Umpire Joe West will be reunited with one of his favorite baseball teams tonight.
The ump who criticized the Yankees and Red Sox in April will work the Yankees’ series against the Mariners that begins tonight, according to a source.
West called the Yankees and Red Sox “embarrassing” and “a disgrace to baseball” in a published report after the opening series of the season.
West took issue with how long games between the Yankees and Red Sox take to play.
In the report, West said: “They’re the two clubs that don’t try to pick up the pace. They’re two of the best teams in baseball. Why are they playing the slowest? It’s pathetic and embarrassing. They take too long to play.”
It remains to be seen if Yankees-Mariners pace moves more to West’s liking.
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X-rays of Brett Gardner‘s right wrist showed no broken bones. The left fielder was diagnosed with a bruise on the wrist and listed as day-to-day. Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw hit Gardner in the wrist with a pitch during Sunday night’s game.
This is the second injury Gardner has suffered in the area this month. He injured his thumb three weeks ago.
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Mariano Rivera‘s two-inning outing Sunday night was the second one in a week for the Yankees closer. He also pitched two innings last Wednesday in Arizona.
Manager Joe Girardi used Rivera for two innings just once last season, and said he will avoid doing it regularly.
“I told [Girardi], ‘Don’t get used to this, but it’s good,’ ” Rivera said.
The 40-year-old Rivera continues to amaze his teammates with his ability to keep going.
“You can’t say enough about Mo,” Andy Pettitte said. “He’s the greatest there ever is. He’s in a league of his own.”
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Rookies Chad Huffman and Colin Curtis both had huge at-bats during the Yankees’ ninth-inning comeback Sunday. Huffman had an RBI single and Curtis knocked in Curtis Granderson as the tying run with his grounder to first base that James Loney misplayed.
“You can’t say enough about these young kids,” Alex Rodriguez said. “You have to give those kids a lot of credit. They acted like seasoned veterans. They put together amazing at-bats.”
That being said, the bench remains the Yankees’ biggest area of need as the trading deadline approaches.
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Robinson Cano and Derek Jeter remain in first place at their positions in the AL All-Star voting. The results will be announced Sunday. Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada are each in second place at their positions.
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Cliff Lee takes the mound tonight for Seattle with all eyes in New York on him as a possible addition to the Mets or Yankees.
The Mets are actively pursuing Lee in hopes of making a trade for him in the next month and the Yankees are scouting him with an eye more toward signing him as a free agent this winter.