The New York Yankees defeat the Washington Nationals 4-2

The New York Yankees defeated the Washington Nationals by the score of 4-2 on Friday afternoon. The game took place at Nationals Park in Washington D.C. Andy Pettite made the start and was very good and their bullpen was very good also. Vernon Wells and Eduardo Nunez each had a couple of hits to lead the Yankees offense. 
Pettitte pitched six innings giving up two runs, one of them was earned. He gave up five hits, no walks and struck out six batters. Joba Chamberlain, David Robertson and Mariano Rivera each pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout.

Brett Gardner drew a walk, Melky Mesa had a hit and Robinson Cano had two hits. Kevin Youkilis had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk, Travis Hafner had a hit and Wells had two hits. Nunez had two hits and two RBI, Chris Stewart had a hit. Cano and Wells each hit a double and Youkilis hit a homerun. The Yankees were 2-9 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. Nunez and Gardner each had a stolen base. Youkilis committed an error.

Jordan Zimmerman pitched 3 1/3 innings giving up seven hits and four runs with a walk and two strikeouts. Zach Duke pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up two hits and striking out one, Henry Rodriguez pitched an inning giving up a walk and Ryan Mattheus pitched a perfect inning with a couple of strikeouts. Tyler Clippard pitched a perfect inning with three strikeouts and Drew Storen pitched an inning giving up a hit and striking out one.

Denard Span had a hit, Bryce Harper had a hit and Ryan Zimmerman had a hit. Adam LaRoche had a hit and an RBI, Ian Desmond had a hit and an RBI and Zimmerman hit a double. The Nationals were 2-3 with runners in scoring position and left four men on base.

In the fourth Youkilis hit a solo homerun in the fourth to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. Nunez hit a two run single and Stewart hit an RBI single to make it 4-0. The Nationals scored a run in the bottom of the fourth on a Desmond RBI single. LaRoche hit an RBI single in the sixth to make it 4-2 and that was the final score. The Yankees bullpen completely shutdown the Nationals in the last three innings.

The Yankees will now play one last exhibition game on Saturday afternoon at West Point against Army. They will be off Sunday and open the regular season on Monday afternoon at home against the Boston Red Sox.