The New York Mets defeat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-2

The New York Mets defeated the St. Louis Cardinals by the score of 7-2 on Friday afternoon. The game took place at Tradition Field in Port St. Lucie, Florida. It was the last game in Port St. Lucie for the Mets this year. They have one more road exhibition in Florida and then will head home for the opener at Citi Field on Monday against the San Diego Padres. Matt Harvey started for the Mets and pitched well and the bullpen was pretty good. Daniel Murphy had a couple of hits to lead the Mets offense. 
Harvey pitched four innings winning the game. He gave up three hits and no runs with two walks and four strikeouts. LaTroy Hawkins pitched an inning giving up two hits and two runs with a walk, Brandon Lyon pitched an inning giving up two hits and a walk and Scott Rice pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout. Scott Atchison pitched a perfect inning and Bobby Parnell pitched a perfect inning striking out the sides.

Mike Baxter had a hit, Murphy had two hits and Ike Davis had a hit and drew two walks. Marlon Byrd had a hit and drew a walk, Lucas Duda had a hit and an RBI and John Buck had a hit, an RBI and drew two walks. Ruben Tejada had a hit, three RBI and drew a walk, Colin Cowgill had a hit and two RBI, Byrd and Tejada each hit a double. Cowgill hit a homerun and the Mets were 3-9 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base. Baxter had a stolen base.

Jake Westbrook took the loss pitching four innings giving up five hits and four runs with four walks and two strikeouts. Marc Rzepczynski pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up two hits and three runs with a walk, Randy Choate gave up a hit without recording an out and Joe Kelly pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up a hit and a walk with a strikeout. Ramon Delgado pitched two innings striking out three.

Jon Jay had two hits, Shane Robinson drew a walk and Matt Holliday had a hit. Adron Chambers had a hit and two RBI, Yadier Molina drew two walks and Tony Cruz had a hit. Pete Kozma had a hit, Ryan Jackson had a hit and Ty Wigginton drew a walk. Jay, Chambers and Jackson each hit a double and the Cardinals were 1-10 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base. Chambers had an outfield assist.

Tejada hit a two run double and Cowgill a two run homerun in the fourth inning. In the fifth St. Louis scored two runs to make it a 4-2 game. Chambers hit a two run double but then the Mets came back and scored three runs in the bottom of the inning to complete the scoring. Duda hit an RBI single, Buck had an RBI walk and Tejada hit a sacrifice fly. The final was 7-2 Mets.

The Mets record improved to 15-14 on the spring and the Cardinals record dropped to 16-15 on the spring. The Mets will play one final exhibition game on Saturday afternoon at the Baltimore Orioles.

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.

The New York Rangers lose 3-0 in Ottawa

The New York Rangers lost 3-0 to the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night. They are trying to hold on to at least the eight seed in the Eastern conference. They really don’t want to finish eighth and face off against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round of the NHL playoffs. They would rather finish eighth though and take their chances then the season to be over and them not making the playoffs. 
It was 0-0 at the end of the first period and although the Rangers didn’t have many chances they felt they played a pretty good period. They were losing 1-0 at the end of two and then the Senators scored two in the third to finish the game off.

Andre Benoit scored his second goal on the power play at the 19:11 mark of the period. In the third the goals were scored at the 12:16 mark and the 17:58 mark. The goals were scored by Guillaume Latendresse with his fifth goal and Colin Greening with his sixth goal of the season.

Henrik Lundqvist made 26 saves out of 28 shots and Bishop was 24-24. Ottawa had the shots advantage with 29 to the Rangers 24. The Rangers were 0-4 on the power play and Ottawa was 1-2. The Rangers will play at the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night. They remain in eighth place in the Eastern Conference just behind the NJ Devils for seventh place.

New York Yankees notes as they head to final day in Tampa

The New York Yankees are giving Lyle Overbay a three day tryout. It isn’t a lot of time to see if he can be the first baseman but either he will be or they will waive him. They aren’t going to have him go to the minor leagues. He started out well with a two hit night last night and he has always had a good glove. My guess is that he will make the team and that Juan Rivera probably will also but won’t be playing as much as he may have thought. 
The Yankees will head to Washington D.C. to take on the Nationals tomorrow and then West Point on Saturday, they have an off day Sunday and then Monday is the season opener against the Red Sox. Ronnier Mustelier was scratched last night due to soreness in his knee, I really didn’t think he was going to make the team anyway but who knows if the injury will affect that.

The Yankees have said that Vernon Wells will be there everyday left fielder until Curtis Granderson comes back. It will be interesting to see if both Brennan Boesch and Juan Rivera make the team, Ben Francisco is also there but they can’t all make it and it is possible for them to go to the minors. Wells can not so that is why he is on the team.

Eduardo Nunez who is the starting shortstop until Derek Jeter gets back which is anyone’s guess had a good night. He played error free ball again and went 2-3 and now his average is up to 293. There is no doubt from me or the Yankees that he will hit and can create some things on the base paths but his defense is the question. He has worked hard this spring though and has shown some real improvement. If he can play solid defense then he could be a huge player for them going forward.

David Phelps finished up his spring, it was a good one for him and it looks like he will be making a start the first time through the rotation. He will most likely become the long man when Phil Hughes comes back. He will be valuable to the team no matter what though. If Nova struggles again he can be plugged right into the rotation and there are always injuries so I think everyone will be able to pitch enough.

The Yankees also have Chien-Ming Wang stashed in AAA as depth, he has looked good this spring mostly pitching in the WBC. The Yankees have a lot of guys in the minors too that have looked good this spring and could possibly make an impact. They aren’t hurting on the pitching front and that is the most important thing.

Jeter won’t play in a game until Monday at the earliest, he will stay back in Tampa when the team leaves. They are just trying to rest the ankle and get the pain to go away. I don’t think this will be a long term thing but something he has to deal with as he comes back from major ankle surgery. I would expect to see him by the middle of April but you really just don’t know. If Nunez is playing well they can take their time with him and have him come back slower and be ready to go for the rest of the season.

The New York Yankees defeat the Baltimore Orioles 11-8

The New York Yankees defeated the Baltimore Orioles by the score of 11-8 on Wednesday night. The game took place at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Florida. David Phelps got the start and pitched well for the Yankees. Lyle Overbay, Ben Francisco and Brennan Boesch each had two hits. 
Phelps pitched 5 1/3 innings giving up four hits and three runs walking two and striking out nine. He picked up the win, Josh Spence pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and a run, Branden Pinder pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up four hits and four runs with a strikeout and Juan Cedeno retired the only batter that he faced. Nick Goody pitched an inning giving up a hit and striking out two and Preston Claiborne picked up the save pitching an inning and striking out one.

Brett Gardner had a hit, Mason Williams had a hit and two RBI and Nunez had two hits, an RBI and drew a walk. Overbay had two hits, Boesch had a hit and two RBI and Melky Mesa had a hit. Francisco had two hits and an RBI, Ramon Flores had a hit and Jayson Nix had a hit and drew a walk. Thomas Neal had a hit and drew two walks, Addison Maruszak had a hit and two RBI, Bobby Wilson had a hit, two RBI and drew a walk and Wilson, Williams and Mesa each hit a double. Boesch and Francisco each hit a homerun. The Yankees were 5-17 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base. Nix and Neal each had a stolen base and Francisco was caught stealing.

Jair Jurrjen pitched an inning giving up two hits and two runs with one of them being earned. He walked one, Tommy Hunter pitched an inning giving up three hits and an unearned run, Adam Russell pitched an inning giving up a hit and striking out two and Troy Patton pitched an inning giving up a walk and striking out one. Mark Hendrickson took the loss pitching two innings giving up a hit and a run with two walks and a strikeout, Chris Petrini pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up six hits and six runs with a walk. Andy Loomis pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up two hits and a run with a strikeout and Zech Zinicola pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout.

Nick Markakis had two hits and two RBI, Brian Roberts had a hit and an RBI and Adam Jones had a hit. Taylor Teagarden had a hit and three RBI, J.J. Hardy drew a walk and Nate McClouth had two hits and two RBI. Kyle Hudson had a hit, Manny Machado had a hit and Alexi Casilla had a hit and drew a walk. McClouth and Teagarden each hit a homerun and the Orioles were 4-7 with runners in scoring position and left four men on base. Casilla, Petrini, Dickerson and Britton each committed an error and Wieters had a passed ball.

Maruszack had an RBI groundout, Wilson had an RBI double and Nunez an RBI single all in the second inning. The Yankees had a 3-0 lead and the Orioles came back to tie it in the fifth inning. McLouth hit a two run homerun and Markakis hit an RBI single. Wilson hit a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning to make it 4-3 Yankees. In the seventh the teams combined for 11 runs and it was 10-8 at the end of the inning. The Yankees tacked on a run in the eighth to complete the scoring at 11-8.

The Yankees record improved to 13-17 in the spring and the Orioles record fell to 18-9. The Yankees will play their final spring game in Florida on Thursday. They will play the Pittsburgh Pirates at home on Thursday afternoon and the Orioles will play the Tampa Bay Rays at home on Thursday night.

The New York Mets defeat the Houston Astros 6-2

The New York Mets defeated the Houston Astros by the score of 6-2 on Wednesday night. The game took place at Tradition Field in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Jon Niese made the start in his final tune-up before Opening Day and pitched well. The bullpen was pretty good. Marlon Byrd and John Buck led the Mets offense. 
Niese pitched 4 1/3 innings picking up the win. He gave up two hits and no runs with two walks and seven strikeouts, Scott Rice pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up a walk and two strikeouts, Pedro Feliciano pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout and Scott Atchison pitched an inning giving up a hit and two runs with one of them being earned. He walked one and struck out one and Bobby Parnell pitched a perfect inning striking out the side.

Jordany Valdespin had two hits, Josh Rodriguez had an RBI and drew a walk and Colin Cowgill drew a walk. Ike Davis had two hits, Byrd had two hits and three RBI and Dustin Lawley had a hit. Buck had three hits, Zach Lutz had two hits and an RBI and Ruben Tejada drew a walk. Byrd, Lutz, Lawley and Davis each hit a double and Byrd hit a homerun. The Mets were 3-15 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. Valdespin committed an error and Rice had a pickoff.

Edgar Gonzalez took the loss pitching three innings and giving up four hits and three runs with a walk and two strikeouts. Rhiner Cruz pitched an inning giving up two hits, Jose Veras pitched a perfect inning with three strikeouts and Xavier Cedeno pitched an inning giving up three hits and two runs with a strikeout. Hector Ambriz pitched an inning giving up a hit and striking out two and Colton Cain pitched an inning giving up two hits and a run with two walks and a strikeout.

Brandon Barnes drew a walk, Carlos Correa had a hit and an RBI and Brandon Laird had a hit. Matt Dominguez drew a walk, George Springer drew a walk and Jason Jaramillo had a hit. Delino Deshields drew a walk and the Astros were 0-7 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base. Correa had a stolen base and Barnes was caught stealing, Correa committed an error.

Byrd grounded into a double play in the first inning and a run scored giving the Mets a 1-0 lead. Byrd hit a two run double in the third to give the Mets a 3-0 lead. Byrd hit a solo homerun and Lutz hit an RBI double in the sixth and it was 5-0 Mets. The Astros broke through in the eighth and scored their only two runs. Correa grounded out to score a run and a wild pitch scored the second run. The Mets scored the final run of the game in the bottom of the eighth. Rodriguez had an RBI walk and the final score was 6-2 Mets.

The Mets record improved to 14-13 on the spring and the Astros record fell to 13-15. The Mets will play at the Washington Nationals on Thursday afternoon and Houston will play at Atlanta on Thursday afternoon.

The New York Mets defeated the Atlanta Braves 7-4

The New York Mets defeated the Atlanta Braves by the score of 7-4 on Monday afternoon. The game took place at Champion Stadium in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Dillon Gee started for the Mets and pitched very well, the bullpen wasn’t so great. Colin Cowgill led the offense with a couple of hits and RBI. 
Gee pitched six innings giving up two hits and no runs with seven strikeouts and picked up the win. Robert Carson pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up two hits and two runs, Jeffrey Walters pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up two hits and a walk with a strikeout and Greg Burke pitched an inning giving up three hits and two runs with a walk and a strikeout.

Ruben Tejada drew a walk, Omar Quintanilla had a hit and an RBI and Josh Rodriguez had a hit. Cowgill had two hits, two RBI and drew a walk, Kirk Nieuwenhuis drew a walk and Zach Lutz had a hit. Eric Campbell had an RBI, Andrew Brown had a hit and two RBI and Mike Baxter drew a walk. Landon Powell had a hit, Jaime Hoffman had two hits and an RBI and Jordany Valdespin drew a walk. Corey Patterson had a hit and it was a triple, Brown and Hoffman each hit a homerun. The Mets were 2-7 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base.

Mike Minor pitched five innings taking the loss, he gave up six hits and five runs with two walks and three strikeouts. Anthony Varvaro pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up two hits and a run with two walks and three strikeouts, Cole McCurry pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a walk and Craig Kimbrel pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout. Andrew Russell pitched an inning giving up two hits and a run.

Ramiro Pena drew a walk, Jason Heyward had two hits and an RBI and Justin Upton had a hit and an RBI. Freddie Freeman had a hit, William Beckwith had a hit and B.J. Upton had a hit. Jordan Schafer had a hit, Juan Francisco had a hit and an RBI and Chris Johnson had a hit. Kyle Kubitza drew a walk, Evan Gattis had an RBI and Francisco hit a double. Heyward and J Upton each hit a homerun. The Braves were 1-4 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base. Lipka had a stolen base and Schafer was caught stealing.

Cowgill hit an RBI single and Brown hit a two run homerun to make it 3-0 Mets in the first inning. Hoffman hit a solo homerun in the second inning making it a 4-0 game, the Mets scored in the third to make it 5-0. In the seventh Quintanilla made it 6-0 and then the Braves scored two runs in the bottom of the inning. Heyward and J. Upton hit back-to-back homeruns to make it a 6-2 game. In the ninth the Mets made it 7-2 before the Braves scored two runs to make it 7-4 but that would be the final score. Francisco hit an RBI double and Gattis hit an RBI groundout.

The Mets record improved to 13-12 on the spring and the Braves record dropped to 18-14. The Mets will play home against the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday afternoon. The Braves will play at Detroit on Tuesday afternoon.

The New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays with a walkoff homerun

The New York Yankees defeated the Tampa Bay Rays by the score of 7-6 on Sunday afternoon. The game was played at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida. Adam Warren started for the Yankees and did not pitch great although a lot of runs were unearned. The Yankees used eight pitchers out of relief and they pitched well. Eduardo Nunez and Kevin Youkilis had good games to lead the offense. 
Warren pitched 3 2/3 innings giving up six hits and five runs with one of them being earned. He walked two and struck out two, Vidal Nuno pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up two hits and gave up a walk, Cody Eppley pitched an inning giving up a hit and a walk and struck out one. Mariano Rivera pitched an inning giving up two hits and struck out one, Joba Chamberlain pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout and Boone Logan pitched an inning giving up a walk and striking out two. David Aardsma pitched an inning giving up two hits and a run and struck out one, Josh Spence faced one batter and retired him and Preston Claiborne pitched 2/3 of an inning striking out one.

Brett Gardner had a hit, Nunez had two hits, an RBI and drew a walk and Ronnier Mustelier had a hit and an RBI which was the game winning homerun. Ichiro Suzuki had a hit, Youkilis had two hits and four RBI and Travis Hafner had a hit and an RBI. Dan Johnson drew a walk, Juan Rivera had a hit and Ben Francisco drew a walk. Francisco Cervelli had a hit, Jayson Nix drew a walk and Nunez hit a triple. Youkilis hit two homeruns, Hafner and Mustelier each hit a homerun. The Yankees were 2-6 with runners in scoring position and left four men on base. Nunez had a stolen base and was caught stealing and Youkilis committed an error.

Jeremy Hellickson pitched seven innings giving up eight hits and four runs giving up two walks and striking out one. Jamey Wright pitched two innings giving up a hit and two runs with two walks and Josh Lueke took the loss not recording an out and giving up a hit and a run.

Desmond Jennings had two hits and two RBI, Mike Fontenot drew a walk and Kelly Johnson had a hit and drew two walks. Ben Zobrist had four hits and an RBI, Matt Joyce had two hits and an RBI and Shelley Duncan had a hit. Yunel Escobar had a hit and drew a walk, Jake Hager had a hit and an RBI and Ryan Roberts had a hit. Sean Rodriguez drew a walk, Jennings hit two doubles and Hager hit a double. The Rays were 5-14 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base. Joyce had a stolen base and Escobar and Zobrist were each caught stealing. Joyce had an outfield assist.

Joyce hit an RBI single in the first and Youkilis hit a two run homerun to make it a 2-1 game. Nunez hit an RBI triple in the third inning to make it 3-1 in favor of the Yankees. The Rays scored four runs in the fourth inning to make it 5-3 Rays. Duncan scored on an error by Youkilis, Jennings hit a two run double and Zobrist hit an RBI single. Hafner hit a solo homerun in the sixth inning to make it 5-4 Rays. The Yankees scored two runs in the eighth inning. Youkilis hit a two run homerun to make it 6-5 Yankees, the Rays tied it in the ninth and then Mustelier hit a walkoff homerun in the tenth to win it 7-6 for the Yankees.

The Yankees record fell to 12-17 and the Rays record improved to 14-14. The Yankees will have an off day on Monday and then play the Houston Astros on Tuesday. The Yankees only have four games left in Florida.

The New York Yankees are not acting like the New York Yankees

I keep hearing over and over this winter and into spring training how the Yankees just aren’t acting like the Yankees. They still have a big payroll although nothing like they used to, there is talk about getting under the 189 million luxury tax limit by 2014. The Yankees have a lot of money in aging players who are now breaking down. They lost Alex Rodriguez long before the season or even spring training started. He will be lost until at least July and the Yankees probably are hoping longer. Mark Teixeira is now hurt and will be out until at least May and maybe longer. Curtis Granderson got hurt during spring training and will be lost until May. The Yankees are hurting and suddenly don’t look like a team the Yankees would field. 
The Yankees on Sunday were working on a deal to acquire Vernon Wells and suddenly they are acting like the Yankees once again. I am not saying if I am for or against this trade right now but simply that it looks like the Yankees again. The Yankees are never afraid to spend money, never afraid to make a big move. Vernon Wells is 34 and coming off a couple of really bad years in Anaheim. He hasn’t been the same player he used to be in probably four years. He is having a great spring though hitting over 360 with four homeruns. The Yankees needed a righty hitting outfielder. They did sign Brennan Boesch and Ben Francisco but those were minor moves. This is a big Yankee like move, I know he is a fading star but that sounds like the Yankees to me. They have always gone out and got guys especially veterans.

I don’t think this will be the last thing they do either, I can see them upgrading at first base considering right now Juan Rivera is their first baseman. The Yankees do have a surplus of outfielders now with Boesch, Francisco, Wells soon and Rivera possibly if he isn’t playing first base. I am sure one of them can be a bench player and Rivera could be the first baseman. It will be interesting to see how this shakes out but Wells will have to play since they will be paying him roughly 13 million for the next two years.

The question now is are the Yankees going to abandon their plans and forget about the 189 million limit or are they counting on losing some money with Granderson and Hughes being free agents, a lot of guys on one year contracts, Rivera retiring, Pettitte possibly retiring. I don’t know but as usual right now the Yankees are trying to win and they are going to do everything in their power to make sure that happens. The Yankees may have a goal of 189 million but they are not going to keep losing players and let their team sink to the level where they could miss the playoffs and be at the bottom of the division. The Yankees are suddenly turning into the Yankees again.

The New York Mets defeat the Washington Nationals 3-1

The New York Mets defeated the Washington Nationals by the score of 3-1 on Saturday afternoon. The game was played at Tradition Field in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Rafael Montero started for the Mets and pitched ok and the bullpen pitched pretty well. Lucas Duda had a couple of hits to lead the Mets offense. 
Montero pitched 4 2/3 innings giving up four hits and no runs with a walk and three strikeouts. Pedro Feliciano faced one batter and retired him, Jeurys Familia pitched an inning giving up a hit and struck out two and Josh Edgin pitched an inning giving up two hits and an unearned run. He walked one and struck out two and picked up the win, Robert Carson pitched an inning giving up a hit and Brandon Lyon pitched an inning giving up a hit and striking out one and picking up the save.

Colin Cowgill had a hit, Andrew Brown had a hit and Marlon Byrd had a hit. Ike Davis had a hit, John Buck drew a walk and Travis d’Arnaud had a hit and an RBI. Duda had two hits and an RBI, Zach Lutz had an RBI and Ruben Tejada drew a walk. Byrd hit a double and Duda hit a homerun. The Mets were 1-3 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base. Lutz and Tejada each committed an error.

Gio Gonzalez started for the Nationals pitching six innings giving up four hits and a run with a walk and three strikeouts. Drew Storen took the loss pitching an inning giving up a hit and a run with a walk and two strikeouts and Zach Duke pitched an inning giving up two hits and a run with a strikeout.

Roger Bernadina drew a walk, Danny Espinosa had a hit and Francisco Soriano had a hit and an RBI. Justin Bloxom drew a walk, Chad Tracy had three hits and Carlos Rivero had a hit. Steve Lombardozzi had a hit, Micah Owings had a hit and Jimmy Van Ostrand had a hit. Tracy and Rivero each hit a double and the Nationals were 0-11 with runners in scoring position and left 12 men on base. Soriano committed an error and Burns committed an outfield assist.

Lutz hit a sacrifice fly in the second inning to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. The Nationals tied the game at one in the seventh and the Mets regained the lead in the seventh. Soriano hit a sacrifice fly and Duda hit a solo homerun. The Mets scored the final run of the game in the eighth to make it 3-1. d’Arnaud hit an RBI single.

The Mets improved their record to 11-11 and the Nationals record dropped to 11-14. The Mets will play a split squad at St. Louis and home against the Detroit Tigers on Sunday afternoon and the Nationals will play home against the Atlanta Braves.

The Yankees lose to the Detroit Tigers 10-6

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Detroit Tigers by the score of 10-6 on Saturday afternoon. The game took place at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida. Andy Pettitte got the start and on a day where the wind was blowing out pitched pretty well. Eduardo Nunez, Kevin Youkilis and Juan Rivera all had good days at the plate. 
Pettitte pitched 6 1/3 innings giving up eight hits and four runs with a walk and five strikeouts. Cody Eppley took the loss not recording an out and giving up five hits and five runs, Shawn Kelley pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up two hits and a run with two strikeouts and Juan Cedeno pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit.

Brett Gardner had a hit, Nunez had two hits and an RBI and Addison Maruszak had a hit. Ichiro Suzuki had a hit, Youkilis had a hit and two RBI and Jose Pirela had a hit. Rivera had three hits, Ben Francisco had two hits and three RBI and Jayson Nix had a hit. Chris Stewart had a hit, Youkilis, Rivera and Nix each hit a double. Francisco hit two homeruns and the Yankees were 2-12 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. Nunez had a stolen base and Pettitte committed an error.

Anibel Sanchez pitched six innings giving up eight hits and four runs with a walk and a strikeout. Darin Downs picked up the win pitching an inning giving up a hit and striking out two, Bruce Rondon pitched an inning giving up three hits and two runs with a strikeout and Luke Putkonen pitched an inning giving up two hits.

Austin Jackson had an RBI, Torii Hunter had three hits and an RBI and Miguel Cabrera had a hit and two RBI. Kevin Russo had a hit and an RBI, Prince Fielder had an RBI and Quintin Berry had two hits. Victor Martinez had two hits and an RBI, Matt Tuiasosopo had a hit, RBI and drew a walk and Jhonny Peralta had two hits and an RBI. Alex Avila had three hits and an RBI, Omar Infante had a hit and Hunter hit two doubles. Avila and Martinez each hit a double and Peralta, Cabrera and Russo each hit a homerun. The Tigers were 3-9 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base. Infante had a stolen base.

Nunez hit an RBI single in the third to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. In the fourth they took a 2-0 lead on a Francisco homerun. The Tigers scored to make it 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth on a Fielder groundout. Youkilis hit a two run double in the fifth to give the Yankees a 4-1 lead. The Tigers scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game at four. Peralta hit a solo homerun, Jackson hit a sacrifice fly and Hunter hit an RBI double. In the seventh the Tigers scored five runs to take a 9-4 lead. Cabrera hit a two run homerun, Martinez hit an RBI double, Tuiasosopo had an RBI groundout and Avila hit an RBI single. In the eighth the Yankees scored two runs to make it a 9-6 game but then the Tigers added one and the final was 10-6.

The Yankees record dropped to 11-17 in the spring and the Tigers improved to 16-11. The Yankees will take on the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday afternoon and Detroit will play at the Mets on Sunday afternoon.