CC Sabathia

#52 / Pitcher / New York Yankees

Height: 6-7

Weight: 290

Bats: L

Throws: L

Born: Jul 21, 1980

Casey Crosby

#45 / Pitcher / Detroit Tigers

Height: 6-5

Weight: 200

Bats: R

Throws: L

Born: Sep 17, 1988

We've got the Cap'n Crunch Connoisseur, a return to 7 p.m. start times, and we're facing a pitcher in his major league debut that will have the whole thread full of angst if we don't score in the first inning. If this isn't the thread to win the game thread war, I will have lost faith in all humanity.

Should all else fail, feel free to discuss at length PSA trolls of the past, what you ate for dinner, and whether you think the Yankees are really doomed, a little doomed, or unimaginably doomed.

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With the Yankee bullpen weakened by injuries to Mariano Rivera, Joba Chamberlain, and David Robertson, the rest of the relievers have had to put on their big boy pants and pitch more meaningful innings than were asked of them before. Carrying two LOOGYs in your bullpen obviously limits the flexibility you have to fill in the necessary innings because to be considered a lefty specialist, it usually means that you are the equivalent of nuclear waste against right-handed batters. Either way, Boone Logan has had to be more than just a LOOGY for the 2012 Yankees, and he hasn't been half bad at it so far.

I have not been shy about my negative feelings for Boone Logan. Since becoming a Yankee, it seemed like he managed to constantly do something wrong in a key situation that drove all of us insane, and because of that, I dubbed him the LNOGY, or Lefty No Out Guy. It's possible that my disdain for him was a little unfair at times, but that's not the point.

In 2012, Logan has gone from LOOGY to Rafael Soriano's set-up man that gets out both lefties and righties, which may be because he is way less terrible against righties than fellow LOOGY Clay Rapada. In any other year, putting him in that role could have been a disaster, but the nightmarish results have really not been there so far this season. I haven't felt the need to cover my eyes when Girardi calls for Boone from the bullpen, and that's a huge step up from where we were in the past.

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- The Yankee catching duo of Russell Martin and Chris Stewart has been an offensive (both ways) black hole this year, hitting for a combined .196/.314/.313 and a 77 wRC+. With Cervelli being pretty bad in AAA, and the rest of the catching prospects too far away, there is little relief in sight at the position. The long-term options around baseball are diminishing, but can the Yankees justify giving Martin the contract he wants if he hits like he is now all season?

- The 2012 draft is next week, and EJ Fagan at The Yankee Analysts discusses his strategy for dealing with the new signing bonus rules. The budget for this year is $4.19 million, down from $6 million. I'm still holding out hope for Stryker Trahan because of his name alone.

- Chad Jennings at LoHud looks at the entire Yankee system to find the prospect at each position who has been best to this point in the season. Popular names like Gary Sanchez, Mason Williams, and Tyler Austin are obviously included, but there are a few under the radar types there as well.

- Austin Romine has finally been cleared to return to baseball activities after being out since before Spring Training games began with an inflamed disc in his back. He will likely be back to game action some time in July.

- Mike Axisa at River Avenue Blues thinks that David Robertson's return could be a good time to let David Phelps get a few starts in while possibly sending Ivan Nova to the minors to work out the problems he has faced all season. That's likely not a popular opinion at PSA, but Axisa is the second writer (Donnie Collins, AAA beat writer, being the first) to propose the move since Wednesday's game.

Knowing how Nova responded to being sent down last year, would you send him down in hopes that he works out whatever is going on, or let him stay in New York with the potential of more bad starts hanging overhead?

If you have watched any of this series against the Angels, you shouldn't be the least bit surprised that the game was in Mark Trumbo's hands. The illustrious 1-2-3 inning continued to elude Rafael Soriano, but he pitched out of trouble to give the Yankees a win, and most importantly, to get them out of Anaheim.

Ivan Nova was not sharp by any means tonight, but he managed to get the win despite allowing five runs on eight hits and three walks in 6.2 innings. He loaded the bases with no outs in the first inning, but escaped the jam allowing only a sac-fly to Yankee Killer #1 Mark Trumbo to score Yankee Killer #2 Mike Trout, who Nova hit with a pitch to start off the game.

The fourth inning is where things really got messy for Nova, as he allowed a two-run home run to Trumbo and a two-run double to Trout (yeah, these guys again) to tie the game. The home run was the 13th of the year allowed by Nova, matching last year's total. Our pitchers have to stop giving up so many home runs at some point, right? It's not funny anymore.

Boone Logan relieved Nova, but failed to record an out, thanks in part to some...interesting Derek Jeter defense. Cory Wade came on to complete the 7th and stayed in for the 8th, recording three strikeouts in 1.1 innings. The save was not an easy one to earn for Soriano after walking Alberto Callaspo and giving up an infield hit to Albert Pujols, which forced him to face the red-hot Trumbo with the game on the line. Luckily, this time the result was a fly ball to left field instead of a repeat performance of Monday night.

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The Yankee offense got to Oakland starter Tyson Ross, mainly by way of the home run, and Ivan Nova got his fifth win of the season as the Yankees defeated the Athletics 6-3.

Every Yankee starter except for Derek Jeter reached base at least once in the game, and the offense was led by two-run home runs from Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher, as well as a solo shot by Robinson Cano. Curtis Granderson and Alex Rodriguez each singled twice; and Rodriguez managed to steal a base, something we haven't seen a ton of since Brett Gardner has been on the DL.

The offense scored three unearned runs in the 3rd inning after a Coco Crisp error, and threatened in the 4th with the bases loaded and one out before A-Rod grounded into a double play. Mark Teixeira also managed to get thrown out at third for the first out of the 5th inning, trying unsuccessfully to stretch a double off the glove of Seth Smith into a triple. The ghost of Jorge Posada still remains with the Yankees in terms of base running mistakes such as that.

Ivan Nova pitched seven innings, allowing three runs on six hits and one walk while striking out four batters. The runs came on a Josh Reddick solo home run, a Kurt Suzuki sac-fly in a damage-minimizing 5th inning, and a Kila Ka`aihue solo homer in the 7th.

The game was completed by an eight pitch outing from Boone Logan in the 8th, and Rafael Soriano came on to record his fourth save of the year in the 9th. After getting two outs, you may have thought that Soriano would finally have his first 1-2-3 inning of the year, but no, he's still allergic to that sort of thing. The double by Josh Donaldson eventually amounted to nothing, and that was the game (much later than most of us East Coasters are used to).

Comment of the Game: Let's Talk About Tex Baby for giving Ibanez some defensive tips.

Ivan Nova

#47 / Pitcher / New York Yankees

Height: 6-4

Weight: 225

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Jan 12, 1987

Tyson Ross

#66 / Pitcher / Oakland Athletics

Height: 6-6

Weight: 230

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Apr 22, 1987

Yankees: Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano, Mark Teixeira, Raul Ibanez, Nick Swisher, Eric Chavez, Russell Martin

Athletics: Jemile Weeks, Coco Crisp, Josh Reddick, Seth Smith, Kila Ka`aihue, Josh Donaldson, Daric Barton, Kurt Suzuki, Cliff Pennington

It certainly hasn't been a banner year for our pitchers so far, with injuries and ineffectiveness shaking up the starting rotation more than once. Our pitchers have been victimized by absurd numbers of home runs, which has definitely led to frustration and more losses than we'd like. Despite all that, there have been a few bright moments that showed us all glimpses of what our rotation is capable of when they aren't getting run over by the bad luck train.

Game Score, if you aren't already familiar with it, is a sabermetric creation that is used to determine how well a pitcher did in any game. The pitcher starts out with 50 points, and loses one point for every walk issued, two points for every hit allowed, two points for every unearned run, and four points for every earned run. The pitcher is given one point for each out they record, one point for every strike out they record, and two points for every inning they complete after the 4th. This is what I used to find the top performances so far this year, courtesy of Baseball-Reference.

After the jump are the top ten starts of the season so far, according to Game Score:

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- Despite having a thoroughly disappointing season to this point, Mark Teixeira isn't worried about how his numbers look. "I never really worry about the numbers because every year they're there. At the end of the year, I'll put my stats up against any power hitter in baseball", Tex said Monday night. I can understand some of that, as he's been sick practically all season and it is still just May, but it's hard to ignore how bad he has really been. Brad Vietrogoski at The Yankee Analysts/An A-Blog For A-Rod wrote that Tex is swinging at more pitches out of the zone and fewer in the zone, and has a career high GB% and career low LD% to this point. That's a concerning trend we have to hope turns around and soon.

- Rumors circulated the internet yesterday about the Steinbrenner family possibly wanting to sell the Yankees, but those rumors were quickly denied by both MLB and Hal Steinbrenner. Maybe it was a silly rumor and nothing more, but Benjamin Kabak at River Avenue Blues thinks that if the right offer came along, the Steinbrenners may very well be tempted to cash in on the franchise.

- For those who are missing Jorge Vazquez (for whatever reason), there is a new name you may want to be aware of: Ronnier Mustelier. Like El Chato, Mustelier is old for a prospect at 27, but he is currently hitting .313/.347/.522 with the Empire State Yankees, and could find his way to the Bronx later this season. The Cuban utility guy has played second base, third base, and all three outfield positions, so he is definitely someone to keep an eye on.

- Another prospect that you may want to familiarize yourself with if you haven't already is Mark Montgomery, who is drawing favorable comparisons to our own David Robertson. Montgomery is a strike out machine with a 15.3 K/9 in 50 innings. His slider has been considered unhittable since college, and like D-Rob, Montgomery has been quickly moving up through the system. If he keeps this up, it may not be long until we see him in the majors.

The Yankee offense finally got a couple hits with runners in scoring position, but it wasn't quite enough to come back from a 6-3 deficit in the 9th inning. Ivan Nova gave up five runs in six innings, allowing seven hits, and striking out a career-high 12 batters. The bulk of the damage against Nova came on a three-run Joey Votto home run that landed just over the wall in right field. The first seven outs Nova recorded were all by way of strikeouts.

The 7th inning was pitched by a combination of Cody Eppley and Clay Rapada, and neither allowed a hit before the 2012 version of 2011 Hector Noesi, David Phelps, came on to finish out the game. Phelps struck out three batters, allowing one hit and one walk in two innings. An unearned run scored after Phelps made a diving catch on a ball in front of the mound, but overthrew Nick Swisher trying to double off the runner at first base. Unfortunately, that proved to be the difference in the game.

With the hopes of a comeback in mind, Raul Ibanez and Nick Swisher led off the 9th with a double and single, respectively, before Reds closer Sean Marshall struck out Russell Martin, who had homered earlier in the game. Andruw Jones also singled, then Jayson Nix drove in Swisher to pull the Yankees to within one. Sadly, that chased Marshall from the game, and Derek Jeter grounded the first pitch he saw from Jose Arredondo to third base, barely beating out a game-ending double play. Curtis Granderson worked the count, but ultimately grounded out to first to end the rally and the game.

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In his second start since returning from a year of retirement, Andy Pettitte was as fantastic as anyone could have hoped for, pitching eight shutout innings against the Reds.

Pettitte was dominant, striking out nine batters while allowing only four hits and issuing one walk. He hadn't pitched eight innings, allowing no runs while striking out at least nine since September of 1997. For those of us with a lot of sentimentality attached to Andy Pettitte, but worried about how he would perform after being away, this game was a truly welcome event.

Throughout the majority of the game, it looked as though Alex Rodriguez's 4th inning RBI ground out would be the difference in the game. The Yankee offense had their chances, including loading the bases with no outs in the 6th inning, but failing to score with some help from the human element of umpires. However, the 8th inning was a different story. Robinson Cano hit a towering two-out solo home run off Bronson Arroyo; then a single by A-Rod, and a two-run shot into the short porch in right by Raul Ibanez finally chased Arroyo from the game.

Boone Logan came on to close out the game with a clean inning, and Andy Pettitte got his first win since July 8, 2010. Ivan Nova and the Yankees will face Homer Bailey and the Reds tomorrow afternoon at 1:05 p.m.

Comment of the Game: jetanumba2 for his plea for Andy Pettitte to pitch like he did tonight all year.

After losing an ugly two-game set to the Toronto Blue Jays, some fans are a bit on edge with the current state of the Yankees. I could write an entire post on the reasons why it's far too early to panic, but instead, I will hopefully shed some light on something that suggests that things will almost definitely be improving on the pitching front before long.

If you've watched the Yankees at all in 2012, you know that our starting pitchers are giving up a disproportionately high amount of home runs. Phil Hughes has given up a homer in each of his starts so far this season, bordering on historic territory with that statistic. He's far from the only Yankee starter to be suffering because of the long ball, though. Each starter has seen a significant jump in their HR/9 and HR/FB numbers so far in 2012. That is obviously bad, but the unsustainable rate at which it is occurring means that they are due for the good kind of regression before long.

Silly looking graphs on these numbers after the jump.

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- It's only May, but Mike Axisa at RAB is already looking ahead to the trade deadline to analyze which players the Yankees might be interested in obtaining. Injuries have been a real issue so far this year, so it's not a stretch to think they might make some kind of move, unlike last year. Who is on your radar?

- The Yankees claimed infielder Matt Antonelli off waivers from the Baltimore Orioles yesterday. Antonelli is a former first round draft pick with the San Diego Padres, and can play first base, second base, third base, shortstop, and left field. He will report to AAA Empire State this weekend.

- Mark Teixeira plans to talk to Joe Girardi about whether taking a day off makes sense after battling problems with his health for weeks. After seeing him hacking while playing defense last night, I don't know how there is any question to this. I'm not sure if his illness is hurting his play at the plate, but I can't imagine it's helping at all.

-After spraining his ankle against the Orioles in his last start, Ivan Nova's status for Saturday was in question, but it now looks like he won't miss his turn after all. Very good news, since it seems like every seemingly small injury is DL-worthy with this team right now.

- For all the talk of Alex Rodriguez having a slower bat speed of late, Michael Eder at The Yankee Analysts breaks down A-Rod's numbers, and finds that this is really just a conjectured narrative. Plenty of people have said that Rodriguez can only catch up to the slower stuff he's thrown, but Eder uses his fancy numbers to put that to rest as well. A-Rod hasn't been hitting for the power we expect of him, though I truly believe it will come around, but a lot of the criticism for why it hasn't been there so far is unfounded.

Jesus Montero homered in his return to Yankee Stadium, but Hiroki Kuroda and the Yankees' offense beat Felix Hernandez and the Mariners 6-2. The lone Yankee run that was scored by way of something other than a dinger came in the first inning, as Curtis Granderson scored on a single by Robinson Cano. Cano, who is really heating up after his month-long slump, went 4-4 in the game with three singles and a double.

Thanks to said Montero home run, the Yankees were down 2-1 before Raul Ibanez hit a big three-run home run that put the Yankees back ahead for good. Andruw Jones pinch hit for Eric Chavez in the eight inning, and threw in a long two-run home run of his own. Alex Rodriguez also continued to look good offensively, reaching base three times on two singles and a walk. Every Yankee that came to the plate managed a hit tonight except, you guessed it, Russell Martin.

Hiroki Kuroda gave up a leadoff home run to Dustin Ackley, and worked himself into trouble a couple times throughout the game, but managed to only give up two runs on six hits and three walks in seven innings of work. The Binder decided that three pitchers would combine to pitch the 8th inning, with Clay Rapada, Cory Wade, and Boone Logan each facing one batter. Boone Logan started the 9th inning, but was pulled for David Robertson after an infield single to Justin Smoak. His Houdini act wasn't necessary, as Robertson got two quick outs to end the game.

Tomorrow, Phil Hughes will face former Yankee Hector Noesi at 4:05 p.m. Offense, ahoy.

Comment of the Game: knuqqler for realizing why A-Rod got thrown out at the plate.

It has been a week in the Year Without Rivera, and David Robertson's blown save has already sent the media into a frenzy of how he may not be able to handle the 9th inning, or whatever that narrative is. As scary as life without Mo there to lock down the final inning seems to be, even with such a viable pitcher to take over in the meantime, the Yankees are certainly not alone in having to throw a new closer into the fire this season.

Fourteen of the thirty teams in Major League Baseball have already been forced to make a change in closers this year for one reason or another. Some have been due to long-term or season-ending injuries, but a good number have been because of continued ineffectiveness. The fact that it is the beginning of May, and already almost half the teams in MLB have had to make a switch in the 9th inning is completely astounding.

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- Ivan Nova has given up a lot of home runs so far in 2012, and Matt Imbrogno at The Yankee Analysts shows that Nova has been a bit unlucky, but he has also been giving the batters too good of a pitch to hit in a hitter's count.

- Brett Gardner re-strained his elbow muscle, and will be shut down completely for ten days. This was the same muscle that he was on the DL for to begin with, and Joe Girardi said it could be as long as a month before we see Gardner on the field again. Sigh.

- Larry Koestler at RAB looks at the top ten pitchers who have the best ERA against the Yankees since 2009. Any guesses who tops the list? Most of the names are very predictable, but an unexpected and very hated man in Yankeeland comes in at #7. As if we didn't have enough reasons to dislike him already.

- After homering last night off David Price, Curtis Granderson now has 19 home runs off left-handed pitchers since the beginning of last season, the most by any lefty in the majors during that time. Very impressive for someone who was constantly hounded for his inability to hit left-handed pitching before his revolution with Kevin Long. K-Long is a wizard.

- Brian Cashman testified in the continuing Roger Clemens trial yesterday. Some of the questions, as well as some of Cashman's answers to them, were pretty silly. Grant Brisbee highlighted a few of them at Baseball Nation. The sooner this is all over, the better.

The Yankee offense that had seemingly been missing for the past few games finally came to, scoring six runs off Royals starter Bruce Chen. Mark Teixeira, who has always had success off Chen, hit a two-run home run in the first inning to put the Yankees on the board. Lefty Killer Derek Jeter had a two-run home run and single in the game, bringing his season total against lefties to .575/.571/1.000.

Eduardo Nunez took a walk, stole a base, and hit an RBI triple. Aside from Jeter and Teixeira, he was the only other Yankee to reach base more than once. Every starter (even Cano!) not named Jayson Nix had at least a hit in the game, but he was pinch hit for with DeWayne Wise, who got his first hit as a Yankee with a double. The majority of the scoring came in the seventh inning when the Yankees rallied with two outs to score four runs.

For the third straight time, CC Sabathia pitched eight strong innings, and gave up only two runs to end the Yankees' losing streak at three. The only Royals runs came in the first inning, after which Sabathia settled down and went on to strike out five in the game. He allowed seven hits, but five of them went for extra bases. Luckily for CC, he worked ahead in the count for most of the night and was able to keep any further runs off the board.

Likely closer-to-be David Robertson pitched the final inning in a non-save situation. If this was D-Rob's audition, it would be hard to argue that he doesn't deserve the spot. He struck out the side easily. No Houdini magic necessary. Robertson has now struck out the last seven batters he's faced, and nine of the last ten.

Tomorrow evening, the Yankees send Hiroki Kuroda to the mound against Felipe Paulino, who will be making his first start of the season, at 7:10 p.m.

Comment of the Game: MattF15 for saying what we were all thinking before the game even started.

Mariano Rivera told reporters today that he intends to return to baseball after he recovers from a torn ACL that will end his 2012 season. "I'm coming back. Write it down in big letters. I'm not going out like this", Rivera said. "I love to play the game. To me, going out like this isn't the right way."

After hearing that Rivera would miss the rest of the season, it was easy to believe that we may have seen the last of number 42, despite how tragic an end to a Hall of Fame career that would be. Retirement rumors had swirled since Rivera arrived at Spring Training refusing to tell anyone about his future plans, aside from the fact that he knew what he wanted to do and no amount of money would change his mind.

It is only fitting that the greatest of them all would be able to end things on his own terms, not because of a freak accident on the warning track in Kansas City. With all the awful emotions of last night still fresh in our minds, this is the best news Yankees fans could have gotten.

In other Yankee news today, Cody Eppley has been recalled and DeWayne Wise will be joining him on the major league roster. Many of us here at PSA have been begging for Wise, who was tearing the cover off the ball at AAA, to be promoted to keep Raul Ibanez and co. out of the outfield on a nightly basis until Brett Gardner and Nick Swisher return to the lineup.

This post was originally supposed to just be about Brett Gardner and Nick Swisher, but in light of the news about Mariano Rivera's season-ending injury, it's only appropriate that I include him too. This kind of post is definitely not my specialty, so I'm not sure how enlightening any of this will be, but I suppose you can't predict baseball or the stories baseball will make you write.

You'll have to forgive me if this isn't the most eloquent post you've ever read. As I'm writing this, I just found out about Mo about an hour ago, and an hour is just not long enough for the news to sink in that we may have seen the greatest closer of them all pitch for the last time. I know we'd all like to think that's not true, but it's at least a decent possibility considering 2012 was likely the last year for Rivera. Until we find out what all this means for the future, I'll continue to hold out a shred of hope for Mo in 2013.

Things have not gone so well for the Yankees recently. It's almost like they are cursed, if one believes in that sort of thing. The pitching that was once considered a strength has been decimated by a season-ending injury to Michael Pineda and the overall terribleness of Freddy Garcia. Phil Hughes has struggled, and Andy Pettitte may need to perform better than we ever thought when he gets to New York this month. The offense, save for Derek Jeter, has also stumbled of late. That may have something everything to do with the fact that the Yankees have recently lost Brett Gardner and Nick Swisher to injuries; replacing them with the likes of Jayson Nix, Andruw Jones, Raul Ibanez, and Eduardo Nunez as full time players.

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- You most likely don't need me to tell you what the main story surrounding the New York Yankees is this morning. Chad Jennings at LoHud compiled lots of quotes from the Yankee clubhouse about Mariano Rivera's torn ACL. Get well soon, Mo.

- In light of the reaction to Rivera's injury, Fangraphs posted a poll of the most respected athletes of all time. As of the moment when I'm writing this, Mo trails only Roberto Clemente. That's not easy to do as a member of the Yankees, but if anyone can traverse the lines of fandom, it's Mo. Who do you think is the most respected athlete of all time?

- It's safe to say that a lot has gone wrong with the Yankees so far this season, but Eric Schultz at The Yankee Analysts writes about all that there is to be optimistic about going forward. Our luck has to change at some point, right? Right?!

- Brien Jackson at It's About The Money wrote about their April Prospect of the Month, outfielder Tyler Austin. Austin has been absolutely tearing up the Sally League for Low-A Charleston. He's hitting .360/.404/.860 with a league leading nine home runs. Tyler was drafted as a catcher, but moved to 3rd base in rookie and short-season ball. To accommodate teammate Dante Bichette Jr., he is now learning to play the outfield. Very impressive.

- As you may know, Andy Pettitte gave testimony this week in the Roger Clemens perjury trial. Tamar Chalker from IATMS gives a lawyer's perspective on what went on in the courtroom, and the media's reaction to it.

CC Sabathia takes on fellow lefty Bruce Chen and the Royals tonight at 8:10 p.m. in Kansas City. If you are in the area and want to catch the game in person, tickets can be purchased here.

When Mariano Rivera fell down on the warning track while shagging fly balls this afternoon, the worst case scenarios all began to play out in our minds. Unfortunately, those worst case scenarios are now a reality, as the MRIs done on Mo's knee have revealed that the closer has a torn ACL, according to Joe Girardi. Rivera will head back to New York for further evaluation, but his season is almost definitely over. The recovery time would be 6-8 months.

The 2012 season was presumed to be the farewell tour for the greatest closer of all time, but it's really difficult to imagine that it could end like this. It just can't end like this.

If there is a silver lining to be found in any of this, it's that David Robertson has performed admirably in the setup role since last season. He's not Mo by any stretch of the imagination, but he seemed to be the heir apparent. It looks like he'll get a chance to prove himself earlier than we ever imagined.

Update:

Bryan Hoch @BryanHoch

Mariano Rivera, head bowed and teary-eyed, says he does not know if he will pitch again.

This is heart breaking.

- After pulling up lame in the game yesterday afternoon, Nick Swisher has been diagnosed with a low-grade hamstring strain, and will miss "more than a few days". In an outfield that was already paper thin, it's good news that they think Swish will be able to avoid a trip to the DL, but this still means we will likely see a lot of Raul Ibanez and Andruw Jones in the outfield until Brett Gardner comes back (hopefully) on Thursday. Wrap Curtis Granderson in bubble wrap immediately.

- Freddy Garcia understands why the Yankees made the decision to move him to the bullpen and give his rotation spot to David Phelps. "When you don't do your job, what are they supposed to do", Garcia said. It's unclear whether or not Freddy truly has nothing left or if there is a physical problem causing all of his struggles, but Joe Girardi is going to make sure he gets work out of the pen. I just hope that it costs the team less wins this way.

- William Tasker at It's About The Money discussed the evolution of Alex Rodriguez since coming to New York. The A-Rod who stood up in front of all his teammates during Spring Training and gave a speech that seemed to motivate everyone in the room is definitely a far cry from the Alex Rodriguez that arrived in New York years ago. Lots of people love to hate him, but there are plenty of reasons to like him, too.

- Thanks to some PITCH f/x data, Michael Eder at The Yankee Analysts has concluded that some of Phil Hughes' struggles come from the fact that he's gotten too predictable once he has two strikes on a batter. The pitch working best for Hughes so far this season has been his changeup, but he has stayed away from it in almost every two-strike count. Eder explains what we've all seen, in that Hughes throws his fast ball with two strikes, which is continually fouled off until he eventually misses his spot. That drives his pitch count up early in the game and forces all of us to cover our eyes in anticipation of an inevitable meatball. If Phelps pitches well in Garcia's former spot, Hughes may need to watch his back with Andy Pettitte's return to New York getting closer every day.

The Yankees will send Hiroki Kuroda to the mound this evening to face off against Jason Hammel and the Orioles at 7:05 p.m. at the Stadium. Tickets for the game can be found here.

Ivan Nova went up against the reigning Cy Young and MVP winner Justin Verlander, and neither made it out of Yankee Stadium with a decision this evening. Nova's line was pretty ugly, giving up 11 hits and six earned runs over 5.1 innings, but what the line won't tell you is that absolutely nothing went Nova's way tonight. In the 3rd inning, four straight ground balls made it out of the infield for hits. A fly ball to left in the second inning was botched in true Raul Ibanez fashion, going for a triple. Shaky defense on the part of Robinson Cano also added to the tough luck night for Nova.

It's only fitting that another defensive miscue would win the game for the Yankees in the bottom of the 9th with Derek Jeter scoring on a passed ball with Alex Rodriguez at the plate. It was an ugly game, to be sure, but I'll take that result every time. With Joe West behind the plate, there were plenty of questionable calls to go around, one which got Joe Girardi tossed from the game after arguing over a Russell Martin strikeout. Pathetic and embarrassing.

Big offensive contributions came from Alex Rodriguez and Russell Martin, who each had a home run in the game. Nick Swisher doubled twice and Mark Teixeira drove in the game-tying run in the 8th inning with a sac-fly.

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