I’m pretty sure that Joe Girardi is now messing with us.

On a day when it’s supposed to rain for all eternity in Detroit, the Yankees’ manager has installed Derek Jeter in the cleanup spot for the second time in his career. The last time Jeter, who has just one home run on the season, hit in the four spot was on July 10, 1999 when the Yanks lost a heartbreaker to the Mets. Mariano Rivera gave up two runs in the bottom of the 9th to blow the save, and Jeter went 0 for 4 with a walk.

It probably won’t matter much though because the tarp’s on the field, and reports from Detroit say that the game will be long delayed if it’s played at all. The Yanks could be, depending upon the outcome out of Scranton today, been saved from a Kei Igawa start.

Here’s your lineup:

Damon LF
Cabrera CF
Abreu DH
Jeter SS
Giambi 1B
Duncan RF
Cano 2B
Molina C
Gonzalez 3B

Pettitte P

*** YANKEES-TIGERS RAINED OUT***
The Yankees and Tigers are rained out today. The Yankees are not scheduled to return to Detroit but could land in Detroit on a mutual off day. According to the YES Network, the next four starters are Andy Pettitte, Chien-Ming Wang, Mike Mussina and Darrell Rasner. The Yanks will skip Kei Igawa’s Wednesday start and deal with Friday when the time is right.

But there’s some bad news too: The Scranton game was postponed. So Ian Kennedy’s scheduled start will be pushed back a day, and he wouldn’t be ready to pitch on Friday. Fate, it seems, is trying to hand the Yankees another Kei Igawa outing. The Mets would go to town on Igawa though. I shudder to think of the possibilities.

Now get off the computer, and go spend some time with your mothers. It is, after all, Mother’s Day.

Update by Mike (1:35): Not only was Triple-A Scranton rained out, as Ben mentioned above, but Double-A Trenton was also washed out. High-A Tampa and Low-A Charleston both have scheduled off days, so no DotF today.

Tell your mom I said hi. (kidding)

I heard Paul O’Neill say this, I think, back in 2005. The Yanks were getting blown out by the Sox in Fenway. They scored a few runs in the ninth, though, including an A-Rod bomb, and the score ended up 9-4 or something like that. O’Neill noted that it was a good sign for the next day when a team scored late in a blowout. Something about them showing signs of life.

Not being one for weak anecdotal evidence, I wrote off Paul pretty quickly. But sure enough, they won the next day. So I started taking note of such situations. Every time the Yanks scored in the 9th inning when they were down big, they won the next day. Of course, this is only in the times that I actually made the observation. Clearly, I might have missed a few instances. But in any case, it gives me high hopes for today.

Darrell Rasner takes the mound again. The Tigers are no Mariners, though, so he’ll need to be a bit more on his game to get through this lineup. Jeremy Bonderman is on the other side. He shut us down last time out, even though we had him on the ropes early on, but let him off the hook.

The lineup:

1. Johnny Damon, LF
2. Derek Jeter, SS
3. Bobby Abreu, RF
4. Hideki Matsui, DH
5. Jason Giambi, 1B
6. Melky Cabrera, CF
7. Robinson Cano, 2B
8. Wilson Betemit, 3B
9. Chad Moeller, C

And on the mound, Darrell Rasner.

I don’t think Brian Cashman will ever be able to live down those words. Yes, tonight we see the return of Kei Igawa, or Kei Igawa’s ghost, or the ghost of Kei Igawa’s Ghost. Expectations are low, so i’d easily take six innings, four runs from him.

We’re up against The Gambler. Do I still harbor ill feelings from his failed stint in the Bronx? Eh, it’s been a while. Still, you gotta love it when he gets creamed.

Couple of notes. Jorge and A-Rod got in some rehab work today, taking BP. A-Rod could be back Thursday. Posada could be back next month.

The Padres claimed Sean Henn. You know he’s going to dominate out of the bullpen out there.

Chris Britton was optioned out for Kei Igawa, while Jose Veras remains. The Yankees made that move rather transparent, pitching Veras a couple of times against the Indians.

All right. Who’s ready for some Friday night baseball?

1. Melky Cabrera, CF
2. Derek Jeter, SSS
3. Bobby Abreu, RF
4. Hideki Matsui, LF
5. Shelley Duncan, 1B
6. Jason Giambi, DH
7. Wilson Betemit, 3B
8. Robinson Cano, 2B — seriously? Betemit ahead of Cano?
9. Chad Moeller, C

And on the mound…I’m not sure what number he’s wearing…Kei Igawa.

If the Yanks lose today, they could end up in last place. Yikes.

Today’s game features a battle of the slow-ball pitchers. Paul Byrd, another infuriatingly average pitcher the Yanks can’t seem to knock around, takes the mound for the Indians. Mike Mussina, who now knows he can’t blow hitters away and is in the middle of a hot stretch, grabs the ball for the Yanks. This could be a four-hour slugfest; it could be a three-hour 3-2 game. No matter what, today, we see what happens when slow and slower face off.

Meanwhile, on the lineup front, Jason Giambi is back in to butcher balls at first base and make outs. Considering that Moose pitches to contact these days, I have to wonder if sticking Giambi in the field is a bright idea. It also may take more than four plate appearances every three games to get Shelley Duncan’s bat going. At Scranton, he got regular work, and he hit well. In New York, he plays every few days and doesn’t hit. The jury’s still out on that one.

Game time’s at 1:05 p.m. today, weather permitting. There’s no better way to kill an afternoon at the office than with a Yankee game.

Damon LF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Matsui DH
Giambi 1B
Cabrera CF
Cano 2B
Betemit 3B
Molina C

Mussina P

Chien-Ming Wang gets another start following a Yankees loss, a situation in which the team is 27-7 in the last 34 tries. He struck out nine last time against the Indians. Here’s to hoping he has them just as off kilter tonight.

Despite his beautiful opposite-field double last night, Jason Giambi sits against lefty Cliff Lee. It’s not so much that Lee is 5-0 with an ERA under 1.00. It’s that lefties are 5 for 41 against him this season. Damon, Abreu, Matsui, and Cano all get the nod, though.

Our cleanup hitter, once again, is on the interstate. Yes, it’s a terribly small sample size — 27 plate appearances — but Shelley has just one extra base hit all season. I understand the desire to split up the lefties in the lineup. But at this point — and no one ever thought I’d say this — you’re better off moving Melky into that spot.

Your lineup:

1. Johnny Damon, LF
2. Derek Jeter, SS
3. Bobby Abreu, RF
4. Shelley Duncan, 1B
5. Hideki Matsui, DH
6. Melky Cabrera, CF
7. Robinson Cano, 2B
8. Morgan Ensberg, 3B
9. Jose Molina, C

And on the mound, number forty, Chien-Ming Wang

Wilson Betemit has finally recovered from the world’s worst case of conjunctivitis. Twenty-two days after landing on the DL due to a bad bout of pink eye, Betemit has been activated, and he draws the start at third base tonight.

Prior to his stint on the DL, Betemit had been swinging like a blind man. On the season, he is 2 for 13 with 1 RBI and 7 strike outs. He will assume backup infield duties, splitting time with Morgan Ensberg at third while A-Rod is out and potentially Alberto Gonzalez if the Former Attorney General isn’t sent down. Gonzalez, the Yanks’ young defensive whiz, has been sent back to Scranton.

I have to believe that the Yanks may try to move Betemit at some point this season. They could get back some pretty decent returns and seem to have better fielding options in the system. If Betemit hits, he is a valuable asset to the team; if he doesn, his value comes via a trade.

On the pitching front, Andy Pettitte takes the mound in search of a win. His last two starts have been rather uninspiring. He’s thrown 11 innings, surrendering nine earned runs on 15 hits — four of which were of the home run variety — while striking out six and walking four. A strong start would do the Yankee rotation wonders, and with a rested bullpen, Pettitte really just needs to get through five or six today.

The Yankees will face Fausto Carmona for the first time since the ALDS when Carmona thoroughly shut down the Yanks. On the surface, Carmona has pretty good numbers; he’s 3-1 with a 2.60 ERA. But — and this is a big but — he’s allowed 34 hits and 26 walks while striking out just 13 in 34.2 innings. A pitcher cannot succeed for long with a 1.73 WHIP. Will the hot Yankee offense finally break Carmona?

Damon LF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Matsui DH
Giambi 1B
Cabrera CF
Cano 2B
Betemit 3B
Molina C

Pettitte P

Game Notes: Get ready for some more A-Rod fun. It seems that like most human males, A-Rod couldn’t stomach watching his wife give birth and has thus earned the nickname Faint-Rod. The AP — the nation’s most respected newswire service — determined that this story was somehow news. What a disgrace.

Joe and Ben are both at the game today, so I’m your host for the afternoon. They’ll get to see the triumphant return of Darrell Rasner, one of the more underappreciated arms in the organization. He’s not flashy and he doesn’t have the overpowering stuff, but he throws strikes and keeps the ball in the park, which is more than say, Bronson Arroyo is doing these days.

Rasner will face perennial punching bag Carlos Silva as the Yanks shoot for their first sweep of a three game series this year. Hopefully facing Silva allows them to keep distancing themselves from that frustrating “score some runs early then go into hibernation” routine.

To make room for Rasner, Brian Bruney was shifted to the 60-day DL (to clear a 40-man spot) and IPK was demoted to Triple-A Scranton (to clear a 25-man spot). IPK’s elgible to be called back up on May 14th, four days after the next time the Yanks will need a fifth starter. So unless someone gets injured between now and then, it’ll probably be Kei Igawa or Steven White on the 10th in Detroit. The Yanks’ patience lasts only 6 games, I see. 

Can you hear all the Dodgers’ fans crying bloody murder over Chad Billingsley’s poor start? I sure can’t.

The lineup:

The team’s leader in slugging percentage, LF
Jessica Alba’s baby daddy, SS
The offensive MVP, RF
Godzilla, DH
Thank goodness there’s only 1 year left on his deal, 1B
The guy who kidnapped Melky Cabrera and is playing his place, CF
He won’t hit .150-.213-.230 all year, right?, 2B
The guy that’s hit exactly 36 HR since hitting 36 HR in 2005, 3B
Chad “is this what we’ve come to” Moeller, C

Notes: Looks like Latrell Spreewell needed that money to feed his family after all.

Mike Mussina made his Major League debut on August 4, 1991, losing 1-0 to 43-year-old Charlie Hough. Felix Hernandez, the Mariners’ young stud, was all of five years old at the time.

Today, Mussina and the 253 games he has won since that debut loss will face off against Felix Hernandez, 22, and his 32 career wins. This could be quite the match-up. On one side, we’ve got Hernandez — anointed the King — a power pitcher with 41 strike outs in 44.1 innings this year. His ERA is a measly 2.22. On the other side is Mike Mussina who no longer generates too many swing-and-misses. His 12 strike outs has Moose sitting pretty at 3.34 K/9 IP, a career low. Mussina today relies on guile as he attempts to get hitters to swing weakly at breaking pitches and slow change ups.

For Mussina, this style of pitching has worked lately. Remove the Red Sox from his 2008 equation, and Moose has given up 8 earned runs in 23.2 innings, good for a 3.04 ERA. That’s downright great for a Yankee rotation struggling to prevent runs. Mussina won’t give the Yanks much in the way of distance; he tires around the five-inning mark. But he sure can hold his own against Hernandez.

Meanwhile, the struggling Yankee offense continues to run into brick walls. After facing Eric Bedard, they draw another Seattle ace in King Felix. Opponents are hitting .238/.306/.335, and the Yankees will go with their typical lineup these days.

Johnny Damon LF
Derek Jeter SS
Bob Abreu RF
Hideki Matsui DH
Jason Giambi 1B
Melky Cabrera CF
Robinson Cano 2B
Morgan Ensberg 3B
Jose Molina C

Mike Mussina P

A few odds and ends to tie up before the game starts, all courtesy PeteAbe (but you know you like coming here more).

Posada has what is being termed rotator cuff tendonitis. The estimate for return is early June, but Pete, as well as I, suspect they’ll take a little longer, just to avoid any complications. Surgery could happen this off-season, and if it doesn’t mean lost time for Jorge at the beginning of 2009, I think he’ll take the option. He has pride in his contract, and I’m sure if he thinks surgery will help him in the long term, he’ll go for it.

Meanwhile, it turns out that Phil Hughes doesn’t have perfect vision, as he so thought. He’s nearsighted, so his not being able to see the signals is explained a bit. That, and he thinks a mechanical flaw led to his rib injury. Yes, it’s a ton of excuse-making. Whatever. As long as he’s effective when he’s back, I don’t care what he or the Yankees say. Hopefully the time off will get the fans off his back.

Jose Veras is up to take Hughes’s spot until Darrell Rasner is recalled for Sunday’s start. To clear room on the 40-man, the clear move is to DFA Chris Stewart, especially since J.D. Closser is in the fold now. Stewart will surely go unclaimed, though once again, with Closser his presence doesn’t seem as necessary. Taking Veras’s spot in AAA is David Robertson. With him one step closer to the bigs, our pen situation looks even better. Now, if we can just get Girardi to understand that you can’t have two-pitch relievers go through the heart of the Tigers order twice…

Kennedy is getting skipped next time through, which is the right move. I think you have to give him the start on May 10, and then go from there. I’d guess Kei Igawa is next in line for a call-up.

Your lineup, sans Cano, which will make at least a few commenters happy, as we’re facing Erik Bedard tonight:

1. Melky Cabrera, CF
2. Derek Jeter, SS
3. Bobby Abreu, RF
4. Shelley Duncan, 1B
5. Hideki Matsui, LF
6. Jason Giambi, DH
7. Morgan Ensberg, 3B
8. Jose Molina, C
9. Alberto Gonzalez, 2B

And on the mound, number forty, Chien-Ming Wang.

A win tonight brings the Yanks back to the .500 mark they’ve been hovering around all season. Sadly, that’s a good thing at this point. Given the craptastic offense and the shakiness of the non-Wang rotation, the Yanks should be thankful that they’re not in a position similar to last year.

Big game for IPK. Another stinker could mean…geeze, I can hardly bring myself to say it…Kei Igawa. To me, it’s going to be about throwing some freakin’ strikes. If Kennedy gets hit hard, well, that’s going to happen to a rookie against a lineup like the Tigers. But if he’s missing the plate and racking up the pitch count, I think that’s far worse. Of course, getting belted will run up the pitch count, too.

Shelley’s hitting cleanup tonight against Nate Robertson. I dig the move. In fact, with the way the offense is going, I’d be finding any way possible to get Shelley into the lineup. He can’t be worse than what we’re trotting out there (::cough:: Giambi).

The lineup:

1. Johnny Damon, LF
2. Derek Jeter, SS
3. Bobby Abreu, RF
4. Shelley Duncan, 1B
5. Hideki Matsui, DH
6. Melky Cabrera, CF
7. Morgan Ensbgerg, 3B
8. Robinson Cano, 2B
9. Chad Moeller, C

And on the mound, number thirty-one, Ian Patrick Kennedy