Jerry Hairston Jr.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi benched slumping outfielder Nick Swisher for Game 2 of the World Series on Thursday night and again put Jose Molina behind the plate to catch A.J. Burnett. Philadelphia also had a different lineup. Raul Ibanez moved from designated hitter to left field and Matt Stairs was the DH. Jerry Hairston Jr. replaced Swisher in right and was batting seventh. Hairston is 10 for 27 in his career against Phillies starter Pedro Martinez, but hasn't faced him since 2004. It also was Hairston's first start in right since July 21. "He's had a lot of success off of Pedro," Girardi said. ... Read Full Story

The New York Yankees acquired infielder Jerry Hairston Jr. from the Cincinnati Reds on Friday, giving them a versatile player who has appeared at six positions this season. The Reds received minor league catcher Chase Weems in the deal. Hairston confirmed he was traded before the Reds' scheduled game against the Colorado Rockies. He is batting .254 with eight homers and 27 RBIs, having played shortstop, second base, third base and all three outfield positions this season. With speedy outfielder Brett Gardner on the disabled list with a broken thumb, the Yankees moved to shore up their bench. Hairston gives the AL East leaders ... Read Full Story

We all know the ugliness of Nick Swisher's postseason so far. It's one marred by bad swings, bad outs and a lot of frustration. When the Yankees acquired Swisher last winter, which was a steal of a trade and if you forgot all we gave up was Wilson Betemit, it wasn't expected he'd be an everyday player. Then Xavier Nady went down early and for the year and Swish was the one who answered the call. Swisher in the regular season batted .249/.371/.498/.869 with 29 homers and 82 rbi's. But so far this postseason Swisher has been the invisible man. In this ALCS he's ... Read Full Story

ALCS Game 2 was a clash of the titans- a never-ending battle to the death between the Angels and Yankees on a COLD October night. I loved every second of this game, and had faith in the one stat that Tim McCarver and Joe Buck did not mention: the 2009 Yankees are undefeated when the game is tied in the 7th inning. You can take this stat to the BANK, folks. Just remember where you heard it- Baseball.DailySkew.com . Tony Vahl posted an excellent (and funny)  full play-by-play of this Yankees-Angels epic. I am so glad he stayed up for this classic ALCS game. ... Read Full Story

From Jimmy Vrentras : Manager Joe Girardi didn’t say whether Jerry Hairston Jr. will get his second start of the series Wednesday night in right field against Pedro Martinez. Hairston, who has had success against Martinez in his career, got the nod ahead of the struggling Nick Swisher in Game 2. Hairston, who went 1-for-3 with a strikeout against Martinez, said he’d be ready either way. “I’m always prepared to play,” Hairston said. “If I’m in the lineup, great. If I’m not, I’ll just be ready to go.” If it were up to me I'd start Swisher, even with Hariston's good numbers against Pedro. ... Read Full Story