Pete Caldera reports that Brian Cashman said not to expect Phil Hughes to be ready in August. This now pushes him to, hopefully, being ready in September.

The Yankees issued the following press release in support of Jason Giambi's All-Star candidacy:


Nice move here. Jason Zillo, you're a genius. And yes, The American Mustache Institute is a real thing.

The Yankees website is decked out in a "VOTE GIAMBI" background. You can support Jason by voting right here:

What a game. What. A. Game. After all the gloom of the first two games, the Yankees ended up exactly where they were when starting the series (of course, with 4 less games to make their move).

The Yankees got on the board first with a solo A-Rod HR to left that tied him with Mickey Mantle on the all-time HR list. Next up, another HoF, 3 time MVP award winner named Mike Schmidt.

Joba Chamberlain took the mound for the Yankees and was cruising until the 5th innning. Before a single out was made, two straight singles put runners on first and second before a wild pitch walk scored a run. Joba then struck out Julio Lugo and Kevin Cash before Dustin Pedroia singled in two more runs to make the score 3-1. Joba then struck out J.D. Drew to end the inning.

The Yankees made the score 3-2 in the sixth when Brett Gardner singled and stole second base and then came around on a Derek Jeter single.

David Robertson came in for the 7th and wasn't at his sharpest. He gave up a single to Julio Lugo who took second on a Jeter throwing error. Lugo then came around to score on a Kevin Cash double that made the score 4-2.

In the bottom of the inning, the Yankees made their move as A-Rod and Jorge sandwiched a Giambi flyball out with singles to put men on first and third. Red hot Robbie Cano then tripled (thanks to a Coco Crisp throw that went oh, maybe 15 feet?) to tie the game. Of course, with a man on third and one out...Melky Cabrera didn't exactly endear himself further to Yankees fans by grounding out to Pedroia who came home for the easy out.

There was some intrigue in the top of the 9th when Sean Casey singled to start off the inning, was replaced by pinch runner Brandon Moss and was sacrificed over to second. At that point, Mo really bore down and got "All-Star" Jason Varitek (who may be a fantastic person but certainly does not deserve to be an All-Star this season) to ground out weakly before throwing 3 change-ups to strikeout Manny Ramirez, who might have been napping because he didn't lift the bat off his shoulders.

In the 10th, Robbie Cano led off with a single and took second on a Melky sac bunt. Pinch hitter Wilson Betemit, not exactly lighting it up with Yankees fans either, struck out before Brett Gardner stepped up to the plate. Gardner worked a long at-bat before getting a seeing eye single up the middle and right off the glove off Julio Lugo that scored the winning run.

Mark Feinsand reports that, according to a source, the Yankees are planning on sending a scout to give pitcher Victor Zambrano a once over. Zambrano has struggled this year, with an 0-6 record to go along with a 9.45 ERA in the Minors.

Via Steve.

New York Magazine has a feature on the forthcoming sale of Yankee Stadium assets.


Via Alex.

Peter Abraham reports that Johnny Damon has been placed on the 15 day DL and Justin Christian has been recalled.

The All-Star rosters were announced earlier today on TBS, and MLB.com has the list of participants on their site. Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter are both starting in their respective positions, and Mariano Rivera made the team, as well.

Jason Giambi, Mike Mussina, Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui were all left off the roster, although Giambi is a candidate on MLB.com's Final Vote.

I'd imagine Giambi will get the nod to replace the injured David Ortiz on the roster, but I could be wrong. I was a little surprised to see Moose left off the team, as well.

If only runs were cumulative...If you look at the six games the Yankees have played so far in this homestand, you'd see they've scored 26 runs and you'd probably think the lineup is clicking, but alas 18 of those runs came in one game, and after yesterday's game with the Red Sox, they've scored just 8 runs in the other five games. Luckily for the Bombers, they got a very good start from Mike Mussina and a mostly solid performance from the bullpen, and the two runs they scored were all they needed as they fought off a late rally by the Red Sox and won the game by a score of 2-1.

The only offense for the Yankees came via an RBI single by Melky Cabrera in the 2nd and a sac fly by Brett Gardner in the bottom of the 6th. Cabrera was the only Yankee with a multi-hit game. The Yankees were 1-6 with RISP and left 10 men on base.

Mike Mussina was on his game again, this time throwing six innings of shutout ball and allowing just four hits, as he picked up his 11th win of the season. Jose Veras and (the dare I say hot?) Kyle Farnsworth pitched a scoreless 7th and 8th, respectively.

The game got interesting in the top of the 9th, however, as Mariano Rivera struggled to find his command on the mound. J.D. Drew led off the inning with a base hit for Boston, and then Manny Ramirez was hit by a pitch. Mike Lowell then scored Drew from second with a base hit. Rivera followed that up by hitting another batter (this game featured an A.L. record 7 hit batsmen), this time Kevin Youkilis as the Red Sox now had the bases loaded with noboby out, down by a run. Rivera then gave the crowd a metaphorical "Just kidding!" as he struck out Coco Crisp with the bases loaded, got Jason Varitek to pop out to first and then struck out Julio Lugo to end the game.

The Yankees will try to salvage a split in this series tonight and pull back to within four games of the wild card. You couldn't ask for a more different couple of pitchers going at it as the 22-year old Joba Chamberlain and his 98-mph fastball will be facing 63-year old knuckleballer Tim Wakefield. Game starts at 8:05 E.T. and will be carried on ESPN.

Peter Abraham pitches the idea of Mo starting the All-Star game, in an open letter to Terry Francona.


I'd be surprised if it happens, but it's an intriguing idea. There's a good part of me that would like to see Mariano in his element: closing out a close victory for the American League. Judging by the past 20 years or so, the odds would seem to be in the American League's favor, as the team has gone 16-3-1 in the last 20 All-Star games and 10-0-1 in the last 11.

But, what if that doesn't happen? Surely, Francona will get Mariano into the game for an out or, more likely, for an inning - even in a losing effort. What would you rather see: Mariano start the game and throw one inning or Mariano close out a losing effort? How about this one: Mariano starting or Mariano closing out a winning effort? Tough call. If he starts, then he starts and we know where he'll be - but, if he doesn't, he'll still pitch most likely, but the situation is up in the air.

I wouldn't be adverse to him starting, but I'd still lean toward him closing.

Peter Abraham reports that Johnny Damon is going to be out for at least two games, if not more and that the DL is a definite possibility. Ed Price takes it a step further, citing a pair of anonymous sources close to Damon, who expect the Yankees left fielder to hit the DL.