The Yankees lost another heartbreaker after the bullpen blew up the game. If they are going to win any of these games something is going to have to go right for the pitching, but David Huff is on the mound, so who knows what's going to happen. Here is the lineup:
#Yankees lineup vs Boston: Gardner CF, Jeter SS, Cano 2B, Soriano LF, Granderson DH, Nunez 3B, Overbay 1B, Ichiro RF, Romine C, Huff P
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 7, 2013
Brett Gardner leads off, as usual, while Derek Jeter is back at short batting second. Robinson Cano, Alfonso Soriano, and DH Curtis Granderson make up the heart of the lineup. Alex Rodriguez is getting a day off with a day game after a night game, so Eduardo Nunez is going back to being a utility infielder and playing third. Lyle Overbay is in to face the right-hander, taking back his job from Mark Reynolds, while Ichiro Suzuki and Austin Romine round out the bottom of the lineup.
It's nice to have Ichiro's defense, but his inability to hit in the second half kind of negates the value he brings, especially when the big blow last night was a grand slam that wasn't exactly easily catchable anyway. Put Granderson in the outfield and have Mark Reynolds or A-Rod DH. I understand they want to take it easy with Rodriguez, but the season is literally on the line right now, this is the playoffs, so use everyone and everything right now. No one knows what Huff is going to give them, so the Yankees need the best offense they can put out there.
Now Girardi is saying that Preston Claiborne and Joba Chamberlain are unavailable today to go along with Shawn Kelley, David Robertson and Boone Logan. They called up another replacement arm today when they released Chris Bootcheck put Vidal Nuno on the 60-day DL and called up Jim Miller. So now the bullpen is Miller, Brett Marshall, Matt Daley, Dellin Betances, Cesar Cabral, Adam Warren, and (maybe?) Mariano Rivera. Joe Girardi actually needs to use these guys though.
On the injury front, Robertson said he feels better today, but will wait three or four days before he plays catch and returns to the bullpen. He described his injury as more fatigue and soreness-related than anything really serious. That's the best scenario you could ask for because he's going to be very important in 2014. Kelley threw a bullpen and felt much better, so he will be available tomorrow, but could pitch in an emergency today. The results of Boone Logan's MRI have yet to be reported.