The Yankees are branching off into the beautiful game.

The baseball franchise announced Tuesday morning they will be forming a new MLS team, named the New York City Football Club, which will join the league in 2015. The Yankees are forming the team in conjunction with Manchester City, one of the most powerful clubs in the world.

Manchester City will be the majority owner of the new club.

Manchester City was purchased by the Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008, which has poured massive amounts of money into the club. The club brought in international stars such as Yaya Toure and David Silva. They won the English Premier League title in 2012 for the first time since 1968. They were shocked by Wigan in the FA Cup final just two weeks ago, with a 1-0 loss. They fired manager Roberto Mancini days later.

“We proudly welcome two of the most prestigious professional global sports organizations to Major League Soccer,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said in a statement. “This is a transformational development that will elevate the league to new heights in this country. The New York area is home to more than 19 million people­, and we look forward to an intense crosstown rivalry between New York City Football Club and the New York Red Bulls that will captivate this great city.”

The franchise will be the 20th in MLS.

“We are pleased to be associated with this major move by MLS to increase its presence in the New York market and to enhance the opportunity for New York soccer fans to enjoy high-level play in their own city,” Yankees managing partner Hal Steinbrenner said in a statement. “We look forward to the opportunity to work with Manchester City to create something very special for the soccer fans of New York.”

The team has not yet announced where in the city they will play, but promised a permanent stadium will be built. The city has discussed building a new stadium in Queens at Flushing Meadows Corona Park. The owners of New York City FC said they would “continue these discussions.”

Follow Metro New York Sports Editor Mark Osborne on Twitter @MetroNYSports.

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Standing at his locker and still in uniform after preparing for a start that was rained out against the Blue Jays on Sunday afternoon, CC Sabathia basically shrugged it off.

To show how little a chance the Yankees had of actually playing, Sabathia was sitting on the couch in the middle of the clubhouse when the game was officially postponed.

“I was all the way out, but I’m not very intense,” Sabathia said. “Either way I wasn’t really worried about it. I was sitting on the couch and they told me it was canceled so I’ll just play catch and I’ll be fine.”

Sabathia instead will make his second start of the season against Baltimore. His first one was April 12 in a game the Yankees turned a triple play in a 5-2 win. Monday will be his first start in Baltimore since Game 1 of the ALDS.

The early rainout gave Sabathia and the Yankees a chance to avoid the same issue in Colorado on May 9. Sabathia pitched four innings because of a two-hour rain delay in a 3-1 win.

“That happened in Colorado,” he said. “I ended up getting a win but you still don’t want kind of waste starts.”

After Sabathia, the Yankees will go with Phil Hughes and Hiroki Kuroda in Baltimore.

Steinbrenner speaks

Owner Hal Steinbrenner was at Yankee Stadium Saturday for a fan picture day event with Yankee season ticket holders and he also addressed several things concerning his team, most notably the team’s first-place performance, the drop in attendance and contract negotiations with Robinson Cano, a free agent this season.

In terms of the team’s 27-16 record, Steinbrenner was extremely pleased with the contributions of various players from the farm system while also saying he did not subscribe to the negativity of the preseason predictions.

“I’m not shocked. I didn’t buy into the doomsday scenario that many people did,” Steinbrenner said. “I knew we had some good kids at Triple-A. More importantly, I knew that the guys we got in the offseason were veterans. Whether people thought they were worth getting or not, I felt they were veterans and this is what you expect veterans to do.”

Steinbrenner was also in New York to attend the quarterly owners’ meetings which took place Wednesday and Thursday at MLB headquarters on Park Avenue.

The Yankees have not sold out since Opening Day and have played to two road sellouts that were not home openers. They have announced 15 crowds under 40,000.

“The good stories that we’ve all known about on this club are going to be more well-known to the fan base,” he said. “I think people are going to be excited to come out and see the Adamses, the Romines, the Hafners and the players we got in the offseason.”

Steinbrenner did not go in-depth on the future of Cano, but indicated that the sides have met a few times.

The Yankees have a policy of not negotiating new contracts during a season but it seems that could change concerning Cano, who hit two home runs Saturday.

Brignac becomes infielder

The Yankees have started nine players at the infield positions and Sunday, they added a 10th by starting Reid Brignac at shortstop. Brignac was acquired Saturday from the Rockies. He joined Chris Nelson as the second former Colorado infielder to join the team this month.

“I’ve seen him have some big days; Ive seen him have some good years,” manager Joe Girardi said. “I think there’s some good talent there. So we’re going to see what he can do.”

Brignac also became the fourth different starting shortstop, a list that includes Alberto Gonzalez (three games), Jayson Nix (14 games) and Eduardo Nunez.

The Yankees have used the disabled list 13 times with 11 DL spots still occupied. Five of those spots are held by infielders.

Brignac has extensive experience playing AL East hitters defensively after playing 185 of his 266 games with the Rays, a fact he pointed out Sunday.

“I know all these hitters in this division and how to position myself and where to play,” he said. “I think it can definitely help me out.”

Follow Yankees beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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Andy Pettitte had a chance to reach 250 career victories. Instead he left the mound with a back injury.

Pettitte allowed two runs and four hits in 4 2/3 innings but only lasted 79 pitches during last night’s 3-2 Yankees loss to the Mariners.

Pettitte winced and appeared to hold his side while throwing a slider to Kyle Seager. The trainer came out to look at Pettitte and removed him from the game.

“Every time a guy feels something you watch how it goes, and lot of times hitters go through it and it’s not a big deal,” manager Joe Girardi said. “Tonight I saw a drop in a velocity and that was a concern.”

The Yankees announced during the top of the eighth inning that Pettitte’s injury was a tight left trapezius.

For now, there was good news concerning Pettitte, who said he was not feeling any pain while explaining what happened in the postgame interview.

“I couldn’t extend it at all,” Pettitte said. “I felt like I was cutting everything off and really just throwing slower than slow to tell you the truth.”

The injury initially surfaced after the fourth inning and Pettitte said he thought it vanished after getting some heat and massage treatment. After his first pitch to Jason Bay, Pettitte said it locked up again, though he was uncertain if it would cost him his next start.

In typical Pettitte fashion, he was more upset about not giving the Yankees length a night after the bullpen was used for 25 outs.

“I can’t stand that I wasn’t able to stay out there and give us a good start and give us a chance to get the lead,” he said.

It is the second time this season Pettitte has had an injury issue. Last month he went 10 days in between starts due to back spasms and emerged from that problem to turn in two quality outings.

After not having much command of his pitches in losses to Houston and Oakland, Pettitte seemingly rediscovered it with seven strong innings in Kansas City on Saturday.

It was a typical Pettitte start with several base runners and a few jams but he only allowed a run-scoring double to Dustin Ackley in the second and a run-scoring infield hit to Brendan Ryan in the fourth. Along the way, Pettitte worked out of runners on second and third in the second inning and got of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth inning.

He started the fifth by striking out Jason Bay with one of the few changeups thrown. He remained throwing off-speed in the at-bat to Seager which might have been an indication something was off physically.

Pettitte’s injury overshadowed a quiet night by the Yankees offense which did little in 4 1/3 innings against Hector Noesi and not much else against four relievers. The Yankees scored their first run in the second a double by David Adams and made it a one-run game on an infield single by Robinson Cano in the seventh.

The Yankees were 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10, including Brett Gardner on third following two stolen bases when Cano made the final out in a thrilling at-bat with Seattle closer Tom Wilhelmsen, who jokingly described the ninth as everything a closer could want.

Besides losing consecutive games for the fifth time this season, the Yankees suffered another injury besides Pettitte. Catcher Chris Stewart left the game with a left groin injury after the seventh but the Yankees did not know afterwards if a stint on the disabled list would be needed.

Follow Yankees beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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Four weeks after learning Derek Jeter had suffered a second fracture in his left ankle, the Yankees finally received what qualifies as good news concerning their captain.

Jeter is expected to be out until after the All-Star break but the Yankees said when he was recently re-evaluated, it had healed to the point where he can soon shed the walking boot.

“It’s healing,” manager Joe Girardi said. “They see the bone is going back together. They say it’s healing. I think he’ll be out of the boot sometime shortly and then he’ll go from there.”

Jeter has not played since crumpling to the ground in Game 1 of the ALCS against Detroit on Oct. 13. He was hoping to return by Opening Day but during spring training it became apparent that was not going to happen nor was the second tentative return date of May 1 once he struggled with soreness at various points in exhibition games.

Jeter did not make his spring training debut until March 9, and took the field March 13. After playing defense in consecutive games March 15 and March 16, he was scratched on March 19 and required an anti-inflammatory injection.

Without Jeter, Eduardo Nunez has started 26 games, Jayson Nix has made 11 starts and Alberto Gonzalez has made the other starts at shortstop. Defensively, Yankee shortstops have made five errors in 162 chances for a .969 fielding percentage.

Now a reliever, Betances joins Yankees

Dellin Betances threw five no-hit innings for Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre at Gwinnett on May 5. After throwing 90 pitches to 20 hitters, minor-league pitching coordinator Gil Patterson told him he was headed to the bullpen.

“It was [strange] because I was starting to feel like I was getting quality starts, but there’s nothing I could have done about it,” Betances said. “Whatever I need to do, I’m ready for whatever.”

In two outings, he allowed one run and four hits in 4 1/3 innings while throwing 64 pitches to 16 hitters. Since the Yankees used Brett Marshall for 108 pitches spanning 5 2/3 innings in Wednesday’s 12-2 loss, they needed another arm and Betances was the choice.

“It’s just been a battle, just mechanic-wise,” Betances said. “I’ve worked real hard to repeat my delivery. I feel like I’m getting there. I feel like I’m real, real, real close. I feel like I’m throwing more strikes, especially out of the bullpen in a different mode. It’s more of an attack mode right out of the gate.”

Betances spent time with the Yankees as a September call-up two years ago when he issued six walks to 16 hitters in mop-up relief. Last year, the 6-foot-8 Grand Street Campus (Brooklyn, N.Y.) product was 6-9 with a 6.44 ERA in 27 appearances (26 starts) while splitting time between Double-A Trenton and Scranton-Wilkes Barre.

“He’s done OK. He had one really good outing the time before last,” Girardi said. “His last outing was OK. We like that he can simplify things and get on a roll and [can] be another arm for us.”

Yankee injury updates …

» Michael Pineda will throw 50 pitches on Friday either in extended spring training or in an intrasquad game.

Since Pineda has not pitched in nearly two years, the Yankees need him to build his arm strength back up to 100 pitches but they expect that to happen and that he will pitch sometime this summer

“We’ll continue to build him up,” Girardi said. “Starters as you know take a lot longer than relievers because you have to get him to 100 pitches and for a kid who hasn’t pitched in a couple of years, you may want to see a couple of times and make sure he’s ready to go every fifth day.”

» Joba Chamberlain will need another week to heal from a ribcage injury. Chamberlain was eligible to be activated but although he has not had a setback, the Yankees are playing it safe by having him play catch which will likely be followed by another bullpen session and another rehab appearance.

“Ribcages are tricky,” Girardi said. “A lot of times you’ll see where guys can actually throw or swing but you don’t feel that they are a hundred percent full power and we don’t think he’s quite there yet so we want to make sure he’s ready.”

Follow Yankees beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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Down the stretch and into the playoffs last season, opposing pitchers struggled to figure out a way to retire Raul Ibanez when he was a designated hitter for the Yankees.

Last night, Phil Hughes experienced that frustration by allowing a grand slam to Ibanez during a start that lasted 36 pitches.

The Yankees were handed a 12-2 loss to the Mariners that could easily qualify for their worst performance of the season.

“When I tried to go to changeup, slider, curveball, it seemed like nothing was there,” Hughes said.

Ibanez hit a pair of home runs and drove in six RBIs, but it was his grand slam which set the course for a rare lopsided loss for the Yankees.

Ibanez created his place in Yankees lore with numerous highlights, including becoming the first player to hit three home runs in the ninth inning or later in the same playoff series.

“You can’t help but to think about that,” Ibanez said. “That obviously was a big moment as a team over there and something I never forget. So I definitely remember that. But at the same time last year is over and you’ve got to move on and my job is to try and help this team win. So I try to just have good quality at-bats.”

On Tuesday, Ibanez hit a two-run home run against CC Sabathia that at the time provided the Mariners with two key runs in what was seemingly going to be a 3-1 victory that ultimately became a 4-3 defeat.

A night later, in his third career at-bat against Hughes, Ibanez helped ensure a more comfortable outcome for the Mariners by sending a 0-1 curveball just over the right-center field wall. The homer put the Yankees in a 6-0 hole and continued a troubling outing for Hughes.

“I don’t get frustrated,” manager Joe Girardi said. “This is a hard game. I think sometimes people want to make this seem like you have a Nintendo controller in your hand and you can control the baseball. It’s not that simple.

“For whatever reason, I mean, Phil’s a guy that pitches up and we know that. But today, I didn’t see the tape, but there were probably too many balls in the middle of the plate and he didn’t locate enough pitches and he got hurt.”

Up to that point, Hughes did not appear to have much movement on his fastball and it showed when he gave up three straight singles ahead of a walk to Justin Smoak.

“It’s tough,” Hughes said. “It seems to go by very quick and everything kind of speeds up. You’re just trying to find something, and the next thing you know you’ve got two outs and seven runs are in.”

“We pretty much threw everything out there and he didn’t really have a feel for any of his pitches, unfortunately,” catcher Chris Stewart said. “It seems like sometimes if you can get him through that first inning, he goes out and settles down after that. But we couldn’t get him through that. It happens and hopefully he comes back next time and finds it.”

Hughes came within one run of equaling his career worst in runs allowed. His career worst came in Baltimore on May 9, 2009 when he gave up eight runs in 1 2/3 innings.

“I don’t think I’ve had a worse start in my career, so it stings a little bit,” Hughes said.

The Yankees’ bullpen had extended its scoreless innings streak to 27 1/3 innings, the longest since 1998, before Ibanez struck again for a two-run shot to left field with one out in the fifth off Brett Marshall.

Marshall gave the Yankees five innings but by the time they needed to get the final out of the ninth, shortstop Alberto Gonzalez was on the mound.

“We need one out,” Girardi said. “It’s not something I want to do, but for me to bring in another pitcher. I think it doesn’t make a lot of sense there.”

Follow Yankees beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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Shawn Kelley has a strikeout rate of 14.67 per nine innings after totaling 25 in his first 15 1/3 innings in the Yankee bullpen.

Last year for the Mariners, he struck out 44 in 45 1/3 innings and in four seasons for Seattle, Kelley fanned 122 in 128 innings spanning 120 relief appearances.

So even though his strikeouts currently lead Yankee relievers, Kelley would be shocked if it continues. As he joked, if it did it would simply mean coming up with ways to explain to the media what he’s doing differently.

“I guess you guys can ask me a bunch of stuff about what I did differently and I don’t have any answers for you,” Kelley said with a chuckle.

The bulk of Kelley’s strikeouts have come recently. He has struck out seven of the last nine hitters he faced and 10 in his last five appearances after fanning 15 over his first eight appearances.

“I really don’t know,” he said. “I’m a fastball, slider guy. I try to attack and get ahead and stay on the aggressive. That’s what I’ve done my whole career. It’s a small sample size. It’s only a month and a half into the season. So I think as it balances out, I’m probably not going to be striking as many guys as I am. I don’t mind getting the first or second pitch groundout or pop out. I’m getting some punch outs right now but I’m just going to keep doing what I’ve always done the last three years.”

Kelley’s most significant performances have occurred in the last week. On Friday, in Kansas City, he relieved Phil Hughes with two outs in the sixth and used his slider and four-seam fastball evenly to get six strikeouts, becoming the first Yankee to fan at least six without allowing a runner since Ron Davis (eight strikeouts, three innings) on May 4, 1981 in Anaheim.

In Tuesday’s 4-3 win, Kelley entered with runners at first and third with one out in the seventh in relief of CC Sabathia. The Yankees trailed 3-1 at the time. Kelley retired Kelly Shoppach and Raul Ibanez and they scored three runs immediately after.

Kelley’s last appearances have been among the highlights for a unit that has allowed one run in the last nine games, spanning 23 2/3 innings. That marks the best stretch since Yankee relievers posted a 37.1 scoreless inning streak from July 20-Aug. 9, 1998.

“My mentality is to come in and do everything I can to leave those runners right there, just go for a strikeout or get a double play,” Kelley said. “Whatever it is, I’m trying with everything I have and with the situation in the game to keep us only down two and to give us a chance, especially with the meat of our order coming around the next inning. It’s just with a bullpen like ours you can take a little pressure off yourselves and go out there and execute your job and get the outs that they ask you to get and not have to worry about much past that.”

Adams joins team, starts at third

In the last three years, David Adams has had a bumpy path to the major leagues. He was nearly traded to the Mariners as the Yankees pursued Cliff Lee, saw his father suffer a heart attack this spring and dealt with a back injury. When the Yankees acquired Vernon Wells to fill the hole in left field they released Adams in the final week spring training.

“I think he really came on the radar for a lot of people around the Cliff Lee time,” manager Joe Girardi said. “That was probably when he appeared on the radar closest to our screen.

“There’s still people who come up to me and question me about it,” Adams said. “I’ve never thought anything of it. Trades fall through all the time. Who knows what was going on behind the scenes? That’s the way I look at it. I’m here today, and that’s all I worry about.”

Three days after being released, Adams rejoined the Yankees and in 27 games with Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre, he batted .316 (31-for-98). It earned him a promotion to the majors and Wednesday night he became the fourth different player to start at third base.

“They told me that when they released me, that we really like you but it’s a business and I understand it,” Adams said. “I was very excited when I found out [I was coming up] and even more excited, knowing how much I love the game.”

Like many other players on their first promotion to the Yankees, Adams was awestruck with the immenseness of the Yankee clubhouse.

“I’m lost,” he said. “This is a maze. Honestly I walked in and you got this and that and it’ll take me a couple of days to get accustomed to it if I’m fortunate enough to get this opportunity.”

In terms of his ability, the Yankees said he began impressing them for the first time this past spring training before suffering a back injury.

“He’s a young man that we’ve had high hopes for a long time,” Girardi said. “The injuries that he’s had have really set him back and kept him from being here earlier.”

To make room for Adams on the roster, Chris Nelson was designated for assignment. The Yankees acquired him two weeks ago after he was designated for assignment by the Rockies, who drafted him in the first round in 2004.

Wedge praises Montero

Former Yankee prospect Jesus Montero’s second full season as a major leaguer has seen him struggle as pitchers adjust to him.

Last year, Montero played 135 games after the Mariners acquired him from the Yankees for right-handed pitcher Michael Pineda. While Pineda has yet to pitch for the Yankees, Montero’s first 159 games with Seattle have been a mixed bag.

He hit .278 in the final month last season to finish with a .260 average. Montero also hit 15 home runs and drove in 62 runs.

Montero did not start Tuesday against Sabathia but was Seattle’s starting catcher Monday night and batted eighth. He came into the game hitting .200 with three home runs and nine RBIs to go along with a .250 on-base percentage.

Despite the low production so far, Seattle manager Eric Wedge praised the 23-year-old, especially with his game-calling ability in 21 starts as a catcher.

“The kid’s working hard,” Wedge said. “He really is and everything that he’s going through right now, developing as a young major-league player is going to be part of his DNA and just understanding how hard he has to work to catch and how hard it is to hit up here and having a greater respect for that. He really does. He’s got a great attitude. He comes to the ballpark ready to play every day, so he’s progressing.

“He still needs to continue to improve; we all know that. But he’s 23 and we saw a lot out of him in a short period of time. I just like the way he’s going about his business, calling a game and handling a pitching staff and working better fundamentally so it’s been evident.”

Follow Yankees beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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The Yankees did not beat Felix Hernandez but enough circumstances went in their favor to limit their exposure to him for only six innings.

And once he was gone Lyle Overbay lifted a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning to provide the go-ahead run in last night’s 4-3 victory over the Mariners.

Hernandez seemed to struggle after his right foot collided with Overbay in the fourth. The injury seemed to resurface when Hernandez was seen mouthing “ouch, ouch” on television replays following a ground ball by Curtis Granderson.

Despite staying in, the Yankees finally scored off Hernandez as Overbay roped a double off the top of the right field wall. Hernandez’s final pitch was a long flyout to Ichiro at the right-center field warning track.

Seattle manager Eric Wedge said it was a minor back issue that occurred not on the collision with Overbay, but when Hernandez turned to throw to second base on Granderson’s grounder.

“I’m hoping that he’s fine and I think he will be fine,” Wedge said. “When you tweak something like that on a play, which means you did something to it on a play, what you don’t want to have happen is send him back out there.

“He starts compromising things, then you change your delivery and you have a chance of doing something else that’s even more serious. I wasn’t going to take that chance.”

Had the injury not occurred, it seemed that despite putting some pressure on him, the Yankees would have dropped to 2-8 against Hernandez in their last 11 encounters.

“We had some chances off him but he basically did what he usually does,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “I like the pressure that we put on him, but I think he actually left because of the leg. He was only around 90 pitches and that’s a guy who not’s afraid to throw [more]. That changeup and all the swing and miss stuff makes it pretty tough to score off him.”

The next time a Yankee hit a ball well was against Charlie Furbush in the seventh when Robinson Cano stepped in. Cano fell behind 1-2 but he did not miss on a 3-2 slider, crushing it to just in front of the wall in right-center field for a game-tying double.

“Robby got us going,” Overbay said. “He puts us on his back and lets it ride after that.”

After the Mariners intentionally walked Vernon Wells and unintentionally walked Curtis Granderson, Overbay lifted a full-count fastball to center field and Cano scored.

It was Overbay’s fifth go-ahead RBI, tying him with Wells for the team lead. Both were considered castoffs and the moves were decried by many Yankee fans late in spring training.

“He’s had so many big hits and RBI for us,” Girardi said. “He’s been really good. We managed to play him almost every day. I feel good about him whenever he’s at the plate. I really do.”

The Yankees won for the seventh time in eight games, improved to 24-10 since a 1-4 start and 16-5 in games decided by two runs or less.

Tuesday’s win came on a night when CC Sabathia turned in an uneven performance. Sabathia allowed a two-run home run to Raul Ibanez among 10 hits in 6 1/3 innings but also prevented more runs from scoring by striking out 10.

Follow Yankees beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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Before Tuesday, Curtis Granderson’s experience as a left fielder consisted of 57 innings and 14 successful chances with the Tigers. The first 10 came during a 20-game stint in 2005 and the other four occurred in two games in 2007.

Now it appears he will get a lot more opportunities in left field after being activated from the disabled list Tuesday and being placed there instead of Brett Gardner, who will remain the center fielder.

The Yankees planned on using Granderson in left field during spring training but that plan had to be scrapped after he broke his forearm after getting hit with a J.A. Happ pitch on Feb. 24.

Granderson didn’t have the opportunity to get the feel for reading balls off the bat or taking the proper route in left field in spring training. Instead he had to do those things during extended spring training and in minor league rehab games.

During his rehab games, Granderson appeared in right field and left field. He had one chance in left and one in right.

If a ball is hit to him in left field, it will be his first putout at the position since Sept. 2, 2007 in Oakland when he caught a line drive by Mark Ellis in the eighth inning.

“I’m ready to play,” Granderson said. “It doesn’t matter where it happens to be. I’ve said that before. I got a chance to work in both right and left down in the minor leagues so I’ll be as ready as I can for that. Obviously the big-league stage is going to be a little challenge as well so I’ll go out there today and take the first step.”

The other main challenge will be arm strength. Granderson’s arm strength has been regarded as slightly below average but that was based mostly as a center fielder where he would have make throws from 400 feet away on balls hit to the warning track. At Yankee Stadium, the distance is 399 in left center field and 318 down the left-field line.

“Arm strength is pretty good. It’s just a matter of getting throws, feeling it, having pressure and having guys move base to base and having plays at certain bases like that, just different things that I’m going to adjust with and different elements — if it’s wet, if it’s dry, sun, day, night, twilight and all that good stuff,” Granderson said.

“You only can try to be in those situations as much as possible but today will be a lot more firsts than I have had the previous couple of weeks.”

Before Granderson’s return, the Yankees have made 72 putouts and fielded 74 chances without an error from the trio. Vernon Wells has made 66 putouts while Ichiro Suzuki has five and Ben Francisco has one.

“The main thing I want to do is just go out there and get balls off the bat. You can’t mirror game-like swings and game-like intensity until you’re actually out there,” Granderson said. “I got a chance to talk to Vernon Wells who has been playing exceptional out there. I got a chance to talk to Brett Gardner who has played a lot out there and having him in center out there tonight is definitely going to help.”

The other change for Granderson involves protecting himself at the plate after suffering breaks in his hand and forearm three times in seven years. Granderson will be wearing protective padding on his arm and his elbow but it doesn’t seem that it will be as noticeable.

“Might as well be safe than sorry,” he said. “Three times over the course of seven years in the big leagues, it’s been broken, so you start talking about the right hand and all those things that can set you back, you might as well cover up. I’ve been fortunate but if you got the opportunity to protect yourself you might as well do it.”

Hafner sits, undergoes MRI

After carrying the Yankee offense along with Robinson Cano in April by hitting .318, Travis Hafner has batted .133 (4-for-30) this month with two strikeouts.

Hafner went 2-for-17 on the road trip and sat out with a sore shoulder that has been bothering him for a while.

“He’s managed it and he’s played through it,” manager Joe Girardi said. “He’s been fairly productive for us. But we’re just taking some precautionary things to see where he’s at and make sure we’re not missing anything.”

Nuno impresses, returns to minors

Vidal Nuno impressed the Yankees by allowing three hits in five innings during the second game of Monday’s doubleheader in Cleveland but his next start will be Saturday for Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre

After not pitching for 13 days, Nuno threw 89 pitches. He became the first Yankee to throw at least five scoreless innings in his first major-league start since Jorge DePaula in the second game of a doubleheader against Baltimore on Sept. 26, 2003.

“They were shocked that I went that long,” Nuno said. “It gave me the confidence that I can do this every five days after 13 days off. It was good, just knowing that I can pitch up here. I showed everybody that I belong here.”

Wedge praises Bay and Perez

Mets fans rarely had anything good to say about Jason Bay and Oliver Perez. Perez was signed to a three-year, $36 million deal in 2009, while Bay signed for four years and $66 million. Both were signed by former general manager Omar Minaya and released before the end of their deals.

However, both are with the Mariners and playing somewhat significant roles on a team which came into Yankee Stadium at 18-20.

After three disappointing seasons highlighted by injuries and underachievement with the Mets, Bay came into last night hitting .253, a figure boasted by a .361 (13-for-36) average against left-handed pitching. Bay never hit higher than .259 with the Mets and batted .172 (16-for-93) off lefties last year.

“He’s a consummate professional,” Seattle manager Eric Wedge said. “He comes to the ballpark and he’s ready to play every day but he understands that with what’s going on with everybody else he may not be in there. But I’ve been trying to get him as much at-bats [as possible] against left-handers and give him some opportunities against right-handers. He’s made some real adjustments. He’s done some things to right himself a little bit and it’s been a help to us.”

Wedge didn’t say what adjustments but described them as subtle things such as cutting down the movement.

As for Perez, whose velocity dipped to 88 mph in 2010, he has become part of the late-inning mix in the bullpen since signing with the Mariners last year. He had a 2.42 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP in 33 appearances last year.

The stint was highlighted by 20-straight scoreless appearances but this year Perez has been even better.

Twelve of Perez’s 14 appearances have been scoreless and he has 1.26 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP. Last year his fastball averaged nearly 94 mph and this year it has averaged nearly 93 mph.

“It’s a second career for him out of the bullpen and he’s really taken to it,” Wedge said. “He’s rearing it up there but it’s not just that. He has multiple pitches that he can throw out there against right-handers and left-handers and he really competes.”

Follow Yankees beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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Even if manager Joe Girardi is not concerned, Andy Pettitte will always be his biggest critic, and he offered a scathing review of his second straight performance with little movement on his fastball.

“I’m not going to judge someone on two starts,” Girardi said after Sunday’s 5-4 loss to Oakland. “If it goes on for a month, then I think obviously there’s some concern. I think every pitcher in the big leagues has probably had two starts that you know weren’t so good and not what you’re used to seeing from a particular pitcher.

“If he was 26 or if he was 32, we wouldn’t have to question but because of his age, I think we have to question. So I think two starts it way too much to make a big deal out of.”

Pettitte struggled through five innings and although he did not get the decision because the Yankees rallied in the eighth inning, frustration was the primary theme from the 40-year-old left-hander.

“It’s a struggle,” Pettitte said. “The issue is everything again. Just everything that you want to try to do as a starting pitcher, I’m not able to do right now. I had no command of my fastball.

The lack of fastball command was evident from the outset. Luke Montz hit a home run off the fastball in the fourth for a 2-0 lead and Yoenis Cespedes did the same for a two-run home run in the fifth.

It also was obvious when Pettitte gave up two walks on his fastball to load the bases in the first inning. Though Pettitte escaped, it set the tone for a day when he reached three-ball counts on seven occasions.

“Everything’s been great in my bullpen,” Pettitte said. “So something’s going on during the game. My release point is floating around a little bit. I can feel it. I feel pretty good on a few pitches coming out, and then I feel terrible.

“You just know the feel of the ball coming off your fingers. It’s not coming off right.”

Pettitte failed to win for the third straight start after opening his 18th season with a 3-0 record. Since beating Toronto on April 19, Pettitte has allowed 14 runs and 21 hits over his last 15 1/3 innings while seeing his ERA increase from 2.01 to 4.06.

“It’s been a long, long time since I hadn’t had a feel for my pitches,” Pettitte said. “When I get out there in a game, it’d be nice to be able to have command of something out there.”

Perhaps the worst thing for Pettitte is the issue with his cut fastball. Pettitte has thrown 191 pitches over his last two starts but only 27 have been cutters.

To put that in context, he threw the cutter 36 times in a 10-strikeout performance in a 3-0 loss at Tampa Bay on April 24. He also threw it that often in a 9-4 win in Toronto when he made a start after not pitching in nine days.

“My cutter is nonexistent right now,” Pettitte said. “A pitch in certain counts that I want to go to, right now, it’s awfully difficult because when I do throw a good one and then I trust the next one and it’s a bad pitch, it’s hard to trust it again. I got to figure this out and figure it out hopefully pretty quick.”

If there is a good news element to Pettitte’s sudden loss of cut fastball command, it is that he said he’s not hurt. The no-excuses left-hander almost sounded like he wished an injury was the cause.

Instead, he will have to work his way out of this frustrating stretch.

“I feel good, I do,” Pettitte said. “I wish I could tell you that something’s hurting, but I feel good. That’s the frustrating part. You could have things hurting and I’ve pitched a lot better than this.”

Follow Yankees beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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Stacking left-handed hitters is something manager Joe Girardi often tries to avoid, but the combination of injuries and slumping right-handed hitters didn’t leave him much choice Tuesday night.

The decision to place lefties Brett Gardner, Ichiro Suzuki, Robinson Cano, Travis Hafner and Brennan Boesch in the first five spots in the lineup proved successful in a 7-4 victory over the Astros.

“They did a good job tonight,” Girardi said. “We knew that Humber had struggled with lefties this year and a lot of my lefties I’m going to leave in against a lefty anyways, so I decided I’m going to stack them.”

The Yankees concluded April with 16 wins in 26 games despite adding three more players to their crowded disabled list since Thursday. One of the key reasons was Hafner, who finished April with a .318 average after three more hits Tuesday.

Hafner batted cleanup for the 15th time this season, but did so hitting behind Robinson Cano for just the second time. The other instance was a week ago in Tampa Bay when the pairing was 0-for-7 in a 3-0 loss.

Hafner had better success hitting behind Cano against Phillip Humber. While Cano did not reach in his first two at-bats, Hafner had RBI singles in his first two appearances.

Hafner had his first three-hit game since Aug. 5 and his 21 hits in April are his most since having 31 in September 2007 while helping Cleveland win the AL Central title.

“I think swing-wise I’ve just gotten a little more consistent as the season has gone on,” Hafner said. “I was kind of doing some new stuff in the spring and I feel it’s gotten a little better as the season has gone on.”

“They were great,” manager Joe Girardi said of Hafner’s at-bats. “He didn’t get the big home run for us but he got three hits with runners in scoring position. You just see that his approach is good and he’s been great in that four-hole for us and with all the people that we have out, he’s really done a good job in our lineup.”

Speed helped Hafner drive in those runs as Ichiro batted behind Gardner for the third time this year. In their first games hitting 1-2, the speedy outfielders were a combined 2-for-14 but last night they combined to get on base six times while going 4-for-9.

Overall, the five left-handed bats were a combined 8-for-21, reached base 13 times and scored the first four runs.

“That’s kind of why you want to put them there,” said first baseman Lyle Overbay, whose eighth-inning home run made Yankee left-handed hitters 9-for-25. “Those guys are going to set the tone. If you get in the late innings you’re going to pinch hit at some point but the most at-bats are going to be against Humber, so I don’t think it’s too big of a deal.

“It’s just something that in the right situation, Gardy’s leadoff and Ichi can spread the ball around and do what he’s capable of. It’s a good lineup.”

In the first inning, Hafner drove in Gardner on a single that left fielder Brandon Barnes was unable to hold on to after the outfielder stole second and took third on an Ichiro base hit.

The pattern repeated itself in the third inning and again in the fifth.

In the third, Ichiro led off by reaching on a wild pitch on strike three. With one out he stole second and four pitches later, he scored on Hafner’s single up the middle.

Two innings later, Ichiro reached on a one-out infield single and took second on a Cano single. After a wild pitch forced the Astros to intentionally walk Hafner, Ichiro scored on Boesch’s groundout and Cano came home on Jayson Nix’s infield hit.

The effectiveness at the top of the order enabled Hiroki Kuroda to win for the fourth straight time. He struggled early, throwing 67 pitches through three innings but allowed four hits, struck out eight and threw just 41 pitches over the final four frames.

Kuroda retired 14 of the 15 hitters he faced while pitching out of the stretch at the suggestion of pitching coach Larry Rothchild. He said it gave him better command of his slider and sinker, which proved vital when David Robertson allowed a two-run home run to Chris Carter in the eighth and Shawn Kelley gave up a two-run double to Jose Altuve in the ninth.

“That is actually something I don’t like to do, but I followed his suggestion today,” Kuroda said through an interpreter. “My control wasn’t there, so I tried to throw, attack the zone, as much as I can.”

“It seemed like he struggled with his control in the first couple of innings but got out of trouble every inning,” Hafner said. “After that, he was outstanding, so just kind of a great job by a veteran pitcher who knows what he’s doing.”

Follow Yankees beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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If the Yankees could have a do-over as it pertains to Kevin Youkilis, they would not have played him Saturday afternoon against Toronto. The move may have further injured his back, and as a result the Yankees placed him on the 15-day DL Tuesday.

The team is calling it a lumbar spine sprain, which occurs when the ligaments are torn from their attachments.

Saturday was his first action in a week and will be his only action until mid-May. Playing Youkilis on Saturday cost the Yankees an opportunity to back date his stint to his last game.

Since Youkilis last played on April 27, the first day he can return is May 13 when the Yankees play a doubleheader in Cleveland.

“You do the fire drill, you go through it, trainers, manager, coaches, player, doctor, everybody’s involved, front office,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. “And if it works you don’t look back. If it doesn’t work, you have regret. If we could do it all over again, we would not have played him last Saturday.”

In his first 11 games, Youkilis was hitting .333 with a .404 on-base percentage. Since that point, Youkilis has three hits in his last 32 at-bats and his on-base percentage dropped 57 points.

The Yankees are hoping it’s only a 15-day injury, but Youkilis had the same issue a year ago and that cost him 23 days.

Youkilis was not at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday because he received an epidural injection in his back.

Joseph replaces Youkilis

A year ago, Youkilis’ back injury paved the way for highly regarded prospect Will Middlebrooks to join the Red Sox. Middlebrooks never returned to the minors before suffering a season-ending hand injury.

This year’s replacement for Youkilis on the roster is not as high up on the prospect list. Corban Joseph, a fourth-round pick of the Yankees in 2008, is here since he is the only other infielder on the 40-man roster.

Joseph is considered more of utility type than a third baseman and batted .273 with four home runs and nine RBI in 22 games for Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre. He had a .824 OPS while playing mostly second base and a little first base.

Yankee notes …

» Cashman described the inflammation for Ivan Nova’s triceps as “mild.” He also said Curtis Granderson is getting closer to playing in minor league rehab games.

» Yankee pitchers began prepping for their first visit to a National League city next week in Colorado with some batting practice. During the session, Phil Hughes hit a home run to left field while David Phelps worked on his bunting.

Follow Yankees beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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Kevin Youkilis’ recent history of back issues has cropped up again. He was not in the starting lineup Sunday, and the Yankees said he would undergo an MRI on Monday.

Youkillis missed six games with lower back soreness before returning Saturday, but when the starting lineup was released approximately 60 minutes before first pitch, Youkilis was not on it.

Manager Joe Girardi started off his pregame press conference by shrugging off the injury but by the end of his session, his tone reflected more of a concern for someone who has three hits in his last 31 at-bats.

“It’s a little concerning for me,” Girardi said. “I’ve said all along that backs can be tricky. I’m a guy that’s had to deal with it for a number of years, and sometimes you have no idea why it acts up. Sometimes it’s maybe one play or something you do, but sometimes it can be as simple as bending over to pick up a ball or something, and all of a sudden you lock up.

“It’s concerning. I sure hope that we’re not where we were when he first did it. I hope it’s just a little stiff and we can get him back in there. Really, the only thing that’s going to tell us is time.”

Rivera makes it 9-for-9

In his first month back from last year’s season-ending knee injury, Mariano Rivera has converted all nine of his save opportunities.

Rivera has allowed two runs and nine hits in 10 innings while striking out nine.

Three of those hits came Friday night when Rivera loaded the bases on three singles. In his first appearance since Friday, Rivera needed 10 pitches to get a lineout, a strikeout and a groundout.

“I felt Mo threw the ball well in spring training,” Girardi said. “He didn’t really throw a lot of back-to-back and you wondered how he’d really respond throwing three out of four days. He’s a little bit like [Jeter] and Andy; there’s not much they’re going to do that’s going to surprise you. You’re so used to seeing the way they go about their business and it’s just what you expect.”

Rivera’s nine saves are the most he has had in any April.

Anthopoulos talks Reyes, infield defense

The Blue Jays lost six of the first 10 games former Mets shortstop Jose Reyes appeared in before he suffered a severely sprained left ankle. Their defense was shaky at times and since then it has not been much better.

Toronto came into Sunday’s game with a league-leading 16 errors, a league-worst 45 double plays turned and the fourth-worst fielding percentage in the American League at .982.

Part of it has been the inability to prevent infield hits. Since Reyes went down, balls classified as infield hits or ones that have deflected off infielders into the outfield have led to 12 runs. The biggest instances this weekend were two infield hits on Thursday night that preceded Robinson Cano’s three-run home run in a game Toronto held a 3-1 lead at the time.

“You’re losing your shortstop who does so many things [and he’s] a catalyst,” Toronto general manager Alex Anthopoulos said before Sunday’s game. “His loss is definitely a significant loss. I just don’t think we can sit there and we’re in the position because we lost Reyes. I don’t think it’s fair as a team but no question you have a guy like that back with everything he brings at the top of the order, the offense, the arm strength, the energy that he brings, he’ll be a huge boost to anytime. So we’ll be excited when we finally end up getting him back.”

Anthopoulos said the cast has been removed from Reyes’ ankle and he currently is in a walking boot. The Blue Jays are hopeful Reyes can resume walking in about 10 days and expect him back in July.

Follow Yankees beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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Lyle Overbay arrived in Yankees spring training camp a month ago still carrying his equipment bag from a brief stint with the Red Sox. The Yankees needed some depth at first base while they waited for Mark Teixeira’s forearm to heal and Overbay happened to be available.

It was a move met with ridicule and disdain from many Yankee fans and although Overbay has not hit as well as Travis Hafner and Vernon Wells, he has sprinkled in a few key hits.

On a day when the Yankees were mostly flummoxed by R.A. Dickey’s knuckleball, Overbay was not. He sent one into the Yankee bullpen beyond the right-center field wall for a two-run home run with two outs in the seventh inning to give the Yankees a 3-2 victory over the Blue Jays.

“I think a lot of things have to work in my favor, which I think they did,” Overbay said of becoming a Yankee. “I think that’s the way it happened but I was up in the air. You never know.”

Overbay estimated he was a free agent for about 90 minutes before his agent reached out to the Yankees and to Milwaukee, whom he played with for two seasons. He hit free agency after getting a call from Boston general manager Ben Cherington and manager John Farrell shortly after the Red Sox acquired Mike Carp.

“When I signed there, in the beginning they said we’re looking for an outfielder and a first baseman who can play from the left side,” Overbay said. “I understood that and the trades that they were trying to get didn’t work out. So they told me that those trades might come up and that’s when the deal with Mike Carp kind of sealed the deal a little bit.”

The Yankees won for the 14th time in 19 games following their 1-4 start. For the second straight game, the Yankees got the big hit from a veteran acquisition.

“We’ve got good players,” Overbay said. “It’s just a matter of getting those opportunities and that timely hitting. We’ve had pretty good timely hitting. It’s just a matter of getting that timely hitting for us.”

“He’s been important to us,” manager Joe Girardi said. “Offensively he’s really contributed but defensively he’s really solidified first base. He really knows how to play the position. He’s done a really nice job for us and we got a little bit lucky when he became available at the end of spring training.”

On Saturday, the Yankees won by getting four RBI from Hafner in his first start against a left-handed pitcher and an RBI from Wells.

Overbay’s hit improved the Yankees to 9-1 in games decided by two runs or less, including all four of their wins over the Blue Jays.

And instead of surviving while waiting for injured players to return, the Yankees are thriving with these players making consistent contributions.

“I would have signed up for [a 15-9 record] definitely,” Girardi said. “It’s a group that has something to prove, some guys that are older that had some down years, or some injury plagued years and some younger guys trying to establish themselves.”

The hit also took some of the focus away from Phil Hughes. Hughes allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings.

He managed to limit the damage by striking out Edwin Encarnacion and Melky Cabrera with Jose Bautista on second in the sixth inning. Bautista struck out twice against Hughes and, after scoring Toronto’s second run, he made the final out of the seventh by striking out against Boone Logan.

Follow Yankees beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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Hiroki Kuroda’s night began with an ominous tone. He quickly fell behind, left a few pitches in areas of the plate he should not have and it appeared his outing would be a short one.

Then the Yankee bats realized they were facing Mark Buehrle, a pitcher for whatever reason they tend to hit hard.

The trend continued in last night’s 5-3 win over the Blue Jays.

Kuroda allowed three runs and six hits before completing two innings but he allowed nothing more as he picked up his third win of the season.

By the time he stopped allowing hits, Kuroda resembled the pitcher who allowed one run and eight hits over his previous 16 1/3 innings. After allowing a two-out double to Muenori Kawaski, he retired 13 of the final 14 batters he faced.

Kuroda left the game with a lead because the Yankees knocked around Buehrle again. Buehrle fell to 0-7 in his last 10 starts and 1-9 in 14 career starts against the Yankees.

He gave up home runs to the two Yankees who seem to hit him the best as Vernon Wells and Robinson Cano connected in the early innings.

Wells improved to 24-for-48 lifetime off Buehrle with a solo home run leading off the first. Cano improved to 8-for-19 lifetime off the left-hander with a three-run home run with two outs in the third inning to give the Yankees the lead.

Francisco Cervelli also added a solo home run for his first hit in five career at-bats off Buehrle.

Follow Yankees beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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Derek Jeter is not giving a timeline to when he will return from his broken ankle. At the same time, he has little doubt he will be able to come back from the injury at some time.

Jeter made his first remarks at Yankee Stadium after last week’s CT scan revealed a small fracture in his surgically repaired left ankle.

“Whenever it heals, I’ll be back,” Jeter said during the 18 1/2 minute press conference before Thursday night’s game with Toronto. “That’s the best way to put it.”

While not currently issuing an estimated time for his return, Jeter also said that he didn’t regret initially setting one.

“I don’t [regret it],” Jeter said of placing a timeline on his return. “My job is to be ready for Opening Day and I feel like I didn’t do my job. My job was to be ready. Unfortunately I wasn’t but I don’t regret it because I think you have to set goals.”

Jeter and the Yankees were hoping he would be activated by May 1 but that time period was going to be missed even before last week’s news. Jeter already had a metal plate and screws inserted into the ankle after breaking it in Game 1 of the ALCS against Detroit.

“It’s the same bone but it’s in a different spot,” Jeter said. “I’m not exactly sure when I did it. When we took the CT scan before spring training had started, the bone had healed. I’m not one to complain about something being sore. You just go out there and play which I did and it just never went away.

“So I wasn’t able to run. I wasn’t able to do things that I wanted to do. So I had it checked out again and that’s when they found out it was fractured again. I would assume it’s probably been like that for some time. But that’s just an assumption, there’s no way to tell.

Jeter is currently in a walking boot but did not wear one to his press conference because that would have delayed the start even longer.

“It’s been a difficult process,” Jeter said. “It’s been a frustrating process. Just when you’re think you’re close to coming back, you have a setback. So it’s part of the healing process. When you get hurt it’s supposed to take time. Unfortunately it’s taking more time than I anticipated.”

Jeter will return at least one month after he turns 39 on June 26. He led the majors in hits with 216 last year and batted .316 in 2012 and .327 after the All-Star break in 2011.

“When you have doubt that’s when you’re in trouble,” Jeter said. “I’ve been told this is going to heal and when it heals I’ll be ready to go. It’s frustrating that I can’t magically make it heal sooner than it’s taking but I have no doubt in my mind.”

“The doc told me when it heals it heals and you’ll be fine,” Jeter said. “Sometimes it takes a little longer. So I have no doubt.”

As determined as Jeter is about returning, manager Joe Girardi and general manager Brian Cashman are cautiously hopeful.

“Our hope is that he’ll just pick up where he left off last year,” Girardi said. “Once we get this all healed, I don’t think any of us are going to know until we get to that point. We were under the impression that he would heal up and play shortstop for us. He’s had a setback here that we have to deal with but hopefully we get him back and he’s the same player he was at the end of last year.

“I hope to get him back and he’s physically able [to play],” Cashman said. “Obviously Derek’s never done anything but have success. I would expect him to be a successful player like we’ve always gotten from him. It’s hard to expect anything otherwise.”

Follow Yankees beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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The day began with the glum news of another setback for Derek Jeter and his attempt to recover from a broken ankle.

Hours later, the day concluded with one of few times the Yankees have experienced disappointment on the field in the last two weeks.

A second error on a catcher’s interference by Francisco Cervelli in the 12th inning opened the floodgates in what ultimately became a 6-2 loss to the Diamondbacks late last night.

The Yankees lost for just the second time in nine games following their dreadful 1-4 start. They did so after general manager Brian Cashman announced that Jeter would be out until at least the All-Star break, meaning Eduardo Nunez will handle shortstop in the interim.

“It’s not what we wanted, that’s for sure,” manager Joe Girardi said. “It’s disappointing. I know it’s extremely disappointing for him because he’s so used to being here with us. It’s something that we’re going to have to really fight through and some guys are going to really have to step up in his absence and hopefully we’ll get him back sometime after the All-Star break.”

Nunez had a chance to come through with the winning hit with two on and two out in the 11th against Heath Bell. He gave Bell a tough at-bat by fouling off two fastballs but on a 2-2 pitch he lined out to left fielder Cody Ross.

The next time the Yankees batted the game was no longer tied. Ross lived up to his reputation for getting big hits by delivering a one-out bases-loaded single off David Phelps.

The bases were loaded because Cervelli was called for catcher’s interference on a 0-1 pitch to Paul Goldschmidt. Cervelli also was called for interference in the ninth against rookie Didi Gregorius but that did not cost the Yankees.

“You don’t see it twice usually,” Girardi said. “They took some really late swings and he was probably a little too close.”

“They were a little late on their swings,” Cervelli said. “I was too close their hitters twice. It’s not an excuse.”

Cervelli’s ninth-inning home run might have won the game and his second error of the night might have never happened had the Yankees been able to produce for the first eight innings.

The lineup produced two hits off Patrick Corbin, an upstate New York native who grew up a Yankee fan. One of those hits was a solo home run by Robinson Cano with one out in the sixth.

Cervelli’s home run also could have been the game-winner but the Yankees came up empty in the eighth as Cano and Youkilis struck out with the bases loaded.

Phil Hughes was in line for a tough-luck loss after allowing solo home runs to Gregorius and Martin Prado among six hits in seven innings.

Follow Yankees beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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The bad news just got worse for Derek Jeter and the Yankees.

General manager Brian Cashman said Thursday Jeter will not be back until after the All-Star break after doctors discovered a small crack in his surgically repaired left ankle.

“We have to back off and let that heal,” Cashman told reporters. “This is obviously a setback. We are looking at, in terms of speculating on when Derek might be back with us, you are looking at some point after the All-Star break.”

Cashman said it will not require further surgery.

When Jeter was shut down during spring training after what the team termed “soreness” in his surgically repaired ankle, he was expected to miss little to no time. The timetable gradually increased to not being ready for Opening Day and then May 1. Now comes word Jeter had to shut down his rehab over the weekend.

Jeter, 38, said back during spring training he was not worried about the original setback, as doctors told him there would be soreness in the ankle. He also made specific reference to the fact that the fracture itself was not an issue.

One of the reasons for the long delay is that Jeter has had very little time to play. Once the small fracture is healed, Jeter would still need as much as a month of game action — approximately the length of spring training — before he could return to the majors.

“He is not ready to play in games,” manager Joe Girardi said Wednesday. “I don’t think they necessarily have an exact date where they know he is going to play in games. We’ll just go day by day and see how he feels.”

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For a night, the most famed rivalry in sports was put on hold.

The Yankees honored the Red Sox and the city of Boston following Monday’s bombings at the Boston Marathon by playing Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” after the third inning of their Tuesday night game against the Diamondbacks. The Red Sox have a tradition of playing the song, written about President John F. Kennedy’s daughter, Caroline, in the middle of the eighth inning of each home game at Fenway Park.

The gesture by the Yankees was reminiscent of the Red Sox playing Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” during September 2001 home games following the 9/11 attacks on New York City.

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The debate about Robinson Cano hitting second will continue as opponents weigh the pros and cons.

One claim proponents can use is that Cano watching Brett Gardner from the on-deck circle gives him a decent look at what the opposing pitcher is throwing.

Cano had a good look at the changeups Brandon McCarthy was throwing Gardner with two on and one out in the bottom of the fourth inning. And six pitches after Gardner struck out on the pitch, Cano slugged a three-run home run that made the difference in last night’s 4-2 win over the Diamondbacks.

Cano has spent most of the last two weeks batting second since manager Joe Girardi moved him there following a 1-for-8 start in two losses to the Red Sox. The early results were not good as Cano went 2-for-15 in the first four games of the experiment.

However, starting with a three-hit, two-homer performance in Cleveland on April 8, Cano is 16-for-43 (.372) with four home runs and 11 RBIs in five games hitting behind Gardner.

“Robby got going and we got going as a team,” Girardi said. “It was a big three-run home run tonight and it ends up being the game-winning hit. It seemed like when he got hot, we got hot and our offense took off.”

Behind Cano, who did not hit his fourth home run last year until May 18, the Yankees won for the sixth time in seven games. They have hit 13 home runs in that span and are hitting .321 as a team.

“I haven’t realized that,” Cano said of his hot stretch coinciding with New York’s surge. “I’m in the top of the lineup and you want to get on base for your guys. The team has been really good lately.”

“It means a lot when you hear it from your manager. Those are the kinds of things that I come here and be ready to play the game. That’s what you want. You want to be here and the guy that they can count on.”

Although he struck out twice in three at-bats against McCarthy, Cano had the opportunity to watch 16 pitches. Four of them were changeups, including the pitch on the corner Gardner swung at.

“That’s what you want,” Cano said. “Not only is he a guy that sees a lot of pitches, he’s a guy that can hit and has good numbers. That’s what you want to be. You want a guy like him [ahead of] you.”

Cano got ahead of McCarthy on two cut fastballs and a changeup. After taking a changeup for a called strike on the outside corner and fouling off a curveball, Cano saw another changeup. But this one was over the middle of the plate and it was crushed into the lower rows of the right-center field bleachers behind the Yankee bullpen.

“I think he has the ability to hit the ball to all fields,” Girardi said. “Robby’s never been a guy that’s just been strictly a pull guy. So he’s not afraid to hit the ball out the other way on a fastball. We saw him do that a few times in Cleveland. So I think that allows him to cover a variety of pitches because he doesn’t sit fastball and say I need to pull it, I’ll hit it the other way and I think he’s able to adjust to pitches better.”

Cano’s first home run at Yankee Stadium this season enabled Ivan Nova to pick up his first win after rainouts in Cleveland caused his turn to be skipped. In his first start since April 5, Nova gave the Yankees five innings while allowing two runs and seven hits.

Nova threw 71 pitches over his first three innings as he struggled with fastball command. He threw 23 to the final eight hitters as his fastball grew better and then four relievers combined on four scoreless innings.

Follow Yankees beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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Kevin Youkilis was enjoying a scheduled off day following a quick Sunday night game when news of the two bombings at the Boston marathon broke Monday afternoon. From that point on, the rest of his day was trying to get in touch with the numerous family and friends in the Boston area from his nine years with the Red Sox.

“It turned into a lot of phone calls and worry,” Youkilis said before last night’s game with Arizona. “It was just a tragic day, thousands of people just enjoying it. It’s an amazing feat.

“I’ve been down there on the finish line and it’s an amazing thing to watch these people finish a marathon and then something tragic like that happens. You can’t put into words. We were very fortunate reaching out to all to the people we know that everyone was OK. It was unfortunate that a hundred people are in the hospital or lost their lives. It ate me up a lot.”

Youkilis said he never lived near where the bombings occurred but he recalled former Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon living there at various points. He also said his wife ran the marathon a few times and that on occasion after a game, he would go to the finish line.

“Patriots’ Day, it’s an amazing day,” he said. “For the baseball players sometimes it’s tough to get to the ball field. They close off a lot of streets. We plan ahead but it’s an amazing thing. They bring down the big flag on the Green Monster and the marathon runners are going. As players we’re kind of sitting watching the guys finish and are amazed at how fast they run.

“But the city, it’s the most exciting day of the year in Boston. People are off work, they celebrate it [and] they cheer on these runners. It’s such a positive atmosphere. Personally I’ve never seen so many people cheering on people running that they don’t even know and they give him a boost of energy. It’s a pretty remarkable thing.”

On the Yankee Stadium marquee the logos of the Red Sox and Yankees appeared with the words “United We Stand.” The Yankees also announced they would honor Boston by playing “Sweet Caroline” at the conclusion of the third inning after a moment of silence.

While Youkilis may have the most experience among Yankees with Patriots’ Day, the location is an area the players have gone through either by bus or by foot on the way to and from Fenway Park and the hotel.

“I think when something is familiar to you, it hit you different than if you never been to a place you never recognized,” manager Joe Girardi said. “We’ve been down that street many, many times whether it’s been on bus or it’s been on foot. It’s disturbing. It’s really sad to see the things that go on in this world where we can’t seem to all enjoy each other’s presence and all the gifts that God has given every country.”

Yankees honor Jackie Robinson

Since the Yankees were off Monday, they did not have a chance to honor Jackie Robinson on the 66th anniversary of his breaking the color barrier for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Instead, they did it a day later with all on-field personnel from both teams wearing the number 42 on the backs of their uniforms.

“It’s a special night,” Girardi said. “I think anytime you get a chance to put on the number 42 and support what Jackie Robinson stood for and to support what he went through and all the difficulties that he had to face, I think its special. It’s an honor to be able to wear this number.”

This year will also mark the last time closer Mariano Rivera will wear the number. Since Rivera is retiring after this season, the number will be retired for good. In nearly 20 years of wearing it, Rivera has formed a relationship with the Robinson family.

“I won’t say that I have a relationship with them. I met the family but at the same time I’m extremely proud of what Mrs. Robinson has been doing all these years.”

Rivera also said he has seen the new movie “42” and that he thought it was amazing.

Yankee notes …

» Andy Pettitte reported no pain after throwing about 35 to 40 pitches in a bullpen session. He is still on track to start Friday in Toronto.

» Eduardo Nunez was back in the lineup after being hit with a pitch on the wrist on Friday. He was batting seventh.

» Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre announced that Chien-Ming Wang would start on Friday.

Follow Yankees beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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Hiroki Kuroda’s first two starts did not go anything close to how he hoped. His third start featured the type of sinker he’s more used to.

Kuroda scattered five hits and got 18 groundball outs during his sixth career complete game in last night’s 3-0 victory over the Orioles

“I thought sinker was so excellent,” manager Joe Girardi said. “You look at all the groundball outs he got – that tells me his sinker was excellent.”

Going into last night, Kuroda had thrown 37 sinkers, accounting for 24.5 percent of his pitches. He made liberal use of the pitch Sunday night, throwing it 53 times and getting 15 outs with the pitch.

“Against the lefties and as well as against the righties, I was able to throw my sinker with precision,” Kuroda said through an interpreter.

“He’s fun to catch,” said catcher Francisco Cervelli, who described Kuroda’s command of the sinker as “unbelievable.” “It’s great because he’s able to throw any pitch whenever he wants.”

It was Kuroda’s fourth complete game with the Yankees and third shutout in pinstripes. It was his fifth career shutout and it came after he allowed five runs and nine hits in his first 6 2/3 innings this season.

Kuroda threw 113 pitches, an average of 3.5 to 32 hitters. The Orioles had just one at-bat with a runner in scoring position and not until the ninth inning. He also threw first-pitch strikes to 22 hitters and had just two three-ball counts, which is why there was little doubt in Girardi’s mind about letting Kuroda finish.

Like Chien Ming-Wang and Mike Pelfrey when their sinking fastballs were working extremely well, the ball often found its way to the infielders. It also accounted for two of his more impressive outs of the night when he struck out Nick Markakis and Chris Davis.

The strikeout of Markakis opened the fourth inning as Kuroda located three straight sinking fastballs above the plate. Each one moved slightly closer to Markakis and the Baltimore right fielder did not attempt to swing as he was called out on strikes.

Kuroda struck out Davis to end the fourth on the sinker but also got him for the first out of the seventh after Adam Jones led off with an infield single. The latter at-bat was a little tougher for Kuroda, who reached a full count by throwing a sinker way inside for ball three.

“Obviously he’s a great hitter with power and with average,” Kuroda said. “I was trying not to allow a big extra-base hit.”

However, on the next pitch Kuroda dropped in a belt-high sinker and Davis didn’t move the bat off his shoulder.

“It was down and it was running, a lot more than I think they were expecting,” first baseman Lyle Overbay said. “To see a lefty kind of go like this [and flinch] on an inside fastball and he’s almost hitting the middle [of the plate], that’s impressive. He has a good sinker but I’ve never seen a lefty do that consistently. You get that occasionally.”

While Kuroda’s sinker was mostly dominating, the Yankee bats did not generate much for most of the night against Wei-Yin Chen. They scored three in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Jayson Nix and a two-run home run by Brett Gardner that clanged off the right-field foul pole.

It was enough because of how well Kuroda’s rhythm was working, especially with his sinker.

“He kept the ball down and even if they hit that, it’s a ground ball,” Overbay said. “He mixed his pitches real well and still was aggressive.”

Follow Yankees beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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Andy Pettitte said his back is feeling better but when he told pitching coach Larry Rothchild and manager Joe Girardi, they had a different message.

Instead of pitching against Arizona on Tuesday the 40-year-old left-hander will open the three-game series in Toronto on Friday night.

“We’re going to be conservative,” Pettitte said. “We got guys that can pitch and I think they want me to throw a bullpen and stuff like that before trying to go out there Tuesday and just pitch without throwing a bullpen. So I’m going to pitch Friday.

“I’m on board to a certain extent. I just want to pitch. I understand it, but I just feel a ton better but I just want to pitch get back out there as soon as I can.”

It’s hard to blame Pettitte for being anxious since his two starts have been outstanding. Pettitte opened his 18th season by allowing a run and eight hits in eight innings against Boston on April 4 and followed that up by allowing one run and five hits in seven innings on Tuesday in Cleveland.

Pettitte will prepare for that start by throwing a routine bullpen session on Tuesday.

“He’s better but instead of saying, ‘Let’s throw a bullpen today and see how he feels,’ then if he has a setback then Friday becomes jeopardized,” Girardi said. “So we thought let’s give him until Tuesday. We feel that everything will be cleared up.”

Granderson stops by clubhouse, talks rehab

Toward the end of his 5 1/2 minute discussion about his rehab from a broken right forearm, Curtis Granderson pointed to a series of boxes sitting in his locker containing some possible items for protecting his forearm, and with a history of three broken bones, the center fielder realized that he needs to start wearing some kind of protection.

“One of these boxes has some stuff in it that I’m going to start playing around with,” Granderson said. “Thinking about it, I’ve broken three bones all due to pitches so I think it’s about time that I cover up a little bit.”

Granderson is progressing with his recovery from the injury he suffered on Feb. 24. He said he felt good while throwing over the past two days and that he anticipates increasing the distance of throws before swinging.

Granderson spent time shagging fly balls in the outfield during batting practice, but he still has to wear a brace.

However, he does not know when he can start swinging, which might make the May 1 return date some have used a bit too early.

“They want the throwing to be first,” Granderson said. “The swinging is something that could happen; the timetable of when is still to be determined. After further consideration with the doctors here and the doctors in Florida, it was once the throwing is good to go, then I can start swinging.”

Granderson also said that he would likely need 50 to 70 at-bats, which is the same amount he would have had in normal spring training. Since he is in extended spring training, those at-bats can come quicker than usual.

“You basically have to see how a guy’s rehab is going,” Girardi said. “He hasn’t swung a bat yet so until he swings a bat we’re really not going to know.”

“The great thing about being down in extended spring, I can get anywhere from five to 10 at-bats a day,” Granderson said. “The number of at-bats can accelerate quite quickly.”

Besides continuing his rehab with a one-day appearance at Yankee Stadium, Granderson also had an event planned with his Grand Kids foundation to see the new Jackie Robinson movie “42” with students from Abraham Lincoln High School in Coney Island, which lost its sports fields in Hurricane Sandy.

Yankees notes …

» Eduardo Nunez, who is day-to-day with a right wrist contusion, threw Sunday and will attempt to swing Monday to see if he can return from his second minor injury.

» Vernon Wells batted second for the 33rd time in his career last night in a lineup that could be employed against left-handed pitching.

» Chien-Ming Wang threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings Saturday in extended spring training against the Pirates.

Follow Yankees beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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Nearly seven months after bowing out quietly in the playoffs, the names have changed but the results remained the same.

An injury to Hiroki Kuroda put an early damper on things and the negativity persisted for most of a frigid night as the Yankees fell to 0-2 with an ugly, 7-4 loss to the Red Sox before an announced crowd of mostly 40,216 annoyed customers.

The Yankees have dropped their first two games for the third time in five years and lost their first two games of the season when starting the year at home for the first time since 1982 when they were a 79-win team.

Still, even as they wait for the likes of Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, Curtis Granderson and Alex Rodriguez to return from injuries, the last thing they want to be doing is concerning themselves with holding down the fort.

“I hope people aren’t thinking that way,” manager Joe Girardi said. “Our goal is to win every series because you can’t count on when someone’s coming back. You got to go out and play well. That’s our goal to go out and play well.”

The Yankees haven’t looked good in getting outscored by a 15-6 margin. They are hitting .221 and have posted a 7.50 earned run average while allowing the Red Sox to start the season hitting .329.

“I’m pretty sure we’re going to lose two games in a row,” catcher Chris Stewart said. “Last year we lost three in a row [to start] and we were all right.”

“It’s not unusual to lose two games in a row,” manager Joe Girardi said. “I think it becomes somewhat glaring when it’s the first two of the year but we didn’t start off too good last year either. If I remember the thing turned out OK.”

Kuroda’s night ended at 41 pitches with a contusion on his right middle finger. His night ended after he hit Daniel Nava in the right foot with a fastball with one out in the second.

The Yankees said Kuroda has a bruise and they will determine if he can make his next scheduled start based on how he gets through his bullpen session Friday in Detroit. X-rays were negative.

“It is tough to tell,” Kuroda said through a translator when asked about making his next start. “But, for me, I’m going to try [my hardest] to get ready.”

Kuroda was initially injured four batters earlier when on instinct he put his right hand up in an attempt to grab Shane Victorino’s line drive. After taking a few warm-up tosses, he stayed in the game but he hit rookie Jackie Bradley Jr. and issued a walk to Jacoby Ellsbury.

The score was 2-0 when Kuroda’s night ended but it got a lot worse in the third when the Red Sox scored four more runs all with two out in the third.

Since the Yankees had a lineup that featured just two starters from the last playoff game at Yankee Stadium (Ichiro and Robinson Cano) the deficit seemed a lot worse.

The Yankees avoided getting shut out when Travis Hafner hit his first home run in pinstripes but that qualified for their lone offensive highlight. They wasted first and third with two outs in the opening inning and then went quietly for the remainder of the night.

After knocking out Jon Lester after five innings Monday, the Yankees could not use that as a silver lining last night. Clay Buchholz barely broke a sweat and the Yankees hardly worked the pitch count in seven innings.

The Yankees saw 94 pitches – two fewer than what they saw from Lester. Those fans which remained expressed their disgust with loud boos when Hafner took a called strike three to end the sixth.

The only other highlight for the Yankees was a three-run home run by Vernon Wells with two outs in the eighth off reliever Alfredo Aceves.

“It’s hard no matter what,” Wells said. “You never want to lose games. Obviously they’re going to come, but we haven’t played good enough baseball to win. That’s the bottom line. We haven’t clicked in all three phases of the game. It’s just a matter of time before we do, but it would be nice for it to happen sooner rather than later.”

Follow Yankees beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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Robinson Cano has known Jay-Z since making his major-league debut in May 2005 and likes everything about the rapper, businessman and part owner of the Brooklyn Nets.

But that’s not why he decided to drop Scott Boras as his agent to become the first athlete represented by Roc Nation, a group that is part of the Creative Artists Agency.

In a three and half minute interview, Cano did not disclose much about the switch. The main points he tried to convey were that it was a family decision and that a lot of people have told him it was a good move to leave the agent known for trying to get virtually all of his clients to free agency.

The question many Yankee fans want to know is if it increases the chances Cano will re-sign in the offseason. Cano is on the last year of a six-year, $57 million deal and reportedly was looking for a $200 million deal similar to those signed by Albert Pujols and Joey Votto recently.

However, Cano remained quiet when asked if it enhanced the likelihood of him remaining in pinstripes.

“I’ll let my agent talk about the contract and stuff like that,” Cano said. “I want to stay with the same team. You know, if my agent decides that and talks to the Yankees, we’ll see what happens.

His comments around a throng of reporters in the clubhouse also will be the last time he talks contract in a public setting.

“Right now, my focus is on playing baseball,” Cano said. “There’s no contract or anything like that on my mind. The season has started and I don’t want to be a distraction for my teammates. All I want to do is focus on playing right now.”

Girardi, Teixeira talks agent switches

The only issue manager Joe Girardi could see about Robinson Cano switching to an agency headed by Jay-Z would be recording an album and even when he said that, he was kidding.

In other words switching agents doesn’t make Girardi think his star second baseman’s personality will change.

“Robby loves to play this game,” Girardi said. “When a guy changes agents, I don’t really think it necessarily changes the guy. It changes his representation but it doesn’t change who Robby Cano is. Everything that I’ve seen from Robby is that he loves to play this game and is prepared to play every day.

“I don’t see why changing agents would change that unless he’s got some recording issues that he has to deal with. I don’t see how it’s going to change him. I haven’t heard he’s putting out an album.”

Mark Teixeira is someone who can relate to what Cano is going through. The process of free agent speculation began early in his career when he with the Rangers.

The Rangers eventually traded him in July 2007 after their offer did not meet what Teixeira was looking for. The Braves dealt him a year later to the Angels after their offer also fell short in the eyes of Teixeira and Boras.

“In 2005, I was already fitted for pinstripes,” Teixeira said. “It was my third year in baseball and I hit 43 home runs, had a great year and everybody said, ‘Great Mark, you won’t be a Ranger much longer.’ So I had guys like you [reporters], maybe two or three around, maybe everyday saying, ‘When are you going to get traded, when are you going to get traded,’ because the Yankees at the time were one of the only teams that could provide the type of contract stability that I wanted, no-trade clause and winning every year.

“Now it seems like every team has that kind of money but when I was a free agent not that long ago and there was only a few teams you could really go to and the Yankees were losing their first baseman.”

Hafner makes first start

The Yankees are opening their season by facing five right-handed pitchers in the first six games. That meant Travis Hafner might not get many starts if any at all.

Instead, last night, Hafner started against Clay Buchholz and made his debut for the team that called his agent in late-January.

Hafner was limited to 66 games in his final season with the Indians. He missed nearly three months with right knee soreness and lower back inflammation but expressed optimism that losing some weight in spring training might help him avoid that problem this year.

“I’ve been able to lose some weight in spring training to take some pressure off my back and leg,” Hafner said. “Everything feels good, so I’m looking forward to the year.”

Follow Yankees beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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Opening Day of the Major League Baseball season is supposed to be one of the cherished sporting days on the calendar and no MLB team is supposedly more cherished than the 27-time World Series champion Yankees.

However, if you are a San Diego Padres fan or Kansas City Royals fan or Seattle Mariners fan and have heard time and time again about the perceived love affair with baseball in the northeast and how it’s “just different there,” you can rest easy today. Boston, Philly, New York – we all can have our Mickey Mouse sports moments. But yesterday’s Opening Day “celebration” at Yankee Stadium took the cake as one of the more JV operations we’ve seen in quite a while.

- The not-so-memorable day opened with something called a “Constantine Maroulis” singing the National Anthem, which would have been a good get for the Yankees, maybe, in say, 2005. That’s the best the most revered organization in sports can do on Opening freakin’ Day?!

- The visiting and supposedly HATED Red Sox were introduced to the humdrum crowd while the Star Wars “evil theme,” the “Imperial Death March” blared over the loud-speakers. Every other day out of the year, I’d be fine with this. But it’s Opening Day. A little decorum, please. The Red Sox, for all their faults, introduce the opposing team on Opening Day with old school organ noises (ya, know something that screams ‘this is baseball … we’re different. We’re special. Embrace the history!).

Instead, the Yankees show here that they’re no different than a small market NBA team. “Let’s show our fans how much we HATE the opponent by playing this sinister music when they come out!!!”

The Orlando Magic play this song when the Milwaukee Bucks make visits. The Yankees should be a step above this.

- Even Red Sox brass wouldn’t have had the balls to call Monday’s game a “sell-out.” Yes, Yankee Stadium is a 50,000 –seat canyon of a ballpark. And yes, it is ridiculously expensive to watch any game there. But last time I checked, there were a lot of people in New York  and there are more than a few Yankees fans in this country that make decent livings. To have an empty ballpark in the late innings on Opening Day is an embarrassment. The Yankees were down 8-2 to the Red Sox late in the game. Six runs against the Red Sox, a team that won 69 games last season? Not impossible.

Plus the folks that were at the game probably had already taken the entire day off from work. What’s the rush? Enjoy yourself. Oh and one more thing … It’s Opening Day!!!!

- To sum up the day, a stream of trash was flying all over the field in the late innings of Monday’s game. Now, there’s not much the Yankees can do about that. New York streets are, after all, filled with trash and it just happened to be a windy day. But the image on TV of a dark sky, trash whipping all over the field and thousands and thousands of empty, dark blue seats painted quite the picture. And no, that picture had nothing to do with “fresh starts,” “new beginnings,” “peanuts,” “Cracker Jacks”  and/or “spring.”

I suppose we should expect this from the Yankees and their fans at this point. They failed to sell out THREE PLAYOFF GAMES last year. Still, the New York Yankees are supposed to be a beacon in sports. Here’s guessing the Tampa Bay Rays will do it up right in their home opener Tuesday afternoon.

Matt Burke is sports editor and a columnist at Metro Boston. Follow him on Twitter @BurkeMetroBOS

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Robinson Cano has traded in the ultimate deal maker for the ultimate in star power.

ESPN reports that Cano has fired power agent Scott Boras and will join Jay-Z’s new agency, Roc Nation. He is the first athlete to join the agency group, a part of Creative Artists Agency.

CAA already represents athletes such as the Penguins’ Sidney Crosby, the Broncos’ Peyton Manning and Cano’s Yankee teammate Derek Jeter. None of them are under the Roc Nation umbrella, however.

“At this point in my career, I am ready to take a more active role in my endeavors on and off the field,” Cano said in a statement. “I am confident that the pairing of Roc Nation Sports and CAA Sports will be essential in helping me accomplish my short and long-term goals. I am making this important decision now so I can keep my focus on helping the Yankees succeed in 2013, while minimizing any distractions for me and my teammates.”

Cano is in the final year of a six-year, $57 million contract and talks had stalled on an extension with the Yankees. Boras, well known in the baseball community for being a ruthless negotiator, reportedly was looking for a long-term deal in the neighborhood of 10 years and $200 million — similar to deals signed by the Angels’ Albert Pujols and Reds’ Joey Votto in the past two years.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said the team had offered Cano a “significant offer” this offseason.

Cano admitted the talks were weighing on his mind even as he tried to focus on baseball.

“I’m just focusing on baseball,” Cano told reporters March 3. He admitted it wasn’t far from his mind though. “It’s never gonna go out of your head, that’s all I can say.”

For Yankees fans looking for a return, the signing of Cano with New York-native Jay-Z, a minority owner of the Brooklyn Nets, is likely a good sign that Cano will be advised to stay with the Yankees.

ESPN business reporter Darren Rovell tweeted a picture Tuesday morning of Cano signing the new contract with Jay-Z.

Photo of @robinsoncano signing his representation contract with Jay Z twitpic.com/cggjbu

— darren rovell (@darrenrovell) April 2, 2013

Follow Metro New York Sports Editor Mark Osborne on Twitter @MetroNYSports.

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Over the past eight years, Kevin Youkilis had hundreds of significant at-bats for the Red Sox. His first real important at-bat with the Yankees ended with him holding his bat in frustration and lightly slamming his helmet to the ground.

The intense reaction was caused by a fruitless at-bat with two on and two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning.

During the at-bat against Andrew Bailey, Youkilis fell behind 0-2 and on the fifth pitch he ended up chasing a high fastball. And thus a season of lowered expectations began with a thud.

Youkilis’s strikeout was one of 10 accumulated by the Yankees during a season-opening 8-2 loss to the Red Sox Monday afternoon at Yankee Stadium that had many heading for the exits before the conclusion.

The pivotal strikeout was one of three by the Yankees after the inning opened with consecutive walks. It also came after left-handed reliever Andrew Miller showed a willingness to pitch to third-place hitter Robinson Cano and struck out the most potent bat in the Yankee lineup with a 98 mph fastball.

“After two walks that inning where it looked like we might get something going, it ended up with three strikeouts in a row and that probably was the other difference in the game,” manager Joe Girardi said.

Youkilis’s day began with a decent hand in pregame introductions and a few of the “Youk” calls previously heard at Fenway Park. It continued with him leading off the fourth inning by doubling to center to cap an eight-pitch at-bat against Jon Lester.

“It was cool,” Youkilis said. “It was great. Yankee Stadium is a place where people dream to come play at. It was very enjoyable to go out there and it stunk in the end to come up short but this a great place to play. We just didn’t play the best ball possible today to win the game.”

While his first day in a meaningful game against the Red Sox may have been a big deal to fans, it hardly seemed that way to Youkilis.

“I’ve been playing Yankee baseball for over a month now so I think we need to move on past that,” Youkilis said. “I play for the Yankees now. I’ve had the uniform on for six weeks.

“I think we’re making it more than it is. I go out there and play. I don’t sit down and stare at my uniform all game. I don’t look and I don’t say, ‘Oh wow, it’s pinstripes, that’s pretty cool.’ I just go out and play baseball. That’s part of the business.”

Youkilis scored on Francisco Cervelli’s two-run double but that was the primary highlight on a day when the Yankees had six hits, stranded nine and went 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

Those not with the Yankees in their season opener a year ago (Youkilis, Vernon Wells, Ben Francisco, Travis Hafner, Ichiro, Jayson Nix, Lyle Overbay and Cervelli) were a combined 4-for-21.

“It’s one game, that’s the conclusion that I draw,” Girardi said. “You don’t make too much of it. Everyone wants to get off to a great start. Everybody wants to go 3-for-4 and drive in a couple of runs but it just doesn’t happen that way.”

Offense was not the only problem as the Yankees lost their first season opener at home since 1982, ending an 11-game winning streak.

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The lack of offense by Youkilis and the lineup could not compensate for a laborious start by CC Sabathia. Sabathia allowed four runs — all in the second on his fastball — while laboring through five innings.

Poor starts in season openers are not a new thing for Sabathia, who lasted 4 2/3 innings in his Yankee debut four years ago in Baltimore. It just seemed more noticeable because of what a Yankee lineup missing Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez could not do.

“It was not one thing in particular,” Sabathia said. “I just got two outs and couldn’t make any pitch just to get them to hit a ball and hit at somebody. They put some good at-bats together and got some pitches to hit and put some good swings on it.”

Many fans in the crowd did not stick around for the conclusion of an ugly loss in rainy conditions.

“At the end it was ugly on the field and off the field and I don’t blame them for going home,” Wells said.

Follow Yankees beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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Though Alex Rodriguez is not expected to return any time soon from his second major hip surgery, he was present at Yankee Stadium on Opening Day.

Rodriguez’s name has popped up more frequently due to allegations he purchased performance-enhancing drugs from the Biogenesis clinic in Miami, Fla. Four years ago, Rodriguez admitted to using them during his three seasons in Texas but Monday he said that in conjunction with the player’s association he would issue a statement denying any use.

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  PHOTOS: Memorable moments of the rivalry between the Red Sox and Yankees

As for his recovery, Rodriguez said although missing spring training was disappointing his rehab is going well and that he expects to perform at a high level whenever he returns.

“I think it can be very high,” Rodriguez said. “When I found out, after the season was over, about the big tear in my left hip, it was a bit of a relief to realize and understand how you ended last year. I was able to go in and fix it, rehab and I think once I’m mended and I’m back to being 100 percent, there’s no reason why I can’t play at a very high level.”

In terms of the lowered expectations for the Yankees, Rodriguez also found that hard to believe but felt the team could be motivated by forecasts of a third place, or worse, finish in the AL East.

“I think this year we have a very special opportunity,” Rodriguez said. “This is my 10th year here in New York and this is the first time we’ve been predicted to finish in last place. That’s pretty crazy.”

While Mark Teixeira received a nice hand during pregame introductions, Rodriguez was not introduced.

“I don’t need to be introduced to feel like I’m part of this team,” Rodriguez said. “When I get introduced I want to be on the field and not look back.”

Mo shags fly balls

The pregame preparation for Mariano Rivera was just like any other day for the closer and that meant spending time in the outfield shagging fly balls.

It was the first time Rivera shagged balls since injuring his knee doing the same thing in Kansas City on May 3.

“It felt good,” Rivera said. “I didn’t go full strength but I will at some point.”

Yankees, Red Sox honor Newtown

Before the first pitch, pregame ceremonies featured joint honor guards of Newtown, Conn. police and firefighters as well as a moment of silence for the victims of the Dec. 14 massacre. The victim’s names were listed on the center field video board.

Both teams also wore a special ribbon on their uniforms. The ribbon was painted on the field in front of both dugouts, as it will in all Opening Day games throughout the major leagues.

“We cannot do much,” Rivera said. “We cannot change what happened. I wish we could but at the same time we’re trying to bring them a good moment. We’re trying to take the tragedy away from their minds for a little bit.”

“I think it’s important to say thank you,” manager Joe Girardi said. “The town of Newtown has went through so much during the last four or five months, six months, and you think about being a responder. Sometimes we don’t think about what they go through, and how important they are during a situation like that. I think it’s nice that we’re getting an opportunity to say thank you for all that you do, because they’re obviously going to do more as the future goes on.”

New clubhouse alignment

The Yankees have six players who did not spend any time with the team last year and as a result there was some shifting around in the alignment of lockers.

Opening Day catcher Francisco Cervelli now occupies Nick Swisher’s old spot in the center of the room. Reliever David Robertson has the space occupied by Rafael Soriano adjacent to Rivera.

Robertson’s old locker near the clubhouse door is occupied by Joba Chamberlain while David Phelps moved to Chamberlain’s old space along the row usually occupied by starting pitchers.

Follow Yankees beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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For parts of the previous of seven seasons, Jon Lester, Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis teamed up on the Boston side of the rivalry with the Yankees.

On Monday, all three will be present at Yankee Stadium but now the former Red Sox third baseman is clean-shaven and playing third and first base for the Yankees.

“That’s going to be different, especially [that he’s] clean-shaven,” Pedroia said. “It’ll be different. Youk’s been family for a long time.”

At least Pedroia won’t have to pitch to Youkilis. That goes to Lester, who will be making his third Opening Day start and looking to rebound from the worst season in his career.

Lester faced his former teammate twice after the June 24 trade to the White Sox but instead of issuing the standard, “just another game” cliché, he conceded it is a strange sight.

“It would be weird,” Lester said. “I wouldn’t have ever thought that would happen, but he made that choice for him and his family and got a chance to play third base here. I’m sure he’s excited about it, but now he’s one of the bad guys. We got to worry about him tomorrow.”

A clean-shaven Youkilis in Yankee pinstripes may not even be the most bizarre aspect of Monday’s season opener.

Most preseason forecasts don’t expect much from either team. The Red Sox are coming off their worst season since 1966 while the Yankees will be missing Alex Rodriguez, Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira and Derek Jeter to various injuries of varying lengths.

The last time the Yankees and Red Sox had a losing season in the same year was 1992 — a year they also faced each other in the season opener at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees wound up with 76 wins while the Red Sox finished with 73.

Since then they faced each other in season opening games in 2005 and 2010 when both teams were coming off respective world championships.

“It might exist out there and certainly many have written about it but I don’t know if we spend too much time consuming ourselves with what people on the outside are saying or writing,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “It’s the belief of that group inside that clubhouse that matters most and our standard or expectation can’t be compromised by what’s taken place in the past.”

“As far as expectations, I think our division is obviously one of the toughest in baseball and I think it’s up to who stays [the] healthiest, who has the most consistent starting pitching,” Lester said. “I think that’s what it’s going to come down to. You could flip a coin and point to any team at the top and any team at the bottom. It’s going to be a rat race and we’re going to have to play 162 to figure it out.”

Follow Yankees beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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