• The honeymoon period between CC Sabathia and his not-really-personal catcher, Chris Stewart, may be over. Stewart has caught Sabathia's last 11 starts, but without blaming anyone or giving a reason. Joe Girardi said the arrangement may be coming to an end. "At some point I'd like to change that, get Russell (Martin) back there,'' Girardi said. "You kind of look at how the days fall, but at some point I'd like to get Russell back there.''

• Girardi said both Hiroki Kuroda, tonight's starter, and Andy Pettitte, who goes in Game 2 of the series in Washington, seem fully recovered by their close calls over the weekend. Kuroda got hit with a line drive on the foot Friday night and Pettitte bruised his pitching hand barehanding a comebacker on Saturday. Girardi said Kuroda had no restrictions tonight "unless I see something glaring'' and Pettitte had "no issues'' heading into his start on Saturday afternoon.

• The Yankees will have to move someone in order to make room on the roster for when David Robertson is reactivated on Friday, and the smart money has got to be on David Phelps, who hasn't appeared in a game since June 2. But it could be another reliever; before the game, Girardi referred to one of his middle relievers as Cody Eppler. His name of, course, is Eppley. Billy Eppler is the Yankees' assistant GM. Bad sign?

• Matchup to watch: Alex Rodriguez has a .359 lifetime batting average off Braves starter Tim Hudson, including three home runs in 39 at-bats.