All Things Bubba

This actually happened last week, but I've been on the road and not keeping up with baseball.

Pendleton is well-traveled this season. A teammate of Paul Janish's at Rice, he was drafted by the Yankees in the 4th round in 2005. His hometown Astros took him from the Yanks last December in the Rule 5 draft, but returned him at the end of spring training. He cleared waivers and ended up in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

With Phil Hughes on the DL with a tired arm, Bartolo Colon was moved from the bullpen to the starting rotation. Pendleton is taking Colon's spot in the pen. So far, so good.

They Like Lance A Lot

Lance Pendleton got the word in Scranton Friday that he always hoped he'd hear.

He was off to the Bronx to make his major league debut.

"I was told at 3:10 p.m.," Pendleton said. "I packed up my locker, packed a suitcase, got the wife and son, dropped off the dog and, don't tell the state police, but I made it in two hours."

Pendleton, who was selected by the Astros from the Yankees in the Rule 5 Draft in December but returned to the Yanks in March, ended his hectic day with three perfect innings, including striking out Elvis Andrus, his first batter in the bigs.

"It's so surreal," said Pendleton, who pitched a flawless seventh, eighth and ninth. "I definitely had some butterflies going but it was good to keep them down in my stomach and not let them affect by arm."

Pendleton first had to convince his wife that he wasn't kidding about his callup.

"At first she thought I was joking," Pendleton said. "But we have a little secret word that we say that you can't joke if we say that word and then she started crying and said, 'What are we going to do? What does this mean?' I said I have no idea. I know we're driving to New York and past that I have no idea.'"

If Pendleton continues to throw as he did Friday night, he may have to send for his dog.

"He threw strikes with all his pitches," Girardi said. "For the first time pitching in Yankee Stadium against a team that went to the World Series last year, I was impressed."

Pendleton, who will wear No.39, said, "They could put 101 on my back and I won't care. I couldn't have written it up any better than this other than I wish we would have won. But if we were winning I might not have pitched."

He and his wife have a safe word for jokes? He must be quite the jokester.

I was hoping to see him pitch in Scranton later this season, but I guess I waited too long. Great opportunity for him, though, and I hope he makes it hard for them to send him back down.

Labels: Lance Pendleton