New York Yankees lose to the Tampa Bay Rays 4-0

The New York Yankees lost their third straight spring game this afternoon.  They lost 4-0 to the Tampa Bay Rays.  Hiroki Kuroda made his first start for the Yankees and was pretty good.  He basically made one bad pitch which became a two run triple.  That run scored on an RBI groundout.  Kuroda pitched two innings giving up three hits and three runs.  He had groundballs and a couple of strikeouts.  It is easy to see why the Yankees have liked this guy for a couple of years now.  I think he will be a very nice veteran addition to this staff.  He should fit in nicely in the middle of their rotation.  Rafael Soriano pitched a scoreless inning giving up a hit and a walk with a couple of strikeouts.  Cory Wade pitched an inning giving up a hit, Boone Logan pitched an inning giving up a hit and he had two strikeouts.  Adam Warren pitched two innings giving up three hits and one run with a couple of strikeouts, Clay Rapada who is trying to make the team as a specialty lefty pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up no hits and no runs with a couple of strikeouts and Kevin Whelan pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and a strikeout. 

The Yankees had four hits in the game.  Nick Swisher had a double, Dewayne Wise had a hit, Russell Martin had a hit and Jose Gil had a hit.  The Yankees were 0-4 with runners in scoring position and left four men on base.  Martin had a stolen base, Derek Jeter and Jayson Nix each committed an error.  Curtis had an outfield assist. 

The Yankees will take on the Toronto Blue Jays tomorrow afternoon in Dunedin.  Ivan Nova is the scheduled pitcher.  He should be up to three innings.  I would expect to see Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez in the lineup with maybe a couple of the other regulars from today that didn't play yesterday.  The Yankees are starting now to play guys on back-to-back days.