New York Yankees lose to the Minnesota Twins

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Minnesota Twins on Friday afternoon.  The game took place at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida and the final score was 7-3 Twins.  David Phelps made the start and was ok.  He had a 75 pitch limit and only got through four innings.  Dellin Betances pitched great again.  The Yankees got hits and runs in the first inning and then didn't get either the rest of the game. 

Phelps pitched four innings giving up two runs on five hits.  He walked one and struck out four.  David Herndon pitched an inning giving up a hit and a run with a walk and a strikeout, Banuelos took the loss pitching 1/3 of an inning and giving up two hits and four runs with two walks and a strikeout.  Fred Lewis pitched an inning giving up three hits and no runs with a walk and a strikeout, Betances pitched 1 2/3 perfect innings with two strikeouts and James Pazos pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout. 

Jacoby Ellsbury had a hit, Brian Roberts had a hit and an RBI and Mark Teixeira had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk.  Eduardo Nunez had an RBI, Ramon Flores drew two walks and Ellsbury and Roberts each hit a double. 

The Yankees were 2-5 with runners in scoring position and left two men on base.  Segedin committed an error.  The Yankees will play two games on Saturday.  They will play the Miami Marlins in Panama honoring Mo as part of the legends two game series.  They will also play the Baltimore Orioles in Sarasota, Florida. 

New York Yankees Friday notes

Brian McCann was scheduled to go to Panama and he said he was looking forward to it.  The

Yankees then decided to change it at the last minute and keep him in Florida.  He has never been

there and any other spring a trip like that he said would be good to break up the monotony that is

spring training.  He said though when the Yankees approached him about changing plans he was on

board. 

He said he is catching a lot because he needs to get to know the pitchers.  He is going to start doing back-to-back and by the end of spring probably do three games in a row.  He said you don't usually do that in spring training but he wants to catch everyone and really have a feel for them.  He stayed in Tampa specifically to catch Masahiro Tanaka on Sunday and Hiroki Kuroda on Monday.  He said he will probably get two more starts with each of them and then be ready to go for the season.  He expects to have caught each of the Yankees starters at least twice and some of them three times before camp breaks.  He would have caught CC Sabathia in Panama but the Yankees decided to prioritize him catching the two Japanese starters. 

Manny Banuelos made his second appearance on Friday and got knocked around again.  The results really don't matter at all right now.  The important thing for him is that he is getting in games and feeling good.  He will start the year in AAA Scranton and if he has a good year be knocking on the door to the big leagues.  The Yankees in Panama were scheduled to see the Panama canal on Friday and then have a big dinner Friday night for a charity that Mo is involved in. 

Mark Teixeira played on Friday and spoke about his lack of power.  He basically said he isn't worried about it.  He said it won't bother him if he leaves Florida without a homerun.  He said the important thing is that he feels good and is taking good swings and making good contact.  He said he knows the power will come because it is naturally there.  Eduardo Nunez making the final out of the fifth inning was spiked in the thigh.  Nunez said the slide was unnecessarily  rough and Rob Thomson the acting manager said he thought the runner forgot how many outs there were.  Nunez didn't think he did it on purpose though and wasn't that upset.  Nunez was pulled from the game as a precaution but he is fine. 

Brendan Ryan was able to hit and take ground balls on Friday.  He did them inside and is expected to do the same outside on Saturday.  David Phelps was ok but not great, his pitch count was 75 and he only lasted four innings.  I felt all along that Michael Pineda was the favorite for the fifth spot and so far going by the stats which you don't always do in spring he is winning.  I still say that he is going to be the fifth starter with Phelps as the new age Ramiro Mendoza and Adam Warren as the true long man. 

Dellin Betances threw another 1 2/3 scoreless innings on Friday.  He has been great all spring throwing eight shutout innings.  Fred Lewis is another guy who has pitched well for them this spring.  Betances when he got moved to the pen last year really showed maturity and took to it well.  He maybe has finally grown up and is ready to show the Yankees and their fans what he is capable of. 

The New York Mets lose to the St. Louis Cardinals

The New York Mets were defeated by the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday afternoon.  The final

score was 6-4 and the game took place at Tradition Field in Port St. Lucie, Florida.  John Lannan

started and pitched pretty well.  Juan Lagares had a couple of RBI but no Met had more then a hit. 

Lannan pitched four innings giving up three hits and two unearned runs.  He walked none and struck out five and took the loss.  Carlos Torres pitched two innings giving up a hit and striking out one, Kyle Farnsworth pitched two innings giving up two hits and two runs and Carreno pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and two runs with three walks and a strikeout.  Walters pitched 1/3 of an inning striking out the only batter he faced and Bobby Parnell pitched a scoreless inning giving up a walk. 

Eric Young Jr. drew a walk, Allen had a hit and an RBI and David Wright had a hit.  Kirk Nieuwenhuis had a hit, Chris Young had a hit and Andrew Brown had an RBI.  Campbell had a hit and drew a walk, Taylor Teagarden had a hit and drew a walk and Anthony Recker had  a hit.  Lagares had a hit and two RBI, Josh Satin had a hit and Campbell and Young each hit a double.  Nieuwenhuis hit a triple and the Mets were 3-11 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base.  Young had a stolen base, Wright committed an error and Teagarden had a passed ball. 

The Mets will play at the Washington Nationals on Thursday afternoon in Viera, Florida. 

New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers play to tie

The New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers played to a tie on Wednesday afternoon.  The final score

was 7-7.  The game took place at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida.  Hiroki Kuroda started for the

Yankees and really struggled.  Francisco Cervelli hit two homeruns in the game and the Yankees

made a late rally to tie the game.  They did play ten innings.

Kuroda pitched  3 2/3 innings giving up ten hits and six runs with a strikeout.  Chase Whitley pitched to one batter and retired him, Shawn Kelley pitched a perfect inning and Jose Campos gave up a hit in one inning with a strikeout.  Fred Lewis gave up a hit in one inning, Danny Burawa pitched a perfect inning and Robert Coello gave up an unearned run and a walk in one inning.  Yoshinori Tateyama pitched an inning giving up a hit and striking out a batter. 

Zoilo Almonte had two hits and two RBI, Yangervis Solarte had a hit and drew a walk and Adonis Garcia had a hit.  Alfonso Soriano had a hit, John Ryan Murphy had an RBI and Kelly Johnson had a hit.  Jose Pirela had a hit and drew a walk, Zelous Wheeler had a hit and two RBI and Cervelli had two hits and two RBI.  Austin Romine had a hit, Jose Gil had a hit.  Wheeler and Gil each hit a double and Cervelli hit two homeruns.  Almonte also hit a homerun. 

The Yankees were 3-7 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base.  Johnson committed two errors and Cervelli committed an error.  Romine had a passed ball and Williams had an outfield assist.  The Yankees will play a split squad on Thursday afternoon.  They will be at home to face the Baltimore Orioles and the other half of the team will be in Clearwater to face the Philadelphia Phillies.  The half of the team that is leaving to play in Panama will be leaving tomorrow night at 6PM. 

New York Yankees news and notes from Tuesday/Wednesday

CC Sabathia did take his new cutter into the game on Tuesday.  He seemed happy with the results. 

He guessed he threw about eight or nine of them and didn't have a problem.  He said he will still use

the four seam fastball but as he gets up there in his career this is another weapon.  He said he

doesn't know if it will come right away or take a whole season but he will continue to work on it and

see what happens. 

Mark Teixeira still hasn't swung and missed and hasn't checked his swing.  He is happy so far though and stated he is feeling good.  He also said though that the more he plays the less those things seem like significant milestones.  He said he has swung at good pitches  and is taking good swings as well as getting good work in BP. 

Brendan Ryan swung with a broomstick on Tuesday.  He still has a mild oblique problem although he said it is more of a back issue and they are just being really cautious.  Masahiro Tanaka faced 18 batters in his sim game Tuesday and struck out nine.  The AP stayed behind in Tampa to document this.  He gave up four hits and a run in five innings.  He at one point threw 16 straight strikes.  I don't know about anyone else but what I am most impressed about is his control.  I think he will be a very good pitcher.  He has a good personality and has met every challenge so far. 

Brian McCann will catch Sabathia again on Sunday in Panama.  He is trying to learn all the pitchers.  He has already got high marks from a couple of the pitchers.  CC Sabathia who said he noticed something in his start Tuesday and made an adjustment with him that worked right away and also from Ivan Nova. 

Joe Girardi announced that McCann, Dean Anna, Derek Jeter, Brett Gardner, Alfonso Soriano, Carlos Beltran, Yangervis Solarte, Zelous Wheeler, John Ryan Murphy, Gary Sanchez and Jose Gil.  He said he isn't sure about the pitchers other then Sabathia and Adam Warren who are starting the two games.  That is entirely up to Larry Rothschild the pitching coach. 

Teixeira said he isn't going to Tampa because they don't have the training room that is ideal for him.  He needs a lot of extra work and staying back in Tampa is better for him.  The team that is going to Panama will be leaving at 6PM on Thursday. 

Jose Campos will make his spring debut in Wednesday's game.  He was added to the 40 man roster this spring and is the other pitcher in the Michael Pineda Seattle trade.  Dellin Betances was scheduled to throw a simulated game on Wednesday.  Ervin Santana has come off the market to sign with the Braves who had a couple of pitching injuries to throw them in the mix and sign him. 

The Yankees will have a bunch of minor leaguers come up to camp to fill the roster while the other half of the team is in Panama.  The call-ups will start on Thursday with the split squad.  Tyler Webb and Pat Venditte are coming up for the day as pitchers.  Wes Wilson, Rob Refsnyder, Carmen Angelini, Rob Segedin, Ali Castillo, Ben Gamel and Taylor Dugas. 

The games will start getting more interesting and the starters playing longer next week.  This is the kind of boring mundane part of the spring but Opening Day is quickly approaching so hang in there.