New York Yankees lose to the Pittsburgh Pirates

The New York Yankees lost in Bradenton to the Pittsburgh Pirates today by the score of 7-4. CC Sabathia made the start and Phil Hughes came on in relief of him. Sabathia wasn’t perfect but he wasn’t bad either. Hughes struggled a little but his velocity was up which is a good sign for him. The Yankees had eight hits but not one guy had more then one hit. 

Brett Marshall pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up a walk and he struck out one.  Graham Stoneburner pitched two innings giving up four hits and two runs with one of them being earned and he struck out one.  Chase Whitley gave up five hits and three runs in one inning.  He did also strike out a batter. 
Sabathia pitched two innings giving up three hits and one run. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out one. Hughes pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up four hits and two runs with one of them being earned. He struck out one batter. The Yankees used three other relievers, none of them will be on the major league team this year.

Derek Jeter had one hit in three at bats. Robinson Cano had an RBI, Alex Rodriguez had a hit and a walk to continue his good start to the spring. Mark Teixeira had a hit and a walk, Francisco Cervelli had an RBI. The Yankees did not hit a homerun in the game. Teixeira and Rodriguez each had an error in the game. David Adams had a hit and two RBI, Melky Mesa had a hit and Chris Dickerson had a hit.  Justin Maxwell and Ramiro Pena each had a hit.  The Yankees were 2-11 with runners in scoring position and they left eight men on base. 

The Yankees will return to Tampa and George M. Steinbrenner Field on Wednesday to take on the Tampa Bay Rays at 1:05PM. The Yankees are expected to play their starting outfield in the game.

The story of this game though was Hughes. The results weren’t what Hughes and the Yankees would want. The results at this point don’t really matter though. The Yankees liked what they saw out of him today. Hughes himself was also pleased and feels he is in better shape and that is also leading to being in better shape pitching wise. He said he feels good and was happy with his velocity. Hughes velocity in this game was sitting at 92-93 which is a little higher then he or the Yankees could of expected in his first outing. That is basically where he needs to be and maybe a little more. Hughes feels that if he is there he can be a very good pitcher. Hughes didn’t think he hit even 90 last spring. He said he was motivated to put last season behind him and show that he is more like the pitcher everyone saw in 2010. Hughes went to an off-season workout program that was very intense but made sure he said it was his choice. He said he feels really good right now and will get better as he goes through spring. He also seems to be right mentally which is a good thing. He seems like he has been around forever but is still just 25 years old and the Yankees hope he will be in their rotation for years to come.