Tyler Kepner has a statement from Joba:

Ouch. This (like Saturday's game) was one that the Yankees could probably have won...if Phil Hughes hadn't been terrible. Daisuke Matsuzaka wasn't that great either as he had control problems all day long...but he did give his team innings. Then to add injury to insult...Jose Molina had to leave the game due to a left hamstring injury that will keep him from catching (and probably land him on the DL).

The problems started in the first as Jacoby Ellsbury walked, stole second, advanced to third on the subsequent throwing error and after a Drew walk, came home on a Manny RBI single. The scoring didn't stop there as J.D. Drew scored on a sac fly and Sean Casey's ground-rule double put runners on first and third. Hughes and Molina then got crossed up on a curveball that ended up being a passed ball, which allowed Manny to come home to make it 3-0.

The Yanks got one back in the top of the 3rd when Johnny Damon walked, stole second and came home on a Bobby Abreu double but the Red Sox ended up chasing Hughes in the bottom half by putting up another three runs. Walk, single, single, single made it 5-1 with men on first and second with no one out and pushed Hughes out of the game. I didn't get a chance to watch the game, only to listen to it, so I can't comment on what was going on with Hughes but word seems to be inconsistent command. In any case, Ross Ohlendorf came on and let both inherited runners score, one via a wild pitch and the other on a Ellsbury RBI single making the score 7-1.

The Yanks mounted a charge in the 4th by scoring 3 runs to cut the score to 7-4 but couldn't muster up enough to get more later. There were some opportunities but it just didn't happen. A disappointing end to a disappointing series. Welcome to to the AL East Cellar, Population: the New York Yankees.

Terrible news comes via an early morning report by Mark Feinsand:


Our thoughts are with Mr. Chamberlain and those close to him.

Via anaconda.

The Yankees will be making some sort of roster change today, in order to bring a new catcher onto the team, after after Jose Molina injured his left hamstring sliding last night. The slide was in the fourth and Molina played until the eighth. They have not decided whether or not Molina will hit the 15 day DL. Definitely a blow - Molina has been on fire at the plate, hitting .364 and providing us with catcher depth we've lacked for a while.

A couple of days ago, the Post reported that a Red Sox fan working in construction at the new stadium had burried a Red Sox shirt in the concrete, hoping to curse the club. The Yankees denounced it as untrue. But, contruction workers came forward and named a Red Sox fan who had worked on the crew. This led them to discovering a spot where they thought it may be buried - and then discovering it. It took them five hours and they had to jackhammer through two feet of concrete, but they found it. Hank Steinbrenner had an interesting quote:

"I hope his coworkers kick the s--- out of him."

I think if I heard John Sterling say in his exact words, "Beckett has been REALLY overpowering today," one more time I would have thrown my friend's radio in the lake. I distinctly heard the exact phrase 3 times in the top of the 5th inning alone. Ugh...well Beckett WAS for the most part overpowering and the Red Sox beat the Yankees 4-3 to split the first two games of this weekend series.

Josh Beckett was a bit overpowering, as he shut out the Yankees on only one hit through the first five innings. He started to crumble a bit in the 6th when the Yankees took the lead on a sac fly by Melky Cabrera on a ball that was just barely chased down by Jacoby Ellsbury and a wild pitch that scored Alberto Gonzalez.

Mike Mussina was also impressive, settling down after a rough first inning, but the Yankees decided for him to pitch to Manny Ramirez in the sixth with first base open and it backfired, as he hit a two-run double to put the Red Sox back ahead 3-2. Mussina finished with a line of 4 runs off 8 hits and 1 strikeout in 5 2/3 innings, but his performance was better than the numbers would indicate. Boston tacked on an insurance run later in the 6th when Kevin Youkilis brought in Manny with a base hit off of Brian Bruney.

The Yankees would get to within one after an RBI double by Robinson Cano in the 7th, but that would be as close as the Yankees got. After a 2-hour rain delay, Jonathan Papelbon came in and struckout Alex Rodriguez to end the top of the 8th with the tying run in scoring position. Papelbon pitched a 1-2-3 ninth and 4-3 stood as the final score.

Rubber game should be a good one tonight as the Yankees will send Phil Hughes to the mound to face Daisuke Matsuzaka. Game starts at 8:05 E.T. and is on ESPN for all of you out-of-town folks who don't get YES.

I am very proud to announce that my new book, "Managing Online Forums: Everything You Need to Know to Create and Run Successful Community Discussion Boards", is now available and can be purchased online at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com and other retailers. If you are in the United States, it is being stocked nationally at Barnes & Noble locations, as well. You can check stock status at the closest store to you on their website.

"Managing Online Forums" is the result of my years of experience running online communities and forums. The book is definitely appropriately titled: it is truly a forums management book, but with principles that can apply to other types of online communities, like blogs, as well. From creating the infrastructure of the community and setting and enforcing policies to dealing with troublemakers and managing staff. This isn't a programming book or a software book, this is all about managing the actual forums.

Matthew McGough, writer/legal consultant on Law & Order and author of Bat Boy: Coming of Age with the New York Yankees had the following to say about the book:

"Patrick O'Keefe has run one of the most prominent Yankees fan sites online, and he knows of what he writes. Managing Online Forums - like his YanksBlog.com - is full of insight and information, well-written, and very deserving of a wide readership."

Here is a look at the chapters featured in the book:

Chapter 1. Laying the Groundwork
Chapter 2. Developing Your Community
Chapter 3. Developing Guidelines
Chapter 4. Promoting Your Community
Chapter 5. Managing Your Staff
Chapter 6. Banning Users and Dealing with Chaos
Chapter 7. Creating a Good Environment
Chapter 8. Keeping It Interesting
Chapter 9. Making Money

It also features three helpful appendices at the end that include online resources, a glossary and blank, general templates that you can use as a basis for your own user guidelines, staff member guidelines and contact templates (pre-written messages for you and your staff to use when contacting members).

For more information on the book, including a full table of contents, advance praise, interviews and reviews, an excerpt, downloadable document templates, an example forums setup and more, please check out the book website.

Thank you for reading and for visiting YanksBlog.com.

Sincerely,

Patrick

Next up, we have a great interview with Tyler Kepner of Bats.

When you aren't doing something related to or depending on the Yankees, what are you up to?

I'm married with four kids under age 7, so if I'm not working and/or on the road, I'm doing something with them. I'm also a huge fan of The Simpsons and The Beatles, I'm a hopeless fantasy football addict (in the same league for 17 years) and I try to watch as much of the Philadelphia Eagles as possible, which is not always good for my mental health.

How long have you been blogging about the Yankees?

We started our baseball blog at the Times in February 2007, at least for the beat writers, so that's when I began.

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If the first game of the season against the Red Sox is like the rest of them, we'll all be walking on air. Staff ace Chien-Ming Wang had a great night, throwing a complete game for the first time since June 6 of last year. He allowed just 2 hits and 1 earned run while striking out 3 and walking no one. It took him 93 pitches to get 27 outs; it took Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz 99 pitches to retire 18. Wang's record improves to 3-0 with the win.

For the first four innings of the game, it was goose eggs for everyone. But, in the fifth, Jose Molina (who's hitting .346) doubled in Hideki Matsui for the first run of the game. The Red Sox countered in the bottom of the frame, thanks to a J.D. Drew solo home run, tying up the game. But, that was all they would get.

After six innings of work, where he held the Yankees to 1 run on 4 hits and 3 walks, Buchholz was relieved by Mike Timlin. The Yanks didn't waste any time - the first batter he faced, Jason Giambi, homered to center. Jose Molina doubled for his second hit of the game and Alberto Gonzalez sacrificed him over to third. After Timlin was pulled for Hideki Okajima, Melky Cabrera did his job, hitting a sac fly to right to score Molina. That's fundamental baseball.

In the ninth, the Yankees added one more for good measure, thanks to a 2 out RBI single by Bobby Abreu that scored Alberto Gonzalez.

Molina was 2 for 4 with a run and an RBI, Matsui (hitting .342) was 2 for 3 with a run and a walk, A-Rod was 2 for 5, Giambi was 1 for 3 with a home run and a walk, Alberto Gonzalez (hitting .375 after 3 games) was 1 for 2 with a run and a walk, Abreu was 1 for 5 with an RBI and Posada was 1 for 3 with a walk in the DH role. The only Yankee who didn't really do anything offensively was Robinson Cano, who went 0 for 5 in the 2 spot with 2 strikeouts.

Today, a 3:55 PM ET, Mike Mussina (1-1, 3.09) will face off against Josh Beckett (0-1, 9.64). It'll be broadcast on Fox.

Peter Abraham says that Brian Cashman told WEEI in Boston that Jeter would not play until the Yanks visit Tampa - the first game of that series is Monday.

Edited: Fixed the title to make sense!