Girardi Sticking With Yankees' Six-Man Rotation

It looks like the New York Yankees have finally made a decision on who will be left off the five-man starting rotation and it is...wait for it...no one.  That's right, chopping a pitcher from the overcrowded rotation-- which seemed so important just last week-- is now a non-issue as far as manager Joe Girardi is concerned.

On Sunday, after the Yankees defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 9-3, Girardi said he'll stick with six starters at least for another week and maybe longer at his post-game interview.

Girardi said he spoke with all parties involved before Sunday's game and claims he is in "no rush to make the decision."

"I let them know who was pitching and when.  People like to know where they're going to be every five days, six days,' Girardi said.  "Life's not always like that.  The good thing is they're getting another chance."

For A.J. Burnett and Phil Hughes, who've had more chances than Lindsay Lohan in court, D-day could come by next weekend.

Girardi denied any of his starters are on the bubble, but referred to those two pitchers' last outings at his press conference.

"We want to see it again," he said.  "We liked what we saw in Boston.  I know Hughes gave up some runs but threw better than he did.  We liked what A.J. did and want to build on that."

Girardi commented on Burnett's new mechanics and thinks the erratic pitcher is on to something.

"I love what I saw in Boston," he said.  "He had a tough August.  It took guts, but he went out and did it."

The manager addressed his concern about keeping CC Sabathia (19-7) on his regular five-man turn.  The Yankees ace, who won today's game,  is pretty adamant about keeping his routine, so Girardi may adjust the six-man rotation accordingly.

"It's designed so if we want to give CC an extra day, we can do it, said Girardi.

What CC wants, the big guy gets.

"It's possible I might keep him [Sabathia] on his normal turn," said Girardi.  "Or move him back to Saturday.  I'll see how he feels."

Girardi announced his starters for the upcoming home series against the Baltimore Orioles and Burnett (9-11, 5.25) and Hughes (4-5, 6.75) will give it another shot.

Freddy Garcia (11-7, 3.09) will start on Monday followed by Hughes on Tuesday and Burnett on Wednesday.

There has been speculation about Bartolo Colon (8-9, 3.72) being sent to the bullpen.  Questions about the 38 year-old running out of gas have been swirling about during his past four starts.  The rotund righty is 0-3 in those last four outings after getting a no-decision yesterday, but it looks like Burnett and Hughes are the ones on the hot seat.

Whatever Girardi decides to do, it looks like the six-man scheme has been working.  The Yankees have won seven of their last eight and are tied for first place in the AL East.  The manager said nothing is set in stone...for now.

"I am allowed to change my mind," he explained.  "I may want to go to a five-man, but we'll see."

Here we go again.

Another Reason It's Great Being Derek Jeter

Is there any other player in Major League Baseball that leads a more charmed life than New York Yankees Derek Jeter?

A fan catches his 3,000th hit and immediately gives the ball back-- no ransom or demand for his first born.  Even his recent breakup with actress Minka Kelly has a silver lining.  Think of the bevy of starlets and hotties lining up for the chance to land the bachelor.

Now tonight, the Yankees Captain hits a ball to the the opposing shortstop who throws what is called an apparent out by the first base umpire, only to have the call overturned by the home plate umpire-- without any challenge by Jeter or any of the Yankees coaches.

Just walked over and changed the call in Jeter's favor.  Imagine that happening to anyone else?

In the bottom of the third inning against the Toronto Blue Jays, with the score tied at two, Jeter hit a roller to Blue Jays shortstop Yunel Escobar who tossed the ball to first baseman Adam Lind, who apparently made a swipe tag for the out.  That's how first base umpire Phil Cuzzi saw it.  Not so fast, we're talking Derek Jeter here.

Home plate umpire James Hoye walked over and told Cuzzi he missed the tag and Jeter was ruled safe. It's rare to see an umpire overrule another ump's call without being asked for their opinion.  Cuzzi easily relinquished the final call to Hoye without issue.

The compliant Jeter took his base while Escobar flipped out.  He wasn't to pleased to see his 5-3 out turned into an E-5.

If you look at the video, in the background, there is a fan in a yellow sweater who makes the safe call with his arms.  It looks like Hoye took a cue from this guy and got the call right.

Only Jeets could be so fortunate.

Judge Denies Clemens' Motion To Prevent 2nd Perjury Trial

A motion by Roger Clemens' defense team to have a judge dismiss the government's case against the former pitcher was denied Friday afternoon, as reported by Fox News.  Clemens' lead attorney Rusty Hardin had asked judge Reggie Walton to forbid another trial following the July hearing in which the judge declared a mistrial after two days of testimony.

According to Fox News, the judge sided with the prosecution and set a date for the second trial.

Hardin accused prosecutors of deliberately sabotaging the case because it was going badly for the government.

During the first trial jurors were shown evidence that was already determined to be inadmissible in court by the judge.

The prosecution team claimed it was a mistake.  Prosecutors-- Steven Durham and Daniel Butler made a critical error by introducing the barred evidence.  They apologized and impelled Walton into giving them another chance.

The evidence in question was a video in which a congressman referred to testimony by Laura Pettitte-- former Yankee Andy Pettitte's wife-- that Walton had barred as second-hand testimony.

In a statement, Walton said," I want to believe it is a mistake.  I would find it hard to believe that they would blatantly disregard a ruling I would make.  But it's hard for me to reach another conclusion."

Hardin, meanwhile, thinks a retrial would be a "reward" for the prosecutors for causing the mistrial in the first place.

Clemens is accused of lying under oath after speaking before a committee about steroid use in 2008.

At that hearing, Clemens testified," No matter what we discuss here, I'm never going to have my name restored.  But I've got to set the record straight.  Let me be clear.  I've never taken steroids or HGH."

Today's decision by judge Walton means that there was no procedural misconduct and it favors the prosecution.

The ruling determined that Clemens will be tried once more for lying under oath.  The trial date is set for April 17.

A guilty verdict would further tarnish the image of one of baseball's greatest pitchers and hinder his chances of getting into Cooperstown.

Hardin said it would take a couple of days to decide if they will file an appeal.

Carolina Panthers Receiver Gives Photographer Close-Up Of His Cleats

In the waning moments of Thursday night's Pittsburgh Steelers-Carolina Panthers exhibition game, Panthers Darvin Adams caught a pass from Jimmy Clausen and rolled into a sideline photographer trying to get the shot of a lifetime.  Too bad for Adams, he was out of bounds and, even worse for the aspiring Ansel Adams, his f/stop meant  face/stop.

While Adams rolled out of bounds with the catch, he planted his foot squarely in the face of the photographer sitting alongside the end zone.

Pittsburgh went on to win the game, 33-17, and hopefully the cameraman will use his telephoto lens the next time.

Teixeira Gets Hit By Pitch; Sounds Worse Than It Is...Hopefully

Mark Teixeira suffered a bruised right knee, during the New York Yankees 4-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox, when the New York Yankees first baseman was hit by Red Sox reliever Alfredo Aceves in the top of the seventh inning on Thursday night.

Teixeira initially stayed in the game to run bases and play his position, but was forced to leave before the bottom of the inning after his knee stiffened up.

If you listen to the audio of the errant pitch, it sounds like a ball hitting a bat followed by an alley cat's "yeowwww" by Teixeira.  Nasty.

Following the inning, Yankees assistant trainer Steve Donahue told "Tex" he wouldn't be able to play the whole game.

"You're not going back out there," he told the hobbled Teixeira.

Now it looks like the slugger will be missing some games this weekend. 

Teixeira was drilled in the back of his knee by an 83 mph cutter by the former Yankee.  While Teixeira was lucky it wasn't a fastball, the ball hitting the back of his knee still sounded pretty bad and he went down hard.

Derek Jeter suffered the same kind of bruise last weekend and it cost him a couple of games.  Jeter's bruise was on the front of his knee.

Teixeira did not get an X-ray and wore a wrap on the sore knee after the game. He must be getting used to being used as a target-- it's the 11th time Tex has been hit this season.

"It got just real stiff.  I couldn't move," he said after the game.  "It's real stiff right now."

The switch-hitter's absence could be a problem against Toronto this weekend.  The Yankees will miss his big bat especially since Alex Rodriguez is already recuperating from a sore thumb. Teixeira has 35 home runs and has knocked in 100 runs this season and the Gold Glover's fielding is a pitcher's best friend.

If Teixeira misses any games, the void will probably be filled by the capable Nick Swisher.  Andruw Jones would take Swisher's place in right field.

There is still no word on the severity of the bruise or how long Teixeira will be out.

R-Rod Replaces A-Rod As Derek Jeter's Newest Antagonist

After the announcement of Derek Jeter's breakup with his long-time girlfriend Minka Kelly last week, much was made of the actress getting cozy with her "Charlie's Angels" co-star Ramon Rodriguez.

Jeter is used to being in the headlines and has weathered media storms before but this seems different.

Remember Jeter getting dissed by his new teammate in a magazine article like Alex Rodriguez did to the Yankees captain when A-Rod first joined the team.   Unlike that, the breakup publicity has got to be bothering the Yankees shortstop.

Jeter had one of his best seasons after A-Rod was quoted saying things like "He [Jeter] has never had to lead" in the 2001 Esquire piece.  "He" was an All-Star and batted .311 that season.

Since the breakup announcement, Jeter is 3-for-16 with one run scored and his average is heading south of .300.

R-Rod reportedly spent many a long night inside Kelly's film-set trailer lending a sympathetic ear to the heartbroken starlet.  Yeah, I've heard that one before.

All A-Rod did was spend many a long night inside his hotel rooms checking himself out in the mirror.

According to the New York Daily News, R-Rod and Kelly have been spotted in Miami together; while they film scenes for the new television series, which is debuting in the fall.  It is a remake of the iconic '70's series.

Yesterday, the former "Saturday Night Lights" beauty and the 31 year-old R-Rod were spotted huddled together under an umbrella as they headed back to their trailers.

What's really unbelievable is that beefcake Rodriguez is reprising the role of Bosley.  Wasn't he originally played by the character actor David Doyle in the first series?

I bet Jeter wishes the doughy Doyle was still playing the part.

Moth Blamed For Phil Hughes' Walk To Red Sox Batter

Joe Girardi must be buggin' out when it comes to figuring out his starting rotation.  After last night's 9-5 loss to the Boston Red Sox, the Yankees manager blamed the game's turning point on a moth which flew into starting pitcher Phil Hughes' eye.

Hughes (4-5) delivered a 3-2 pitch to Josh Reddick-- a ball-- setting up Jason Varitek's double where Reddick scored the tying run.

The Yankees had finally showed some measure of success against Red Sox starter Josh Beckett and were leading 5-4 when the moth ball incident occurred.  Hughes was even up 0-2 against Reddick before walking him.

If you look closely at the video, you can see a lone moth buzzing around Hughes' head before the fatal toss and the pitcher wiping something from his eye as Reddick jogs towards first base.

Yankees fans might recall Joba Chamberlain and the "midge" attack in Cleveland in 2007.  Those little buggers swarmed the sweaty pitcher and were blamed for the Yankees loss to the Indians and early playoff exit.  At least you could see the bugs covering Chamberlain that night.

"From what I heard a moth flew into his [Hughes] eye when he made the 3-2 pitch," said Girardi.  "You can't stop it and can't get a redo."

Call it The Mothman Prophecies  because it may be a prediction of things to come.

Hughes showed signs of improvement last night but his fastball, which started out at a crisp 95 mph, wilted to 91 mph before he was pulled in the sixth.  It still looks like he runs out of steam.

The struggling Hughes may have just pitched his way out of the starting rotation-- and not because of the moth.


"I really didn't want to tell you guys that, but, yeah, a moth flew in," said Hughes.  "That's when I yanked it."

The Yankees might want to invest in some bug spray tonight when A.J. Burnett pitches because there's sure to be a lot of flies-- some of them over the Green Monster, as well as,  that other little pest called Dustin Pedroia.