SuperNova (2-2) tied a career-high by throwing 6 1/3 innings while giving up two runs on six hits with five strikeouts and four walks. He wasn’t great but he worked out of jams and had his curveball working well. D-Rob and Boone Logan got an out each in the seventh with the latter making a ridiculous play to rob Adam Lind of a hit. So came in and issued a walk (he has issued nine free passes this year after giving out 14 all of last season) in an otherwise flawless eighth. Mo notched his 10th save with a perfect ninth inning.

Tex had a solo shot and Grandy had a three-run bomb. The blast was Tex’ seventh in his 83rd at-bat; he didn’t get his seventh dinger last year until his 138th at-bat on May 15. It was Grandy’s eighth long ball this season in his 88th at-bat; last year he didn’t hit his eighth until his 255th at-bat on July 25. Also, C-Grizzle has the third most (22) home runs in MLB since August 14 of last year; the only players with more are Troy Tulowitzki (23) and Jose Bautista (27). Albert Pujols has 20 in that span. And, for what it’s worth, Granderson is on pace to hit 52 homers; no chance it happens but it’s nice to know.

Posada snapped an 0-for-19 (in addition to a 1-for-29 and 2-for-36) slump with a double in the fifth inning. He had been hitless in his last five games with his last base knock coming on April 23 against Baltimore. It was just his 10th hit of the year (10-for-75) and first double, with six of the others going for homers.

Gardner, who went 1-for-1 with two walks and scored, is now 5 for his last 8 with six walks. Today he raised his average to .200 (from .188) and his OPS to .700 (from .664) but he is still just 1 for his last 5 in stolen base attempts.

A-Rod went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and finished up this homestand at 3-for-25 with no walks, one RBI, two runs scored and eight strikeouts. Hopefully this seven-game road trip will get him going.

Eric Chavez pinch hit for Cano — who had played every inning this season — in the eighth because of bruise on the hand for Robbie. Precautionary x-rays came back negative and the second baseman plans on playing tomorrow.

Other news:

• Girardi is concerned about Phil Hughes’ injury as the youngster goes for more testing tomorrow. He said he hopes to know something definite by Tuesday.
• Kevin Millwood is opting out of his contract because he wasn’t called up by the May 1 deadline.

The Yanks will now head to Detroit for a four-game set and then to Texas for three games. Cy Colon will take on Justin Verlander in the opener on Monday.

LET’S GO YANKS!!!

Mitre’s numbers with the Yanks (’09-’10) were rather lackluster, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a Yankee fan who’s upset about his departure. He gave up 114 hits, 68 runs (59 earned), 17 homers, 29 walks and 61 strikeouts in 105 2/3 innings for an 89 ERA+ in his two years in pinstripes (mostly mop-up duty). Peace out Meattray, don’t let the door hit you in the ass.

Dickerson has 454 at-bats in three years with the Reds and Brewers. The 28-year-old, who owns a lifetime line of .267/.356/.403, has one option left and is expected to be insurance if (God forbid) Grandy’s oblique injury is more serious than previously thought.

The 36-year-old Millwood was signed to a pro-rated $1.5 million deal with $3.5 million in incentives. He gets $500,000 each for five, 10, 15, 20 and 25 starts, and would get an additional $1 million for 30 starts. However, he has to be on the 25-man roster by May 1 or the deal is void.

Millwood, who threw a no-no for the Phils back in 2003, went 4-16 with a 5.10 ERA and 223 hits, 116 runs (108 earned), 30 homers, 65 walks, 132 strikeouts and a 1.510 WHIP in 190 2/3 innings for an 83 ERA+ in 31 starts last year for the Orioles. The 14-year veteran boasts a career 159-137 record with a 4.11 ERA in 2505 innings for the Braves, Phils, Indians, Rangers and O’s.

This is a low-risk signing and Kev is more or less insurance in case Colon and/or Garcia get hurt. It never hurts signing guys to minor-league deals. I’m all for the move.

As the title of this post suggests, that’s pretty ballsy for a guy who has pitched like a bum over the past five seasons after inking a five-year, $60 million deal prior to the ’06 campaign. He hasn’t thrown 200 innings since 2006 and posted an ERA+ above 100 in just eight of his 14 ML seasons (only twice over the duration of the aforementioned deal). I guess he is trying to ride the coattails of that no-no back in 2003 for as long as he can.

The Yanks currently have Colon, Garcia, Sergio Mitre and Ivan Nova dueling it out for the final two spots in the rotation. If Millwood wants a guaranteed deal he can go soak his head. Who the hell is he to be demanding things?

*     *     *     *     *

Also, the first full-squad workouts are underway in Tampa. The workouts include RBInson Cano, who got the dates mixed up and arrived on Sunday instead of Saturday. Cue the lazy jokes.

I was a little scared, a little bit. I don’t like to be late. You guys know, I’m almost on time. I talked to Geno and I apologized.

Jeter started working on his new swing early this offseason, as has Tex, who feels that if he works earlier in the offseason his April woes will go away.

"No joke, it's this big"