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You’ve gotta hand it to CC Sabathia – amid the turmoil that is currently the bottom of the Yankees’ rotation, he did exactly what he needed to in his start yesterday and gave the Yankees 8 strong innings. The Big Man isn’t the ace of the staff for nothing. CC threw a very economical 106 pitches over his 8 innings, 70 of which (66%) went for strikes. He allowed just 2 earned runs (including a solo home run to Prince Fielder), 4 hits, 2 walks, and struck out 8 along the way.

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David Robertson pitched a hitless, scoreless 9th inning and struck out 2. Robertson threw a total of 14 pitches and located a whopping 13 of them for strikes. D-Rob now has 15 K through 10.0 IP and is boasting a K/BB rate of 5.00. I’ve gotta say, I’m completely buying the idea of D-Rob as the Yankees’ future closer. Prepare to see him in the 9th inning on a regular basis once Mariano Rivera decides to hang ‘em up.

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Offensively the Yankees brought their power out with Curtis Granderson mashing his 8th home run of the season and Andruw Jones hitting his 3rd. I wonder if Granderson still views himself as “not a home run hitter,” because the rest of us have caught on to the fact that that’s exactly what he is now.

Alex Rodriguez came through with 2 RBI, pushing him to 1,904 career RBI and sending him past Willie Mays for the 9th spot on MLB’s list of all-time RBI leaders. For what it’s worth, A-Rod is now 393 RBI short of Hank Aaron’s 2,297 RBI and he should easily pass Eddie Murray, Jimmie Foxx, Ty Cobb, and Stan Musial this year. A-Rod’s RBI chase doesn’t yet have the impact of Derek Jeter‘s 3,000th hit or Mo’s 602nd save, but it is a story line that Yankees fans should keep an eye on in the next few seasons.

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As Matt Hunter pointed out yesterday, Freddy Garcia needed a strong start against the hard-hitting Tigers. Going into the game he was sporting a 9.75 ERA in 12.0 innings of work and there were already plenty of calls for him to be pulled out of the rotation in favor of David Phelps. The fact that Joe Girardi even gave Garcia his start yesterday when he could have skipped over his rotation spot because of Thursday’s off-day was a clear sign that the Yankees wanted to give Garcia every opportunity to work out his struggles and right the ship. But Garcia once again got hit hard right out of the gates, with the Tigers tagging him for 6 earned runs before he was pulled after just 1.2 IP.

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It certainly wasn’t the start Freddy or the Yankees wanted, and despite a late rally the Yankees’ offense wasn’t able to overcome those 6 runs to eek out a win. And though I said this after Freddy’s last start (and was proven wrong at that point), I don’t believe Freddy will get another start with the Yankees. When asked about the topic last night Girardi said he would “sleep on it,” but frankly I don’t see how the Yankees could justify running him out there again when batters are racking up a 1.094 OPS against him. Couple this with the fact that in each of his last two starts he has only lasted 1.2 innings and you are essentially ensuring a Yankees’ loss before the game even starts. Sure the Yanks’ offense can mash, but half a dozen runs in the first 2-3 innings is difficult for any team to overcome.

In my mind, the only question now is what to do with Freddy once he is pulled from the rotation. His trade value is minimal if it even exists, and his performances thus far have shown that he’s not even suited for a long-relief role out of the bullpen. At this point the Yankees’ best bet may be to simply pull Freddy off the roster and free up a spot for someone else. *UPDATE* This may actually be happening, as D.J. Mitchell has just been called up from Triple-A as I write this and there is no word yet on where that roster opening is coming from. I’m not the betting type, but if I were I’d say David Phelps is going to get a shot in the Yankees’ rotation.

On the offensive side of things, there is fortunately not much to say. Yankees batters are putting runs on the board, and guys like Nick Swisher and Raul Ibanez are continuing to surpass everyone’s expectations in terms of run production. No gripes about the offense here – they simply got out-hit by a stellar Tigers offense and were the victims of terrible starting pitching last night.

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You can’t hope for a lot when your team is facing Justin Verlander, so you’ll take a win just about any way you can get it. And that’s exactly what the Yankees were able to do last night as Derek Jeter came in from third to score the winning run on a passed ball. Not exactly the walk-off drama that Yankees Classics are made of, but a win is a win and they all look the same at the end of the season when it really matters.

And in true form, El Capitan was nothing but humble regarding his baserunning: ”[a]s much as I’d like to say that was great baserunning tonight, basically all I had to do is run.” Jeet was probably just thrilled that A.J. Burnett was 900 miles away pitching against the Braves and unable to pie him.

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On the pitching front, Yankees’ starters continued their struggles with Ivan Nova getting roughed up for 6 runs off of 11 hits in just 5.1 innings. Thankfully, the bullpen continued to shine with Boone Logan, Cory Wade, David Robertson, and Mariano Rivera combining for just 2 hits and 2 BB with 4 strikeouts in 4.2 innings. I’ve mentioned several times already this season that I expected a bit of a regression from D-Rob, mainly because I believed that his 1.08 ERA and 100 K in 66.2 innings in 2011 were a career year for him. But so far Robertson hasn’t missed a beat – in 9.0 IP he hasn’t allowed a single run, has give up just 7 hits and 3 BB and struck out 13 men in the process. No one will ever truly replace the amazing Mariano Rivera, but I’ve gotta say, if D-Rob keeps pitching like this he certainly has my vote as Mo’s heir apparent.

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Despite the fact that the Yankees have scored the third-most runs in all of MLB (107) it is clear from looking at the above box score that this offense is definitely not firing on all cylinders. If you had to ask any Yankees fan at the beginning of the season which players would be batting over .300 at the end of April no one’s answer would have been Derek Jeter, Brett Gardner, Eduardo Nunez, Eric Chavez, and Chris Stewart. Granted, the last three guys on that list are bench players and have had less than half the plate appearances that Jeter and Gardner have had, but it’s still a pleasant surprise that they are contributing at such a consistent level when they are in the game.

This first month of the season has not been the prettiest in terms of the win-loss record, but a major takeaway is that in the games the Yankees have won, it has been because guys like Swisher and Ibanez are stepping up and driving in runs when we need them to. Given the age of the Yankees’ lineup and the health struggles some guys have faced in the past couple years, it is great to know that these guys are proving they can come through and carry the lineup if others hit a snag.

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Right around 3 weeks ago the Yankees’ starting rotation looked to be interesting for a number of reasons. In true baseball fashion, a lot of things have changed in that time and now the rotation is set up to be interesting for a lot of the wrong reasons. Phil Hughes had a miserable start against the Rangers last night, lasting just 2 2/3 before being tagged for 4 runs. And it wasn’t a case of bad luck and the ball simply finding holes – Hughes got hit hard, including a home run to Adrian Beltre in the 3rd inning. For those keeping track at home, Hughes’ line through four starts is now 16.0 IP, 24 H, 14 ER, 6 BB, 17 K, with a whopping 7.88 ERA. So far that’s not a strong case for a rotation spot or a long relief spot when Andy Pettitte joins the team.

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Speaking of Andy, his less than stellar start with Trenton yesterday and the fact that Michael Pineda will miss the entire 2012 season with a torn labrum are joining Hughes’ early struggles to form a trifecta of new-found starting rotation unpredictability. Even David Phelps, who has caused a lot of ink to be spilled over whether or not he should take Freddy Garcia’s spot in the rotation, has struggled of late. Phelps has allowed 3 earned runs in each of his last two relief appearances, giving up 11 hits and 4 BB in the same span. As far as struggles go, when it rains it pours for a good portion of the Yankees’ pitching staff.

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And since this post has been all doom and gloom so far, here’s a high note to end on: Derek Jeter continues to tear it up at the plate and is now hitting a cool .420. Yep, you read that correctly. Old Man Jeter, who just last season was declared a has-been by a fickle New York (and national) sports media, is looking unstoppable at the plate. Granted, we’re only 18 games into the season, but that Jeterian swing is looking far better than even my eternally-optimistic self could have hoped for.

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CC Sabathia’s starts this year have been slow out of the gates, to say the least. In his three starts prior to last night’s game he got hit hard initially, and seemed to really only settle in around the third inning or so. Last night it looked as though CC would again struggle early, but he shut down the Rangers’ offensive threat in the first inning and allowed only one run to cross the plate. The remaining three runs CC allowed came much later in the game in the form of a home run from Josh Hamilton (not much you can do about that short of not pitching to the guy), and an RBI double that took an unlucky hop off the first base bag and skidded down the right field line (such is baseball). At the end of the night, I was supremely happy – CC went 8 strong innings, Mo came in to close it out, and all was right with the world.

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The Yankees got on the board early after loading the bases with one out in the first inning. Mark Teixeira came to the plate and struck out, conjuring up the thought that this may be a long night of RISP-failing. But Curtis Granderson came through with a 2-out 2-RBI single to give the Yankees a lead. To quote Suzyn Waldman, “I know this is cliche, but 2-out RBI win ball games.”

Derek Jeter continues to be red-hot at the plate, turning in a 4-5 night before finally being retired on strikes in his last at bat of the night. Alex Rodriguez hit a long homer to deep left-center field, driving in three and looking a lot like his old self at the plate. Even backup catcher Chris Stewart joined the hit parade, knocking a double and scoring two runs on the night.

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Joe Girardi spoke with Buster Olney prior to today’s game and made it known that the audition process is in full swing for the guys in the bottom of the rotation with Andy Pettitte‘s return now just 2 1/2 weeks away. And audition or not, Freddy Garcia‘s performance today was definitely not one to remember. He got hit incredibly hard right out of the chute and lasted just 1 2/3 of an inning while allowing 7 hits and 5 earned runs. That puts Freddy at 12.0 IP through three starts so far this season with a total 9.75 ERA. With the off day on April 26th, look for the Yankees to skip Freddy’s next start and reassess their options regarding him the following week.

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Clay Rapada threw 1/3 of an inning and allowed 1 ER on 1 hit. David Phelps got some work in today and started out rough, but settled down after an inning. He ended the day with 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB and 2 K in 4.0 IP. And just for those wondering, Girardi said during his in-game interview with Joe Buck that the Yankees “haven’t even considered Phelps for the rotation.”

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Offensively, today’s game can be summed in two main points: 1) the Red Sox capitalized early when they put runners in scoring position, and 2) no lead is safe with this Yankees offense. I’ll admit, I was ready to throw in the towel after the 6th inning because the Yankees’ bats looked like they had taken the day off. Plus, even if the Yankees lost by 9 runs, at least they weren’t going to be on the short end of a perfect game like the Mariners. But then the bats came alive and the Yankees started looking like… well, the Yankees.

Mark Teixeira had two homers on the day – one from each side of the plate. Today marked the 13th time Teix has homered from both sides of the plate in the same game, increasing the record he already holds. The seventh inning saw 11 Yankees come to the plate while 8 of them got hits and 7 of them scored. Nick Swisher was 3-6 on the day with a grand slam, a 2-run double, and a single. All-in-all, Swish and Teix combined for 12 RBI between the 6th and 8th innings, during which time the Yankees scored 15 unanswered runs.

And just an FYI: Nick Swisher now has 20 RBI through 15 games. You think he wants a new contract from the Yankees when his current one expires at the end of this season?