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The Yankees have announced via their @YankeesPR twitter handle, "RHP D.J. Mitchell was recalled from Scranton/WB earlier today. He'll be making his Major League debut."

No further details were given on the corresponding move that will be made or when Mitchell will be making his Major League debut.

The 24-year-old Mitchell impressed the Yankees in Spring Training, and in his four starts in Triple-A, he was 2-1 with a 3.13 ERA. He also struck out 21 in 23 innings pitched, while only walking seven batters.

More news to come.

The Yankees confirmed after the game that Brian Cashman has made the decision to send Andy Pettitte to Tampa to make his next start with the Class-A Tampa Yankees on Monday. He was schedule to pitch with the Double-A Trenton Thunder on the road against the Portland Sea Dogs, but weather concerns have derailed that plan.

Before the game, Yankees manager Joe Girardi hinted that this was a possibility noting the conditions of Pettitte's last start in Trenton.

"He pitched in some pretty raw conditions the other day, as well," Girardi said before Saturday's game. "Because of that we might change where he throws. He might pitch in Tampa on Monday depending on talking about some conditions."

Pettitte most likely will not be pitching with the Major League club until early- to mid-May, making possibly two more Minor League starts.

Nick's quick start

Nick Swisher did not hit his fifth home run in 2011 until his 53rd game on June 5 and his sixth home run until his 61st game on June 14. In just his 20th game of the season he reached both numbers. Saturday marked the 18th multi-home run game of Swisher's career.

He also did it from both sides of the plate for the 11th time in his career tying Eddie Murray and Chili Davis for second on the all-time list. Only Mark Teixeira has homered more times from both sides of the plate in one game, accomplishing it 13 times.

Austin Jackson CF
Brennan Boesch RF
Miguel Cabrera 3B
Prince Fielder 1B
Andy Dirks LF
Brad Eldred DH
Alex Avila C
Jhonny Peralta SS
Ramon Santiago 2B

Drew Smyly LHP

Derek Jeter DH
Nick Swisher RF
Robinson Cano 2B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Mark Teixeira 1B
Curtis Granderson CF
Andruw Jones LF
Russell Martin C
Eduardo Nunez SS

Freddy Garcia RHP

Alex Rodriguez now stands alone in fifth place on the all-time home run list with 631 surpassing his former teammate and friend Ken Griffey Jr. In the history of baseball only Willie Mays (660), Babe Ruth (714), Hank Aaron (755) and Barry Bonds (762) have amassed more. With a strong push in 2012, A-Rod may be able to catch Willie Mays.

A-Rod, in his ninth season with the Yankees, has hit 285 of those 631 career home runs in Pinstripes. He also played spoiler hitting this very historic home run on the same day the Red Sox celebrated the 100 year anniversary of Fenway Park. He did it iconic fashion, hitting it over the Green Monster.

“I think it's interesting,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said about A-Rod climbing up the home run chart. “I think it's something to follow. It's amazing what he's done in his career. You look at the home runs, the RBIs, the runs that he's scored; you look at the stats that they put on the board and they're amazing. So I think it puts a little interesting sidebar on our season and it's something people will follow.”

Rodriguez is also amazed at the names he is passing on the home run list, however, passing Griffey Jr. is certainly a very sweet name to pass for him being they were teammates and close friends in Seattle. “It definitely means I'm getting old that's for sure,” he said. “Obviously Grif (Ken Griffey Jr.) is special to me because we came up together. It was kind of the same relationship that Melky [Cabrera] and [Robinson] Cano had with me. He was a teammate, a mentor and a brother, so you know it is kind of special.”

A-Rod is now in elite company on the home run list.

Today in celebration of the 100 year anniversary of Fenway Park, YESNetwork.com put out a top-10 Yankees-Red Sox moments of the rivalry, but I would be remiss if I didn't add a couple of very big moments in the rivalry into my own list.

The Summer of '49

This was such a big season in the heated rivalry of the two franchises that the late great David Halberstam chorincled it in a best selling book. The Red Sox were the odds on favorite to win the Pennant and win their first World Series since 1918. Casey Stengal was implemented as the new manager of the Yankees and this hiring was panned around baseball. As the season wore on the DiMaggio brothers shined. Dom DiMaggio, along with Teddy "Ballgame" Williams led the Red Sox to a wonderful season. Joe DiMaggio did all he could to keep the Yankees in the race. The Red Sox came to New York for the final two games of the season needing just one win to clinch the Pennant. The Sox lost the first game 5-4 as Johnny Lindell blasted a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth that sealed the deal. In the final game of the season, with both teams now tied, Vic Raschi won his 21st game of the season in a low scoring 1-0 affair all the way up until the eighth inning when the Yankees broke it open winning 5-3. The Yankees won the pennant and went on to win their first of five consecutive World Series.

Ted Williams won his second and final MVP award in 1949.

The Summer of '41

Joltin' Joe DiMaggio led the Yankees. Ted Williams led the Red Sox. Both had historic seasons that no one has ever forgotten to this day. DiMaggio had his infamous 56 game hitting streak on the way to winning the American League MVP. Ted Williams hit .406 and is the last player in Major League Baseball to ever accomplish that feat. Joe DiMaggio won the MVP award sparking controversy in Boston that the only reason Ted Williams did not win the award is because of his tenuous relationship with the baseball writers.

For both franchises, individual players ruled a team game for one glorious Summer. The Yankees went on to win the World Series in 1941 over you guessed it, the Brooklyn Dodgers.

The Reggie Jackson-Billy Martin incident in Fenway

Who will ever forget the national TV incident between Reggie Jackson and Billy Martin? Everyone in Fenway Park saw it right in front of their eyes.

On June 18, 1977, Jackson playing out in rightfield loafed to a Jim Rice fly ball double causing Martin to pull Mike Torrez in the Yankees 10-4 loss that day. While pulling Torrez, he also pulled Jackson from the game right in the middle of the inning. Reggie stormed off the field and almost came to blows with his Manager only being restrained by Yogi Berra and some of his other teammates.

The 2004 ALCS

Now I know that no one wants to discuss this one and we already included the bloody sock game in our list, but this is THE collapse in baseball history. No one had ever come back from 3-0 down to win a series. The Yankees dominated the first three games of the ALCS winning game three 19-8. However, the Red Sox reversed the curse winning four straight on their way to the franchises first World Series title in 86 years. The Yankees had their opportunities to win both game four and five with the Red Sox late inning heroics against the great Mariano Rivera prevailing and no Yankees fan will ever forget the name Dave Roberts as long as they live. In fact, one can say that the Dave Roberts steal might be the greatest moment in Fenway Park history...for Red Sox fans at least.

Babe Ruth christens Yankee Stadium with HR

Babe Ruth facing his former team in the house that he essentially built. It was a Hollywood script waiting to happen. The fortune of two franchises going in the opposite directions because of the sale of one big player. Ruth christened the new Yankee Stadium by hitting a home run powering the Yankees to a 4-1 victory over those Red Sox. These are the moments that made him such a larger than life figure.

Tris Speaker sparkles in 11 inning win over the Highlanders in Fenway Opener

Red Sox Hall of Famer Tris Speaker came up to the plate in the 11th inning of the Fenway Opener on April 20, 1912, with an opportunity to win the game. He did just that with an RBI single giving the Red Sox a 7-6 victory and dropping the Highlanders to 0-6 on the season. The Red Sox won the Fenway opener, but also went on to win the World Series in the first year of their new ballpark. The 105 win Sox defeated the 103 win Giants 4-3 in the fall classic.

The trade that never was

Yankees owner Dan Topping and Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey were having drinks at the famous Toots Shores. They discussed the possibility of trading their two superstars, Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams. They verbally agreed to a trade. Both were enamored with the idea of Joe DiMaggio hitting balls off the Green Monster and Ted Williams using the short porch in right field at Yankee Stadium. The next day Yankees GM Larry MacPhail called off the deal refusing to include the young rookie Yogi Berra in the deal.

Tom Yawkey came back with the fact that Boston fans liked Ted Williams better anyway and the famous deal was off for good.

Thursday night certainly was a night for the ages for one of the more prolific hitters in baseball, Curtis Granderson. To this point in the season, Granderson had already hit three home runs, but something was just a little off with his swing. Whatever was wrong with his game before the Yankees’ 7-6 victory over the Twins was certainly righted.

The Yankees needed this win. It was the last game in the homestand before they traveled up to Boston, and it was a chance to split a series with a Twins team that has had little success in the Bronx over the last decade. Phil Hughes gave up four unearned runs in the first, with Eduardo Nunez committing a huge error that extended his pitch count and the inning. With the Yankees down 4-0 right off the bat, Granderson and the offense went to work.

The Yankees center fielder put on a show, blasting three home runs while driving in four runs in the first four innings en route to a 5-for-5 performance. It will most certainly not be forgotten by the 40,327 in attendance and the people watching at home. He became the first Yankee in franchise history to have three home runs and five hits in a single game.

Granderson was even stunned by that historical note after the game.

“Definitely very amazed that it hadn't been done with all the greats that have played the game here and in this organization,” he said. “You would have expected to see something like that, especially when you see somebody break a record or accomplish something like that, you're like, ‘Wow it hadn't been done here,’ when you consider the Yankees.”

The Yankees’ manager stressed how important this win was and how special a night it was for his center-field slugger.

“Just quite a performance,” Joe Girardi said to the media. “The four RBIs as well, it was just what he did today is a special day and they don't happen very often. He should cherish it, and it's fun to watch as a manager.”

The performance of Phil Hughes, who mercifully got the win; the error by Nunez; and Derek Jeter tying Dave  Winfield for 19th on the all-time hits list at 3,110, while extending his hitting streak to 10 games, were all overshadowed by the historical night put up by Granderson in the Bronx.

He was the first Yankee to have three home runs while hitting in the No. 2 spot in the order since Bobby Murcer accomplished the feat on June 24, 1970. Granderson also became the only the 28th player since 1918 to have a five-hit, three-home run game, with Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia being the last to do so on June 24, 2010.

According to the New York Yankees, he became the 20th Yankee with three or more home runs in a single game, and it's only been accomplished 28 times in Yankees regular season history. The accomplishments and feats that he earned in this game go on and on.

Even Twins manager Ron Gardenhire was enamored watching from his own dugout.

“The kid can hit,” he said. “When you get it down there in that zone for him, he can turn on the baseball. That's a nice porch out there for a left-handed hitter, and he took full use of it.”

Girardi was asked after the game if this ballpark is tailor-made for a hitter like Granderson.

“I think that was one of the reasons Brian [Cashman] went and got him is because he is a pull hitter and he's in a sense built for this ballpark because he can hit the ball in the air and can hit it a long ways.”

Granderson was even surprised by the third home run, thinking he didn't get all of it. It didn't even hit him that he had three home runs in the first four innings until he got back to the dugout.

“I think it finally hit me when I got to the dugout and CC [Sabathia] told me to go out there and acknowledge the crowd,” he said. “I had never done that before. I've seen a lot of guys do it, but to actually get the opportunity to do it tonight it puts into perspective what you accomplished up to that point.”

Being the humble ballplayer that he is, Granderson made sure to mention that it was still early in the game when he accomplished the feat and that there was still work to be done in order to earn the hard-fought win.

The Yankees can now travel to Boston feeling a lot better about their homestand, in large part due to the heroics of No. 14.

The Yankees needed to win the game on Tuesday night plain and simple. Now, nothing is truly must win in April, but with their horse on the mound and three games left in the homestand, the Yankees were looking for a strong, deep outing from CC Sabathia and their offense to get going. Things did not look good after the first two and a half innings, but then the team righted the ship.

With the Yankees trailing 3-1 in the third inning of this second game of the four-game set, the offense needed to step up. Sabathia would eventually calm down and pitch a gem, but he finally got that run support he needed to ensure a Yankees victory. The support came from some of the most unlikely of places, as well, the bottom of the order and Sabathia's trusted backstop on the evening, Chris Stewart.

Stewart, along with Brett Gardner and Eduardo Nunez, combined to go 6-for-10 with 5 RBIs with Stewart driving in a career high three of those runs.

The bottom of the third was a key inning for the bottom of the order. Nunez's RBI single brought the Yankees back within one. Gardner then walked to load the bases and with Francisco Liriano's pitch count already in the mid-70's and him obviously on the ropes, Stewart the unlikely hero stepped up to the plate.

After seeing two pitches from Liriano, Stewart waited and got the pitch he liked. “He left the changeup up and luckily I got a good swing on it and I put it in the outfield where I wanted to,” Stewart said of the at-bat after the game. Two runs scored giving the Yankees the lead and it also signaled the end of Liriano's night.

“Stewie had a big game,” Gardner told the media after the game. “I told him that ball that he hit to leftfield that knocked Liriano out of the game that's the biggest hit we've had all year.”

By the time Sabathia got the ball back in the top of the fourth, he was given a two-run lead that he would not relinquish.

As the game wore on, Andruw Jones popped his second home run of the season and Derek Jeter extended his hitting streak to eight games, but Stewart had another chance to shine. He did just that in the bottom of the seventh driving in his third run of the game.

Manager Joe Girardi was thrilled by the trio's performance tonight, as well, saying, “You get three RBIs from Stewie (Stewart), you gets hits from Nunie (Nunez), you get hits from Gardy (Gardner) tonight. They did a terrific job. They were a big part of the offense and set things up for us. They all contributed.”

Stewart also brought up the fact that the bench players in the lineup, Nunez, Jones and himself all contributed in the opportunity they were given. “Anytime we get a chance to get in the game period and our time comes up to produce and we're able to do it, that's awesome,” he said.

In the end, Stewart called a terrific game behind the plate and picked up his first hits and RBIs of the season; Gardner did it all going 2-for-2 with two doubles, an RBI, a stolen base, a spectacular catch in leftfield to stop the bleeding and end the top of the third and Nunez continued to sparkle with the bat aiding the Yankees to textbook win. Even if that textbook victory included getting their offense from the most unlikeliest of sources.

The story of Freddy Garcia's first start of the season in Baltimore may have been control issues and wild pitches, but on Monday night for Garcia, it was about not being able to deliver the knockout blow. Twice in the game he had the Twins on the ropes with two outs in an inning, and twice the Twins offense responded.

In the first inning, Garcia got two outs then it was a Joe Mauer double, Josh Willingham RBI single, Justin Morneau single, followed by a Ryan Doumit RBI single, and just like that, it was 2-0 Twins.

Later in the game, in the fifth inning, with the Yankees now leading 3-2, Garcia once again got two outs, this time with Alexi Casilla stranded at second base and the flood gates opened up again. Jamey Carroll ripped an RBI single followed by another Mauer double, this one driving in Carroll and the Twins were back in business again. The knockout punch for Garcia came in the sixth as Morneau blasted his second home run of the year and his fifth at new Yankee Stadium to give the Twinkies a solid 5-3 lead at the time.

“You look at the first inning, he gets the two outs and Russell throws out the baserunner and then he proceeds to give up three or four straight base hits,” Girardi said after the game. “The one thing that we've seen Freddy be really good at is minimizing damage and making pitches when people are on base. He gave up a lot of two out runs today and that was the difference.”

Garcia, upset with his performance said, “We've got the lead 3-2, and they tied the game; you've got two outs, you've got to put it away no matter what.”

What makes this game even harder to deal with for the Yankees is that they have been through the rotation twice to this point and have only two quality starts to hang their hat on from their rotation. The length of Garcia's outing certainly didn't help a bullpen engulfed in a four-game set at home and traveling to Boston immediately for the weekend set.

Now there's pressure on CC Sabathia, who has not been great in his first two starts of the season -- allowing nine earned runs in just 12 innings -- to go out and be the stopper in Tuesday's game. Sabathia is a notoriously slow starter, but they will need him to put his April woes behind him.

“We do need to get some quality starts, so we don't have to go to them (bullpen) so much,” Girardi said. “There are days that you have guys down and your bullpen's limited and tomorrow would be a great day for CC to be able to do what he usually does.”

The rotation hasn't been able to put it all together at this point. With Andy Pettitte working his way to the Bronx and Michael Pineda making his way back from injury, the rotation may look much different in the near future. Both Garcia and Phil Hughes are still auditioning to be in the rotation for the long haul and both have not looked good up to this point. In 10.1 innings pitched this season for Garcia, he's already allowed eight earned runs for a 6.97 ERA and he's also given up 13 hits, which is a concern.

One thing is certain: Garcia wasn't as wild, and it seemed like he had much better control on Monday night.

“Today I felt way better than last start and hopefully next one will be better,” he said.

The Yankees hope he is right.

Carl Pavano was thoroughly booed by the Yankee Stadium crowd when they announced his name before the game. Although he received a thrashing once again when he walked out from the bullpen, those boos soon turned to cheers as the Yankees offense got to him early. Derek Jeter and Curtis Granderson hit back-to-back home runs to start the game, and the Yankees walked out of the first inning with a 3-2 lead.

Then the darndest thing happened: Pavano settled down. He was making his first appearance at Yankee Stadium since April 19, 2009, when he was with the Indians, so early game jitters may have had something to do with his struggles. But once he settled in, he did not let the fact that more than 40,000 Yankee fans had a very long memory.

After the first inning, Pavano pitched six more, allowing only three more hits and not giving up another run.

Derek Jeter, who tagged Pavano for that aforementioned leadoff home run, was extremely impressed with how he was able to regain command of the game.

“We started off well, but after that Carl settled down,” Jeter said in the clubhouse after the game. “He knows how to pitch, that's the bottom line. He mixes it up. He throws his offspeed pitches; he throws his fastball. He doesn't throw too many balls over the middle of the plate. We hit a few balls hard right to some guys, but he's the story of the game.”

Yankees manager Joe Girardi thought Pavano mixed his pitches well after the first, but also said that his team still was hitting the ball hard.

“He seemed to get the ball down and seemed like we hit some balls hard, but they were on the ground, as opposed to the first inning when we got them elevated and that was the big difference,” Girardi said after the game. “I thought he started hitting his spots better.”

For the Twins, they needed Pavano to give them length after a weekend in which they used eight pitchers out of their bullpen.

“We needed innings out there,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said after the game. “Pavano's the kind of guy that may give it up once or twice, and he may have a rough start, but he's the kind of pitcher that can hang in there, and he did. He made some adjustments.”

Pavano's outing was aided by the reemergence of the M and M boys, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau, who are finally healthy and in the lineup together.

Morneau was playing his first game at first base tonight and turned back a couple of years to when he was one of the elite first basemen in the game and a former MVP. Mauer finally looks back to form and with the game tied at three, he ripped an RBI double to give the Twins the lead in the top of the fifth. Morneau followed suit in the top of the sixth with a solo home run, and the Twins never looked back. The M and M boys finished the game a combined 5-for-9, with two runs, two RBIs, two doubles and that Morneau home run.

“I was happy with Morneau at first base, he played nice over there,” Gardenhire said. “I talked to him after the game and he felt good and that's important.”

Gardenhire reiterated how key it was for the Twins to have these guys both healthy.

Girardi was quite impressed with the M and M boys after the game and echoed the sentiments of Gardenhire saying, “You take the heart of an order out of any order and it's going to be tough to score runs. Those guys have been beat up the last couple of years and it's been unfortunate for the Twins, but they seem to be healthy now.”

The Twins may have been 7-33, including the postseason in New York over the last 10 seasons coming into the game, but they get the all important first win of the four-game set out of the way.

“You know what? It's a new season,” Gardenhire said about playing in New York. “So we're 1-0 at Yankee Stadium.”

For one night anyway, behind solid pitching and timely hitting, he's right.

The Yankees are riding high from a home opening weekend that included winning a series against a very good Angels team. The Yankees now stand at 5-4 through the first nine games and welcome the Twins into town for a four-game set.

Freddy Garcia is starting the first game of the series after he turned into Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn in Baltimore in his first start. Garcia had five wild pitches after having only four all of the 2011 season. With Andy Pettitte's return to the Bronx looming, Garcia and Hughes certainly have to pitch very well to make their case to stay in the rotation.

“I thought his start the other day was very uncharacteristic of Freddy,” Joe Girardi said in his pregame press conference. “With all of the struggles he had, he really could have only given up one run in a sense. Wild pitches came into it, an error came into it, only gave up four hits, but his command really got him in trouble that day. If you had to try to give a reason why, I would say more the weather affected him more than anything else that day.”

Andy Pettitte

Speaking of Andy Pettitte, he continues to impress as he makes his way back to the Major Leagues. In two starts down in Class-A Tampa, he has pitched seven innings, allowing just four hits and one run, while walking no one and striking out five. His ERA is a mineicule 0.57. In fact, in his start yesterday, he threw four scoreless innings and looked very impressive.

CC Sabathia

One concern that has been brought up by Yankees fans early on in the season is that CC Sabathia has not looked like the lights out ace he's been in his three-plus years in New York. He's given up nine earned runs in his first 12 innings of work this season. Velocity has not been an issue thus far as he's struck out 15.

With that being said, both Girardi and Sabathia did not seem too concerned. When Sabathia was asked how he felt to this point he said, “I think velocity is a lot better this year than it was last year and the year before that this early on.”

Girardi echoed his sentiments by saying, “CC's notoriously been a slow starter. Anytime CC struggles a little bit, people are like 'uh oh' in a sense. I mean, this guy has won 19, 20 and 19 for us. Two of the Aprils he had were not real good in that stretch, so to me, I look it as CC kind of going along with his normal progression, and as it starts to get warmer, and we know he likes the heat, he really starts to pitch better.”

Both manager and player are very wise to not be concerned this early on. March and April have been Sabathia's worst months throughout his All-Star career. He is just 17-14 with a 4.18 ERA in 52 starts when you combine the two early months of the season. The 4.18 ERA is the highest ERA of any of the months he's pitched in. In fact, since joining the Yankees in 2009, he's started 18 games in March and April. He's just 6-4 with a 3.63 ERA, allowing eight home runs, walking 42 and striking out 113.

M&M Boys

The Twins version of the M&M boys are in town and are finally healthy. It's been awhile since a fully healthy Twins team has come into New York.

Last year, Joe Mauer, the 2009 AL MVP, just played in 82 games and had a .287 average with just three home runs and 30 RBIs. This year Mauer is hitting .242 with a home run and five RBIs. Justin Morneau, the 2006 AL MVP, has been battling injuries and concussions for the past two seasons. He's played in just 159 games since the 2009 season. In 2011, in his limited time, Morneau hit just .227 with four home runs and 30 RBIs and is looking for the ultimate comeback season.

“Well, it's a totally different lineup,” Girardi said before the game about Mauer and Morneau. “I mean, we've seen them the last year a lot of times without those two, and you know, it's the heart and soul of the lineup. You take the heart and soul out of any lineup they're a lot different, so I noticed they split up their lefties today. Put the hammer in between, (Josh) Willingham, who's a very good hitter and has had success against us, so their middle of the order is very strong.”

Of note, Justin Morneau will be playing his first game at first base tonight after being the primary DH for the Twins to this point in the season.

David Phelps, a player we have covered on YESNetwork.com quite a bit on our Minor League Monthly program, is making a wonderful impression at the Major League level. Even in the 7-1 drubbing at the hands of the Angels on Saturday afternoon, Phelps appearance was the lone bright spot for the Yankees.

The last couple of months have truly been a whirlwind of emotion for the starter-turned-rookie long reliever. The St. Louis native and former Notre Dame standout as a child, was sought out by Cardinal Dolan at the Welcome Home dinner, and has impressed everyone including his manager in each of his first three outings.

“The situations we put him in, he hasn't been phased and he's throwing strikes, quality strikes,” Girardi said after the loss. "We talk about when you have a young guy and you bring him in to start an inning, especially when he's a long reliever. I think he's pitched in three games and only one time has he started an inning and today the first hitter you see is Albert Pujols. He's made quality pitches and with four different pitches, too. Fastball, curveball, slider and change, so that's what's impressed me the most.”

Speaking of Albert Pujols, Phelps being a St. Louis native, came into Saturday's game after a three-run homer by Howie Kendrick with the daunting task of facing one of his favorite players growing up.

“I've been rooting for him my whole life being from St. Louis,” Phelps said. “He's intimidating. You've got such a small margin of error. You've got to bear down and make good pitches against him.”

Phelps was successful in his task getting Pujols to line out, ultimately stopping the bleeding against the league's best hitter.

Once he got out of the forth inning, Phelps gave something to the Yankees that starter Phil Hughes was unable to achieve today, and that's length. He pitched 5.1 innings, allowing one hit, a home run to Vernon Wells, while walking two and striking out four. Phelps exited with two outs in the ninth successfully saving a bullpen, which once again may be needed in the rubber game against the Angels on Sunday night.

The Vernon Wells home run was not only the one hit he gave up Saturday, but it is the only hit he has given up all season in his three appearances and 8.1 innings pitched.

Phelps also was very economical with his 78 pitches and his very aggressive style. So far that has been a key approach for him.

“Just going out there and trying to throw strikes and trying to be aggressive,” Phelps said. “I was talking to Larry (Rothschild) after the game and I said, you know that's what you have to do. You have to just keep pounding the zone, going out there being aggressive and not trying to pick too much.”

What's even more impressive about Phelps is that in just his first series at Yankee Stadium, he's already saying the right things. When asked about getting a standing ovation from the crowd after exiting in the ninth, Phelps intelligently replied, “It's was awesome. We have the best fans in baseball.”

Opener Over

With the always highly-anticipated Home Opener over and resulting in a Yankees 5-0 victory, it's back to business as usual in the Bronx. The second game of the series between the Yankees and Angels is just that. It's still a very important test for the Bombers, but the team can now settle in and make themselves at home.

Designated Rest

The Yankees have chosen to DH Alex Rodriguez today with left-hander and new Angels ace C.J. Wilson on the mound. The half day for Rodriguez will only help the Yankees in the long run and save his legs for the grind that is the baseball season.

Joe Girardi discussed his decision before the game, stating, “I could have done either one (Jeter or Rodriguez). I decided to go with A-Rod. I believe we'll see a left hander on Tuesday as well, so I could possibly do the other one that day.”

Girardi went on to say, “It's a feel from day-to-day who I decide to do. That could change. I chose to do Alex today and we're seeing Liriano on Tuesday and I could flip flop that.”

This is certainly a trend we are going to see with Jeter and A-Rod during the season in order to keep them fresh. This situation is definitely a way to help out the team and the individual players through the length of their contracts.

Pettitte pitches tomorrow

Andy Pettitte will start tomorrow's 1 p.m. game for the Class-A Tampa Yankees at Steinbrenner Field.

This is just another step on his way to making his long awaited return to pinstripes in the near future. “It'll probably be about 45-50 pitches,” Girardi said. “You know last time it was two (innings) at 35 (pitches) and he went so few that he went back out there for the third and still only threw 32 (pitches). It's probably easier to put a pitch limit. A-ball, you don't always see people working the count, so it could take a while.”

When asked if the plan was still to start him when he was ready Girardi emphatically said, “Yeah I mean that's why we signed him.”

Girardi went on to say that in the meantime this is still a tryout of sorts for the other pitchers in the rotation to keep their spot. “We're going to have to make an evaluation. We'll cross that bridge when we have to and right now we don't have and we'll just let the guys go out and throw the baseball like they're capable of.”