Morning Bits

Good morning everyone!

The Yankees lost to the Rangers last night by a score of 8-5.

Andy Pettitte got knocked around in the fourth inning, loading the bases and then surrendering back -to-back two-run doubles to Adrian Beltre and A.J. Pierzynski.  That's three consecutive bad starts for Pettitte, who has only won two games since April 19th.

Joba Chamberlain's season of misery continues.  Chamberlain allowed a two-run home run to Nelson Cruz in the 7th inning after the Yankees had pulled to within one run of the lead.  Chamberlain's ERA is now 6.38.

After a two-run blast by Ichiro once again brought the Yankees to within one run of the lead, all hope was extinguished when Shawn Kelley gave up two runs in the top of the 9th inning.

The Yankees were also sloppy in the field with errors by Brett Gardner and Jayson Nix leading to unearned runs.

Today's game will be start at 1:05 PM ET and be broadcast by YES.

Phil Hughes(3-6, 5.09 ERA) and Derek Holland(5-4, 3.43 ERA) will be today's starting pitchers.

Now on to today's news links:

Wallace Matthews of  ESPNNY says A-Rod believes the Yankees didn't ever want him to return.

David Waldstein of the New York Times has this article about Hal Steinbrenner talking with A-Rod, Cashman's apology, and Mark Teixeira's season ending surgery.

Jason Gay of the WSJ writes about "The Jerk Store" calling the Yankees.

Have a great day everyone!