Yankees News

"As the Yankees took the field Saturday night, the Blue Jays already had posted a victory. Manager Joe Girardi's club was in danger of falling into fourth place, but he's still thinking about October. "Nothing's changed. You expect to win a World Series," Girardi said, one night after Seattle's Brandon Morrow came within five outs of pitching a no-hitter (in his first big league start) in the Mariners' 3-1 victory. "We're not dead yet." With 21 games left, the Yankees started Saturday 8 1/2 games behind the AL wild-card leading Red Sox. The Yankees haven't missed the playoffs since 1993, and haven't finished fourth since 1992, both times under manager Buck Showalter. "It's a big hill ... ..."

"In the final weeks of his well-known contract, Carl Pavano is a pitcher for the Yankees, not a punch line. The injuries, the accidents and incidents that made him tabloid fodder - none of that causes Pavano to regret the day he signed. "Looking back on it, I didn't think I made the wrong decision," Pavano said Saturday before the Yanks played Seattle at Safeco Field. "Because if I went somewhere else and this happened ... you never know how it would've worked out. "It could've been worse," Pavano said, capping that sentence with a genuine laugh. Pavano thinks he and the Yankees actually could write a happier ending. "If the opportunity presents itself ... it's something that's worth ..."

"It's the one souvenir fans want to avoid in their final visits to Yankee and Shea stadiums - an official pair of NYPD handcuffs. With both the Yankees and the Mets set for their final regular season home stands this month, security and scrutiny have been set on high to deter vandals intent on swiping even a small piece of New York baseball history. Both stadiums are slated to be demolished as the new ones near completion - and the teams want to make sure no one walks out with more than a good memory. Already this year, fans have been found stealing outfield bunting, Shea Stadium seats, even a Yankee Stadium toilet seat - an indication of possible trouble ahead. "We're going after this like ..."

"In a sign that the Yankees could be involved in some overseas bidding this winter, Gene Michael was sent on a scouting mission to Japan, although it is unclear whether the Yankees have their eye on a particular player. That Michael was sent to Japan for the first time signifies a shift for the Yankees, who have relied on their Pacific scouts for several years. Following the disastrous signing of Kei Igawa, however, the Yankees aren't taking any chances, sending one of their most trusted talent evaluators to look at potential acquisitions. Among the potential free agents is Koji Uehara, a 33-year-old righthander who was Hideki Matsui's teammate with Yomiuri for four years before the ..."

"The Yankees will have a lot of work to do with their roster next season, especially after more than $80 million comes off the payroll this winter. Although there are several areas the Bombers will look to address, the most glaring position of need will be first base. With Jason Giambi's seven-year contract about to expire, the Yankees have no legitimate prospects waiting in the wings to replace the slugger. The free-agent market will include high-priced talent (Mark Teixeira), aging veterans (Kevin Millar) and retreads looking for another chance (Richie Sexson). But perhaps the Yankees' answer at first base is sitting right in front of them: Johnny Damon. Damon has played his entire career ..."

"With each passing day, it becomes more and more likely that the final regular-season game at Yankee Stadium, two weeks from Sunday night, will be the last one ever played at the House that Ruth Built. Instead of October drama to punctuate the legendary history of baseball's most storied building, it appears that the final act on the national pastime's grandest stage will be an otherwise meaningless anticlimax with the Yankees and Orioles playing out the string. And in a season in which little has gone according to plan for the Bombers, the Orioles wouldn't mind adding the final bit of rain to the parade. "Personally, it's been one of, if not the funnest place to go play," says Kevin ..."

"Although the Yankees have been clinging to their playoff lives for a few weeks now, many observers have written them off as players in this year's pennant race. Joe Girardi had a message for those folks before Saturday night's 7-4 win over the Mariners. "We're not dead yet," Girardi said. "It's a big hill - and we understand that - but we still have life, we're still playing baseball and it's meaningful baseball." On the same day that Joe Torre's Dodgers took over first place in the National League West, Girardi's Yankees sliced a game off their sizeable deficit in the wild card race, keeping their unlikely dream of a 14th straight postseason alive. With 20 games left in the regular ..."

"Outfielders Austin Jackson and Jose Tabata came into the 2008 season ranked as the second and third-best prospects in the Yankees organization by Baseball America, and entered the season as teammates with the Trenton Thunder, the Yankees Double-A affiliate. As the season progressed, Tabata struggled mightily for the first six weeks or so, was embroiled in controversy for going AWOL from a game, and eventually was traded to the Pirates in the Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte trade. Meanwhile, the 21-year-old Jackson quietly put up strong numbers month after month, and finished the season with a .285 batting average, nine home runs, 69 runs batted in and 19 stolen bases. In the process, the ..."

"Hideki Matsui and the Yankees haven't ruled out him returning next year with knees healthy enough for him to play the outfield. "He could still play the outfield after the surgery," manager Joe Girardi said of the 34-year-old left fielder who has played 20 games in left and two in right this year, but hasn't been in the field since June 15. Matsui didn't play from June 16 to Aug. 19 thanks to an inflamed left knee. In the 16 games he has played since coming off the shelf, Matsui has been the designated hitter. While Girardi said Matsui will have surgery after the season, Matsui says he hasn't made a definitive date for the knife until he meets with the doctor. "If I were to do it, it ..."

"Far too little and way too late. That's the only way to describe the Yankees' 7-4 victory over the hapless Mariners last night in front of 44,473 at Safeco Field. "We are not dead yet," manager Joe Girardi insisted before the win that halted a two-game slide. "It's a big hill, but we still have life. We need help." For those still believing in miracles, the victory sliced the Red Sox' wild-card lead to 7½ games after last night's 15-8 Boston loss in Texas. The Yankees have 20 games remaining. It's the first time the Yankees gained ground on the Red Sox since Aug. 29. Help arrived via Sidney Ponson, who - thanks to an adjustment with his front shoulder made by pitching coach Dave Eiland and ..."

"The scar still looks fresh, 15 months later, on the inside of Carl Pavano's right elbow. Usually, after Tommy John surgery, it settles into a flesh-colored zipper, visible but not so obvious. Pavano's wound is darker, surrounded by blisters caused by swelling after the operation. The appearance now is clinically meaningless, and Pavano is actually progressing quite well. The Yankees have won each of his three starts since he came off the disabled list - at last - on Aug. 23. But as a symbol, it is telling. As he comes to the end of his four-year, $39.95 million contract, Pavano is thrilled to be a pitcher and not a patient. But he also has wounds from a bitter comeback trail that are hard ..."

"With their chances for the playoffs looking bleak, a startling reality confronted the Yankees at Safeco Field on Saturday. A loss to the Seattle Mariners would have dropped them to fourth place in the American League East. The Yankees have not finished fourth since the Matt Nokes and Kevin Maas team of 1992. They avoided even a one-day stay in that spot by beating the Mariners, 7-4, behind three hits apiece from Bobby Abreu and Jason Giambi. Mariano Rivera collected the last four outs for the save, taking over for Joba Chamberlain in the eighth after three singles led to a run for Seattle. It was Rivera's first appearance since Aug. 29. "We're not dead," Manager Joe Girardi said before the ..."

"Yankee Stadium is closing for good after this season. You might have been reminded of that a time or 6,000 over the last few months.Major League Baseball gave the storied ballpark in the Bronx a grand send-off during All-Star Game festivities. The Yankees themselves have spent the summer honoring the place, with more hosannas planned for the coming weeks. The best tribute would be a postseason in the place that is synonymous with October baseball, but that seems unlikely. The Yanks' run of 13 straight postseason berths appears dead.About eight miles away, across the Triboro Bridge and down the Grand Central Parkway, another New York ballpark is getting set to close its doors. Shea ..."

"Alfredo Aceves will replace Darrell Rasner in the rotation Tuesday against the Los Angeles Angels. Rasner has not won since the All-Star break (0-3, 6.17 ERA in eight starts and one relief appearance) and is 2-10 since starting his season 3-0. In his Thursday start at Tampa Bay, he allowed five runs in 1 1/3 innings, the shortest start of his career. "I didn't help my cause," Rasner said Friday. "I was up in the zone. I couldn't throw my breaking ball over for strikes. What can I say to that? I wasn't good. No excuses." Manager Joe Girardi said Rasner apologized to him for Thursday's outing. "The kid's got a lot of heart," Girardi said. "I told him he didn't need to do that." Aceves ..."

"Reggie Jackson congratulated Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey, Jr. and Mark McGwire when they passed him on the all-time home run list. Yet, when Alex Rodriguez blows by Jackson, Mr. October is going to feel a little out of the ordinary about that than he did the others. "I would say it will be different because it's Alex," Jackson said yesterday from Monterey, Calif. "I told those other guys, 'Make me feel good, mention my name.' Certainly, Alex is special to me. I consider him a friend and a Yankee." Rodriguez has 550 homers and in 12th place on the all-time list. Jackson is next at 563. And though the smart bet is that Rodriguez will have to wait until the beginning of next year to pass ..."

"What happens when a gas-throwing stud faces an aging team that took a six-hour flight from Tampa and is forbidden to dip into the amphetamine jar? A pitcher making his first major league start comes within four outs of throwing a no-hitter. "You don't want to say that," Derek Jeter said of fatigue being the reason the Yankees got one hit off Brandon Morrow. "You don't want to take away anything that he did." Until Wilson Betemit's two-out double to right in the eighth, Morrow didn't allow the sleepy Yankees a hit. Because Morrow had exceeded his 90-pitch limit, it's not known if he would have gone to the mound in the ninth, if the no-hitter was still in play. Nevertheless, Morrow's major ..."

"The roars of anticipation from the crowd made it seem as if the past two years had been forgotten. All the anxiety over whether the Mariners made a mistake by drafting Brandon Morrow instead of Tim Lincecum with their first-round pick in 2006. The second-guessing as to whether they'd left Morrow in the bullpen too long, well after oft-compared reliever Joba Chamberlain had transitioned to a starting role. It was all a thing of the past Friday night as the Safeco Field throng watched Morrow, four outs from a no-hitter and a strike away from ending the eighth inning. And then, once Wilson Betemit delivered the only hit the New York Yankees would manage off him, the roars grew louder still. ..."

"Their mystique is on life support. The New York Yankees haven't reached the World Series in five years and are dangerously close to missing the playoffs for the first time in 15 years entering a critical three-game series with the Mariners. The hope in the Yankee clubhouse is that the Bombers can pull off an improbable late run similar to the historic rallies of the Colorado Rockies and Philadelphia Phillies last season. The Yankees have been besieged with injuries, underachieving stars and subpar starting pitching this season. And at first pitch Friday, they fully knew Boston was cruising to a victory over the Texas Rangers; coupled with New York's 3-1 loss to the Mariners on Friday ..."

"Baseball hasn't been much fun in Seattle this season. Friday night, the fun was back. Brandon Morrow turned his first major league start into a day at the county fair -- minus the livestock judging. He carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the New York Yankees, the Bronx Bombers turned bummers for a night by their inability to solve Morrow's 97-mph fastball, his 85-mph slider and a how-slow-can-you-go changeup. He needed bullpen help before it was over, but he allowed just one hit in 7 2/3 innings and the Mariners settled for an impressive 3-1 victory. The crowd of 39,518 was ooh-ing and ahh-ing all night long, as were Morrow's teammates. "From the fourth inning on, every time ..."

"The Yankees know it will take a miracle now. They understand the consequences of every loss. They are seven and a half games from a playoff spot with 22 to play, a few more losses from the abyss. That reality set in on the Yankees Thursday as they fell to the Tampa Bay Rays, 7-5, scoring all of their runs in the ninth inning. As they packed for an overnight trip across the country, there was no satisfaction in taking two of three games in this series. "The thing is, it seems like we're finally playing a lot better now," Johnny Damon said. "Hopefully, it's not too late. We know we have some very good teams in front of us." The Seattle Mariners, at least, are not one of them. The Yankees ..."

"On a hot and rainy morning just over 60 years ago, Babe Ruth's funeral was held at St. Patrick's Cathedral. Tens of thousands of fans jammed nearby streets as the full house inside - from Jack Dempsey and Connie Mack to Gov. Thomas E. Dewey and Hank Greenberg - listened to a Mass presided over by Cardinal Francis Spellman. Among the pallbearers, a former Yankee teammate, Joe Dugan, told another, Waite Hoyt, "I'd give a hundred dollars for a cold beer." Hoyt said, "So would the Babe." Ruth, who is far from forgotten 60 years after his death on Aug. 16, 1948, will be remembered once more at St. Patrick's, on Saturday at 5:30 p.m., with a memorial Mass requested by one of his granddaughters, ..."

"An overnight flight to the Pacific Northwest did nothing to soothe Darrell Rasner's feelings on Friday. Rasner, the Yankees' fifth starter, was hammered in his start at Tampa Bay on Thursday, and he felt the need to tell Manager Joe Girardi he was sorry. "I know, from Raz, the effort is always there," Girardi said. "The kid's got a lot of heart. He came in and apologized and I said: 'You don't need to do that. We know you're doing everything you can.' " Girardi gently told Rasner that he would be moving to the bullpen, and Rasner accepted the assignment. Alfredo Aceves will be taking his spot in the rotation on Tuesday in Anaheim. Aceves allowed one run in five innings of relief on ..."

"The Mets are beating the Yankees in the battle of the bulge. The Bronx Bombers got slapped with a violation last month for not posting calorie counts on menu boards, according to the Health Department. The Yankees are one of more than 350 food venues that have been scolded for not complying with the controversial city law since it went into effect on May 5, records show. Health inspectors visited Yankee Stadium on Aug. 28 and found it "was not in compliance," meaning no calories were listed for that pricey hot dog and pretzel. When they hit the Mets home at Shea Stadium on Aug. 11, the calorie counts were clearly posted, health officials said. The Yanks join a less-than-elite club of ..."

"At least they didn't get no-hit. The Yankees' improbable playoff hopes took another huge step backward Friday night with their 3-1 loss to the lowly Mariners, although it could have been much worse for the Bombers' egos. Brandon Morrow, the Mariners' answer to Joba Chamberlain, made his first big-league start a memorable one, carrying a no-hitter into the eighth inning before Wilson Betemit broke it up with a two-out, pinch-hit double, sparing the Yankees further humiliation. Shortly after the Bombers took the field, the out-of-town scoreboard showed victories for the Red Sox, Twins and White Sox, letting the Bombers know that even a win wouldn't allow them to make up any ground in the ..."

"Year after year, there seemingly has been a place in October reserved for the Yankees, much like a VIP being on the guest list at a chic nightclub. But as the Yanks gasp and wheeze toward the end of hallowed Yankee Stadium's final season (a playoff spot is a faint hope), the Mets are poised to steal the fall baseball spotlight in New York. And what better way to stake their claim than to make a September stand against the Phillies, the team that crushed their hopes of running deep into the playoffs last year by erasing a seven-game deficit in the final 17games. There was an air of relaxed confidence on the part of the Mets before they took the field against the Phillies Friday night to ..."

"The Yankees can do a little commiserating with the Mariners when they open a three-game series tonight at Safeco Field. Hold a chapter meeting of Under-Achievers Anonymous, perhaps. Both teams opened the season with huge payrolls and playoff visions. Both have been major disappointments, undone by declining veterans and not-ready-for-prime-time kids. Each faces a stark winter re-evaluating the master plan. Of course, this is not a perfect parallel. The Yankees' $200 million payroll puts the Mariners' piddly $118 million payout to shame. And while Seattle has been out of contention since May and is in the running for the worst record in baseball, the Yankees remain, with 22 games to go, on ..."

"During his tenure as commissioner, Bud Selig has experienced a lot of bizarre events and changes. However, a constant since 1995 has been the Yankees playing in October. Now, the Yankees' chances of extending that streak aren't mathematically dead but barely breathing. So, Selig was asked if would be weird not seeing the Yankees in the postseason. "Yes, I am a creature of habit in everything I do," Selig told The Post. "You get accustomed to seeing the Yankees in the postseason. It will be different if the Yankees don't make it, no question about it." The Yankees are 7 ½ games back of the Red Sox in the wild-card race with 22 games remaining. Asked if it was good or bad for baseball to ..."

"Sweep or weep. The intelligent money is on pinstriped tears flowing like Niagara Falls shortly. After taking two of three from the Rays and winning three of four overall, the Yankees dropped a 7-5 decision to Tampa Bay last night in front of 26,080 at Tropicana Field. With a chance to sweep the AL East leaders the Yankees boarded a plane for Seattle having won three of four but losing a half-game to the wild card-leading Red Sox, who hold a commanding 71/2-game lead over the Yankees. "We need more than series. We need to string together a lot of wins. We've got a lot of ground to make up," a glum manager Joe Girardi said after a five-run, ninth-inning rally fell short - highlighted by ..."

"This is what an ace does. He calms a dugout's nerves, pitch by pitch and inning by inning. He assumes a team's burden, at a time when no one else seems capable. He takes over a game when it is absolutely needed most. Yes, this is what an ace does. He pitches like Scott Kazmir. There is no other position like a starting pitcher in baseball. It is as close as you can get to a player singlehandedly winning in a team sport. And that makes an ace practically irreplaceable. Which is why Kazmir's six-inning, one-hit performance Thursday night was so much larger than a single line in a boxscore. It kept the word "panic" out of any conversation as the Rays head into their most meaningful road trip ..."

"The mantra in the Rays' clubhouse from Wednesday night through Thursday afternoon was straightforward and consistent: "Hey, it's only two games," said any player or staffer who was asked - and some who weren't. No reason to panic after consecutive losses to the Yankees, everyone insisted - just as they had after dropping a pair in New York before the All-Star break to fuel a seven-game skid that has been the low point of their season. Fears that the Rays might stray down a similar path this time around were alleviated Thursday night, but not before a late scare the home team could have done without. Tampa Bay drove Yankees starter Darrell Rasner from the game before he could record five ..."

"Having spanked the Rays in the first two games of the series, the Yankees should have had all the momentum in the world as they went for the sweep Thursday night. But as the old baseball adage goes, momentum is only as good as your starting pitcher. In the Yankees' case, that wasn't very good at all. The Rays rocked Darrell Rasner for five runs in 1-1/3 innings, bashing their way to a 7-5 win over the Yankees to salvage the final game of the three-game set and leave the Bombers 11 games out in the AL East with 22 to play. Rasner gave up six hits and two walks, recording just four outs before heading to the bench. It was the eighth consecutive start since the All-Star break without a ..."

"Bobby Abreu has been one of the Yankees' few iron men this season, but the outfielder missed Thursday night's game after suffering a wrist injury on Wednesday night. Abreu was examined by Dr. Allen Miller, one of the team's Tampa-based orthopedists, who diagnosed him with a jammed left wrist. Abreu suffered the injury sliding into second base in the ninth inning. Abreu remained in the game, scoring on Alex Rodriguez's home run, but when he began hitting in the batting cage yesterday, he was unable to go through his normal routine. "You move on," GM Brian Cashman said. "Maybe he wouldn't have had any hits today. You have to look at it that way." X-rays were negative, but it's unclear how ..."

"Brian Cashman yesterday refused to say whether he wants to stay on as Yankees general manager after his contract expires Oct. 31. Yankees ownership has never indicated it doesn't want to retain Cashman, so the decision seems to be his. "I just think the focus is right here (on the field)," Cashman said. "It's kind of been a practice that's evolved here (to not deal with impending free agency during the season), and it applies to me, too. All that stuff needs to wait till the end, and hopefully the end isn't any time soon." Co-chairperson Hank Steinbrenner could not be reached yesterday, but in June Steinbrenner told The Star-Ledger he wanted to keep Cashman and that he planned to speak ..."

"As he vaults up baseball's home run list, Alex Rodriguez has already passed Ted Williams, Willie McCovey, Jimmie Foxx and Mickey Mantle - just this season alone. In Wednesday night's game against the Rays, A-Rod's 549th career homer passed Mike Schmidt for 12th all time, but, "it's hard to sit here and talk about anything personal when it means nothing to me," Rodriguez said before Wednesday's game at Tropicana Field. The Yankees haven't been able to climb higher than third place since May 5, and Rodriguez isn't in a mood to count milestones. "I'm not real good at reflecting on things that I've done," A-Rod said. "I'd rather talk about the things that I haven't done. Lately that's been a ..."

"Jason Giambi wishes he had a sexier story to explain the gash on the corner of his right eyelid that cause discoloring and swelling. "I would like to have something to tell you, something like a fight or anything else," Giambi said. "But it was nothing like that. I walked into the bathroom door at the hotel and split it open." The cut resembled a gash a boxer would get during a fight, but didn't keep Giambi out of the lineup. "There was so much blood the maid probably was wondering where the body was hid," said Giambi, whose third-inning double hiked his RBI total across the past seven games to nine and marked the seventh straight game he has plated at least one run."

"Of all the baseball players in all the world, Alex Rodriguez had to walk into the first use of replay in MLB history. Of course he did. Controversial technology. Controversial person. Milestone home run. "There are about 800 players in the big leagues and the odds of me being in controversy are 2-1, it's funny," Rodriguez said after his ninth-inning, two-run blast to left off Troy Percival at Tropicana Field resulted in the first official use of replay. Following a 2-minute, 15-second viewing of tapes in a room behind the Yankees' dugout, the umps returned to the field, and third-base umpire Brian Runge's original call was upheld. Rodriguez' 31st homer helped the Yankees turn back the AL ..."

"The Rays and Yankees made a bit of history Wednesday night as instant replay was employed for the first time in a major-league game. A towering Alex Rodriguez home run off Troy Percival that sailed over the left-field foul pole with two outs in the top of the ninth inning was the fodder for the debut of a system put into place last week. As soon as third-base umpire Brian Runge called the ball fair, Rays catcher Dioner Navarro jumped in the air in protest. Rays manager Joe Maddon came out of the dugout and conversed individually with home plate umpire Greg Gibson, Runge and crew chief Charlie Reliford, who was working second base, and convinced the umpires the play should be reviewed. "We ..."

"We've got your instant replay right here. Try another bad loss to the Yankees. Gulp. This time it was 8-4. Gulp. Did you think this would be easy? The Rays September Song is two games old. It's karaoke time and so far they're lip-syncing the '07 Mets. Hey, wasn't it 19 minutes ago that they were the kings of August? In three short days, with Dustin Pedroia starring as Roy Hobbs, the Red Sox have chopped 2 1/2 games off Tampa Bay's AL East lead. The Sox came from 4-0 down to beat the Orioles on Wednesday. Gulp. The lead is three. In two long nights at Tropicana Field, the Yankees have pulled a Night of the Living Dead. And the Rays have turned human, sloppy human. They can't even get their ..."

"The Bombers won their third in a row Wednesday, continuing the blazing start to their 10-game road trip with a 8-4 victory over the first-place Rays at Tropicana Field. The win pulled the Yankees within 10 games of Tampa Bay in the AL East, but the Bombers gained no ground in the wild-card race after the Red Sox came from behind to beat the Orioles earlier in the day at Fenway. With 23 games to go, the Yankees still trail the Red Sox by seven games, though the Bombers' last two victories have moved Boston within three games of the Rays at the top of the division. Carl Pavano looked sharp early, but after allowing a two-run home run by Gabe Gross with two outs in the fourth and putting ..."

"When Damon Oppenheimer watched Matt Garza pitch for Tampa Bay on Tuesday, he could not help wondering what might have been. It is a natural feeling for a scouting director, whose job it is to predict how amateurs will play as pros. It is a maddeningly inexact field. The Yankees scouted Garza in 2005, but they passed on him with the 17th pick and grabbed a high school shortstop, C. J. Henry. The Minnesota Twins took Garza eight picks later, and now he is 11-8 for the Rays. The curious thing about that 2005 draft was that the Yankees did not opt for a pitcher in the first round. The year before, and the three years since, the Yankees have taken pitchers first. Partly as a result, their ..."

"Alex Rodriguez lost a home run in May because of an umpire's blown call, and soon baseball began to explore instant replay seriously. The system was put in last week across the majors, and the first test came Wednesday night at Tropicana Field - on another long drive by Rodriguez. There are 800 players in the big leagues, so what are the odds that I'd be involved in this, 2 to 1?" Rodriguez said. "How do I get myself into this?" This blast, off Tampa Bay's Troy Percival in the ninth inning, soared down the left-field line, carrying over the foul pole and crashing into a catwalk. Rodriguez stood at the plate and curled his neck to watch the ball's flight, then clapped his hands and trotted ..."

"Just when you thought The Joba Rules were dead ... General manager Brian Cashman said Tuesday night that Joba Chamberlain will likely not start next season in the Yankees' .rotation. Why? Because he hasn't thrown enough innings this season. It could mean another midseason transition from bullpen to rotation for the young righthander. Chamberlain was activated from the disabled list Tuesday night and went right to the bullpen. He pitched 11/3 scoreless .innings in the Yankees' 7-2 win over the Rays, getting out of a two-on, two-out jam in the .seventh by retiring Rocco Baldelli on a grounder to short on his first pitch since Aug. 4. The bullpen is where Chamberlain will open 2009 if Cashman ..."

"The Yankees haven't set their 2009 plans for Joba Chamberlain yet, but look for the face of the franchise's pitching future to open next season in the bullpen. That's where Chamberlain came out of last night and supplied 11/3 scoreless innings to help the Yankees beat the Rays 7-2 at Tropicana Field. Since their plan of using Chamberlain for 140 innings this year was thwarted by rotator cuff tendinitis and the Yankees leery of adding significant additional innings on Chamberlain's valuable soon-to-be 23-year-old arm, expect them to repeat the plan they hatched this season when Chamberlain opened in the bullpen and was converted to a starter during the season. "He had an innings limit he ..."

"Hal and Hank Steinbrenner agree they want Brian Cashman back as the Yankees' GM, The Post has learned. According to a MLB source, the Steinbrenner family has decided Cashman is the man to lead the organization back from a nightmarish season that will end with the Yankees missing playoffs for the first time since 1993. Cashman, who last week shouldered the blame for the dismal season, met with Hal and Hank yesterday at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. No contract offer was made but, according to the source, Cashman is aware of the Steinbrenners' wishes. Talking before last night's 7-2 win over the division-leading Rays, Cashman refused comment on the Steinbrenners wanting him back. All year ..."

"Like a drunk looking to live, the Yankees are taking life one day at a time. "Let's win on the day we play," Mike Mussina said after beating the first-place Rays 7-2 last night in front of 21,629 at Tropicana Field that included Hal Steinbrenner. "We have to win every day we play." That, of course, will be impossible. But for the underachieving Yankees to trick themselves that they still have a chance to reach October, it's the only way they can think. Behind Mussina's clutch pitching, Joba Chamberlain's return from the disabled list, Alex Rodriguez's milestone homer, Xavier Nady's two-run blast and several mistakes by the Rays, the Yankees won their second straight game. Yet, in a season ..."

"Tuesday night, the too-old, too-slow, left-for-dead Yankees did just as Hank Steinbrenner pleaded of them earlier this season. The team that remains a distant third in the AL East standings played like the front-running Rays for an evening and beat Tampa Bay 7-2. With lockdown starting pitching backed by aggressive base-running and a couple of massive home runs, the Yankees continued to hold sway over the Rays as they have much of the season. New York, one of only two AL teams with a winning record against the Rays this season (Cleveland is the other), topped Tampa Bay for the eighth time in 13 meetings. An easy Boston victory against Baltimore brought the Red Sox within four games of the ..."

"When he emerged from the dugout before batting practice Monday at Comerica Park, a fan held up a sign: "¡BIENVENIDOS A CASA!" As he stepped to the plate for his first at-bat -- wearing a gray uniform and an unfamiliar No. 12 -- the crowd burst into a standing ovation. He doffed his helmet, waved amid the adulation and pumped a fist. "A very special moment," Pudge Rodriguez said. "I got some goose bumps." Rodriguez's first -- and only -- encounter with Justin Verlander was brief: He struck out on three pitches, all fastballs. But he enjoyed a triumphant return because of the battering the Tigers' pitching endured. Verlander lasted 1 2/3 innings -- his shortest career start -- and allowed ..."

"So many emotions have washed over the Yankees this season, most of them negative. They let August go by without much of a fight, but there is one last chance to make a playoff push. They are hopeful now, because there is no other choice. "I think we've gone through the frustrating and disappointing points," General Manager Brian Cashman said during batting practice Tuesday. "The focus is on the small things - concentrating on today's game, trying to pick up a game a week and get to Fenway Park and making that series meaningful. That's the simple way to look at it." Cashman continued: "Is it too much to ask to pick up a game a week, or something along those lines? It's not out of the realm ..."

"It is all about the math with Joba Chamberlain, and the math does not add up for him to open next season in the Yankees' starting rotation. Chamberlain is likely to finish this season with only 100 innings or so, and team officials said they believed it would be too risky for him to double that total in 2009. That means Chamberlain will probably start next season in the bullpen again. "He had an innings limit this year he didn't meet," General Manager Brian Cashman said. "Will he exceed that innings limit next year? You wouldn't want to do that. You've still got to protect the player." Cashman stressed that the Yankees had not discussed the specifics of next season's plan for Chamberlain. ..."

"Chad Moeller and Phil Coke yesterday joined the Yankees as September call-ups. Melky Cabrera stayed in Triple A. "There's not playing time for him right now (in the majors)," manager Joe Girardi said, "so he might as well keep playing and improving." Cabrera, the Yankees' Opening Day center fielder, was sent down Aug. 15 with a .242 average. The team asked him to work on pitch selection and stealing bases. In 15 games for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Cabrera has a .333 average but just two extra-base hits (both doubles) in 57 at-bats. "Melky's playing hard," general manager Brian Cashman said. "Melky went down with the right attitude. He's working on the things necessary. But I just don't ..."