ZEILE GETS INTO CATHCING MIX Newsday.com By Ken Davidoff STAFF WRITER August 10, 2003 Jorge Posada's stiff neck forced manager Joe Torre to answer a question that surfaces about once a year: Who is the Yankees' third catcher? The answer is Todd Zeile, the little- used reserve infielder whom Torre switched away from catcher in 1990 when Torre managed Zeile with the St. Louis Cardinals. "Knowing Todd, he'll say, 'Now you want me to catch,'" Torre joked yesterday before the Yankees' 2-1 loss to Seattle. Zeile would have been called into action had the Yankees tied the game in the bottom of the ninth yesterday, as Torre pinch hit for his second catcher, John Flaherty, with Ruben Sierra. Posada missed his second straight game yesterday. His problem was not with catching - he warmed up Andy Pettitte before a few innings while Flaherty put on his equipment - but with hitting. "I should be all right [today]," Posada said after the game. But Torre seemed to think Posada might need a little more time, and said, "If it gets just a little better [today], then he won't be in there." The End of the Starters' Run Andy Pettitte took the loss when the Yankees fell to the Mariners yesterday, and that concluded an unusual streak for the Yankees' starting rotation. The club's starting pitchers hadn't suffered a loss in the previous 13 games. Yet the starters picked up only five victories in that span. With so many games going close and late, the relievers picked up the bulk of the decisions. They went 3-5. Let's Get Together (or Not) The Yankees and Blue Jays haven't yet decided if or when they'll make up their rained-out July 22 game at Yankee Stadium. Most likely, they'll play at the Stadium on Monday, Sept. 8, as the Yankees are in the middle of a homestand and the Blue Jays play in Toronto on Sept. 7 and Tampa Bay on Sept. 9. The clubs have also discussed making up the game in Toronto on Sept. 2 - an unusual day off in the middle of a Yankees-Blue Jays series at SkyDome - or not playing it unless it's relevant to the postseason. The Yankees' front office would like to play the game at home for obvious financial reasons. To play it Sept. 8, however, would schedule the Yankees to play 22 straight days, and the players must approve such a long stretch. Extra Bases Today marks the Yankees' series finale against the Mariners, and they enter the game with a 5-3 record against Seattle. This will mark their first season-series victory over the Mariners since 1999, when they went 9-1. Copyright © 2003, Newsday,Inc
