely considering the Yankees lineup. With Guzman on the bench, that gives you him, Gardner (or Gardy as Girardi calls him), and even Jerry Hairston Jr. as possible pinch-runner options. This also leads me to believe Gardner will get a start in the ALCS too, now that they have an extra pinch runner.

As far as Burnett pitching Game 2, Molina will most likely catch him again although I do not think Girardi has made that official. Although you lose Posada's bat, Molina will be twice as important because if Burnett is walking guys, they will steal and Molina's arm is much better than Posada's.

Lastly, the one thing on everybody's mind before we begin the ALCS tommorow is the weather. Heavy rains are expected the entire weekend (it evened snowed today in Connecticut). Friday there appears to be a window in which the game can be played, but Saturday is very questionable. The Yankees would not want to have a rainout because it would allow them to use Sabathia three times in this series should it go to seven games. Also, with the games being broadcasted on FOX, if they cancel a game and it is replayed Sunday there will be a conflict with the football games. All I can say is hopefully the rain is light and they can play through it or else the entire ALCS schedule is going to have to be remodeled.

Also, those who have tickets for Games 1 and 2 must use their tickets for the game that they bought. So if Game 1 is pushed back to Saturday night, fans with tickets for Game 1 would go Saturday and fans with Game 2 tickets would go Sunday. I hace tickets for Game 2 and the easiest thing for my travel plans would be for them to play the game Saturday night. But the MLB loves screwing me over with playoff tickets so who knows.

Anyway that's all the news out of Yankeeland today. Seems like I wrote a lot so I'll try and find a picture of Freddy Guzman to make this post look better.

Now, back to writing a paper on the bioethics of human cloning!!! (Don't ask me why a journalism major is required to take 7 credits of science).

(Note from Jim: It may have snowed in Connecticut, but it hasn't snowed more than a couple of minutes yet in Syracuse, and none of it's stuck. Unfortunately, however, I haven't seen the sun in over a week.)
See Ya!

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GAME 104: Yankees at White Sox

YANKEES (62-41, First Place AL East)
Jeter SS
Swisher RF
Teixeira DH
Rodriguez 3B
Posada C
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF
Hairston LF
Ransom 1B
Pitching: RHP A.J. Burnett (10-4, 3.53).

WHITE SOX (53-51, Second Place AL Central)
Lineup TBA
Pitching: LHP John Danks (8-7, 3.89).

TIME/TV: 4:05, FOX.

Lead Shrinking: Don't look now, but the Yankees are only 1.5 games up on the Red Sox and have lost 3 of their last 4. Time to start winning again, to stay in first by the time they come into town.
New Guy In Town: Jerry Hairston Jr. is in the lineup today. Shelley Duncan was optioned back to AAA, so he got called up to sit the bench one night.
We Got Our Hot Pitcher Going Today: A.J. Burnett has been on a roll of late. He is 8-2, with a 2.08 ERA in his last 11 starts.
Home Run Hinkse: Eric Hinske has 5 home runs in 21 at-bats since becoming a Yankees.

Don't expect updates today. We're both going to be out and busy for the afternoon/evening.

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Angels 14 Yankees 8

Yankees 8 9 1
Angels 14 16 1

WP: Weaver (10-3)
LP: Pettitte (8-5)

PLAYER OF THE GAME: In a game where A-Rod and Hinske both hit TWO home runs, neither are getting Player of the Game. It's going to Yankee-killer Mike Napoli. He went 2-4 with a home run 3 RBI and 3 runs scored in the 14-8 rout.

PLAY OF THE GAME: There were seven home runs in this game. So...lets just give it to Brett Gardners catch in the first inning. It will be on web gems and he had Figgins doubled off but the ump said otherwise.

TURNING POINT OF THE GAME: Bottom of the fifth. Angels scored 7 runs, Yankees couldn't recover.

GAME NOTES:

• It was deja vu all over again. Yankees blew a 5-0 lead yesterday. They blow a 4-0 lead today. Everyone root for the Rangers to win the NL West.



• A-Rod hit two home runs today, his 569 and 570th of his career passing Palmeiro for 10th on the all-time list. That's fourth for the all-time steroid users list.

TOMMOROW:
Sabathia vs Lackey 3:30 on YES. Pray for a win and hope the big man comes through.

See Ya!

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Game 76: Mariners at Yankees

YANKEES (43-32, 2nd place AL East 3.5 GB)

Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Cano 2B
Posada C
Matsui DH
Swisher RF
Cabrera CF

Pitching: RHP Joba Chamberlain (4-2, 3.81).

MARINERS (39-36, 3rd place AL West 3.5 GB)
Ichiro RF
Branyan 1B
Lopez 2B
Griffey LF
Sweeney DH
Gutierrez CF
Woodward 3B
Johjima C
Cedeno SS

Pitching: RHP Brandon Morrow (0-3, 5.64).

TIME/TV: 7:05, YES.

Vote Teixeira: Ok, Kevin Youkilis has moved back into first place in the AL All Star Voting for the starting first baseman spot. WE CANNOT LET THIS HAPPEN! I will not watch if Pukilis gets the starting nod over Tex. Go here to vote for Teixeira. Don't worry, I will be harping on this all night.

A-Bombs A-way: A-Rod seems to be fresh and ready to go, as he is 8 of his last 23 with 2 home runs and 11 RBIs.

New guy in town...well not yet: Eric Hinske is supposed to be arriving for tonight's game, but his plane is stuck in Pittsburgh, so there has been no roster move yet. If I was Hinske and was being traded away from the Pirates, I don't care if I needed to walk, ride a bike, or hitchhike, I would just get out of Pittsburgh as fast as possible.

Weather Report: We'll go to Ollie Williams for our forecast.

UPDATE 6:13: YES WE CAN! VOTE TEIXEIRA!

UPDATE 6:35: The Yankees are going to try and play this game, but the tarp is still on the field. And when they do start, Mariano Rivera will throw out the ceremonial pitch.

And I hope a foul ball hits Tony Romo in the head, I don't care if he's there with a sick kid or not.

UPDATE 7:00: Game will be delayed, first pitch scheduled for 7:45.

UPDATE 7:50: OK, so the game is now scheduled to start at 8:05. I spent the rain delay voting for mark Teixeira 75 times. (Hint, you can vote more than the "maximum" 25 times if you use different e-mail addresses.) And yes, I hate Kevin Youkilis that much.

UPDATE 8:00: I wonder if the first pitch thrower will throw it from the rubber?

UPDATE 8:05: WHAT!? Did he really just throw from halfway up the mound with Jorge in front of the plate? Come on Mo, I was joking with the last post.

UPDATE 8:17: I just had one of those What If? thoughts. Imagine Ken Griffey, Jr. in his prime playing 81 games a year in the new Stadium.

UPDATE 8:24: Wow! Now you can get Michael Kay anywhere! Who wouldn't want that?

UPDATE 8:29: So we're back to letting that ball drop in. Is there any reason they can't go out before the game and work on that for an hour? That happens much more often than it should.

UPDATE 8:39: Wait, I thought we were done playing the Mets.

UPDATE 8:43: Now I know why the Mariners have such a low team ERA, all their runs are unearned.

UPDATE 9:05: Ok, so he grounded into a double play, but you should still vote Mark Teixeira for the AL All-Star Game. He's change you can believe in. Kevin Youkilis was the starter last year, he's just more of the same.

UPDATE 10:03: This game is taking forever as the M's go the pen. O yea, Mark Teixeira was just up and I'm here to remind you to Vote for Him!

UPDATE 10:35: Hughes gets out of that inning with only 9 pitches. You have to send him back out there for the 8th right?

UPDATE 10:42: I think it's safe to say that A-Rod's hip isn't fatigued anymore.

UPDATE 10:53: This is why he should have left Hughes in. And how come Bruney doesn't have a patch on the back of his hat?

UPDATE 11:04: OK Michael Kay, I only mentioned the Hughes thing a half hour ago, and then again 10 minutes ago. Nice rip by Matsui.

UPDATE 11:05: Wow, I didn't think Swisher could bunt. He could have been called out for stepping out of the box, but the never make that call. I remember the White Sox lost the ALDS on a bunt like that in 2000 on a no-call. If I remember correctly, it was against the Mariners, so that ties in nicely.

And Melky continues to come through in the clutch.

UPDATE 11:09: Best part about this rally? We don't have to get asked whether the Yankees have a rally in their bones.

UPDATE 11:18: After all that, Mo better not blow this save. That would suck.

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YANKEES ACQUIRE HINSKE FROM PIRATES

Image via Wikipedia

The Yankees picked up Eric Hinske today in a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Hinske is no newcomer to the AL East as he has played for Toronto Blue Jay, Tampa Bay Rays, and Boston Red Sox. Brian Cashman gave up two young prospects, right-handed starting pitcher Casey Erickson and outfielder Eric Fryer, in the deal. This move is good because it gives us a veteran not named Angel Berroa off the bench. With Hinske coming in and Jose Molina close to coming back, Ramiro Pena and Francisco Cervelli may be headed back down to the minors to play everyday, but that remains to be seen.

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