•  It is raining here, but the plan is to try to get this one in. David Phelps will be able to throw 75-to-95 pitches. The Yankees would surely be happy with five strong innings, and then they can go to their bullpen.

 •  Joe Girardi put Nick Swisher in the two-hole against Jon Lester. Swisher is a .318 hitter with two homers and 8 RBIs in 44 at-bats against Lester. Meanwhile, Ichiro Suzuki is not too shabby either, hitting .294 in 34 at-bats with two homers and three RBIs.

 •  Girardi is starting Eduardo Nunez over Andruw Jones even though he doesn't have a backup infielder with Nunez as the DH. (You can write your own Nunez-defense jokes in the comments). Anyway, Jones can't hit and Nunez can so he could be your postseason DH against lefties, too.

 •  Girardi said he did not talk with Hal Steinbrenner about Hal's saying his job is safe. Girardi says he got to the Stadium early, which was good because he knows Hal likes to work out early. They talked. Girardi said they speak every couple of weeks.

 •  Girardi thinks the No. 1 seed is important. However, if the Yankees clinch the AL East, he may not pitch Hiroki Kuroda on Wednesday. Home-field advantage would still be on the line, but Girardi might save Kuroda so he could start a possible Game 2 of the ALDS. Girardi said he hasn't decided. I would guess Ivan Nova would get the start, but Girardi didn't say.

 •  Girardi has no second thoughts about having CC Sabathia throw eight innings. He said, "You have to manage for today." He said the most important thing is winning division and avoiding a one-game wild-card playoff.