Nick Johnson’s back still hurts…from carrying the offense

Despite a 12-7 setback to the Pirates on Tuesday, Nick Johnson looked like his back woes are a thing of the past as he stroked a pair of homers. The lefty had a better day than another lefty who shall remain nameless (hint: he weighs almost 300 pounds). But it’s still early and CC is notorious for starting off slow, so it’s not a big concern for the Yanks. CC himself even admitted that he stunk:

"I was terrible, location was just bad, I was collapsing on my backside, and everything is up. I guess it’s going to take a while. I got to get my secondary pitches going."

As I said before, it’s early and these games DO NOT matter; so it’s better that he gets it out of the way now rather than shitting the bed on April 4 in Fenway. But either way, five runs on seven hits in 2 1/3 innings should strike fear into all fans’ hearts. Very un-CC, especially coming off a 19-win campaign. As the old saying goes: you can’t win ’em all.

On the bright side, Grandy checked in with his first hit of the Spring, a triple; Jon Weber knocked in a pair of runs and Royce Ring registered a hold. But the back end of the bullpen (Hector Noesi, Boone Logan) was caught with fecal matter in their respective davenports.

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Francisco Cervelli said he feels “100 percent” and expects to catch on Friday against the Nats. He went through a full workout Tuesday and admitted it “was a little weird but nothing bad.” That is a relief because he estimates he’s been hit in the head 10 times during his career…the Italian Stallion has taken more shots to the head than Jenna Jameson. (Thank you, thank you. I’ll be here all week. Just remember the 9:30 show is completely different than the 7:30)

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The Rangers acquired Edwar Ramirez from the Yankees for cash considerations. Ramirez was designated for assignment late in February to make room for Chan Ho Park…Mums the word when it comes to A-Rod and his newest allegations. This guy might make Hall of Fame voters reconsider voting for Pete Rose, which is a complement by no means…Are you ready for some football? Because Yankee Stadium is, and it will host the inaugural New Era Pinstripe Bowl on December 30 of this year to prove it. What is the Pinstripe Bowl, you might ask. It is only the premier bowl game that pits the third-best Big East team against the sixth-best Big 12 team. Yikes…The Yanks and D’Bags have “fawned over” 18-year-old Dominican righty Carlos Matias, who had a deal in place with Boston last year but ruined it by Danny Almonteing his age. A highly-touted prospect that screwed over the Red Cox? The Yanks better sign him on principle alone…Speaking of the Red Cox, Dice-K said he wants to play another 10 years in MLB. That’s OK with me, just so long as he keeps putting up a 4-6 record with a 5.76 ERA for Beantown.