Yankees pitcher J.A. Happ continued his hot start with his new team on Tuesday night when he pitched seven scoreless innings against the Rays.

He allowed one soft single in the fourth inning and worked around four walks to keep the Rays off the board. 

"It got better as the game went on,'' said Happ, who needed 106 pitches to get through seven innings. 

J.A. Happ tossed seven shutout innings and Austin Romine hit a two-run homer to lead the Yankees to a 4-1 win over the Rays on Tuesday nght at Yankee Stadium. >> Box score

1) Happ managed to keep the Rays from scoring despite walking four batters. He only allowed one hit while striking out four batters. Happ is now 3-0 with a 1.89 ERA in three outings since joining the Yankees on July 26. 

2) Dellin Betances allowed the Yankes' only run in the eighth inning when Willy Adames hit a solo home run. Aroldis Chapman allowed one hit in a scoreless ninth inning to notch his 31st save of the season. 

The Yankees expect C Gary Sanchez (groin) to play rehab games next week, reports Bryan Hoch of MLB.com.

Sanchez hit in the cage and did catching work on Monday. He does not feel any pain, according to Hoch, but has yet to run full speed or hit in the field. 

Manager Aaron Boone said before Monday's game that a timeline for Sanchez's return remains in line with GM Brian Cashman's original prediction that he would return in the final week of August or first week of September.

J.A. Happ and the Yankees will open a series with the Rays on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. at Yankee Stadium.

Yankees notes

The Yankees have won three of the first five games of their 11-game homestand, which is the team's longest homestand since 2005. The Yankees sit 10 games behind the Red Sox for first place in the AL East ... The Yankees are 54-9 when they score first in games this season.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said OF Aaron Judge could begin swinging a bat as soon as this week as he works his way back from a wrist injury, reports Mandy Bell of MLB.com.

"His range of motion is really good right now, but getting to that end point we got to get that pain out of there," Boone said. "Once that happens, he'll get a bat in his hands. Hopefully it starts to progress from there very quickly."

The Yankees initially gave Judge, who left a Yankees-Royals game July 26 after he was hit by a Jakob Junis fastball in the wrist, a three-week timetable to return. 

The Yankees normally do much better when 2B Gleyber Torres is in the lineup. But the rookie hasn't shown that himself since coming off the DL. 

Torres was out for about three weeks with a right groin strain, and since his return on July 25, he has been mired in a pretty bad slump. 

How bad? Over 18 games since his return, Torres is 10-for-65 (.154) with a .308 slugging percentage and .263 on-base percentage. He also has three homers and 10 RBI over that span. 

Yankees LHP CC Sabathia expects to miss just one start after being placed on the DL Monday due to a knee issue.

Sabathia's knee started to bother him two starts ago, he said on Tuesday. He initially felt like he might have been able to pitch through the issue, but wanted to be smart about it.

The 37-year-old had his knee drained on Monday while also getting a synvisc injection, and hopes to play catch on Wednesday. 

The Yankees are 10 games behind the Red Sox for first place in the AL East and seem destined for the Wild Card game. And the red-hot Athletics are gaining on them for home field advantage in the game that will determine who advances to the ALDS.

8-2 over their last 10 games, the A's are now just 3.5 games behind the Yankees for the top Wild Card spot in the American League. The Yankees are 6 games clear of the Mariners, who are chasing the A's for the second Wild Card spot.

The Yankees took two of three games from the A's from May 11-13 at Yankee Stadium, and face them again for the last time this regular season from September 3 to 5 in Oakland.

Andy Martino, SNY.tv | Twitter |  If you happened to be at Yankee Stadium Monday night, you not only witnessed Jacob deGrom dominate yet another opponent, but you saw his fastball rise and explode as it met the hitter, and heard that extra pop in the catcher's glove.

And you saw and heard none of that when the Yankees' Luis Severino was pitching.

The Yankees' ace continued to be a major concern -- the type of problem that, when combined with the absence of a star like the injured Aaron Judge -- can sink a team's World Series hopes. It's not just the numbers, although those are bad, and they include a 7.50 ERA over his last seven starts and 11 homers allowed over that span. It's the sizzle missing from his pitches -- a problem that actually worsened Monday night.

The Yankees will have J.A. Happ, Luis Cessa and Masahiro Tanaka start in a three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays that begins Tuesday after they placed LHP CC Sabathia on the disabled list earlier Monday afternoon.

Cessa, who last pitched on Tuesday for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, will start Wednesday and take Sabathia's spot in the rotation after he went on the DL with right knee inflammation.

The 26-year-old Cessa, who is 3-1 with a 2.67 ERA in seven minor-league starts and 1-2 with a 4.50 ERA in eight major-league appearances (three starts) this season, received the nod over top prospect Justus Sheffield, who is 5-3 with a 2.16 ERA with the RailRiders and last pitched on Thursday; Chance Adams, who made his MLB debut earlier this month against the Red Sox; and Sonny Gray, who was bumped out of the rotation a couple of weeks ago.

Yankees RHP Luis Severino had his shortest outing of the season in Monday's 8-5 loss to the Mets, allowing four runs, seven hits, one walk and two home runs in four innings.

Severino (15-6) allowed two runs in the first inning, escaped a bases-loaded jam in the second and gave up two more runs in the fourth inning, throwing 98 pitches before manager Aaron Boone brought in Chad Green.

The 24-year-old Severino's second-half struggles continued, as his ERA in five starts since the All-Star break is 7.96. And since July 7, his ERA has skyrocketed from 1.98 to 3.27. Despite that, manager Aaron Boone said he doesn't plan to skip his spot in the rotation, especially given the team just placed CC Sabathia on the disabled list earlier Monday.

Luis Severino and A.J. Cole combined to surrender five home runs as the Yankees lost to the Mets 8-5 on Monday at Yankee Stadium. >> Box score

1) Severino (15-6) allowed a leadoff homer to Amed Rosario and a two-run home run to Jose Bautista, giving up four runs and seven hits in four innings, his shortest outing of the season.

2) Cole, meanwhile, allowed a solo home run to Todd Frazier in the sixth inning and back-to-back home runs to Brandon Nimmo and Michael Conforto in the seventh inning that made it 7-3.

The Yankees and Mets play a make-up game from July 22 when they meet for the final time in 2018 on Monday at Yankee Stadium at 7:05 p.m.

Subway Series notes

The Yankees are 10-8 without Aaron Judge this season. ... In 16 career games against the Yankees, Mets outfielder Michael Conforto has a .160 batting average with one home run and six RBIs. ... The Yankees are 3-2 against the Mets this season and 69-48 since the first Subway Series took place in 1997.

With RHP George Kontos promoted to the Yankees from Triple-A, a corresponding move needed to be made. But this isn't the move Yankee fans want to hear.

The Yankees announced that LHP CC Sabathia is hitting the 10-day DL with right knee inflammation. Sabathia started on Sunday, where he allowed just one hit and no runs over six innings. He also struck out seven while walking three over his 97-pitch outing.

Sabathia has dealt with knee pain for awhile now. He wears a brace on that right knee, which has been deemed arthritic. He complained of knee pain to trainer Steve Donahue after Sunday's start and said he thought he could benefit from missing a turn in the rotation, GM Brian Cashman told reporters on Monday.

On this day 23 years ago, the Yankees lost one of their greatest legends in Mickey Mantle, who passed away at age 63.

"The Mick" was not only the face of the Yankees while he played in the Bronx, but he was also one of the bright stars in the MLB. A 16-time All-Star, Mantle played all 18 of his MLB seasons with the Yankees, where he amassed a .298 career average with 536 homers and 1,509 RBI. 

It was in 1956 when the switch-hitting Mantle had his best statistical year, as he won the Triple Crown with a .353 batting average, 52 homers, and 130 RBI. He was also named the AL MVP and Major League Player of the Year that season. He would follow up this tremendous year with yet another AL MVP title in 1957. 

Yankees LHP CC Sabathia spent six seasons as Derek Jeter's teammate and the last four as Didi Gregorius'.

For as much of an icon Jeter was in New York, he commended Gregorius' ability to take on the role of being the franchise shortstop.

"If he wouldn't have come in and did what he did the last three or four years," Sabathia said of Gregorius, according to NJ Advance Media's Brendan Kuty, "we'd still be talking about Jeet and how we need leadership and all that stuff. ... But he's erased it. You've got to give him credit for that."

CC Sabahia pitched six scoreless innings and Aaron Hicks and Didi Gregorius each contributed a pair of RBI to lead the Yankees to a 7-2 win over the Rangers on Sunday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.  >> Box score

1) Giancarlo Stanton hit a solo home run in the first inning and Gregorius added a two-run blast in the fifth. Brett Gardner had two hits, including a double and an RBI single. Austin Romine added two hits and scored a run.

The Yankees (72-43) continue their four-game series with the Rangers (52-67) at Yankee Stadium on Sunday afternoon at 1:05 p.m.

Yankees notes

The Yankees have taken two of the first three games of their four-game serise with the Rangers at Yankee Stadium ... The Yankees are 9.5 games behind the AL East-leading Red Sox... The Yankees are 4.5 games ahead of the Athletics for the first wild card spot in the AL.

Miguel Andujar put the Yankees ahead in the seventh inning with a home run and Aroldis Chapman was shaky, but got the save to close out a 5-3 win over the Rangers. >> Box score

1) Andujar ripped a go-ahead two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh, his 17th of the season. The rookie went 2-4.

Lance Lynn made his second start for the Yankees and his first outing would be a tough act to follow.

Lynn was solid one again for his new team against the Rangers on Saturday, giving up a run on five hits in five innings with eight strikeouts and three walks. He struggled with his command, throwing 57 of his 90 pitches for strikes, leading to a shorter outing.

In the first inning Lynn allowed a leadoff single but struck out the next three batters he faced. The next frame, the righty worked around a double to keep the Rangers off the board.

Yankees OF Giancarlo Stanton mashed another home run, his fourth in five games, to give the Yankees the lead in the first inning against the Rangers.

WATCH BELOW

The Yankees (72-43) continue their four-game series with the Rangers (52-66) at Yankee Stadium on Saturday afternoon at 1:05 p.m.

Yankees notes

The Yankees had their four-game winning streak snapped with a 12-7 loss to Texas on Friday at Yankee Stadium. ... Austin Romine tied a career-high with three hits. ... Masahiro Tanaka snapped his 14-start unbeaten streak.

Masahiro Tanaka tossed a dud and the bullpen didn't stop the bleeding as the Yankees dropped the second game of their series with the Rangers, 12-7, in the Bronx. >> Box score

1) The Yankees teed off on whoever the Rangers sent to the mound, crushing five home runs, including two from Neil Walker and one each from Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Hicks and Miguel Andujar.

There is no hiding the Yankees are banged up, given two of their sluggers -- Gary Sanchez and Aaron Judge -- are both out due to injury. Judge said earlier Friday that he still hasn't been able to pick up a bat, and there is going to be discomfort in his fractured right hand for awhile.

As for Sanchez, though, manager Aaron Boone gave some promising news before the Yankees' matchup with the Rangers. He has been in Tampa rehabbing a right groin strain.

"I think he'll probably be on the ground running there this weekend and he'll fly here Sunday night to join us starting Monday," Boone told the YES Network before the game. "And I would say Monday we'll really ramp up as far as the hitting, starting to do catching things, and then the normal conditioning as well. But he's progressing well, feeling good."

Yankees OF Aaron Judge may not be able to help right now, but he isn't going to wave the white flag in the AL East race. 

New York currently sits eight games behind Boston for the division lead entering Friday night, and after the Sox gave them a rough four-game sweep this past weekend, many believe the division race is over. 

Judge says he and the rest of the team are not going to give in to that kind of talk. 

Chris Carelli, SNY.TV Facebook | Twitter | About Me | Archives

Our weekly minor league report canvases the Yankees farm system, providing updates about the status of the teams in action and the organization's top prospects.

Notes: Top-30 prospect rankings (via MLBPipeline.com) are club based with overall MLB ranks, if applicable, in parenthesis. Prospects currently in the major leagues will not be covered here. Team records and statistics are through games played Aug. 9, 2018, unless otherwise noted.

Giancarlo Stanton has put together a strong second half and the BNNY crew discusses how he can impact the team down the stretch.

The Yankees won their fourth straight game after a disasterous weekend in Boston and all was going according to plan against the Rangers on Thursday night through eight innings.

J.A. Happ threw another quality start; Giancarlo Stanton homered again, as did Neil Walker (twice!), Miguel Andujar and Aaron Hicks. The bullpen behind Happ was strong-- until Aroldis Chapman entered the game.

Chapman walked his first two batters while averaging 96 MPH on his fastball. After a mound visit, he almost exclusively threw his slider and retired the next three batters without letting a run in. Still, it's concerning for what is meant to be a strength of the team.

The Yankees leaned on the long ball to beat the Rangers 7-3, hitting five home runs behind J.A. Happ. >> Box score

1) The Yankees teed off on whoever the Rangers sent to the mound, crushing five home runs, including two from Neil Walker and one each from Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Hicks and Miguel Andujar.

Yankees OF Giancarlo Stanton smashed a home run in the fifth inning, his 28th of the season, and it was measured as the hardest hit ball in the MLB since 2015. The homer was 121.7 MPH.

WATCH BELOW

Yankees LHP J.A. Happ returned from the DL to face the Rangers and threw another quality start in pinstripes, his second in as many tries.

Happ gave up three runs on four hits in six innings with nine strikeouts at Yankee Stadium.

Happ breezed through the first three innings, allowing just two baserunners (twice hitting Shin-Soo Choo by pitch). In the fourth, Happ gave up his first run on his first hit allowed: solo home run to Jurickson Profar.

MLB is returning Players' Weekend on Aug. 24 through Aug. 26, where the players will get to wear nicknames on the backs of their special non-traditional jerseys.

These are the best Yankees' nicknames:

The Yankees kick off a four-game series with the Rangers at Yankee Stadium on Thursday night at 7:05 p.m.

Yankees notes

The Yankees begin a season-long 11-game homestand starting tonight against the Rangers. ... Luis Severino snapped a three-start losing streak on Wednesday to earn his career-high 15th win, tied for the Major League league lead. ... The Yankees are 38-16 (.704) at Yankee Stadium in 2018, the second-best home record in the Majors.

The Yankees' three-headed monster has only shown one face lately. But luckily, Giancarlo Stanton isn't disappointing. 

Stanton provided the big blow in Wednesday night's 7-3 win to complete a sweep over the White Sox, crushing a grand slam in the top of the second. It was his sixth career slam, but more importantly, it was another big hit in the absence of Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez.

"It's good to produce any way, any time," he told The Post's Ken Davidoff. "But this is obviously more important than most times here. Just got to step it up."

After making his major league debut this past weekend, the Yankees sent RHP Chance Adams back down to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after Wednesday night's win over the White Sox. 

Adams, who is the Yankees' No. 13 ranked prospect according to MLB.com, made a spot start in place of J.A. Happ. The righty lasted five innings, allowing three runs on three hits including two homers while striking out two and walking one. 

In Triple-A this season, Adams owns a 4.50 ERA over 21 starts (98 innings). 

Yankees RHP Luis Severino recovered after allowing two first inning runs and went on to pitch seven innings in the Yankees' win over the White Sox on Wednesday night.

Severino allowed three hits in the first inning, leading to both runs, before retiring the final two batters he faced in the inning.

Jose Abreu drove in the game's first run in the bottom of the first when he hit an RBI double against Severino. Daniel Palka knocked in another run later in the inning when he hit an RBI single to center field. 

Luis Severino kept the White Sox at bay, Giancarlo Stanton blasted a grand slam, and the Yankees completed a sweep with a 7-3 victory on Wednesday night >> Box score

1) It didn't look pretty for Severino in the early going, as he allowed two early runs, but he bounced back to allow just one more run over the course of the next six innings. He finished the day with eight strikeouts in seven innings of work. 

Yankees DH Giancarlo Stanton hit a grand slam during the Yankees' six-run second inning on Wednesday night to give his team a 6-2 lead over the White Sox.

Click below to watch the video

The Yankees will go for the sweep in their series finale against the White Sox on Wednesday at 8:10 p.m. at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago.

Yankees notes

The Yankees have won 1 of the five games they have played on their seven-game road trip... The Yankees have a 51-9 record when they score first ... The Yankees are playing their second game outside of the Eastern time zone since May 23 against the Rangers ... The Yankees have a 17-5 record against AL Central teams this season, which is second-highest of any AL team against a division.

CC Sabathia struck out 12 batters, Sonny Gray pitched three frames of scoreless relief, and Miguel Andujar delivered a go-ahead RBI single in the top of the 13th inning to lead the Yankees to a 4-3 win over the White Sox on Tuesday at Guaranteed Rate Field. >> Box score

1) Sabathia became the first player 38 years or older to record 12 or more strikeouts in a game since Randy Johnson struck out 13 batters on August 22, 2008. However, his pitch count climbed and he finished with 103 pitches after 5 2/3. The only run he allowed came in the third inning when Jose Abreu drove in Omar Narvaez with a sacrifice fly. 

Yankees LHP CC Sabathia struck out 12 batters against the White Sox on Wednesday night, marking the first time that a 38-year-old pitcher has struck out at least that many batters since Randy Johnson achieved the feat in 2008.

Sabathia only allowed one run, but his pitch count caught up to him as he was unable to complete six innings. He threw 103 pitches on the night.

Jose Abreu drove in Omar Narvaez with a sacrifice fly in the third inning and Sabathia never allowed another run from that point forward. 

The Yankees will continue their series with the White Sox on Tuesday at 8:10 p.m. at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago.

Yankees notes

The Yankees have won 1 of the five games they have played on their seven-game road trip... The Yankees have a 51-9 record when they score first ... The Yankees are playing their second game outside of the Eastern time zone since May 23 against the Rangers ... The Yankees have a 17-5 record against AL Central teams this season, which is second-highest of any AL team against a division.

Yankees OF Jacob Ellsbury is out for the season after undergoing arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left hip, the team announced Tuesday. 

The surgery, which was performed by Dr. Bryan Kelly at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan, has an expected recovery time of six months.

Ellsbury hasn't suited up for the Yankees all season as he has been dealing with numerous injuries. He first hit the DL at the start of the season with a right oblique strain that would eventually turn into his hip issue, plantar fasciitis, and a problem with the sacroilias joint in his back. 

Andy Martino, SNY.tv | Twitter |

Earlier this season, as the Yankees faced mounting criticism for being one of only two MLB teams not to host an LGBTQ Pride Night, something did not add up to me. I knew that Brian Cashman and some of his top lieutenants were relatively progressive on social issues, and had taken meaningful action in the past. It seemed out of character for them to hold out on an LGBTQ issue.

For example, Cashman is the only GM in baseball who has invited gay ex-player Billy Bean to speak to his major league club and entire minor league camp every spring training since MLB hired Bean in 2014. His interest in Bean's work toward making baseball more inclusive is clearly genuine. The Yankees also held a brief on-field ceremony in 2016 to honor the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting...

Former Yankees pitcher Esteban Loaiza is expected to pleade guilty to a felony cocaine distribution case, according to WLS-TV. 

Back in February, Loaiza was arrested after police found 44 pounds of cocaine in a van parked at his rented townhouse. Loaiza initially pleaded not guilty to the charge, but his "change of plea" hearing is set for this Friday. 

The 46-year-old was said to be using the townhouse as a destination to store the cocaine. The Imperial Beach home was also less than 1,000 feet from an elementary school. 

It has been 20 years since the Yankees were crowned World Series champions during the 1998 season, which was one of the greatest in franchise history. In turn, the Bronx Bombers want to commemorate the feat.

During the weekend of August 17-19, the Yankees celebrate the victory first with a 1998 World Championship replica trophy that will be given out to the first 10,000 fans present at Yankee Stadium for the series opener against the Blue Jays. 

But it is Saturday that is the big day, as an on-field reunion will occur before the game. Former players that are expected to be present include Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, Bernie Williams, Tino Martinez, Paul O'Neill, David Cone, Darryl Strawberry, and former manager Joe Torre. 

Chris Carelli, SNY.TV Facebook | Twitter | About Me | Archives A rookie skipper automatically gets some rope to navigate his way up the managerial learning curve, but what happens when the rope begins to fray?

Yankees manager Aaron Boone has been provided more leash than others due to a 50-22 start. But, since the exceptional opening to the season, Boone's Yankees are 19-20 and lost five straight games before Monday night's win in Chicago.

Boone has called the span of lackluster play a "blip," and repeatedly says there is not an energy problem. After the sweep at the hands of the Red Sox, Boone said the Yankees were "too good" to let it define them.

On his ESPN radio show Monday, Michael Kay called in to give his take on the Red Sox sweep. He began talking about how players like Luke Voit and Shane Robinson shouldn't be in the lineup during these games, and then pointed blame at Jacoby Ellsbury and Clint Frazier for not being healthy.

"Shame on the Yankees for not having depth, but again, shame on guys like Jacoby Ellsbury for not getting healhty. Shame on Clint Frazier for not getting healthy," Kay said. "You can't make them get healthy, but if those guys are available, it's completely different."

Frazier then responded...

Lance Lynn dominated the White Sox in his first start with the Yankees, striking out nine batters in 7 1/3 innings in Monday's 7-0 win at Guaranteed Rate Field.

"He was terrific," manager Aaron Boone told reporters after the game.

Lynn (8-8), whom the Yankees acquired from the Minnesota Twins last Monday, hasn't allowed a run in his last 12 1/3 innings, which includes his 4 1/3-inning effort in relief of Sonny Gray in his New York debut last Wednesday.