You're not drunk or seeing things. You are indeed reading this recap's title correctly. Chris Stewart, the very same Chris Stewart who can frame pitches like the Greek Gods of old, hit a three-run home run today and gave the Yankees all the go ahead runs they would need to win Game 1 of today's double header. For the record, I called that Stewart HR. Victories all around.

Before the recap gets into how the offense continued to win the wrong way, let's talk about Ivan Nova. Nova was not his SuperNova self today. His second inning of work was shaky, especially the second inning. Adam Lind started the inning with a single. Nova then proceeded to hit the very next batter, Brett Lawrie, followed by a single by Maicer Izturis to drive in a run. A passed ball by Chris Stewart would move the runners up to 2nd and 3rd base with no outs. Josh Thole grounded out to Nova, who held the runners. The next ground out by Kevin Pillar would score the runner from third base, giving the Blue Jays a two-run lead. After Jose Reyes' single, Rajai Davis then drove in both runners with a single. Those four runs would be the only runs the Blue Jays would score this afternoon.

After the second inning, Nova settled down, get his pitches lower, and manage to go another 4 plus innings. In total, he pitched 6.1 innings while giving up nine hits and four earned runs while striking out two and walking two. With this being the first game a double header, not having to use long relief in this game was very beneficial to the Yankees. Especially with Phil Hughes starting Game 2. Good luck with that recap, Mr. Flynn. Boone Logan would come into the game in the 7th to get Anthony Gose to ground out. Shawn Kelley would follow Logan, walk the next two batters to load the bases, then finally get Brett Lawrie to pop out to Gardner. Whew. David Robertson did his 8th inning thing beautifully and effortlessly. Joba Chamberlain would do his 9th inning thing ugly and disappointingly, which lead to Mariano Rivera coming in to get the final two outs.

I have not had to write a recap in a long time. Writing about the offense use to be filled with heartache. Today it is filled with joy. In the bottom of the 3rd, Brett Gardner did what Brett Gardner does and got on base with a single. Ichiro Suzuki lined a double down the third base line for his 3,998th hit, moving Gardner to third. Robinson Cano then realized how easy the game really is and hit a three-run monster shot into Monument Park to bring the Yankees to within one run. That dinger was his 200th career home run and the second hit on his 4-4 day. Amazing what Cano can do with actually offensive protection behind him.

Alex Rodriguez started off the bottom of the 6th with a single to left field. Curtis Granderson and pinch hitter Mark Reynolds would follow that hit with some strikeouts. You might want to sit down for what you're about to read. Jayson Nix was then walked and Chris Stewart came to the plate. Chris Stewart, whose name has to be fully typed just so you do not mistake him with another Chris or Stewart, proceeded to hit a three-run home run into the left field stands to give the Yankees a 6-4 lead. What did I just type? While that Chris Stewart dinger would be all the runs the Yankees would need to win, Cano would double in Ichiro, who notched his 3,999th hit, from first in the bottom of the 7th and Gardner would sac fly Nix into score in the bottom of the 8th. Nix stole second, then took third on the error by Thad Weber. Good pitching and good offense. I've missed writing these recaps.

Game 2 of this double header will start at 7:00 PM tonight. Phil Hughes will "pitch" tonight against Mark Buehrle. The forecast is Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

More from Pinstriped Bible:

• Yankees 3, Blue Jays 2: Be Nixed, Blue Jays (Game 2)
• Ryan Dempster suspended, Joe Girardi fined for A-Rod plunking incident
• Joe Girardi's Binder: Yankees Starting Lineup Guide
• Would you play for the Yankees?
• Welcoming Pinstriped Bible's newest writers

At 6:30 tonight, AMC Network aired perhaps the greatest film of all time: Sylvester Stallone's opus, Demolition Man. Nothing in this world hurts more than a missed opportunity to watch that movie, but Jayson Nix provided nearly as much excitement this evening, murder-death-killing the Blue Jays in the bottom of the ninth, 3-2.

The Yankees sent Phil Hughes to the mound to start, and Hughes - no longer content to simply give up home runs - small-balled his way to an early 1-0 deficit. Rajai Davis led off the game with a single up the middle, past a diving Eduardo Nunez. The hobbled Nunez - just back from a quad strain - looked positively Jeter-ian in his range. Davis quickly stole second, moved to third on a ground out, and scampered home on a wild pitch. Way to diversify, Phil.

Toronto rookie Kevin Pillar came into the game nursing an 0-for-17 slump to start his Major League career, and he  started the third inning in a quick 0-2 hole. Anyone who has followed Hughes' career knows where this is headed...congratulations on your first big league hit, Kevin Pillar! Davis followed Pillar's single with a single of his own, and the Blue Jays had runners on first and second with one out. Hughes fielded a sure-fire double play grounder, but tossed a wounded duck to Nunez, who made a nice play simply to get an out. The dangerous Edwin Encarnacion stepped to the plate with two on and two outs, but Hughes struck him out on a nice slider to end the threat.

Opposing starter Mark Buehrle - he of the lifetime 1-10 record and 6.28 ERA against the Yankees - didn't run into trouble until Austin Romine singled with one out in the third. Romine moved to second on a Brett Gardner ground out and scored the tying run on a two-out single from Robinson Cano. Soriano flew out to end the inning, and the Yankees failed to continue their dominance of Buehrle.

The Curse of 0-2 came back to bite Hughes again in the fifth - he completely overwhelmed Munenori Kawasaki (and his 65 OPS+) with two fastballs, and then inexplicably hung a slider. Kawasaki slapped the ball into the right center field gap for a one-out triple. He would score one batter later, on a sacrifice fly from Davis, to put the Blue Jays back on top, 2-1. Hughes would go on to finish six-plus innings of two-run ball - far better than recent-vintage Phil. Still, he did enough "Hughes" things - namely, surrendering hits on 0-2 counts - to irritate longtime Phil watchers.

For most of the game, Hughes looked set to take the loss. Buehrle kept the Yankees off-balance in that irritating, Buehrle kind of way - changing speeds to induce weak pop ups. In particular, Alex Rodriguez struggled mightily against Buehrle's junk - striking out thrice in three at bats. Buehrle came within one batter of finishing seven innings with only one run allowed.

They say the toughest batter to face with two outs in a run-one game is Jayson Nix...and by "they", I mean "John Sterling, Suzyn Waldman, and no one else on Earth." Tonight, however, Nix proved Ma and Pa Pinstripes to be a couple of baseball savants, crushing a game-tying home run into the left field stands. I could have sworn I heard Suzyn screeching all the way from my house in Pennsylvania...but it might just have been a swarm of cicadas.

The Yankees and Blue Jays traded zeroes in the eighth, and Joe Girardi surprised many in the top of the ninth by bringing in Mariano Rivera for his second appearance of the day. Rivera pitched around an Eduardo Nunez error and a base hit to retire the side.

Clearly, Girardi went for the kill in the top of the inning because he knew he had Nix waiting to end the game in the bottom half. Mark Reynolds led off the inning with a walk, only to be replaced by Ichiro Suzuki as a pinch runner. Nunez moved Ichiro second with a sacrifice bunt, and Ichiro stole third. As he stared down the pitcher, I could have sworn I heard Nix mumble under his breath, "Send a maniac to catch a maniac." Wasting no time, Nix drove the next pitch into left, plating Ichiro and winning the game.

So the Yankees sweep today's double header with a pair a stirring come-from-behind victories. It's once again fun to watch the Bronx Bombers play ball. But I'd still like to know how those damn three seashells work!

Be well, Yankee fans. Be Nixed.

More from Pinstriped Bible:

• Yankees 8, Blue Jays 4: Stewart home run boosts offense in Game 1
• Ryan Dempster suspended, Joe Girardi fined for A-Rod plunking incident
• Joe Girardi's Binder: Yankees Starting Lineup Guide
• Would you play for the Yankees?
• Welcoming Pinstriped Bible's newest writers

After leaving game one of the doubleheader against the New York Yankees in the fourth inning, Jose Bautista lands on the disabled list with a bruised left hip, according to a Barry Davis tweet. According to John Gibbons, Bautista went to get an MRI on his hip. The Blue Jays will shut him down for two weeks of treatment before a re-evaluation can be completed. This means that all three of the Blue Jays' starting outfielders, Jose Bautista, Melky Cabrera, and Colby Rasmus, are on the disabled list.

Gibbons said that the injury was sustained last week on a slide in the home series against the Red Sox. I haven't gotten a chance to look at his slides from that series so I'm not sure which one it may have been.

The corresponding move to bring someone up to fill Bautista's roster spot has yet to be made [see update below]; however Shi Davidi announced that the Blue Jays have optioned their 26th man Thad Weber back to the Buffalo Bisons. Speaking about the Bisons, they are really hurting for offense right now--they have scored all of one run in their last three games, falling into a tie for third place, 4.5 games behind first place in the division, and 3.5 games behind the Wild Card. Now the Bisons will be losing one of their outfielders, most probably Moises Sierra, the only remaining outfielder on the 40-man roster. The Bisons have already lost Kevin Pillar and Anthony Gose to the big club (all in a week), so they will have to try to push for a playoff spot with Brad Glenn, Ricardo Nanita, and Mike McCoy.

But hey--I heard Jeff Francoeur was just designated for assignment. And this time I am only half-kidding!

In game two of the doubleheader, Maicer Izturis also left the game with an apparent ankle injury.

UPDATE 1

Some quotes from the great assemblage of beat reporters:

Bautista said he hurt his hip when he pulled up while scoring a run about 2 wks ago. Thought he'd have to slide, got signal to stay up.

— John Lott (@LottOnBaseball) August 21, 2013

Bautista said no problems for about 3 days after that, then started to hurt. By today, felt he was at about 50%.

— John Lott (@LottOnBaseball) August 21, 2013

Bautista says it got worse as the week went on but today it got to the point where it was too painful to keep playing. #bluejays

— Barry Davis (@SNBarryDavis) August 21, 2013

As for when he'll play again, Bautista says he doesn't expect to be shut down for the rest of the season. #bluejays

— Barry Davis (@SNBarryDavis) August 21, 2013

Jose Bautista has a bone bruise in left hip. He'll remain with the club during his DL stint. #BlueJays#MLB

— Scott MacArthur (@TSNScottyMac) August 21, 2013

A particular tweet was surprising, though:

Jose Bautista says injury didn't happen vs Boston, happened about two weeks ago when he pulled up while scoring, jamming hip. #BlueJays

— Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) August 21, 2013

It seems that Bautista and Gibbons had problems communicating about exactly when the injury occurred.

Bautista on ways to treat his injury: "Just rest. There’s no surgery, no more aggressive therapy or way to heal it. It’s just resting."

— Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) August 21, 2013

Just to note, when Bautista is ready to play again in two weeks, he will have to rehab with a minor league club that is in the playoffs, as their regular season ends next week. Hopefully it would be with the Bisons, if Buffalo is out of it by then, Bautista can rehab with Dunedin. I guess that's good news for them!

Also, there was some news, bad news, about Izturis:

Gibbons says Izturis should be fine but he was limping in the clubhouse and says ankle is quite sore now. #bluejays

— Barry Davis (@SNBarryDavis) August 21, 2013

Sigh.

UPDATE 2

As expected, the Blue Jays have recalled Moises Sierra to replace Jose Bautista, as reported--as a fact--by Mike Wilner.

Moises Sierra will be recalled from Buffalo to replace the injured Jose Bautista. #Bluejays#Jays

— Mike Wilner (@Wilnerness590) August 21, 2013

This means that on Wednesday, the Blue Jays are likely to start an outfield comprised of Gose, Pillar, and Sierra--the same outfield the Bisons used just seven days ago. With Maicer Izturis hurt, perhaps Munenori Kawasaki would start at short too. I wonder how often four of nine starters of a minor league affiliate become four of nine starters of the major league club in the span of a week.

Blue Jays 2 Yankees 3

The good news, there is a really nice, quiet bar, right beside where the condo we are renting in Montreal is, and they have very nice beer and good food. And they put the baseball game on for me. Whoops. I slipped to the bad news without telling you before hand.

Whatever the beer I had was, I enjoyed it. I'm going to have to go back tomorrow and find out the name of it. They also did a nice sausage, which they gave us for free so I'm a big fan, I'll be back.

Yesterday we took a tour of Olympic Stadium and a ride up the tower there. Olympic Stadium might be the most depressing place I've ever visited. I monument to concrete and bad architecture. I read that the roof had 2,729 tears in just over a year. Maintenance of the roof costs about $1 million every year. It is just an amazing waste of public money. The nice man that led the 'tour' told me that they had roughly 15 events in the Big O each year. I'm pretty sure he was exaggerating.

The 'tour' was just the nice man leading us into the stadium and having us sit in seats near field level and then he told us exaggerated 'facts' about the stadium. No tour. No look around at the stadium. We weren't allowed to wander around. We didn't see anything except the field, minus the fake grass and the workers at the far end of the 'field'.

The trip up the tower was ok and the view from the top was great. I enjoyed it.

Montreal is great, I'm really enjoying the city, great food, nice folks. My lack of French really isn't a problem. People are nice. I'd say a little impatient. Several times now I've waited to let someone through a door from the other direction, only to be passed by someone behind me, shoving through the door at the same time as the ones coming the other way.

I also lost my camera here. Well, I say I lost, really it was my wife, but I'm not allowed to point that out. I bought myself a nice camera for Christmas this year, I'm not a camera buff but I thought it would be good to have a nice one for taking good pictures (does it say something about me that every time I want to say pictures, I type pitchers and then back up and fix it), and took it when we went out Sunday. My wife offered to carry it while I bought something and I should have taken it back right after, but later she left it somewhere. I'm so sad. My fault. I should have made sure I carried it, but that fact doesn't ,make me less sad.

Today was nice, we looked through old Montreal. Neat shops, great art galleries and a couple of cool churches. I'm not religious at all, but they were interesting.

Oh, this is a game recap. Ok, well we lost. We can't score. We can't bunt. We can't really do anything well. Mark Buehrle pitched about as well as you could home Mark Buehrle to pitch but we still lost. Without Bautista, Rasmus and Reyes we don't have guys that can string together enough hits to score much. And we got walked off, yet again.

Gose can't lay down a bunt when we really need one.

Jays of the Day are Sergio Santos (.171) and Muninori Kawasaki (.097).

Suckage goes to Darren Oliver (-.360), Adam Lind (-.145, 0 for 4) and Gose (-.168, 0 for 4).

Kevin Pillar had his first MLB hit, after going 0 for 17. Bautista goes on the DL. Maicer Izturis might be following him.

Alex Rodriguez has a standing offer from Major League Baseball to accept a 150-game suspension, a source has told Bob Nightengale of USA Today.

The source, who is identified only as a "person close to Rodriguez," also said that A-Rod rejected a deal from the league days before his 211-game ban was handed out that would have limited his time on the sidelines to 100 games. MLB Vice President Rob Manfred has denied both of the source's claims, and Rodriguez won't talk about it.

In fact, A-Rod isn't talking about much of anything anymore. The Yankees third baseman is reportedly trying his hand at not talking to the media about anything that isn't related to events on the field, per Nightengale.

Not only is Rodriguez not discussing the possible plea deal sitting on the table, he's also not responding to the continued accusations that his new lawyer, Joe Tacopina, is slinging in the Yankees' direction. Tacopina alleges that the organization knew A-Rod had a severely injured hip, but kept playing him in the hopes that he'd hurt himself to the point that he would be forced to retire.

Tacopina is also talking a big game when it comes to taking on MLB, stating:

"Their case is in shambles," Tacopina said. "They can talk a tough game, but we'll see how they act in a courtroom and a court proceeding.

"I will annihilate them."

Tacopina added that he thinks the league has taken on a "thug mentality" in its investigation, and that it has committed "two criminal offenses that we know of." What he believes those offenses are is not clear.

While A-Rod is (finally) staying mum on the situation, it's likely that his lawyer will try to keep the accusations at the front of the public's mind until Rodriguez has his appeal hearing in a few months' time.

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The Pirates, Yankees and Orioles are all showing interest in acquiring Twins first baseman Justin Morneau, according to a pair of reports. Morneau cleared the waiver wire last week, so the Twins can trade him to any team.

Pittsburgh, who was involved in Morneau rumors at the trade deadline, are said to have "some" interest in bringing the former MVP into the fold, per Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

New York, also part of the Morneau deadline murmurs, are rumored to be "back in it," which may cause the O's to "begin to panic" in their hunt for a DH, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN in Minneapolis. Buster Olney of ESPN challenges Wolfson's source, saying that the Yankees are not discussing a deal for Morneau.

Morneau, 32, was garnering nothing more than lukewarm interest at the beginning of the month, but has started turning heads with his resurgent performance at the plate over the last two weeks. The lefty-swinging slugger went 4-for-5 with a home run Tuesday night, giving him seven home runs in 20 games this month.

On the year, Morneau is batting .267/.321/.431 with 15 home runs in 118 games. While he's no longer an MVP-type player, he could be a valuable asset to a contender down the stretch. Morneau will be a free agent at the end of the year, so whomever acquires him would have him for just two months, and won't be offer to submit a qualifying offer to receive a compensation pick should he leave, either.

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Adam Warren gets a rare start for the Yankees tonight against R.A. Dickey. Warren is a 25-year-old righty from University of North Carolina who was drafted in the fourth round of the 2009 draft. He pitched in one game last year, a start, and was pounded hard by the Chicago White Sox. This year he's been an innings eater in the bullpen and hasn't done the best of jobs in that role. His ERA sits at 3.57, while his FIP is 4.66 in 58 innings pitched.

Warren throws a fastball, sinker, curveball, changeup, and slider all over 10% of the time each with his fastballs sitting mid-90's as a reliever. His changeup looks to be his best pitch and he throws up nearly a third of the time against left-handed hitters.

Here's Warren's slider being taken deep by Yasiel Puig earlier in June:

via assets.sbnation.com

A look at the movement on his pitches shows how loopy his curveball can be and also how much run his changeup has:

Lefties are crushing Adam Warren this year, but with so many injuries the lineup I'd put out there would be:

1. Reyes SS
2. Lind 1B
3. Encarnacion DH
4. Lawrie 3B
5. Kawasaki 2B
6. Thole C
7. Gose CF
8. Pillar LF
9. Sierra RF

After sweeping the doubleheader yesterday, the Yankees send Adam Warren to the mound against last year's NL Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey and the Blue Jays.

#Yankees lineup vs TOR: Gardner DH, Ichiro RF, Cano 2B, Soriano LF, Granderson CF, Nunez SS, Overbay 1B, Nix 3B, Romine C, Warren P

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) August 21, 2013

So, that's new. Brett Gardner gets the start at DH while Alex Rodriguez sits in favor of Jayson Nix at third base. It will be the first time Gardner has started the game as the designated hitter in his career. Since Dickey is a right-hander, Lyle Overbay gets the start over Mark Reynolds at first base. The two batters with the best career numbers off Dickey are both out of the starting lineup tonight with Wells and A-Rod posting a .974 and 1.000 OPS against the Blue Jays pitcher, respectively, for their careers. Among those actually in the lineup, Gardner (.946 OPS) and Curtis Granderson (.663 OPS) have found success, but Alfonso Soriano, who has cooled down after his remarkable stretch a week ago, joins Overbay as the only Yankees to have hit a home run off the knuckleballer in their careers.

According to Ben Badler at Baseball America, the Yankees are one of two American League teams that have sent their top scouts to Japan to see pitcher Masahiro Tanaka, who is widely believed to be intending to pitch in America next season. Tanaka is a 24-year-old with a 1.20 ERA and 130 strikeouts in 158 innings for Rakuten this season. He possesses a fastball that sits in the low-90s with the ability to hit 96 mph on radar guns, but scouts have concerns over the plane he throws on with his pitches being more straight, and thus hittable, than they'd like, according to Badler. Tanaka also has an above-average splitter and and slider.

To obtain the services of Tanaka if he does, in fact, decide to leave Japan would require the same process teams went through when Yu Darvish came over to play for the Rangers. Posting fees have seemingly scared the Yankees off of Japanese pitchers after the failure of Kei Igawa, but MLB and Nippon Professional Baseball have been working together this season on ways to revise the current posting system. According to Badler's article, the two sides are working to cap the limit of the posting fee with a goal of giving more money to the player than to the player's Japanese team. This system would allow multiple teams to "win" the posting process and MLB could count more of the money against the luxury tax. There is no certainty when or if this system would ever come into play, or what effect it would have on the Yankees' or any other team's willingness to pursue what is largely an unknown commodity for a lot of money up front.

Should the Yankees go all in on Tanaka after seeing the success of Darvish in MLB, or should they continue to play it safe in a system where so much uncertainty is involved?

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Alex Rodriguez wants his legal team to tone down its rhetoric so that he can focus on playing baseball for the New York Yankees, ESPN New York reports. Recently hired lawyer Joe Tacopina has been on the offensive against the Yankees, accusing the organization of mistreating the third baseman. Given the whirlwind drama surrounding Rodriguez since being handed a 211-game suspension for his connection with Biogenesis, it's no surprise he wants some peace. Via ESPN New York:

"I'm shutting it all down," Rodriguez told ESPNNewYork.com. "I'm shutting it all down, just focusing on baseball, just baseball."

The Yankees currently have 37 games remaining in their regular season, including Wednesday night's game against the Toronto Blue Jays. Manager Joe Girardi decided to give Rodriguez the night off for rest. Rodriguez will rejoin the lineup on Thursday.

Rodriguez is still working on his appeal to Major League Baseball to get his suspension reduced. Earlier Wednesday it was revealed that Rodriguez reportedly has a standing offer from MLB to have his suspension taken down to 150 games if he drops his appeal.

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While batting in the third inning, Jayson Nix was hit in the hand by an R.A. Dickey knuckleball. A knuckleball isn't thrown very hard, but it was apparently hard enough. After trying to stay in the game at first base, Nix, hand clearly in pain and noticeably bruised, took himself out of the game and was immediately tended to. By the next inning it was announced that he had a broken left hand.

He'll obviously be going back on the disabled list after just coming back from a hamstring injury that kept him on the shelf for over a month. The 2013 Yankees is all about bad luck and the injury looks to be in the space spot Curtis Granderson broke. Luckily for the Yankees, though, is that it's mostly Jayson Nix's bad luck. The man had the day of his career yesterday with a home run and a walk off hit and this is where he is less than 24 hours later. Baseball is cruel sometimes

The most likely candidate to replace Nix would be David Adams, because he's on the 40-man roster, but they could also add Alberto Gonzalez, Ronnier Mustelier or someone else if they don't have a problem designating someone like David Huff for assignment. September call ups are right around the corner, so if Adams comes up, he'll likely be sent down again when Derek Jeter is activated off the DL and then brought back up when rosters expand.

This will most likely mean the end of the season for Nix, but he'll be around for a long time. If the Yankees want to keep him around he'll be under team control until 2016, though he could start to get too expensive for what he brings when he becomes arbitration eligible for the first time next season. Players like Nix seem to find a way to cling on.

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New York Yankees infielder Jayson Nix suffered a fractured left hand after being hit by a pitch on Wednesday, according to ESPN's Buster Olney.

Nix, who started at third base while Alex Rodriguez was given a day off, was plunked in his first at-bat by Toronto Blue Jays starter R.A. Dickey. Nix was immediately replaced by Mark Reynolds, who stayed in the game at the hot corner.

The injury happened during an eventful second inning, which also saw the ejection of Jays shortstop R.A. Dickey.

Nix, who turns 31 on Aug. 26, entered Wednesday hitting .236/.305/.311 in 302 plate appearances while spending time at shortstop, third base and second base. Nix is the prototypical glove-first utility player; he has a career .218/.289/.358 line and has never finished a season with an OPS+ of more than 86.

Nix will almost certainly land on the disabled list, and with Derek Jeter set to start a rehab assignment at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Thursday, the Yankees will likely be forced to make a move that doesn't involve the star shortstop.

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New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter will make a five-inning rehab appearance for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Thursday, according to manager Joe Girardi (via CBS Sports' Mike Axisa).

Jeter is in the midst of his third stint on the disabled list this season; all three have been due to leg injuries. The 39-year-old star has been limited to five games this season because of ankle, quadriceps and calf ailments. Jeter is 4 for 19 at the plate with a home run and a pair of walks.

Assuming Jeter's rehab assignment is successful, he could return to the big club just in time. The Yankees will likely lose utility infielder Jayson Nix to the disabled list after he suffered a fractured left hand after being hit by a pitch thrown by Toronto Blue Jays hurler R.A. Dickey on Wednesday. Jeter is not expected to be activated in time for the start of the Yankees' series against the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday, per Axisa, but a weekend return doesn't appear to be out of the question.

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Blue Jays 2 Yankees 4

Another day, another loss. Yeah, it isn't even a surprise anymore.

R.A. Dickey pitched well, for 7 innings, but gave up a 2-run homer to Alfonso Soriano in the 8th and that was enough to get the loss. He gave up a run each of the 2nd and 3rd innings as well. In all,  he pitched an 8 inning complete game, with 6 hits allowed, 4 earned runs, 2 walks and 9 strikeouts.

On offense, we didn't do much. We scored a run in the 2nd. Anthony Gose singled and stole second and Munenori Kawasaki singled him home. In the 4th inning, Josh Thole hit his first home run as a Blue Jay.

We had 5 hits in total. 4 in 3 innings off someone named Adam Warren, getting our 2 runs. Then we were only able to get 1 hit (with 4 walks) in 5 innings against David Huff. Mariano Rivera pitched the 9th to get the save.

Rajai Davis managed a 1-out double off Rivera, but then got himself picked off second. A major league team shouldn't be getting guys picked off second when they are down by 2 in the 9th, but then Davis knows that, you know that, everyone knows that. It's hard to believe how bad this team has been.

On the reporting the positive side, Brett Lawrie made a couple of terrible plays on defense. And that's about it.

No Jay of the Day today, Thole led the way with a .040.

Suckage goes to Dickey (-.101), DeRose (-.107, 0 for 3) and to Davis for being picked off.

Also, lets give one to Jose Reyes, who got thrown out of the game for throwing his helmet back towards the umpire after arguing balls and strikes. Jose you really have to be smarter than that. Especially when you are one of the few useful offensive players we have.

Ichiro Suzuki hit his 4,000th career hit, if you combine his career in Japan with his MLB career.

In travel news, I climbed Mount Royal and enjoyed the beautiful view of the city from up top. Then, trying to find my way back, I got lost, but a nice fellow from Spain helped me figure out what bus to take to get back close to where we are staying and we pooled our change so we had enough to take the bus. I also saw people filming a movie or TV show, and I stuck around to watch for a bit and James Franco was part of the scene they were shooting. Other than the baseball game, I had a good day. Tomorrow we have tickets to the Alouettes game, thankfully saving me from watching the Jays.

The New York Yankees are finally looking like the New York Yankees.

On the day that Ichiro Suzuki picked up the 4000th hit of his professional career, the Yankees pitching duo of Adam Warren and David Huff out-dueled 2012 NL Cy Young award winner R.A. Dickey (yes, you read that correctly) as the Yankees won their fourth consecutive game. The Yankees have won nine of eleven and 10 of 13 dating back to the day Alex Rodriguez made his 2013 Yankee Stadium debut.

Rodriguez had the night off tonight, but the Yankees got just enough offense and brilliant pitching out of unlikely sources, to say the least. Adam Warren got the spot start coming out of the double header, and honestly looked pretty good. Actually no, he wasn't that good, but I guess when you've been watching Phil Hughes this season it lowers your standards a bit. To Warren's credit, he got through the 3+ innings he was supposed to get through while limiting the Jays to two runs. And with this new Yankees offense, that is not insurmountable by any stretch.

The Blue Jays scored first in the top of the second. Warren got the first two outs of the inning before giving up a single to Anthony Gose. Gose proceeded to steal second and then score on a single to right by Munenori Kawasaki. Kawasaki really isn't that good at baseball, but he did this once so I like him.

The Yankees answered in the bottom of the inning, as Eduardo Nunez singled and later moved to second and then to third on a stolen base and a wild pitch, respectively. After a strikeout of Lyle Overbay, Jayson Nix reached first after getting hit by a pitch on the hand. This is also likely the last time that Nix will reach first base this season, as the HBP left him with a fractured hand. Sucks for him, and just another injury for the 2013 Yankees. See you next season, Nixy (and yes, we know he'll be here).

Mark Reynolds pinch ran for Nix at first and the Yankees had first and third with one out and Austin Romine at the plate. Austin Romine actually looks like a major league hitter right now. I don't know how long that's going to last but I'm going to enjoy it while it does. After going 3-3 last night, Romine stepped up and was a few feet away from hitting a three run home run. Instead, Kevin Pillar made a nice catch at the wall in left field and he'd have to settle for a sac fly.

The Yankees scored again in the bottom of the third to take the lead. With one out, Robinson Cano doubled to right. After Alfonso Soriano struck out, Curtis Granderson singled in Cano to make it 2-1 New York. Eduardo Nunez struck out to end the inning.

The Blue Jays got it right back at first opportunity as Warren gave up a home run to Josh Thole. Yes, Josh Thole. I don't know how that happened either. After the home run, Kevin Pillar got hit by a pitch (retaliation for Nix!), and that was it for Adam Warren. Enter David Huff.

David Huff is a man who has a career 5.41 ERA, and opponents have hit nearly .300 off of him. He's spent most of the year in the minor leagues, and in his brief stint in the majors this year he came in with an ERA over 12. So I think it's fair to say that not a lot of people would expect David Huff to come in and throw five shutout innings. Well, you can't predict baseball right? Because that's exactly what happened.

Huff relieved Adam Warren in the top of the fourth and stranded Pillar at first base. He then proceeded to throw four more shutout innings, pitching through the eighth and holding the Blue Jays to two runs. He walked a few guys, but he allowed just one hit and this was by far his best performance of the season in a game the Yankees had to have. Wins/Loss is generally a very poor way to measure a pitcher's success, but David Huff absolutely earned the win tonight.

Unfortunately for the Yankees, Dickey also managed to keep them at two until the bottom of the eighth. He started the eighth by striking out Brett Gardner and getting Ichiro to pop out. Cano then picked up his second hit of the night, which brought up Alfonso Soriano.

Soriano, as everyone knows, was playing at an other-worldly level a week ago. Then he suddenly stopped and had been 0 for his last 17. So, as Joe Girardi said, he was "due" in a sense. Soriano launched a hanging knuckleball (is that the right term for that?) into the left field seats with two outs in the eighth to give the Yankees the 4-2 lead. Dickey struck out Granderson to end the inning, and wound up with the complete game loss.

Mariano Rivera came on to finish it off in the ninth. He struck out Mark DeRosa before allowing a double to Rajai Davis. Mo then picked off Davis at second and struck out Edwin Encarnacion to end the game.

Game Notes:

• Ichiro Suzuki picked up the 4000th hit of his professional career in the bottom of the first inning tonight. His Yankee teammates came out to congratulate him and then he bowed to the crowd. The 4000 hits are from his days in Japan, with the Seattle Mariners, and with the Yankees. Congrats to Ichiro!
• As mentioned above, Jayson Nix fractured his left hand after getting hit by a knuckleball from R.A. Dickey. The injuries just keep coming. After being the hero of last night's game it's hard not to feel sorry for Nix, who has done whatever has been asked of him all year long while having to fill in for other player's various injuries. Girardi said the Yankees will not activate Derek Jeter early to replace Nix on the roster, so look for either David Adams or Alberto Gonzalez to be recalled to replace Nix.
• Don't look now, but the Yankees are kind of in this thing. They are four out in the loss column for the second wild card after the A's lost this afternoon, and with so many games left with division rivals the AL East is not completely out of reach. Still with no margain for error, every game is very important.

More from Pinstriped Bible:

• Jayson Nix leaves game with broken left hand
• Yankees lineup vs. Blue Jays; Yankees scouting Masahiro Tanaka in Japan
• Pinstripe Alley Top 100 Yankees: #93 Birdie Cree
• Dodgers reportedly unlikely to pursue Robinson Cano as a free agent
• Yankees prospects: Gary Sanchez off to a hot start with the Thunder

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders:L 3-6 vs. Pawtucket Red Sox

3B Brent Lillibridge 1-4, BB, K - batting .292 this season
2B David Adams 0-4, BB, 2 K, E4 - throwing error, fifth of the season
CF Melky Mesa 0-3, BB, K, 2 SB
1B Dan Johnson 0-1, 3 BB
DH Randy Ruiz 0-4, 3 K
LF Ronnier Mustelier 3-3, 2B, RBI, BB - batting .472/.548/.583 over his last 10 games
C JR Murphy 1-4, RBI, K
RF Adonis Garcia 0-4, K
SS Alberto Gonzalez 1-3, RBI, CS, put out

Brett Marshall 5 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, WP - two groundouts, five flyouts
Yoshinori Tateyama 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
David Herndon 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R/0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

Mustelier tried his best to rally the RailRiders' offense with his three hits in the game but only scoring one run in three different innings was not enough to get past the PawSox for Scranton's 69th loss of the year, dropping them to six games under .500.

Double-A Trenton Thunder:W 3-1 vs. New Britain Rock Cats

CF Mason Williams 0-5 - batting .152 since his promotion
LF Ramon Flores 1-5, 2B
DH Gary Sanchez 0-4, K
1B Kyle Roller 1-4, 2B, 2 K - 23rd double of the season
2B Jose Pirela 2-3, BB - batting .275 this season
RF Ben Gamel 2-4, 2 RBI, K, SB
SS Carmen Angelini 1-3, 2B, HBP
3B Casey Stevenson 1-4
C Francisco Arcia 0-4, K

Shane Greene 7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, BB, 7 K, 2 HB - four groundouts, five flyouts
Tom Kahnle 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, K, WP
Francisco Rondon 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB

A two-run eighth inning for the Thunder broke a 1-1 tie and gave them their 67th win of the season. The Thunder now sit 3.5 games up on the Fisher Cats for a playoff spot out of the Eastern Division.

High-A Tampa Yankees:W 4-2 vs. Clearwater Threshers

SS Cito Culver 3-5, 2B, K - batting .310 since his promotion
CF Taylor Dugas 2-3, BB
2B Rob Refsnyder 0-4
3B Peter O'Brien 2-3, RBI, BB, K, no error!
1B Saxon Butler 0-3, BB, K
RF Cody Grice 1-4, 3B, 2 K
DH Jose Toussen 1-3, 2 RBI
C Jeff Farnham 1-3, RBI, BB
LF Ali Castillo 0-4, K

Jairo Heredia 7 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, BB, 3 K - eight groundouts, seven flyouts
Taylor Garrison 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, BB, K

Tampa used ten hits and four one-run innings to top the Threshers behind a strong performance from their pitchers for their 53rd win of the season.

Low-A Charleston RiverDogs:L 4-7 vs. West Virginia Power

DH Jake Cave 2-5, 2 K - batting .282/.349/.333 over his last 10 games
SS Jose Rosario 1-3, 2B, BB
1B Greg Bird 1-4, RBI, K, HBP - batting .357/.561/.679 over his last 10 games
RF Ericson Leonora 1-4, RBI, K
3B Dante Bichette Jr. 1-4, E5 - fielding error, 18th of the season
2B Angelo Gumbs 0-3
C Jackson Valera 1-4
CF Danny Oh 1-4, K
LF Daniel Aldrich 0-4, 3 K, E7 - throwing error, second of the season

Dan Camarena 5 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K - five groundouts, two flyouts
Evan Rutckyj 2.1 IP, 3 H, 6 R/5 ER, 3 BB, K, 2 WP, HB, E1
James Pazos 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, BB, 3 K

Things were going fairly well for Charleston until a complete implosion by Rutckyj in the seventh and eighth innings created a deficit that they couldn't rally back from.

Short Season-A Staten Island Yankees:W 5-3 vs. Brooklyn Cyclones

SS Abiatal Avelino 0-4, K
LF Michael O'Neill 0-4, K
3B Eric Jagielo 1-4, 2B, 2 K, E5(3) - 13th double of the season
DH Mike Ford 2-3, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, BB - third homer of the season
RF Yeicok Calderon 1-3, BB, K
CF Brandon Thomas 1-4, HR, 3 RBI, K, 2 SB - sixth homer of the season
1B Bubba Jones 0-2, BB, K
C Trent Garrison 2-3, 2B - sixth double of the season
2B John Murphy 0-3, 3 K - batting .175 this season

Caleb Smith 3 IP, 3 H, 3 R/0 ER, 3 BB, K, WP, E1 - three groundouts, five flyouts
Philip Walby 3 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K - seven groundouts, zero flyouts
Dillon McNamara 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 K
Nick Rumbelow 1 IP, 0 H, 0ER, 0 BB, K - fifth save

A three-run sixth inning helped overcome a three-run inning by the Cyclones that featured zero earned runs because of sloppy defense for Staten Island's 25th win of the year.

Gulf Coast Yankees 1 Highlights:

DH Tyler Wade 2-4, 2B, RBI, BB, K, SB - batting .315 this season
SS Bryan Cuevas 2-4, RBI, BB
2B Gosuke Katoh 2-4, 2 2B, RBI, K - .317/.364/.537 over his last 10 games
LF Chris Breen 1-3, HR, 2 RBI, K - fifth homer of the season
CF Dustin Fowler 1-4, RBI
RF Austin Aune 1-4, RBI, 2 K

Rony Bautista 4 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, pickoff, WP - three groundouts, zero flyouts
Tim Flight 2 IP, 1 H, 1 R/0 ER, K, E1
Victor Beriguete 1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

Gulf Coast Yankees 2 Highlights:

SS Thairo Estrada 1-5, 2B, K, 2 SB - batting .290 this season
DH Miguel Andujar 4-4, RBI, BB - batting .339 this season
1B Brady Steiger 1-3, BB, put out, HBP
LF Nathan Mikolas 2-3, RBI, BB, E7

Elvin Perez 4 IP, 6 H, 4 R/1 ER, 2 BB, K, WP
Joaquin Acuna 3 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, BB, E1, WP
Tim Giel 0.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER. BB

Yankees outfielder Ichiro Suzuki laced a single in Wednesday night's contest against the Blue Jays, giving him career hit 2,722. Remember, though, that Ichiro played for nine seasons in Japan before coming to the majors, where he collected 1,278 hits: last night's single gave him 4,000 for his career.

It's excellent that his teammates and Major League Baseball are recognizing this milestone in any capacity, given it's been a question for a long time how, if Ichiro got to 4,000 combined hits, people would react. You've got announcers into it, though, as well as the Blue Jays on the field, and MLB put this moment in their "Must C: Classic" video collection -- he's maybe not going to be as official and in the books as Ty Cobb and Pete Rose, but at least the moment didn't simply pass by quietly.

More from SB Nation MLB:

• A-Rod has standing 150-game ban offer

• Neyer: The meaning of Ichiro's 4,000 hits

• Pirates "have some interest" in Justin Morneau

• Video: The strongest beards in sports

• Ballgirl and infielder fight for foul ball

The Yankees try to complete the four-game sweep of the Blue Jays this afternoon and draw closer to the Wild Card-leading Oakland Athletics. The Yankees currently sit four games back of Oakland, who is playing against the fellow Wild Card contender Orioles (three games back) tonight in Baltimore. A win would also help the Yankees gain half a game on the Indians (2.5 games back), who have the night off. Here's the lineup the Yanks will send out against Toronto lefty J.A. Happ:

Silver And Cold Lineup: Suzuki 9, Wells DH, Cano 4, Soriano 7, Rodriguez 5, Granderson 8, Reynolds 3, Nunez 6, Stewart 2, Pettitte 1.

— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughSL) August 22, 2013

Joe Girardi is giving Brett Gardner the day off after he had a half-day off yesterday at DH. That seems kind of strange, but oh well. It's worth noting that Gardner has appeared in all but two of 126 games for the Yankees this year in a season immediately following an injury-shortened campaign, so perhaps it's for the best that he receives some rest. He's been scuffling at the plate lately at 6-for-his-last-35 and 10-for-50 since his three-hit game against Detroit on August 9th. Vernon Wells gets DH duties with the lefty on the hill and Ichiro Suzuki actually makes a start against a southpaw. Ichiro's been hitting .348/.356/.462 this year against lefties, so he really shouldn't be riding the bench when they pitch anyway.

Curtis Granderson faces Happ in his first appearance against him since the latter broke the former's arm at the start of Spring Training. Hopefully, Granderson will get some sweet revenge with some big hits. Alex Rodriguez returns to the lineup after a day off yesterday, Mark Reynolds plays first in place of the lefty-neutralized Lyle Overbay, Chris Stewart starts over Austin Romine (sigh), and Eduardo Nunez plays shortstop with no obvious backup behind him. Star Ledger writer Andy McCullough thinks that Robinson Cano would be the backup in an emergency, but hopefully it does not come to that. (Although it might be cool to thus see Alfonso Soriano possibly back at second for a brief moment before realizing how much of a butcher he was at the position. Also, Vernon Wells lobbied to be the emergency shortstop. Dwell on that for a moment.)

The reason Nunez has no real backup is that reliever Preston Claiborne was recalled to replace the injured Jayson Nix on the 25-man roster. It makes some sense since the Yankees badly needed bullpen help after burning both of their long relievers yesterday. Andy Pettitte is far from a guarantee to pitch deep in the game, so Sir Preston's services might be needed. It's unlikely that we will see Mariano Rivera today after he appeared three times in two days, so if the game is close, expect to see David Robertson as the closer. D-Rob has pitched just one inning since Sunday night, so he should be fine.

More from Pinstriped Bible:

• Chris Stewart and Jayson Nix defy the odds
• Alex Rodriguez vs. the Yankees: Implications of finding out which side is telling the truth
• Middle of the Yankees order doing their part during recent hot stretch
• Baby Bomber Recap 8/21/13: Miguel Andujar picks up for hits for GCL Yankees
• Yankees 4, Blue Jays 2: Ichiro gets 4000th, Soriano homers in Yankee win

Red Sox slugger David Ortiz tread into dangerous waters Wednesday, coming to the defense of embattled Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez in the wake of Sunday's hit-by-pitch heard 'round the world, reports Jorge L. Ortiz of USA Today:

"I didn't like it. I don't think it was the right thing to do...

"We don't all think alike, and the guy who did it, Dempster, is a great guy. It's not that I didn't think it was right because Alex and I are friends, because once you cross the white lines, everyone's on their own.

"But we've got Tampa right on our heels, and that pitch woke up a monster in the Yankees' team at that moment."

While Ortiz's statements touch more on how the HBP affected the outcome of the game then A-Rod in particular, they are still in pretty stark contrast to those of his teammates. Ryan Dempster, who was suspended five games for the plunking, has stated publicly that he did not throw at Rodriguez on purpose. Ortiz's comments seem to strongly indicate otherwise.

In addition to the hit-by-pitch, Ortiz also touched on A-Rod's pending 211-game suspension, stating that he's unsure who to side with at this point because he hasn't seen all the evidence. He did add, however, that he thought a ban of that length "had something to do with [A-Rod's] contract," which could end up setting a bad precedent in the future:

...You can't let any team break a contract, because then the next time a player gets a DUI, or is charged with domestic violence or with any other thing, then the team may try to get out of a contract. They would have [precedent].''

At the moment, MLB teams do not seem to punish players at all in cases of drunk driving and/or domestic violence, so it's not clear how changing contract parameters would affect their current inaction.

MLB spokesman Pat Courtney immediately responded to Ortiz's comments, stating that Rodriguez's contract was "immaterial" in the case.

More from SB Nation MLB:

• Watch Ichiro collect his 4,000th hit

• A-Rod has standing 150-game ban offer

• Neyer: The meaning of Ichiro's 4,000 hits

• Pirates "have some interest" in Justin Morneau

• Video: The strongest beards in sports

The Monforts are cheap.

That is the most common criticism, whether directly stated or implied, of the way the Rockies are run by fans and a large part of the local media. However, it is a criticism that is largely unwarranted.

Unless something drastically with their revenue streams, the Rockies will never be a team like the Yankees or Dodgers with an unlimited budget, they won't even be in the class of the Red Sox, Tigers and Cardinals for that matter, the finances just don't work.

However, according to Cot's Contracts, the Rockies' opening day payroll reached as high as $84.2 million in 2010, though it has slipped to slightly under $74 million in 2013.

Also consider the cases of Todd Helton, Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez, three players who the Rockies have paid, or committed to pay, a sum of nearly $400 million to play for the club. Try telling one of them that the Rockies are cheap. They will also be paying $10.5 million to Michael Cuddyer in 2014 as well as $11 million to Jorge De La Rosa provided his option is picked up.

Consider off-the-field costs as well, such as the upkeep of Coors Field, outside observers consistently remark on the cleanliness of Coors compared to other ballparks and there is almost always some sort of significant upgrade in facilities as each new season dawns.

This is not to say that there aren't valid criticisms of Rockies ownership and management, just that cheapness isn't one of them. It would be more accurate to say that the Rockies are risk-averse, insular, and loyal to a fault at times.

Those traits collided last month when the team made the decision to keep Cuddyer in the organization rather than trade him in the midst of a career year. They did not want to risk the players they got in return not panning out, but did want to maintain the status quo and keep Cuddyer, by all accounts a good guy and teammate, in the clubhouse when it may have been better to move him.

The Rockies', especially Dan O'Dowd's, risk-aversion likely stems in part from the fact that one of O'Dowd's first moves as general manager was to give $175 million to Mike Hampton and Denny Neagle, who were both spectacular flops in a Rockies uniform. After those deals, a measure of caution is certainly understandable, but it's been 13 years, you can step out on a limb again, Dan.

You can also attribute the Rockies' risk-averse nature to the fact that Project 5183, which had been in the works for some time, was not implemented until 2012 was a lost season and the team had nothing to lose. It was also likely a factor in the saga that was the Ubaldo Jimenez trade.

With the risk-aversion aspect of the Rockies' philosophy comes a certain insularity and a tendency to be overly-loyal to employees. This was epitomized in the fact that they were willing to keep Jim Tracy on as manager after the disastrous 2012 season despite the fact that the team won just 64 games and the team's winning percentage dropped from .638 to .512 to .451 to .395 in his four seasons as manager.

When Tracy did resign, who did the Rockies turn to as a replacement, former player and special assistant to O'Dowd, Walt Weiss. Jason Giambi, a Rockies player in 2012, and Tom Runnells, the team's bench coach then and now, were among the finalists for the job as well.

Another recent personnel decision was the one to add a Director of Pitching Operations for the organization. Who got that job? Mark Wiley, a friend and former colleague of O'Dowd's. Who represented the team at the 2013 Draft? Pedro Astacio and Walker Monfort, a member of the Rockies scouting department. If that last name sounds familiar, it's Dick Monfort's son. Insular and loyal as ever.

Also, the Monforts don't tend to fire people, just re-assign them within the organization. as they did with Bob Apodaca and, to an extent, O'Dowd when they named assistant general manager Bill Geivett the Director of Major League Operations.

However, there is an upside to the Monforts' loyalty. When you're loyal to others, they tend to return the favor, as Tulowitzki and Gonzalez did when they signed lengthy contract extensions at below market value.

There are issues within the Rockies organization, that much can't be denied, but it is important to correctly identify the problems so you can come up with the proper solutions. Throwing money at the problem could fix things, but a better idea would be to take a few more risks and bring in some people from outside the organization with a different view of things.

Weather permitting, the Yankees follow up a dreaded doubleheader with the equally lamented day game after a night game. These two scheduling hurdles are never greeted enthusiastically by managers, especially those with teams in a pennant race, but for the Yankees at least, the hand wringing is unnecessary.

Yankees Day vs. Night Game Distribution, 1939-2013

Note: All day games played before 1939.
Source: baseball-reference.com and proprietary

The Bronx Bombers have proven to be masters of the doubleheader, but what about their performance when following up a night game with a matinee the very next day? In all day games, the Yankees have had a good amount of success, winning over 56% of the 11,513 contests under the sun since 1901. However, that isn't the best baseline for comparison because it includes almost 40 seasons without any games played under the lights.

Yankees' Day vs. Night Performance, 1939-2013


Note: All day games played before 1939.
Source: baseball-reference.com and proprietary

You can't have a day game after a night game without the latter, so the best point for drawing a comparison are those seasons when the schedule included a mix both. Since baseball under the lights was inaugurated in 1939, the Yankees have won over 59% of the 5,746 games played in the day (vs. 56% of the just over 6,000 night games). With that as a baseline, we can return to the question at hand.

Yankees' Day Game After Night Game Performance, 1939-2013

Note: All day games played before 1939.
Source: baseball-reference.com and proprietary

Heading into today's game, the Yankees have won 1,179 of the 2,059 day games immediately following a contest at night, yielding a winning percentage of 57.3% that lags the over 60% success rate when there hasn't been such a quick turnaround. However, it should be noted that the Bronx Bombers have won 56% of their night games during the same span. So, although the Yankees have had more success in day games not scheduled after a night game, the early wake up call has proven better than simply playing at night.

The Yankees played their first night game in 1939, but Yankee Stadium didn't have lights installed until 1946. That season, the Yankees played only 17% of their games at night, a rate that gradually increased to the approximately 65% played under the lights today. With such a wide variation in the schedule's mix, a comparison might be better served by segmenting the sample according to the prevalence of night games in different eras.

Segment Based Comparison of Yankees' Performance, 1939-2013

Note: 1939-1946: 0%-20% night games; 1947-1958: 20%-40% night games; 1959-1974: 40%-60% night games; 1975-2013: 60%-80% night games.
Source: baseball-reference.com and proprietary

Before the end of World War II, there were very few night games played, and the Yankees performed relatively poorly in them. The hangover also impacted day games played after night. However, when the mix included between 20% and 40% night games, the Bronx Bombers were equally potent in the day and night, but less so when an afternoon contest followed one in the evening. Once the distribution reached about even, the Yankees were better in the day than night, but at their best when the turnaround was immediate. Finally, since 1975, when the rate of night games has ranged from 60% to 80%, the Bronx Bombers have been most successful in day games not following night games, with the other two segments trailing just behind and about equal.

Segment Based Comparison of Yankees' Performance, 1996-2013

Source: baseball-reference.com and proprietary

Finally, since the start of dynasty run in 1996, the Yankees have been equally strong in all day games, regardless of what preceded them. Of course, the team's 59% win rate in night games over that span isn't too shabby either. Ultimately, these comparisons are merely splitting hairs because, for most of the last 113 years, the Bronx Bombers have enjoyed considerable success, regardless of the position of the sun at first pitch. So, the Yankees need not fear day games after night games, or any other obstacle the schedule may throw their way. Time is not an issue, provided it does not run out.

More from Pinstriped Bible:

• Yankees lineup vs. Blue Jays, Preston Claiborne returns
• Chris Stewart and Jayson Nix defy the odds
• Alex Rodriguez vs. the Yankees: Implications of finding out which side is telling the truth
• Middle of the Yankees order doing their part during recent hot stretch
• Baby Bomber Recap 8/21/13: Miguel Andujar picks up for hits for GCL Yankees