Yanks Subtract Hinske and Add Speed to Their Bench

The Yankees purchased Freddy Guzman from the Baltimore Orioles in late August because they wanted an extra pinch-runner for the playoffs for the days Brett Gardner starts in the outfield. Guzman did not make the roster for the division series, but he is on the team for the American League Championship Series, replacing Eric Hinske.

“We thought we could use another speed guy in this round,” Manager Joe Girardi said. “We’ve had some success doing those types of things late in games, and in a seven-game series, we felt that it could come up late in games. As we saw, the games against Minnesota were very close, and sometimes you could use a couple of pinch-runners. And if Gardy gets a start, then you don’t have a pinch-runner. It just frees us up to do some more things.”

Melky Cabrera started all three games in center field against the Twins, getting two singles in 12 at-bats. He is 1 for 12 in his career against the Los Angeles Angels’ Game 3 starter, Jered Weaver, so Girardi could sit him then. Right fielder Nick Swisher has also struggled against some Angels starters, including John Lackey (5 for 43) and Scott Kazmir (5 for 27).

Cabrera did not start against Weaver when the Yankees played in Anaheim in July, and Swisher sat against Lackey that series. Cabrera did face Weaver at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 14, with a single, a walk and a groundout.

That was a 5-3 victory for the Yankees, who broke a tie in the eighth inning with two runs off Weaver and Darren Oliver. Gardner and Guzman both pinch-ran in that inning, Gardner stealing a base and Guzman going from first to third on a single.

Nine days later, Guzman stole a base against the Angels in Anaheim. He was successful on four of five attempts for the Yankees and on at least his last 20 attempts in the minors. He stole 45 bases in 54 attempts over all for four Class AAA teams this year.

Hinske was the Yankees’ only position player who did not appear in the division series. He was also bumped from the Tampa Bay Rays’ A.L.C.S. roster last season in favor of Gabe Gross, a better defensive outfielder. Hinske returned to the roster in the middle of the World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies, hitting a homer in Game 4 but striking out against Brad Lidge to end the series in Game 5.

ROTATION SET, UNTIL GAME 4 As expected, Joe Girardi is going with the rotation he used in the division series, with C. C. Sabathia in Game 1, followed by A. J. Burnett in Game 2 and Andy Pettitte in Game 3.

Girardi left the fourth game starter undecided, though Sabathia seems to be the likely choice if the series goes as scheduled. Sabathia said he could pitch on short rest in Game 4.

“That’s up to Joe; I feel fine,” Sabathia said. “When I’m out there, I can throw 110, I can throw 140. It’s all the same once you’re out there. Like I said all year, I’ll take the ball whenever they need me to.”

INFIELDER AND FORECASTER When Mark Teixeira left the Angels for the Yankees as a free agent last December, he had a prophetic conversation with Angels center fielder Torii Hunter.

“I said, ‘Good luck to you guys, and hopefully we’ll see you in the A.L.C.S.,’ ” Teixeira said. “We got our wish.”

Hunter has faced the Yankees in the playoffs before, in 2003 and 2004, when his Minnesota Twins bowed in the division series. Hunter joked that the Twins were making minimum wage while the Yankees fielded an All-Star team.

“We played good baseball,” Hunter said. “But all those home runs and doubles beat us — and good pitching.”

Hunter, perhaps the most gregarious superstar in baseball, admitted what few players do: that there is something different about facing the Yankees in October.

“When you say Yankees, you still talk about history,” Hunter said. “So when I’m running on the field and I know I’m playing the Yankees, it’s going to be that same feeling as a little kid. It’s a dream to play these guys in the A.L.C.S. and to have a good chance of beating the Yankees. Who wouldn’t want to beat the Yankees? They’re big.”

GO BY THE GAME, NOT THE DAY The Yankees stressed that A.L.C.S. tickets can be used only for the game listed on the ticket, not for the day of the week. So if Game 1 is rained out Friday and bumped to Saturday, only tickets marked Game 1 will be valid for entry Saturday.

THE SURVEY SAYS ... The Yankees should come home with their 27th World Series championship, according to fans. Forty-one percent of baseball fans surveyed by Marist College expect the Yankees to win.

Ten percent anticipated a repeat by the Philadelphia Phillies, 8 percent picked the Los Angeles Dodgers and 5 percent selected the Angels. A quarter, 24 percent, mentioned teams that have since been eliminated, and 12 percent had no opinion.

The Yankees got more than twice the votes than any other team in all parts of the country, except the West, where the Yankees (23 percent) and the Dodgers (22 percent) were even.

The poll was conducted Oct. 7, 8 and 12 with 513 adults nationwide who said they follow major league baseball at least a little bit. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus four percentage points. MARJORIE CONNELLY