Home Game: Blue Jays 1, Yankees 0

A good thing about the game: the pitching. David Phelps started and looked strong. He lasted three innings, gave up two hits, one walk and he struck out one batter. Phelps will be a key piece to the Yankees’ pitching staff in 2013. Another key piece will be David Aardsma, especially if he can stay healthy. Aardsma pitched one inning and he didn’t allow a hit, he didn’t surrender a walk and he struck out one batter. The lone run of the game came off Chase Whitley, a solo shot by Andy LaRoche.

A bad thing about the game: Marty Foster. He threw Chris Stewart out of the game after a bad call at first. Really dude? It’s February 28, calm down.

Brett Gardner, Mark Teixeira, Ichiro Suzuki, Ronnier Mustelier and Jose Pirela all had a hit apiece in the game. Juan Rivera finished with two.

Away Game: Houston 7, Yankees 6

Welp, the Yankees actually had a 5-1 lead in this game and gave it all up in the next half inning. How typical… Oh I’m kidding. I don’t get stressed about Spring Training games and I certainly don’t get stressed over games in which Shane Greene is the pitcher who was victimized by the opposing team.

Brett Marshall had a nice outing. He pitched three innings and he gave up one hit, didn’t surrender a walk and he struck out three batters.

Some good stuff from the game in Kissimmee:

• Zoilo Almonte and Matt Diaz both hit RBI singles.
• Melky Mesa hit a home run.
• The game was 3:11 long which is a good thing because Joe West was on the umpiring crew and we know how he doesn’t like long games.

The Yankees will be facing the Phillies tomorrow afternoon at Steinbrenner Field at 1:05 p.m. The game will be on the YES Network. And in case you want to see the good stuff from this afternoon’s Yanks/Astros game, MLB Network is showing it later tonight at 2 a.m.

The Yankees fell to 1-2 in Grapefruit League play thanks to a 5-1 loss to the Orioles.

I don’t think anyone was expecting the Yankees to win this one. It was a road game early in Spring Training and the only regular to make the trip was Brett Gardner. Speaking of Gardner, he was 3-3 on the day. Jayson Nix was the only other Yankee with more than one hit – he finished 2-3. The team had eight hits on the day.

Their lone run was scored in the top of the ninth inning when shortstop Walter Ibarra hit a single that scored Corban Joseph. It was the Yankees’ first run since Saturday afternoon’s win against the Braves.

The Orioles played most of their regulars and a few of them contributed to the win. Adam Jones, Nick Markakis and Nate McLouth all had RBI and Russ Canzler, who was designated for assignment by the Yankees earlier this winter drove in Baltimore’s last run in the bottom of the 6th inning. Brian Matusz earned the Spring Training win and Vidal Nuno picked up the loss for the Yankees.

The Yankees will take on the Phillies tomorrow afternoon at Bright House Field in Clearwater.

The Yankees dropped their Grapefuit League game to the Blue Jays 2-0 this afternoon at Steinbrenner Field but the biggest loss happened five pitches into Curtis Granderson‘s first at-bat. Toronto starter J.A. Happ hit Granderson in the right forearm. He was immediately taken out of the game as a precaution and a few innings later, the Yankees announced that Granderson suffered a fractured forearm and that he will be out 10 weeks.

Kevin Youkilis, who was on deck when Granderson was hit said, “It didn’t sound good.” And now we know, it wasn’t good at all.

It’s not a season-ending injury by any means and if there’s good news to come out of it, at least it happened early in Spring Training. Because of that, if things go as planned and Granderson doesn’t suffer any setbacks, he’ll be back a month into the season.

The game itself was pretty uneventful. Youkilis made good contact in his at bat, driving the ball to the warning track a couple of times but had nothing to show for his effort. He finished 0-2. Another new Yankee, Travis Hafner, finished the day 1-2 with a double.

The Yankees finished with 11 hits.

Cody Eppley and Juan Cedeno each gave up an earned run with Eppley getting the loss. Starter Adam Warren threw two scoreless innings with two strikeouts.

The Blue Jays got their runs thanks to an RBI single by Emilio Bonifacio in the third and an RBI double by Sean Ochinko in the eighth.

The Yankees are undefeated in Grapefruit league play thanks to an 8-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves. I know, it’s only one game and it’s Spring Training but I’m just happy to be able to write about an actual game. The last set of games the Yankees played left a pretty bad taste in everyone’s mouth so a victory, even in exhibition play, is nice to recap.

Paul Maholm, who started for Atlanta, kept the Yankees off the scoreboard for two innings. Robinson Cano reached on an error in the first but was erased from the bases when Mark Teixeira grounded into a double play to end the inning. In the second, set the Yankees down in order.

Things changed in the third when Jordan Walden came into the game to replace Maholm. Melky Mesa reached base when third baseman Chris Johnson dropped a pop up in front of the plate. That play ignited the Yankees and they ended up scoring four runs in the inning.

Mesa stole second when Zoilo Almonte was up in the inning, Walden threw a ball that got past catcher Christian Bethancourt which allowed Mesa to advance to third. Almonte made Walden pay when he took Walden’s 1-2 offering to left centerfield for a two-run home run putting the Yankees up 2-0.

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The batting woes of the New York Yankees continued as Max Scherzer and three relievers held the Yankees to just one run and two hits. But this time, the Yankees’ pitching fell apart as well and the Detroit Tigers won, 8-1, and have won the American League Pennant. CC Sabathia gave up a run in the first and an unearned run in the third before allowing a pair of two-run homers in the fourth as the Tigers blew it open to a six-run lead and never looked back. The Tigers completely dominated the series and as such have earned the opportunity to play in the World Series. The Yankees head home to an uncertain off season.

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