New York Yankees News and Notes

Good morning, Pinstripe Alley readers. The Yankees won their fifth straight game last night behind a brilliant performance from Phil Hughes and two homers off the bat of Mark Teixeira. Do you think Phil kept his spot in the rotation with last night's start?

Tonight, A.J. Burnett will look to secure a series victory over the White Sox and get the Yankees to 25 games over .500 for the first time this season. Now, on to your usual morning news.

- Manny Banuelos Fans Eight in Triple-A Debut.

Manny Banuelos, the Yankees' top pitching prosect who was recently promoted to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, made his Triple-A debut last night. In five innings of work, Banuelos struck out eight IronPigs, the Phillies' affiliate. However, despite flashing brilliant stuff, Banuelos labored at times, needing 100 pitches to get through five innings. He also walked three batters and allowed two runs.

It has been speculated that Banuelos could receive a September call up to shore up the bullpen. When asked, Cahsman said, "We'll see. It's time for him to take the next step [to AAA]."

- Mark Teixeira Sets Major League Record.

In the seventh inning of last night's game, Teixeira hit his second homer of the match. His first homer came from the right side of the plate and his second homer came from the left. This marked the 12th time in his career Teixeira has homered from each side of the plate in the same game, breaking a tie with Eddie Murray and Chili Davis to set a new major league record. Ironically, it was Eddie Murray who inspired Tex to become a switch hitter.

- Alex Rodriguez to Begin Baseball Related Activities Today.

On July 11th, A-Rod underwent surgery to repair a slightly torn meniscus in his right knee. The surgery went well, as expected, and now he is ready to begin baseball workouts. Joe Girardi had this to say:

The idea is to get him doing some baseball stuff. I think once he gets going, it shouldn't take that long. It's more just waiting for the knee to heal. I don't think you're talking about having to do a week of rehab games. I think once we get it, it'll go pretty quickly. 

The Yankees have not indicated when he will begin a rehab assignment, but are hopeful he will return in the middle of this month.

- A.J. Burnett, Jorge Posada, and Rafael Soriano Were Placed on Waivers.

This is all part of "the annual routine," but it's still interesting. If any team claims any of the players, the Yankees can pull them off waivers rather than negotiate a trade with the claiming team. However, it is still a little eye-opening to see Jorge Posada's name on waivers. Either way, due to salary or ineffectiveness, or both, it's hard to see any team claim one of the three.

Links:

• Derek Jeter passed Rafael Palmeiro on the all time hits list.
• Brett Gardner is making it hard to take him out of the lineup.
• CC Sabathia is a beast. Last 10 games: 9-1, 1.76 ERA, 76 2/3 IP, 87 K's, 0.97 WHIP.
• Dellin Betances struggled last night.
• Jesus Montero raked (3-for-4, HR) last night. Call him up, his time is now.