Of course you want to win every game, but realistically, a baseball team enters a three-game series, particularly one against the team with the best record in the league, hoping to take two of three. Looking at this week’s series in Toronto, the Yankees had to assume last night’s game against Roy Halladay would be the loss, so really everything’s going according to plan, right?

Tonight, Andy Pettitte looks to keep the Yankees on track against Scott Richmond. Richmond is a 29-year-old rookie who went undrafted after graduating from Oklahoma State. He then posted a 14-19 record with a 4.37 ERA over three seasons with the Edmonton Cracker-Cats of the independent Northern League, during which the Vancouver native also pitched for Canada in the inagural World Baseball Classic, though again without particularly encouraging results. The Blue Jays signed Richmond after he made the move to the Cracker-Cats’ rotation in 2007. He split most of 2008 between Double- and Triple-A, going 6-11 witha  4.45 ERA, but also made five spot starts for the major league club. The first four of those starts were nearly identical (between five and 5 2/3 innings, three runs, no more than one walk and either four or five strikeouts in each), but left him 0-3. His last saw him shutout the Orioles in a rain-shortened six-inning ballgame on September 26.

Richmond didn’t get into a game before Canada was eliminated from this year’s WBC, but opened the season as the Blue Jay’s fifth starter and has thus far gone 4-1 with a 3.29 ERA. In the middle four of his six starts, Richmond went 4-0 with a 2.o5 ERA, turning in a quality start each time out with an average of nearly 6 2/3 innings pitched.  That streak was snapped his last time out, when he took his first loss after giving up five runs in the second inning against the A’s in Oakland. Still, Richmond recovered from that rocky frame to shut out the A’s the rest of the way, needing just 96 pitches to complete eight innings.

Richmond has been hit-lucky thus far as his opponents’ average on balls in play is just .245, and he’s always had good, but not spectacular control. The result has been a solid 1.2 WHIP. A fly-ball pitcher, he’s given up five home runs, a rate of 1.2 every nine innings, but three have been solo shots and the other two came with just one man on base. Richmond is also death on right-handed hitters (.155/.183/.182 in his young major league career), but can struggle against lefties.

Unfortunately, Hideki Matsui is out today after tweaking his hamstring in last night’s game. Derek Jeter (oblique) is also out for the second-straight day. Pete Abe reports that Jeter hasn’t swung a bat since Sunday, but “hopes to play tomorrow,” which is what he said yesterday. Ramiro Peña and Brett Gardner once again benefit from these aches and pains per this lineup:

L – Johnny Damon (DH)
S – Nick Swisher (RF)
S – Mark Teixeira (1B)
R – Alex Rodriguez (3B)
L – Robinson Cano (2B)
S – Melky Cabrera (LF)
L – Brett Gardner (CF)
S – Ramiro Peña (SS)
S – Francisco Cervelli (C)

If there’s any upside there it’s that only Alex Rodriguez will hit right-handed against Richmond.

As for Pettitte, his last two starts have been shaky. Against the Angels on May 1, he walked four and gave up five runs in 5 2/3 innings, though the Yankees rallied to win that game 10-9. In his last start, last Thursday against the Rays, he gave up five runs in six innings courtesy of four Tampa homers. The Yankees also rallied to tie that game, but lost on two more home runs off Mariano Rivera. On the season as a whole, however, Pettitte looks like Pettitte: 4.38 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 6 1/2 innings per start.

Bronx Banter Interview

Our old pal Allen Barra sat down with me recently to talk about his new book, Yogi: Eternal Yankee.

Bronx Banter: You make the argument that Yogi was a better catcher than Johnny Bench. How close was Roy Campanella to Yogi during the Fifties? Was there any catcher even close to these two at the time?

Allen Barra: In Rio Bravo, Walter Brennan asks John Wayne if Ricky Nelson is faster than Dean Martin. “I’d hate to have to live on the difference,” says Duke. The real truth is that if you take Campanella at this peak, there’s probably very little difference between Berra, Bench and Campy. The only thing I might add to that is that it’s possible that, if given the same material to work with, Johnny and Roy could have gotten as much out of as many mediocre pitchers as well as Yogi did. But Yogi did do it, and that has to give him the edge.

BB: Did Yogi really deserve the 1954 and ‘55 MVP awards? In ‘54 the Indians won and Bobby Avila had a big year, also playing a key defensive position, and Mickey Mantle had a monstrous year. And in ’55 Mantle again had another ridiculous year.

AB: That’s a tough question. I don’t know if anyone’s done a “Value over Replacement Factor” kind of analysis for those years, but it’s arguable that Yogi might have had the highest value over anyone who could have replaced him at that position. In 1954 my guess is that the difference between Mantle and Berra wasn’t that great. Avila played a key defensive position, but not more key than Yogi’s. It probably should have been Mantle in ’55, but then I think there’s an equally good case that it probably should have been Yogi in 1950 instead of Phil Rizzuto. What’s interesting is that so many people thought that it should have been Yogi those years. I think that tells us something very important about him.

BB. Was there any year that Yogi should have won an MVP when he didn’t?

AB: Well, as I just mentioned, there was 1950. And you could turn the ’54 argument on its head and ask why Al Rosen, an Indian, wins the MVP [in 1953] when Yogi’s team won the pennant. I’m not saying Rosen didn’t deserve it, I’m just saying that if Yogi had won it, nobody would have gone to the barricades to say he didn’t deserve it, and I’d argue that he was also one of the top five players in the league in 1952. It’s more difficult to figure the value of a top-flight catcher. He did so many things to hold his pitching staffs together back then, I just don’t know if you can figure his worth compared to payers at other positions.

BB: It ‘s well known that Yogi helped Elston Howard when he joined the team but did Yogi ever question or go on the record about the Yankees’ institutional racism?

AB: No, I’m not aware that anyone in that period did. For one thing, when you talked to the players of that era, they all say, “Well, every year we heard that they were brining black players up through the minor league system, and we thought each year would be the next year.” I think there’s something to that – Gil McDougald told me something to that effect. I mean, the Yankee players were ready for it. They had no objections at all to integrating the team. It was only after a few seasons of George Weiss signing a black player for the minor league system and then trading him that they began to catch on. I’d have to say, though, that while the Yankees front office was as racist in its policies as the Boston Red Sox, the Yankees themselves got good marks from Elston and Arlene Howard and Larry Doby for their overall attitudes. Both the Howards and Doby put Yogi at the top of their list of good guys. Arlene Howard told me that Yogi and Elston “hit it off right away.”

BB. I know that walk rates were up in the Fifties and comparatively Yogi didn’t walk that much. But he was contact hitter and it’s hard to point this out as a major flaw. That said, were there any noticeable holes in his game, either offensively or in the field?

AB: No, none, and it ought to be mentioned that though Yogi didn’t walk that much, his on-base average was actually six points better than Johnny Bench’s in about the same number of games, and that’s what’s important. No, Yogi had no flaws. We all know he wasn’t much of a catcher until Bill Dickey learned him all of his experience, but by 1949 he was a very good catcher, and by 1950 the Yankee staff was pretty much relying on him to call their pitches. Or rather, he knew them well enough to call their pitches for them – did I just make some kind of Yogiism? Anyway, all that crap in David Halberstam’s The Summer of ’49 about Allie [Reynolds] and Yogi not getting along is fiction. All the Yankees told me so.

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It didn’t really matter what A.J. Burnett did last night given how well Roy Halladay pitched. Halladay faced the minimum through 6 1/3 thanks to a questionable call by second-base umpire Chuck Meriwether who called Johnny Damon out trying to stretch a single into a double in the first inning. Fittingly, it was a Damon double that broke Halladay’s streak with one out in the seventh. After Mark Teixeira struck out, Alex Rodriguez delivered a two-out RBI single to plate Damon, but that was all the Yankees would get. Halladay erased a Melky Cabrera single in the eighth with a double play and stranded a lead-off Ramiro Peña double in the ninth. He threw 72 of 103 pitches for strikes, got 17 of his 27 outs on the ground, five more by strikeout, and two more on pop-ups, and picked up his first complete game of the year, pushing his record to 7-1. The game took just two hours and 22 minutes to play.

Fun stat: Since 2003, Halladay leads all major league pitchers in shutouts with 36. CC Sabathia is second with 26. Since 2006, however, Sabathia leads Halladay 22 to 21.

As for Burnett, he gave up three runs in the fourth after loading the bases on an Alex Rios double and two walks. Scott Rolen doubled down the left field line to plate two, and after Lyle Overbay struck out, Rod Barajas brought the third run home with a sac fly. Still, it seemed we were getting the pitching duel we had hoped for when Burnett held the Jays there and took the mound in the bottom of the eight trailing Halladay 3-1. Then Aaron Hill homered to make it 4-1 and Rios and Rolen teamed up again to plate a fifth run (via a walk, groundout, and RBI Rolen single) to bounce Burnett from the game and set the final score at 5-1.

A.J. was booed lustily throughout the game by the betrayed Blue Jays fans. Chants of “A.J. Sucks” echoed throughout the Rogers Centre (as did “Steroids” chants during Alex Rodriguez’s at-bats). One fan held up a sign that said “Roy > A.J.” Well, yeah. I think even he’d admit that.

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Toronto Blue Jays

2009 Record: 22-12 (.647)
2009 Pythagorean Record: 21-13 (.618)

2008 Record: 86-76 (.531)
2008 Pythagorean Record: 93-69 (.574)

Manager: Cito Gaston
General Manager: J.P. Ricciardi

Home Ballpark (multi-year Park Factors): Rogers Centre (99/98)

Who’s Replaced Whom:

• Aaron Hill (DL) reclaims his playing time from Joe Inglett (minors)
• Travis Snider replaces Shannon Stewart and Brad Wilkerson
• Adam Lind replaces Kevin Mench and Frank Thomas
• Kevin Millar replaces Matt Stairs
• Jose Bautista replaces David Eckstein
• Raul Chavez is filling in for Michael Barrett (DL), who replaces Gregg Zaun
• Brian Tallet is filling in for Ricky Romero (DL), who replaces A.J. Burnett
• Brett Cecil replaces David Purcey (minors) and Dustin McGowan (DL)
• Scott Richmond replaces Shaun Marcum (DL)
• Robert Ray is filling in for Jesse Litsch (DL)
• Bill Murphy replaces John Parrish
• Scott Downs is closing in place of B.J. Ryan (DL)

25-man Roster:

1B – Lyle Overbay (L)
2B – Aaron Hill (R)
SS – Marco Scutaro (R)
3B – Scott Rolen (R)
C – Rod Barajas (R)
RF – Alex Rios (R)
CF – Vernon Wells (R)
LF – Travis Snider (L)
DH – Adam Lind (L)

Bench:

R – Kevin Millar (1B)
R – John McDonald (IF)
R – Jose Bautista (UT)
R – Raul Chavez (C)

Rotation:

R – Roy Halladay
R – Scott Richmond
L – Brian Tallet
L – Brett Cecil
R – Robert Ray

Bullpen:

L – Scott Downs
R – Jason Frasor
L – Jesse Carlson
R – Shawn Camp
R – Brandon League
L – Bill Murphy
R – Brian Wolfe

15-day DL:

RHP – Dustin McGowan (labrum)
RHP – Shaun Marcum (TJ surgery)
RHP – Jesse Litsch (forearm tightness)
LHP – Ricky Romero (oblique)
LHP – B.J. Ryan (trapezius)
C – Michael Barrett (right shoulder tear)

Typical Lineup:

R – Marco Scutaro (SS)
R – Aaron Hill (2B)
R – Alex Rios (RF)
R – Vernon Wells (CF)
L – Adam Lind (DH)
R – Scott Rolen (3B)
L – Lyle Overbay (1B)
R – Rod Barajas (C)
L – Travis Snider (LF)

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Today’s news is powered by “The City of New Orleans” (reason for this found at the end of this post)

• Chien-Ming Wang is getting closer to making a return:

Chien-Ming Wang will start Tuesday for Triple-A Scranton against Charlotte. He is cleared for 100 pitches.

If he pitches well, Wang could earn his return to the majors. Joe Girardi indicated that he is close.

• Xavier Nady is also making progress (albeit slowly) towards a return:

Guarding a partially torn ligament in his right elbow, Nady has been limited to light exercises in his activity as he attempts to avoid season-ending Tommy John surgery. He is looking forward to being cleared to resume hitting off a tee and soft toss when the Yankees return home. . . .

Nady said that he believes he could begin a rehabilitation assignment as soon as May 25 and hopes to rejoin the Yankees as at least a designated hitter in early June. The fact that the Yankees have thus far declined to put Nady on the 60-day disabled list speaks to their optimism.

“There’s progress here,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “You have to wait and see how he feels once the right arm gets involved. The time has passed where we feel that he’s safe to do it, and that’s a good thing.”

• Bill Madden writes an open letter to Boss George regarding the new Stadium:

Sadly, Boss, your ballpark is a monument to the rich and is the epitome of wretched excess. Take the scoreboard, or rather should we call it the “ad-board” engulfed by the $14.3 million jumbotron? Never has there been a bigger waste of space than the 59-x-101 foot TV screen that’ll show A-Rod’s new nipples in High Def but barely a glimpse of something as relevant as the batter’s count: God forbid, should you try to find that piece of information anywhere (hint: it’s at the very bottom of the tiny auxiliary scoreboards underneath the huge ad billboards in right and left field).

And once again, there is no out-of-town scoreboard in your new palace, Boss. Just those mostly-useless flashboards with confusing team logos instead of team names that stay up for a couple of seconds, then move on to another set of scores, all the while giving you the baserunner diagram that also disappears in a flash. In between innings, there are no scores anywhere – just more ads. But then, only the fans care about what the count is, Boss, or what the Red Sox or Mets are doing. The rich folks in the suites, Trost’s revenue generators, are too busy socializing over their martinis and $54 steaks to bother about such trivial pursuits.

And speaking of food, Boss. It’s strictly pedestrian short-order stuff for the common fan in the upper deck. No restaurants for them. Not a place anywhere upstairs where the common fan can take the family for a moderately priced sit-down meal before the game. Trost will tell you this is what the Mohegan Sun restaurant in center field is for, but that would be the restaurant that costs $100 a seat – or $400 for a family of four before you order any food (it also juts out and obstructs the view of the Bleacher Creatures). Just another brilliant stroke on Trost’s part.

At least the fans in the upper deck can see Monument Park, supposedly the most beautiful visual feature of the new Stadium. Sadly, however, nobody else can.

In Trost’s wisdom, Monument Park was moved to center field without any consideration given to the fact that it would now be an impediment to the batters’ eyes. As a result, a blue wall had to be constructed in front of it that obscures the monuments from the view of three-quarters of the ballpark, making it look like a giant dumping ground. People now call it “Monument Cave.”

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Pitching with a burst blood vessel in his right thumb, Joba Chamberlain looked shaky in the first inning of yesterday afternoon’s rubber game in Baltimore. Five of the seven batters he faced in that frame got a hit, and Aubrey Huff gave the Orioles an early lead with a three-run homer to right center. However, Huff’s was the only extra-base hit of the inning, Melvin Mora, who followed Huff with a bunt single, got picked off (2-3-6-2-4-3), and the Orioles failed to add to that early tally. Just as he did in his previous start, Chamberlain shut the door after the first, holding the O’s scoreless for his remaining five innings.

Koji Uehara’s line was similar, with a solo home run by Mark Teixeira in the top of the first being the only run he allowed in six innings. Uehara threw just 94 pitches in those six innings, but Dave Trembley decided to go to his bullpen in the seventh, calling on lefty Jamie Walker to face the bottom of the Yankee order. Walker struck out switch-hitter Nick Swisher (though it took him nine pitches), but gave up a solo home run to actual lefty Robinson Cano, who just happens to be crushing lefties this year (now .371/.405/.657 vs. LHP on the season). After Walker got switch-hitter Melky Cabrera to fly out for the second out, Trembley called on righty Jim Johnson to pitch to rookie catcher Francisco Cervelli. On 2-1, Cervelli hit a very slow ground ball into the second-base hole that he just beat out for an infield single. Derek Jeter followed with another infield single, a squib to the left side that Mora was unable to get to in time to make a throw. Despite playing matchups with the bases empty against Cervelli, who had two major league hits coming into the inning, Trembley left the righty Johnson in with the tying runs on base to face lefty Johnny Damon, who had hit .462 with four home runs over his previous six games. Damon took Johnson’s first five pitches to run the count full, then launched a three-run homer to right-center that gave the Yankees a 5-3 lead.

With Joba at 104 pitches, Phil Coke pitched a perfect seventh and worked around a one-out single in the eight to get the ball to Mariano Rivera in the ninth. Coming off his surprising loss in Thursday’s game, Rivera issued his first walk of the year, to Felix Pie with one out, but struck out ninth-place hitter Robert Andino and got Brian Roberts to ground back to the mound to end the game and give the Yankees the 5-3 win and a much-needed series victory.

It has become a common refrain during the Yankees’ slow starts the last few years, “this must be rock bottom, now they can start winning.” The Yankees seemed to hit rock bottom on Thursday after suffering a five-game losing streak at home that included two-game sweeps at the hands of both key division rivals, the Red Sox and Rays, saw both of their catchers hit the disabled list, and saw Mariano Rivera blow the last game of the homestand by giving up back-to-back home runs for the first time in his major league career. The Yankees arrived in Baltimore two games below .500, but the dramatic return of Alex Rodriguez, a strong showing from rookie backstop Francisco Cervelli, and CC Sabathia’s first Yankee shutout seemed to confirm that Thursday had indeed been rock bottom.

Then Phil Hughes couldn’t get out of the second inning yesterday and the Yankees took a humiliating loss followed by the news that today’s intended starter, Joba Chamberlain, had burst a blood vessel in the thumb of his pitching hand while flipping a ball underhand durring batting practice and was doubtful for today’s start.

Are you freaking kidding me?!

As I type this, the Yankees are still expecting Joba to make his start. Supposedly the burst blood vessell didn’t cause him any pain, and though the thumb comes into play on every pitch, there’s not as much friction against it as there is against the other fingers, particularly the first and second fingers. Still, if Joba decides during his warmups that he can’t go, Alfredo Aceves will take the ball. Either way, it doesn’t look good, as Koji Uehara, the 34-year-old former Yomiyuri Giants ace, has been sharp thus far this season.

Uehara didn’t strike out a single Yankee back on April 8, but he did hold them to one run over five innings for the victory. His next start, in Texas, was ugly, but since then he’s been sharp every time out, the one blight on his record being three unearned runs (on top of three earned) in his last start, though he struckout eight Rays against just one walk and no homers in that game. Throw out that one ugly Texas start, and Uehara’s ERA drops to 3.12 ERA and he’s walked just three men against 24 strikeouts in his other five starts. He gives up a lot of fly balls, which makes him homer prone, but otherwise he’s been everything the Orioles could have hoped for if not more.

As for Joba, throw out his worst start (five runs in 4 2/3 against Cleveland in the second game at the new stadium), and his ERA drops to 2.63. His last two starts have been very encouraging as he held the Tigers to one run on three hits over seven innings, then recovered from an ugly first inning to strike out twelve Red Sox against just two walks his last time out. Aceves, who could wind up playing a key role in this game, even if he doesn’t start, has pitched just once since being recalled, throwing 4 1/3 innings of relief following Hughes’ previous start. He struck out seven Red Sox in that outing, with the only runs against him coming on a two-run home run by Jason Bay. Aceves started against the Orioles on September 20 of last year and threw six shutout innings as the Yankees won 1-0.

Today’s news is powered by Mariano Rivera giving us a tour of his restaurant:

• Have you heard? Alex Rodriguez is back . . .
• William Rhoden of the Times notes the jolt A-Rod’s return gives the Yanks, but offers a bit of caution due to the aging roster:

Before Friday’s game, Damon and Jeter spoke about age, baseball and performance, although the conversation segued into an individual’s ability to play despite age.

Jeter said he hadn’t even thought about retirement. “I’m 35 years old,” he said. “That’s something that hasn’t even crossed my mind.”

Damon said his goal was to play for another four or five years, get 3,000 hits and maybe reach the top 10 in runs scored.

“I definitely don’t want to struggle in this game, so I think once struggle starts happening on an every-day basis, and I can’t get out of it, that’s the time,” Damon said. “I would love to play until I’m 39. I’ll go into the off-season, have my big 40th birthday and be done with it.”

Individual performance is one thing. Individually, Damon, Jeter, Posada, Pettitte and perhaps even Rivera can play effectively for several more seasons. That’s not the Yankees’ issue and it hasn’t been the issue since they won their last World Series title.

The Yankees’ problem is that, while many of the teams around them — most notably the Rays — have gotten younger, the heart and soul of the Yankees is aging. That’s something that even Rodriguez’s return cannot cure.

• Also at the Times, Tyler Kepner examines the Yankees team-building ways:

It’s really incredible to think about the makeup of the Yankees’ roster right now. Over and over, the Yankees meet the salary demands of older players, tossing extra years and dollars on the pile. It hamstrings them constantly.

Was anyone else going to sign Rodriguez through 2017? Or Jorge Posada through 2011? Maybe the Mets would have done that for Posada. But considering his age — he turns 38 in August — maybe the Yankees should have let them. And what do they do when Derek Jeter needs a new deal after 2010, when he’ll be 36?

Then there’s Teixeira, who was 0 for 5 on Thursday and will swap home boos for road boos on Friday at Camden Yards. Asked about Teixeira’s struggles on Thursday, Manager Joe Girardi said: “I think it’s probably magnified because we’re losing. If we were winning, I don’t think there would be as much focus on what he’s done.”

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I’ll get to the Orioles in a second. First here’s what’s new about the Yankee roster:

• Alex Rodriguez is back, playing third and hitting fourth in the tonight’s lineup.

That’s huge. Joe Girardi has posted a lineup without Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada in roughly one third of the Yankees’ games this season (nine of 28). Amazingly, the Yankees have scored 5.67 runs per game in those nine games, but their record in those games has been 3-6, and four of those games have occurred during the team’s current five-game losing streak, with the Yankees averaging just four runs per game in those four games. Losing Posada for a month or so has undermined the impact of Rodriguez’s return, but Rodriguez’s return similarly negates the impact of the loss of Posada. Yankee third basemen have hit .202/.248/.283 in Rodriguez’s absence. It’s difficult to underestimate the importance of his return.

• Jose Molina is on the DL with a Grade 2 strain in his left quadriceps. Kevin Cash, who hurt his right shoulder on a slide in April and was just activated from the DL on Tuesday, has been called up to take Molina’s place.

Francisco Cervelli draws the start tonight. I have no idea how Girardi is going to dole out the starts going forward, but I would be surprised if Cervelli and Cash are much more productive in place of Posada and Molina than the Yankee third basemen were in place of Alex Rodriguez. Here’s what I wrote about Cash in my Yankee Campers piece back in February:

Kevin Cash is only three years younger than Chad Moller and a whole lot worse at the plate. He has a great arm, but that simply makes him a younger, less-productive version of Jose Molina. At 31, he’s a career .184/.248/.285 hitter in 557 major league plate appearances. His career OPS+ is 38. He’s among the worst of a worthless breed. The Yankees should be publicly apologetic for not being able to do better.

And here’s what I said about Cervelli:

Cervelli played just 21 games for Trenton last year, but hit .315/.432/.384 in them. That high on-base and poor power is typical of Cervelli, a strong defender who turns 23 in early March and could yet emerge as a major league starter. The Yankees hope Cervelli, the leader in their parade of low-minors catching prospects, will advance quickly, but they’d be wise not to rush him out of desperation. He looked completely overmatched in his five major league plate appearances last September.

And here’s what I wrote about Cervelli when he was called up earlier this week:

After losing most of last year to a broken arm, Cervelli now looks not unlike the catcher-version of [Ramiro] Peña. He’s a strong defender, easily major league quality, with little to recommend him at the plate other than a good batting eye. Cervelli looked overmatched at the plate in his very brief September call-up last year, while playing for Italy in the WBC this March, and in spring training after Italy’s elimination from the tournament. The sample size is minuscule, of course, but the competition in each was something less than what he’s likely to see in the majors in May, and he went a combined 4-for-25 (.160) with just one extra base hit and, despite that good batting eye, just one walk across those three appearances. Thus far this year, he’s hitting just .190/.266/.310 for the Trenton Thunder.

Though I did temper that a bit with this:

I’m not particularly worried about the Yankees “rushing” the 23-year-old Cervelli because Jesus Montero is now just a level behind him at High-A Tampa and is crushing the ball. Montero’s defense is far from major-league-ready, if it ever well be, but he’s nipping at Cervelli’s heals. Peña has handled the jump to the majors wonderfully. Cervelli, who has a veteran disposition—despite his lack of production he was a clubhouse leader on Team Italy—seems as likely as anyone to do likewise.

The way I see it, Girardi might as well start Cervelli and hope for the best given that Cash has already proven himself to be an incompetent major league hitter. That said, if one of these guys has a good day at the plate, he should ride the hot hand.

• Mark Melancon has been optioned to Triple-A Scranton.

That makes room for Rodriguez, but it doesn’t clear a 40-man roster spot for Cash, so another move is coming. If it doesn’t involve Angel Berroa getting designated for assignment, I’ll hit the roof. The problem is that the need to add Cash takes that 40-man spot away from Shelley Duncan, but then Shelley sat out Scranton’s double-header yesterday with a sore shoulder (his left, not the one he separated last year). Oy.

My suggestion for adding another bat is that the Yankees release the perpetually injured Christian Garcia, who is taking up a 40-man roster spot while working out in extended spring training. The hope there being that they could resign him like they did Humberto Sanchez. John Rodriguez or a recovered Duncan could then take Berroa’s 25-man spot while Berroa and Garcia will have made room for Cash and the extra bat.

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Today’s news is powered by the return of A-Rod:

• Alex Rodriguez should be making his 2009 debut tonight.
• Jayson Stark takes another look at those HR milestones in A-Rod’s contract:

Every time his home run total hit one of those “historic” numbers — Willie Mays’ 660 homers, Babe Ruth’s 714, Hank Aaron’s 755, and then the 762nd and 763rd homers that would pull Rodriguez even with and then beyond Barry Bonds — A-Rod’s cash register was supposed to ring.

But now here’s the key question:

Suppose, given his admission of steroid use and the other furor that has swirled around this man, the Yankees were to argue that he’s no longer a “historic” figure?

Wouldn’t that mean that those milestones were no longer “historic” accomplishments?

And wouldn’t that then mean that they no longer would have to pay him his 30 million “historic” bucks — or any portion thereof?

These are not questions the Yankees are asking — yet. But they’re questions we have heard asked around baseball lately, as A-Rod’s reputation, approval rating and marketability have plunged to somewhere south of Rio de Janeiro.

“If I’m the Yankees,” said an official of one team, “I think I’d be doing everything I could not to pay that money, and let him sue me for it.”

“I think the Yankees ought to challenge it and baseball ought to challenge it,” said an executive of another club. “And then it’s up to A-Rod and the union to determine how much they want to fight it. Does this guy really want to continue to go through this stuff? Does he really want to continue to explain himself?”

• Murray Chass . . . disses Selena Roberts . . . and stands up for A-Rod?:

Roberts has written a book about Alex Rodriguez, and it is a journalistic abomination. That phrase probably won’t appear in any advertisement for the book, but it should to alert prospective readers what they would be getting.

I use the word journalistic rather than literary for two reasons: 1, the book grew out of a Sports Illustrated project; 2, Roberts has been a newspaper and magazine reporter and columnist and as such has practiced the craft of journalism. Based on the book, however, she needs a lot more practice.

In general, Roberts makes far too many serious allegations about Rodriguez to hide them behind anonymous quotes. Rodriguez deserves more, but more importantly readers deserve more. There is far too much in this attack book for Roberts to expect readers to take it on faith that her anonymous sources are real and they can be trusted.

The use of anonymous sources has come under increasing criticism from readers of all types of publications. Having used them frequently in my decades as a reporter and columnist, I am aware of the problems they pose. Reporters have to establish their credibility with their use of unidentified sources for readers to accept them.

Roberts and I were once colleagues at The New York Times, and I can’t say she established that credibility. She also didn’t strike me as being a top-flight reporter. As a result, I don’t feel I can trust her book full of anonymous sources. Even if every single A-Rod transgression she reports is accurate, it’s too easy for her to write one former teammate said this and another player said that.

Had she written these same reports for the Times, very little would have made it into the paper. I’m not familiar with Sports Illustrated’s standards, but I hope they’re higher than the Roberts book offers. Actually, if you remove the quotes and other information that Roberts attributes to anonymous sources in the 246-page book, it might be left with 46 pages.

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Let’s get right to it:

• FOX Sports’ Jason Whitlock isn’t too happy with SI’s Selena Roberts:

According to Roberts’ new book and her interview blitzkrieg, Rodriguez used steroids in high school, tipped pitches to opposing batters, tipped Hooters waitresses a paltry 15 percent, was nicknamed “Bitch Tits” in the locker room and is caught up in being perfect because his father abandoned him as a child.

Her sourcing for the most damaging allegations, by her own admission, is either anonymous or non-existent. She wants us to trust her, and her New York Times– and Sports Illustrated-highlighted résumé.

Unlike Bob Costas, the producers at ESPN and the steroids-obsessed baseball journalists, I don’t trust Roberts or her book, and I expressed some of my reasons in a Kansas City Star column that ran on Sunday.

. . . Never trust a publication. Hell, the more prestigious the publication, the more pressure there is for the writers to cut corners in pursuit of a good story.

Place your trust in the writer. And Roberts’ reaction to the exoneration of the Duke lacrosse players calls into question her credibility. By refusing to acknowledge her mistakes in the Duke case, she creates the impression that her agenda trumps the truth.

• Doug Glanville examines the latest alleged controversy surrounding A-Rod:

So, according to the latest story, Alex is connected to some pitch-tipping scheme in which he relayed signs to the opposing hitter (if he was a friend) or for someone who would return the favor when he was hitting. This was supposedly done in one-sided games where, in theory, one team had no chance of catching up. Alex was said to be in cahoots with a lot of middle infielders. Allegedly, there was some sign he would relay to the hitter — a movement with his glove or his feet — to let the hitter know what type of pitch was coming and where.

Although I have never heard such a rumor about Alex, this may be one of the most egregious charges one can make against a player, and a rare one at that. Should a player know that someone in his own dugout is helping the opposing team, I would venture to say that all-out Armageddon would ensue. Imagine if a pitcher knew that his pitches were being given away to the opposing hitter by his own teammate no less. This spy would have to watch his back.

How would this scheme have been missed for Alex’s entire career? We all know that every time he plays, the camera zooms in on him. Opposing teams watch him obsessively, studying film endlessly. The “A-Rod cam” is on full tilt all the time. So, over a period of years, did the best in the business, the brightest analysts and teammates, miss that he was doing this for his roommate from the year before, or maybe for his cousin’s favorite player? Or did they know it but were afraid to come forward? Is it possible that all of these experts had their heads in the sand?

A more likely scenario for how he may have been tipping pitches: he was sending signals to his own team, something that could easily be stolen by a sage opponent. Just as we knew when certain pitchers were throwing a curveball (based on their glove habits, or the way the catcher crouched), or throwing home instead of picking off to first (the pitcher may have turned his front foot inward, or widened his base).

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This is how I concluded my pregame post last night:

The Yankees have scored 2.38 runs per game in the seventh, eight, and ninth innigs alone. The major league average is just 1.47 R/G in the seventh, eighth, and ninth. Meanwhile, the April 15 game mentioned above was the only save the Rays bullpen has blown all season.

With that in mind, let’s skip straight to the eighth inning of last night’s game. A.J. Burnett had been sharp, striking out eight against just two walks in his six innings of work, but the Rays manufactured a run against him in the third and pushed across two more in the sixth on a walk, a single, a bunt, a sac fly, and another single. The Yankees, meanwhile, had been completely stymied by Andy Sonnanstine, who enjoyed his best start of the young season.

Entering the bottom of the eighth, Sonnanstine had held the Yanks scoreless on four hits and no walks. He had gotten 11 of his 21 outs on the ground, and had thrown just 85 pitches. With one out, Ramiro Peña worked an eight-pitch at-bat, eventually singling to right field. Jose Molina followed Peña with a double on Sonnanstine’s 99th pitch that drove the Rays’ starter from the game. After Dan Wheeler struck out Derek Jeter for the second out, Joe Maddon called on lefty J.P. Howell, who proceeded to walk Johnny Damon on five pitches, putting the tying run on base for Mark Teixeira.

As all of this happened, the skies suddenly opened up, and what had been a relatively dry ballgame became drenched in a blinding downpour. Straining to see trough the rain, Teixeira, batting right-handed, swung through Howell’s first pitch then took two more for balls. He swung again at the 2-1 pitch and snapped his bat in half, but in doing so sent the ball down into the left field corner for a bases-clearing, game-tying double.

Then the tarp came out. After a half-hour rain delay, lefty Brian Shouse struck out Hideki Matsui to keep the game tied. After Mariano Rivera worked a scoreless top of the ninth, the Yankees threatened again. Robinson Cano led off with a single to center. That would have brought Nick Swisher to the plate, but Swisher had been ejected by home plate umpire James Hoye in the seventh following an inning-ending called third strike on a pitch that was pretty clearly outside. Instead, Brett Gardner stepped to the plate and bunted Cano to second. After the game, Swisher was asked if he felt guilty about not being able to hit in his spot there. Swisher, who was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts before getting tossed, shrugged and replied that Gardner was at least able to get the ball into play.

After Gardner’s sacrifice, righty Joe Nelson came on and walked Melky Cabrera. Peña then hit a slow grounder to third that had the potential to be an infield single. Evan Longoria charged the ball and fired to first and umpire Dale Scott punched out Peña, but the replay showed that Peña had beaten the throw by a fraction of a step. Jose Molina followed with would otherwise have been a game-winning sac fly to right, but was instead the third out.

With the game heading into the tenth and Rivera having already worked his inning, Joe Girardi turned to Phil Coke, who hadn’t allowed a run in nine appearances dating back to mid-April. Coke’s first pitch to Carlos Peña was a ball. His second was on the outside third of the plate at the knee, headed right toward Jose Molina’s glove until the major league home run leader reached out and deposited it in the right field box seats. Coke then retired the next three men in order.

The Yankees’ last hope came against Troy Percival in the ninth. After a Jeter groundout, Johnny Damon hit a ground rule double over B.J. Upton’s head and into monument park. That brought up reigning Yankee hero Mark Teixeira, who had driven in all three Yankee runs with that double in his previous at-bat. Percival’s first pitch to Teixeira sailed high and past Dioner Navarro, allowing the alert Damon to scramble to third base. All Teixeira had to do to tie the game was lift a sac fly to the outfield. Teixeira took ball two, then got a pitch up in the zone he could lift, but he got under it too much and popped up to shallow right, freezing Damon at third. Hideki Matsui followed by flying out to left to end the game and give the Rays a 4-3 victory.

Teixeira was furious at himself for failing to get Damon home and appeared to be trying to break his batting helmet on the way back to the bat rack. Teixeira had a similar sort of game on Monday, another game that featured a rain delay. In that game, which the Yankees lost 6-4 to the Red Sox, Teixeira hit a solo home runs from opposite sides of the plate in consecutive at-bats, but struck out against Jonathan Papelbon with the tying runs on base in the ninth. Reverse the order of those at-bats and he’s a clutch performer, even if the Yankees still lose 6-4. Same deal last night. That rain-soaked double was a huge clutch hit, but because he got under that pitch from Percival with the tying run 90 feet from home, he gets the goat horns for the night despite the fact that he was the only Yankee to drive in a run all game. So goes baseball. As Coke said in reference to losing the game on what he felt was a good pitch “it’s a game of failure, you know.”

Yeah, Phil, we do.

Yes, the Yankees have lost all five of their games against the Red Sox this year, but they’ve actually outplayed Boston the rest of the time. The Yankees are 13-8 (.619) against their other opponents (O’s, Rays, Royals, Indians, A’s, Tigers, Angels), while the Red Sox are 12-10 (.545) against essentially the same group of teams (O’s, Rays, Indians, A’s, Angels).

The Yankees may have a mere .500 winning percentage, but the Rays are four games below .500 at .429 and lost their only series against the Yanks thus far their season. The Rays’ haven’t won more than two games in a row all season and have a 1-6-2 record in series.

The catch is that the Rays haven’t been bad, they’ve just been unlucky. Based on run differential, the Rays should be just a half game behind the Red Sox at 15-13, rather than 5.5 games behind Boston as they currently are. The problem is the Rays aren’t giving themselves much margin for error. They’re the fourth stingiest team in the American League in terms of runs allowed per game, but they’re scoring runs more often than just five teams in the AL.

The underperforming offense can be pinned to differing degrees on B.J. Upton and Dioner Navarro, who have been complete black holes for the Rays thus far this year (Upton: .157/.276/.205, 27 OPS+; Navarro: .179/.198/.262, 18 OPS+), and Pat Burrell, who enters tonight’s game with just one home run and a .322 slugging percentage. Upton has gone 1-for-18 over his last four games. Burrell has had just two extra-base hits in his last 75 plate appearances. Evan Longoria is mashing, leading the majors with in slugging with a .365/.417/.721 line, Carlos Peña is leading the majors with 11 home runs, Carl Crawford is leading the majors with 19 stolen bases and has yet to be caught, and Jason Bartellet is in the top-10 in the majors in batting average, but Longoria, Peña and Bartlett are the only every-day Rays starters with multiple homers on the season, and Bartlett especially is playing way over his head. Assuming the Rays’ lineup will balance out and for a few more breaks will go their way, they should be fine, but they’re creating an opportunity for the Yankees with their early struggles.

The Rays’ roster is unchanged from the last time they faced the Yankees, though former Yankee farm hand Michel Hernandez replaced Shawn Riggans (15-day DL: right shoulder tendonitis) as the back-up catcher after I wrote my initial preview. They send Andy Sonnanstine to the hill tonight. Sonnanstine got a no-decision after holding the Yankees to two runs over five innings on April 15 in a game the Yankees eventually won with a run of closer Troy Percival in the ninth inning. Sonnanstine has completed six innings just once this season and carries a 6.75 ERA into tonight’s game.

The Yankees counter with A.J. Burnett, whose best start of the year was his eight dominant innings against the Rays on April 14 (8 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 9 K). Burnett walked seven in his next start, then coughed up eight runs to the Red Sox in the start after that. His last time out, against the Angels, he was good enough, allowing four runs over seven innings and walking just one in a game the Yankees won with three runs in the eighth.

Note those combacks. The Yankees have scored 2.38 runs per game in the seventh, eight, and ninth innigs alone. The major league average is just 1.47 R/G in the seventh, eighth, and ninth. Meanwhile, the April 15 game mentioned above was the only save the Rays bullpen has blown all season.

Today’s news is powered by a big Happy 78th birthday wish to Willie Mays:

• Alex Rodriguez’s daily rehab update (soon to be a major motion picture!):

New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez homered twice and played seven innings in the field for the second straight day in an extended spring training game on Tuesday.

Sidelined since undergoing right hip surgery on March 9, the third baseman could rejoin the Yankees for Friday night’s game at Baltimore. A-Rod said a return date has not been finalized.

“I have no idea about Friday,” said Rodriguez, scheduled to play in another extended spring training game Wednesday. “I’m feeling good.”

Rodriguez went 3-for-6 with two homers to center — including one that cleared a 40-foot-high batter’s eye — and also lined a single. He had two plays at third, fielding a grounder and making a spin move to throw out Philadelphia minor leaguer Nerio Rios at first.

• Jorge Posada takes his strained hamstring to the 15-day DL.  Here’s a little info on just what a hamstring strain is.
• Rainy days and Mondays (when it rains incessantly to the point that some fans think the game has been called, only to find it hasn’t been called . . . and that aren’t allowed back in the Stadium . . .) always get me down:

Hundreds of irate fans – some who claim Yankee employees told them the game had been rained out – stormed away from Yankee Stadium before Monday night’s game against the Red Sox even got underway and couldn’t get back in, resulting in a an ugly scene at one of the ticket gates.

With rain falling for hours and no start time announced until shortly before 9 p.m., hordes of fans began leaving the Stadium and heading home – some who said they had been advised that the game had been called by Yankee employees who walked the concourse holding pinstriped “How may I help you?” signs.

When a 9:20 p.m. start time was eventually announced over the public address system, a crowd on the sidewalk outside Gate 6 tried to get back into the Stadium, only to have the employees working the turnstiles promptly close the doors in their faces. Panicked fans began racing up and down the sidewalk, trying to find a way back into the ballpark, while others remained at Gate 6 either pleading or demanding to be let back in.

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Jorge Posada tweaked his already-tender right hamstring while sliding into second base in the sixth inning of last night’s game. He had an MRI this morning, which revealed a Grad 2 strain, and was placed on the 15-day disabled list soon after. He’s likely to miss a month if not more. The Yankees had hoped to get an offensive boost with Alex Rodriguez’s return from hip surgery, likely on Friday, but with Posada out, Rodriguez’s return will merely return the Yankees to the status quo, as Rodriguez will be hard pressed to out perform the .312/.402/.584 line Posada has put up thus far this season.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that the status quo is pretty darn good. Entering tonight’s game, the Yankees are tied with the Texas Rangers for the second most runs scored per game in the American League behind the overachieving Blue Jays. The Yankees’ 5.84 R/G is nearly a run better than their mark from 2008 (4.87 R/G, seventh in the AL), and is evenly split between home (5.8 R/G) and the road (5.87 R/G). Also, Rodriguez is going to be in the lineup more often than Posada, who had been on pace for 115 games between catcher and DH.

It’s still bad news, but it’s not as devastating as Posada’s shoulder injury was last year because of the additions of Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher, and the rebounds of Robinson Cano, Hideki Matsui and, thus far, Melky Cabrera. It’s also good news that we’re talking about a fairly routine hamstring injury and not a recurrence of Posada’s shoulder woes.

Still, losing Posada for any length of time creates a hole in the lineup. Jose Molina’s .257/.333/.343 line looks robust next to his 2008 performance (.216/.263/.313), but it’s simply replacement level rather than well below and falls short of what the Yankees had been getting from Ramiro Peña (.313/.371/.344), though the bottom would surely to fall out on Peña were he to stay in the lineup much longer.

Francisco Cervelli has been called up from Double-A to take Molina’s spot on the bench. After losing most of last year to a broken arm, Cervelli now looks not unlike the catcher-version of Peña. He’s a strong defender, easily major league quality, with little to recommend him at the plate other than a good batting eye. Cervelli looked overmatched at the plate in his very brief September call-up last year, while playing for Italy in the WBC this March, and in spring training after Italy’s elimination from the tournament. The sample size is minuscule, of course, but the competition in each was something less than what he’s likely to see in the majors in May, and he went a combined 4-for-25 (.160) with just one extra base hit and, despite that good batting eye, just one walk across those three appearances. Thus far this year, he’s hitting just .190/.266/.310 for the Trenton Thunder.

Cervelli’s here because the top catcher at Triple-A Scranton, Chris Stewart, is hitting .178/.275/.200 and isn’t nearly as good behind the plate as Cervelli. Kevin Cash, who was supposed to be the third-string catcher, is on the DL with a shoulder injury of his own. I’m not particularly worried about the Yankees “rushing” the 23-year-old Cervelli because Jesus Montero is now just a level behind him at High-A Tampa and is crushing the ball. Montero’s defense is far from major-league-ready, if it ever well be, but he’s nipping at Cervelli’s heals. Peña has handled the jump to the majors wonderfully. Cervelli, who has a veteran disposition—despite his lack of production he was a clubhouse leader on Team Italy—seems as likely as anyone to do likewise.

One hidden aspect of Posada’s DL stay is that it will make the loss of Xavier Nady sting all the more. The Yankees haven’t suffered in right field since Nady’s injury because Nick Swisher has been on fire, hitting .300/.434/.688 on the season. Where the Yankees have missed Nady is in their limited pinch-hitting options late in close games. A three-man bench of Jose Molina, Angel Berroa, and Brett Gardner doesn’t offer Joe Girardi much in terms of late-game pop. That wouldn’t have mattered as much with both Rodriguez and Posada in the lineup, but with the hole at third moving to catcher, the Yankees will continue to long after a bench bat. All the more reason for them to use Rodriguez’s return as an excuse to designate Angel Berroa for assignment and purchase the contract of non-roster slugger Shelley Duncan, who is now hitting .347/.421/.716 with ten jacks for Scranton.

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Here’s the soggy stories:

• Alex Rodriguez could be back as early as Friday:

“So much of it just depends on how he feels and when he believes he’s ready to go,” Girardi said. “I have not really put a date on it, because I want to see how he bounces back. It’s up to him. When he feels that he’s ready, we’re probably going to take him back.”

Rodriguez is scheduled to play another extended spring game on Tuesday, serving seven innings in the field as he makes his way back from March 9 right hip surgery to repair a torn labrum.

Rodriguez ran the bases on Monday but did not slide on dirt, and Girardi said that Rodriguez would not necessarily need to do so before being activated, since he has slid on a pad.

• There’s been a long reliever sighted in Yankee Stadium:

With inclement weather in the forecast for this week’s series against the Red Sox, the Yankees moved to recall right-hander Alfredo Aceves from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Monday, optioning right-hander Anthony Claggett in a corresponding move.

The Yankees spent most of Spring Training considering whether to select a long reliever from the group of Aceves, Dan Giese and Brett Tomko. In the end, New York took none of the three, choosing Jonathan Albaladejo instead.

Girardi said that Aceves, who was 2-0 with a 3.80 ERA at Triple-A, could stick with the Yankees, who could have used a long reliever in April on several occasions when they were forced to dip into their bullpen early in games.

“So much of it depends on who’s throwing the ball well,” Girardi said. “Ace was very successful when we called him up last year. We threw him a little bit out of the bullpen, and then he made some pretty good starts for us.

• Joba Chamberlain’s mother was arrested:

The mother of New York Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain has been arrested on charges of selling methamphetamine to an undercover police officer in February.

Jacqueline Standley was arrested at her apartment Saturday night, Lincoln Police Capt. David Beggs said Monday. . . .

Last month, Chamberlain pleaded guilty to drunken driving and was given nine months probation and a $400 fine for his October arrest.

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The Yankees waited through a two-hour-fifteen-minute rain delay last night to lose their fourth straight game to the Red Sox. Phil Hughes lacked the command of his pitches he had in his previous start and was out after using up 94 pitches and walking four in just four innings. The Sox built a picket fence against Hughes, scoring once in each of his frames. Alfredo Aceves, who was called up earlier in the day, appeared to lock things down from there, and the Yankees pulled within one by scoring three quick runs in the fifth after Joe Girardi got himself ejected for arguing a called third strike on Derek Jeter. Johnny Damon followed Girardi’s ejection with a two-run homer down the right-field line, and Mark Teixeira followed with a slump-busting solo homer into the visiting bullpen, but Jason Bay got two of those runs back with a two-run jack off Aceves in the seventh. Teixeira answered with a solo shot on the first pitch from Ramon Ramirez in the eighth, giving Tex switch-hit homers in consecutive at-bats, but both the ensuing rally in that inning and another in the ninth were quelled by Jonathan Papelbon and the Yanks fell 6-4.

Home plate umpire Jerry Meals wasn’t helping Hughes, which is one reason Girardi got himself tossed, but Jon Lester wasn’t bothered by the rain delay, the steady mist falling throughout the game, or the strikezone (which did appear to be a bit more accomidating when he was on the mound). He worked seven strong innings and tied a career high with 10 Ks. His only mistakes were the home runs by Damon and Teixeira, which suggests that Girardi’s stunt, prompted by his disapproval of Meals’ strikezone throughout the game to that point, temporarily unnerved the Boston lefty.

Adding injury to insult, Jorge Posada felt his right hamstring grab while running the bases in the sixth inning. He’ll have an MRI today and will not be in the lineup tonight as the Yankees try to save some face by sending Joba Chamberlain to the mound against Josh Beckett in the finale of this short, rain-threatened series.

It’s a soggy day in New York. Here in North Jersey, the rain was intermittent and largely stayed away this afternoon, but right now, roughly an hour before the scheduled first pitch of tonight’s game between the Yankees and Red Sox, it’s pouring. The Yankees have said they will try to play tonight, but it’s going to be messy if they do.

Since the Red Sox swept the Yankees in three games at Fenway the weekend before last, the Yankees have gone 4-2 against the Tigers and Angels, while the Sox pushed their winning streak to 11 games with a win last Monday but went a mere 3-4 against the Indians and Rays.

The Sox have made just one change to their roster since the Yanks were in Fenway. Julio Lugo has returned from rehabing his knee to replace Nick Green as the team’s shortstop and number-nine hitter. Green thus moves to the bench where he replaces Gil Velazquez. Given that Green as hitting .304/.371/.464, that’s actually a downgrade for Boston. Perhaps Terry Francona has realized this as Green has drawn the start tonight.

The Yankees, meanwhile, have thought better of recalling Anthony Claggett (who took the spot of the injured Damaso Marte before Sunday’s rain-out) and have farmed Claggett out for Alfredo Aceves. With rain expected nearly all week, this is likely a move made to give the Yanks a long reliever should an extended rain delay end a starters’ night early, but it’s the smarter move regardless of the weather. Aceves has pitched very well in his last two starts for Scranton Wilkes-Barre and showed a nice uptick in velocity in his short-relief outings for the big club last September. He’s worth having around, while Claggett is still trying to adjust to Triple-A. Aceves also gives the Yanks a less valuable alternate if they decide that the conditions for a given game are too dangerous to risk putting a more valuable and more fragile starter out there.

For now, however, they’re still going with Phil Hughes tonight. I, like most of you I’m sure, have been anxious to see Hughes get back on the bump following his fantastic start in Detroit (6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K, 99 pitches). The Hughes we saw in that start and his September 24 start against A.J. Burnett and the Blue Jays last year (8 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 6 K, 100 pitches) is the Phil Hughes we were all so excited about before his hamstring tear in early 2007. He was pinpointing his 93 mile per hour heater, dropping in wicked 70 mph curves, and keeping hitters off balance and off base with his new high-80s cutter. It would have been preferable for him to start in yesterday’s relatively low-profile game (a Sunday afternoon against the Angels with the Yankees leading 2-1 in the series), but Hughes’s problems have always been physical, not mental. If he’s feeling good, I don’t expect he’ll be terribly disturbed by trying to break the Yankees’ season 0-fer against the rival Sox.

Boston counters with 25-year-old lefty Jon Lester, who held the Yankees to two runs over six innings at Fenway. Lester’s only start since then was a dud (6 IP, 5 R in Cleveland), but curiously his peripherals for both starts were identical (7 H, 3 BB, 7 K)with one large exception: the Yankees didn’t hit a home run off Lester, while the Indians stroked two. Just two of Lester’s five starts have been good ones, but he has struck out 23 men in 19 innings over his last three, so odds are he’s just shaking off some April rust. Last year, he had a 5.40 ERA after six starts, then went 15-4 with a 2.82 the rest of the way.

Nick Swisher (elbow) returns to the lineup to face Lester. Jorge Posada will DH with Jose Molina catching. Melky Cabrera’s in center and hitting seventh. Angel Berroa bats ninth as Joe Girardi continues to deny Ramiro Peña plate appearances against lefties (he has just two, a walk and a strikeout). Peña has been weaker against lefties than righties in his minor league career, but not significantly so (though it’s hard to tell given his poor hitting overall).

Today’s news is powered by an interesting video montage of Marilyn Monroe and Joe D:

• Joe Girardi has a fever, and the only prescription is . . . fewer stories/books about Alex Rodriguez:

“I have some issues with it,” Girardi said. “It’s interesting that the book date got moved up now. And I get tired of answering these questions. I don’t understand why someone would write a book like this anyway.”

The book, “A-Rod: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez,” was written by Selena Roberts of Sports Illustrated. It asserts that Rodriguez, the Yankees’ third baseman, used steroids at various times during his career and had human growth hormone in his possession when he played for the Yankees in 2004.

“From the excerpts I have read, I have heard that there are other negative things about his lifestyle,” Girardi said. “I’m a firm believer that what we do off the field is our personal life.”

• A-Rod is going to be under an MLB-authorized microscope:

Major League Baseball is investigating Alex Rodriguez’s statements about his use of performance-enhancing drugs, increasing the pressure on the New York Yankees star ahead of an unflattering biography due out on Monday.

Rodriguez admitted in February to using steroids while with the Texas Rangers from 2001-03, but insisted he stopped before he was traded to the Yankees in February 2004. But the Daily News reported on Thursday that Sports Illustrated writer Selena Roberts’ upcoming book “A-Rod” says he may have used steroids as early as high school and even after he was acquired by New York.

Roberts was contacted by one of MLB’s investigators on Friday but she told him she couldn’t cooperate with its inquiry, according to The New York Times report.

“I said that as a journalist, I cover MLB, and cooperating with them on this would be a conflict of interest, and he said that he understood the position that I am in,” Roberts told the newspaper.

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It often seems like the Yankees just can’t hit rookie pitchers they’ve never faced before (a phenomenon I once dubbed getting “URPed” by an Unfamiliar Rookie Pitcher). That’s more perception than reality. As recently as Tuesday night, they touched up 20-year-old Tigers rookie Rick Porcello for six runs in 3 2/3 innings. At the conclusion of their last homestand, they scored five runs in 5 1/3 innings against 21-year-old A’s prospect Brett Anderson. They also scored four runs in five innings against Orioles rookie Alfredo Simon in the last game of their season-opening series in Baltimore. Such performances tend not to stick in our memories because they conform to our expectations; we expect the Yankees to beat up on the fresh-faced kids straight out of the minors, which is exactly why it really eats us up when they don’t.

Angels starter Matt Palmer is no fresh-faced kid at 30-years-old, nor is he a highly-touted prospect like Porcello or Anderson, but he is a rookie, and one the Yankees had never faced before this afternoon’s game. He’s also one the Yankees didn’t hit.

Palmer doesn’t have great stuff, but he was able to mix up his speeds and locations enough this afternoon to keep the hot Yankee bats off balance. He snapped Robinson Cano’s 18-game hitting streak and held the Yanks to one run on three hits and two walks over 6 1/3 innings, compensating for his dearth of strikeouts (two) with a fair number of groundballs (10).

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