Vazquez calls latest outing "a step forward"

DETROIT - It was, Javier Vazquez admitted, exactly what he needed.

The maligned righthander lost a 2-0 decision to Rick Porcello Wednesday, but it was hard not to take the afternoon as mostly positive.

"Obviously, everybody knows that I needed a good game," said Vazquez, who came in 1-3 with a 9.78 ERA.

He unquestionably had one, pitching five shutout innings before the Tigers got two runs in the sixth. He ended up allowing two runs and five hits in seven innings.

Johnny Damon, who famously tortured Vazquez in Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS, singled off Vazquez in the sixth but also struck out twice in his 1-for-4 day.

Catcher Jorge Posada saw a big difference in Vazquez, particularly when it came to the pitcher's fastball.

"I liked everything today," Posada said. "He established his fastball, did a lot of good things. He was very aggressive and used all his pitches."

Vazquez called the outing "a step forward," especially in being able to command his fastball.

"I located it much, much better than I've done," Vazquez said. "That's been my biggest pitch and I wasn't locating it. My other pitches were OK but my fastball, I needed to locate it."

His fastball hovered around 89-91 mph, still short of what he's used to hitting with the pitch, but this wasn't a day to nitpick.

"I wish I'd be throwing 92, 93 like in years past but right now it's not there," Vazquez said. "That's why you have to located it better and that's what I did today."

As for being skipped one start, Vazquez didn't say it was the reason for yesterday's outing but it didn't hurt, either.

"As a pitcher you want to go out there every five days but the way I was throwing the ball, I was not throwing the ball well and I was not helping the team, so it just gave me a breather," he said. "It helped me relax a bit and to work on some things. It helped."

Notes & quotes: Alfredo Aceves (back) was officially put on the DL and outfielder Greg Golson was called up instead of infielder Juan Miranda because of the doubleheader. "We've been short outfielders," Joe Girardi said. Golson came in for defense in the night game and got his first major-league hit. Miranda is still likely to be called up shortly as the Yankees need a lefty bat with Nick Johnson on the DL. Jonathan Albaladejo was sequestered in the team hotel and could have been activated before the second game had the bullpen been burned in the first game, which was not the case . . . Chan Ho Park struck out three in an extended spring training inning and, should tomorrow's outing go well, he could be activated this weekend . . . Andy Pettitte threw 32 pitches in the bullpen, said he "felt good" and is on schedule to make Saturday's start against the Twins . . . Pitcher Tim Redding agreed to a minor-league deal with the Yankees . . . Girardi called Yogi Berra to wish him a happy 85th birthday and joked that he got the Hall of Famer a "doubleheader" as a gift. "It's awesome having Yogi around," Girardi said. "It's a privilege."