YANKEES (75-65)
Damon CF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Giambi 1B
Nady LF
Matsui DH
Cano 2B
Molina C
Pettitte LHP

Andy Pettitte (13-11, 4.52) vs. the Seattle hitters.

Brandon Morrow (1-2, 1.47) vs. the New York hitters.

Notes: The Yankees are 6-0 against the Mariners, outscoring them 50-17. … The Yankees are 3-1 on their road trip and have won five of their last eight games.

WELCOME BACK: Melky Cabrera rejoins the Yankees today. He was optioned down on Aug. 15 because of a .242 batting average. Cabrera hit .333 in 15 games for Triple-A Scranton with five RBI. He was 0 for 4 last night in Pawtucket, R.I., in an International League playoff game.

LONG WALK HOME: This road trip will encompass 7,140 miles and require 18 hours in the air according to traveling secretary Ben Tuliebitz. The Yankees have already been to Detroit and Tampa and still have to go to Anaheim.

Back later with some updates.

UPDATE, 8:29 p.m.: Just in the knick of not being in time, Darrell Rasner has been taken out of the rotation. Alfredo Aceves will start on Tuesday in Anaheim.

UPDATE, 10:23 p.m.: Scranton beat Pawtucket 6-4 tonight to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five International League series. Kei Igawa (remember him?) went seven innings, allowing one earned run. Former prospect Eric Duncan hit a three-run homer.

Scranton can wrap up the series tonight. Phil Hughes will be on the mound.

UPDATE, 10:29 p.m.: And Trenton wins its Eastern League playoff series, beating Portland 5-4 for a three-game sweep. Colin Curtis was 4 for 4 with a double, a triple and two RBI. Kevin Whelan won in relief.

UPDATE, 11:02 p.m.: The Yankees are getting no-hit by Brandon Morrow through four innings. Is that bad? That seems bad.

Joe Girardi was asked before the game whether the long night of travel might take something out of his team. Here is what he said:

“It’s no time to be tired. There’s a freshness here (in Seattle) because it’s cool. When you have that cool air, your body feels different.”

That would explain why the Mariners are 28-41 at home. Opposing teams love that cool air.

UPDATE, 11:42 p.m.: This is the first MLB start for Morrow, by the way. He has been pitching in relief this season then was sent to the minors to get stretched out. He’s at 77 pitches and this could be his last inning. Be interesting to see what the Mariners do if he still has the no-hitter going.

Morrow is a former first-round draft pick (5th overall) out of Cal. In six previous appearances against the Yankees, he allowed seven runs on seven hits over 3.2 innings.

UPDATE, 12:09 a.m.: Well, at least the Yankees avoided being embarrassed. Wilson Betemit, the forgotten man, delivers a double.

What a job by Morrow, who threw 106 pitches. His high this season was 82.

It has come to this: The Yankees trying to avoid being no-hit by a first-time starter for the worst team in the league.

Newsday’s Jim Baumbach (a former Yankees beat guy) spoke to Bob Sheppard, who told him he hopes to return for the final game at the Stadium. Mr. Sheppard’s health, fortunately, is improving.

A few other things need to happen that day:

* Mo throws the last pitch, a cutter that strikes out somebody looking. Somebody like Kevin Millar.

* Jeter does something Jetery. A jump throw maybe.

* A-Rod drills one into the black seats.

* Yogi and Whitey throw out the first pitch.

* Bernie shows up in some capacity.

* The Yankees win, of course.

But having Mr. Sheppard back would be a good start.

Tonight: LHP Andy Pettitte (13-11, 4.52) vs. RHP Brandon Morrow (1-2, 1.47), 10:10 ET, YES

Saturday: RHP Sidney Ponson (7-5, 5.13) vs. LHP Ryan Rowland-Smith (4-2, 3.56), 10:10 ET, YES

Sunday: RHP Mike Mussina (17-7, 3.39) vs. RHP Carlos Silva (4-14, 6.53), 4:10 ET, YES

————

Check back (much) later for the lineups. I’m on a 6:30 a.m. flight to Houston then on to Seattle.

The Yankees lost ground last night as they fell to the Rays. Darrell Rasner seems headed out of the rotation

————

For you Giants fans: The G-Men opened up with a victory against the Native Americans of Washington. Mike Dougherty has the story.

Sam Borden writes that the Giants need the Eli Manning they saw in the postseason.

Baseball players are conditioned to have short memories. When there are 162 games to play, you can’t get too carried away over one loss.

But once September rolls around, every loss becomes magnified. The Yankees fell only a half-game further behind tonight but it felt like more.

“How many games do we have left?” Alex Rodriguez asked reporters near the end of his interview.

Told there were 22, Rodriguez’s eyes grew wide and he muttered an expletive.

“You have to do what you can do,” he said. “We have to take it one game at a time and look up after 15 games and see where we stand. Crazier things have happened.”

Meanwhile, the home run he hit tonight might have dented the catwalk. That’s 550 in his career and three in the last four games. Alex is 9 of 16 with 10 RBI on the road trip.

Joe Girardi cut off a question about whether Darrell Rasner would stay in the rotation. “We’ll get to that,” he said.

Presumably that means Rasner will be replaced. It certainly seemed that way.

“I’m ashamed of what I did tonight,” Rasner said. “It’s embarrassing.”

YANKEES (75-64)
Damon LF
Jeter SS
A. Rodriguez 3B
Nady RF
Giambi DH
I. Rodriguez C
Cano 2B
Ransom 1B
Gardner CF
Rasner RHP

RAYS (84-53)
Iwamura 2B
Upton CF
Pena 1B
Floyd DH
Aybar 3B
Hinske LF
Navarro C
Gross RF
Bartlett SS
Kazmir LHP

Darrell Rasner (5-9, 5.08) vs. the Tampa Bay hitters.

Scott Kazmir (10-6, 3.13) vs. the New York hitters.

Notes: The Yankees have won three straight and 5 of 7 overall. … Yankees are 9-5 against the Rays, 5-2 at the Trop. They have outscored the Rays 33-24 on their home field. … The team leaves tonight for Seattle and a night game tomorrow.

THE K MAN: Scott Kazmir is 3-4, 2.76 in 11 career games against the Yankees. In 11 innings this season, he has allowed two runs on eight hits, walked four and struck out 12.

RAZZLE DAZZLE: Darrell Rasner’s scholarship may be up soon. He’s 1-5, 6.20 in his last 12 games, allowing 80 hits (11 homers) over 61 innings.

RESTED AND READY: Mariano Rivera has not pitched since Friday, although he has warmed up a few times. He has not allowed a run in his last 8.2 innings. Great stat via Joel Sherman of the Post: Rivera has struck out 70 and walked 6 over 61.2 innings. That is a ratio of 11.67 strikeouts to every walk. If Rivera finishes at that rate, it would be the second best ratio for any pitcher who has worked 60 innings in a season since 1900. Dennis Eckersley had an 18.25 ratio in 1990 for Oakland.

A-ROD ROARING: Alex Rodriguez is 8 of 13 with seven runs scored, nine RBI and two homers on the road trip. His batting average has climbed to from .306 to .315. His season OPS of .999 is second in the AL to Milton Bradley’s 1.031.

EVERY DAY AN RBI: Jason Giambi has at least one RBI in eight straight games and 14 in the last 11. He has 87 on the season, three fewer than Rodriguez.

TAKE A SEAT: Jose Veras in his last 10.2 innings: 13 hits, 9 earned runs, 8 walks.

ROAD WARRIORS: The Yankees have won six straight on the road.

Back later with some updates.

UPDATE, 5:56 p.m.: Bobby Abreu hurt his left wrist when he slid into second base in the ninth inning last night. After trying to swing in the cage, he was scratched.

Brian Cashman said it was likely they would recall a player from AAA Scranton. The candidates would appear to be Justin Christian or Melky Cabrera.

UPDATE, 6:19 p.m.: Jeremy Bleich made his pro debut today. Baby Bombers.com has the report.

UPDATE, 7:12 p.m.: Via Brian Cashman, X-rays on Bobby Abreu’s wrist were negative.

UPDATE, 7:18 p.m.: The Yankees need to do what they did with Kazmir back on July 8: Work counts, drive up his pitch count and get him out after five innings. Kazmir threw 97 pitches over five innings in that game. He allowed two runs in a game the Yankees won 5-0.

Of course, Rasner needs to do his part and keep the game close.

UPDATE, 7:56 p.m.: Rasner has allowed three runs on five hits in this inning - so far. The Yankees now have one of their 10 relievers up, Alfredo Aceves.

UPDATE, 7:59 p.m.: This is certainly a surprise that Rasner is coming out in the second inning. Rasner had been “throwing well” according to manager Joe Girardi during his pregame media session.

Rasner has now allowed 87 hits and 24 walks in his last 62.1 innings.

UPDATE, 8:28 p.m.: Aceves seemed like a good candidate to replace Sidney Ponson in the rotation. But maybe he’ll slide into Rasner’s spot assuming the Yankees are willing to make a change.

UPDATE, 8:35 p.m.: So, the Yankees don’t have a hit. And they haven’t really come close to one, either.

UPDATE, 8:52 p.m.: Cody Ransom comes through. Of course he did, he’s a .600 hitter.

Wow, Brett Gardner looks overmatched at the plate against Kazmir.

UPDATE, 9:29 p.m.: Kazmir is done. 6 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs, 4 walks, 7 strikeouts. He threw 98 pitches.

UPDATE, 9:38 p.m.: Gardner is 0 for 3 and struck out looking three times. Hard to get a hit unless you swing.

UPDATE, 9:55 p.m.: A little breaking news for you. Brian Cashman has told the beat writers that Melky Cabrera will join the team tomorrow.

Once upon a time (2002-05), I covered the New York Mets and spent a decent amount of time around Bobby Valentine.

Bobby V is an interesting guy who has a lot of unique theories about baseball. One of them regarded expanding the rosters in September.

His point was this: Teams play all season with 25 men. Then the most important games of the season come along and you can add 15 players? How does that make sense?

Some players are legit prospects; others are journeymen scrubs. But having expanded rosters changes how games are played. You can pull a starter quicker, pinch hit or pinch run more often, etc. The integrity of the game is lost, at least a little.

Bobby’s idea was that the rosters should be expanded in April, when teams really need the extra bodies. This would give clubs a chance to see what they have. Then come May 1, cut down to 25 for the rest of the season.

I thought it was crazy at first. But when you think about it, it makes sense.

OK, off to the Trop. Check back later for the lineups. Yankees go for the sweep tonight with Darrell Rasner against Scott Kazmir. Boston is off today; the Twins are at the Jays.

In case you missed it, Ross Ohlendorf started for the Pirates last night for the first time. His line: 6 innings, 7 hits, 3 earned runs, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts. He was not involved in the decision.

Just a hunch, but Ross has a chance to be pretty good once he settles into a defined role. The Yankees never quite figured out what to do with him.

Ohlendorf was a starter to open the 2007 season then turned into a long reliever. Then a short reliever.

He came to spring training this season as a reliever and was used as a one-inning guy throughout the exhibition season. Then the season started and he was suddenly a long man. Then he got sent down in June and was made a starter again.

If you lost count, that’s five changes in less than two seasons. Young players have to be flexible, but that’s a little ridiculous.

Ohlendorf can throw 95-96, sink it and has good enough secondary pitches to be a successful starter, especially in the NL. He’s a smart guy, too, who embraces the idea of pre-game preparation and delving into scouting reports.

The Yankees got Xavier Nady back, so no complaints about the trade. But keep and eye on Ross.

The Yankees are 9-5 against the Rays this season and have beaten them five times at Tropicana Field in seven games.

Why are those statistics significant? Tampa Bay is .500 or better against every other team in the division and is 52-20 at home. No other team has a better home record.

The Yankees are 4-0 against the Rays since July 1, outscoring them 22-7.

How in the world did the Yankees go 23-28 against the Reds, Indians, Tigers, Orioles, Royals, Pirates and Rangers but have so much success against Tampa Bay? Not taking care of business against bad teams is what did them in this season.