New York Yankees defeat the Boston Red Sox 3-2

The New York Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox on Thursday night.  The game took place at Jet

Blue Park in Fort Myers, Florida and the final score was 3-2.  David Phelps started for the Yankees

and pitched well.  The Yankees bullpen was outstanding and Ichiro Suzuki had a couple of RBI. 

Phelps pitched six innings giving up two runs on four hits.  He got into trouble in the sixth as he tired but was able to get through it and preserve the lead.  He walked two and struck out three.  Chris Leroux pitched 1 1/3 perfect innings, Fred Lewis gave up a hit in 2/3 of an inning and had a strikeout and Matt Daley pitched one perfect inning. 

Suzuki had a hit and two RBI, Dean Anna had a hit and Eduardo Nunez had a hit.  Mark Teixeira drew a walk, Cervelli had a hit and an RBI and Zoilo Almonte drew a walk.  Adonis Garcia had a hit, Zelous Wheeler had a hit and drew a walk and Wheeler hit a double and Cervelli hit a homerun.  The Yankees were 1-2 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base.  The Yankees will play the Pittsburgh Pirates at home on Friday night. 

New York Yankees notes as they head down to the final couple of weeks of spring

The New York Yankees open the season two weeks from yesterday in Houston.  They have had a

pretty good spring so far.  The biggest thing is that they have been relatively healthy, a far cry from

all the injuries they were already dealing with last year at this time.  Derek Jeter was not making

good progress last year, Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira were already hurt.  Jeter is now

looking good and his injury has become an afterthought.  I think you can pretty much say the same

for Teixeira who has been feeling great as well.  They both look to be ready for Opening Day and I

wouldn't expect anything less. 

The Yankees still have some decisions to make such as the fifth starter and who will be in bullpen.  They also need to decide on their bench but pretty much the regular lineup is set.  They will have Teixeira, Brian Roberts, Jeter and Kelly Johnson in the infield.  The outfield will be Brett Gardner, Jacoby Ellsbury and Carlos Beltran with Alfonso Soriano being the DH and also rotating in the outfield.  They still also have Ichiro Suzuki who has to adjust to being a role player.  I would say the offense is much better then last year and the pitching has been really good so far. 

Jacoby Ellsbury has been out a few days with a minor calf issue.  He went through a fairly normal workout yesterday according to Chad Jennings of the Lohud Yankees Blog and Journal news.  No one is sure yet of when he will get into a game again though.  The early plan to have Alfonso Soriano play some first probably isn't going to happen anymore.  Girardi said he has taken some ground balls over there but they aren't going to get him into a game there.  He will be the primary DH and mix in to left and right field.  Kelly Johnson will be the backup first baseman and you also have Eduardo Nunez and maybe a guy like Yangervis Solarte to play third if he makes the team.  It looks like they are going to move some guys around the infield between first, second and third.  SS will be Jeter and Brendan Ryan as the backup. 

Vidal Nuno will pitch in relief of David Phelps on Thursday and Adam Warren in relief of CC Sabathia on Friday.  I think we can assume those guys are out of the running for the fifth starter spot.  It looks to be down to Phelps and Pineda.  Nuno and Warren may still make the team out of the bullpen but I would bet one will be in AAA stretched out as an emergency starter. 

Preston Claiborne was on the originally scheduled travel squad for Wednesday.  He will stay behind in Tampa and pitch two innings in a minor league game instead.  Ryan is still scheduled to play tomorrow.  Scott Sizemore looks like a longshot to make the team at this point as he just  hasn't played enough.  He was coming back from injuries and then had an aggravating injury the last couple of weeks. 

Everyone was raving about Pineda yesterday after another strong start.  I would be on him being the fifth starter and why not.  They thought they were getting a top of the rotation guy when they traded for him.  He can be a fifth starter that isn't really a fifth starter and that would be great for them.  Ivan Nova is another guy that was being discussed heavily leading into his start on Wednesday afternoon.  Girardi said he has overall liked what he has seen from him and he really has seemed to grow up.  He thinks the difference now is that he knows what he is capable of and isn't as worried that he can't succeed anymore.   

The New York Mets beat the Detroit Tigers 5-4 in walkoff fashion

The New York Mets defeated the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday afternoon.  The game took place at

Tradition Field in Port St. Lucie, Florida and the final score was 5-4 Mets.  Daisuke Matsuzaka started

for the Mets and wasn't great but he wasn't terrible either.  The Mets bullpen pitched four scoreless

innings and the offense was led by Juan Lagares and Campbell. 

Matsuzaka pitched five innings giving up seven hits and four runs.  He walked one and struck out five.  Jeurys Familia pitched a scoreless inning giving up a hit and a walk with a strikeout, Giancarlo Alvarado pitched a perfect inning and Miguel Socolovich pitched a perfect inning.  Bobby Parnell picked up the win pitching a perfect inning. 

Omar Quintanilla drew a walk, Chris Young had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk and Andrew Brown had a hit and an RBI.  David Wright had a hit, Curtis Granderson had a hit and Josh Satin had a hit.  Eric Campbell had two hits and an RBI, Wilmer Flores had a hit and an RBI and Travis d'Arnaud drew two walks.  Lagares had two hits, Young and Campbell each hit a double and Campbell hit a homerun.  The Mets were 3-10 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base.  Lagares and Seratelli each had a stolen base and Lagares was also caught stealing.  The Mets have the day off on Wednesday and resume play on Thursday afternoon home against the Atlanta Braves.   

The New York Yankees trounce the Boston Red Sox 8-1

The New York Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday afternoon.  The game took place in

Tampa, Florida and the final score was 8-1 in favor of the Yankees.  Michael Pineda started for the

Yankees and was very good once again.  I would say that he pretty much locked up the fifth spot in

the rotation with that performance.  David Robertson got out of trouble in his 2/3 of an inning of

work.  Alfonso Soriano led the offense with a couple of hits and four RBI. 

Pineda picked up his second win of the spring.  He pitched 4 1/3 innings giving up four hits and no runs.  He didn't walk a batter and struck out five.  Robertson pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and striking out two, Shawn Kelley pitched a perfect inning and David Herndon gave up two hits and a run with a strikeout in his inning of work.  Fred Lewis gave up a hit in his one inning of work and Matt Daley gave up a hit in his inning of work. 

Brett Gardner had three hits, Derek Jeter had a hit and an RBI and Carlos Beltran had a hit.  Mark Teixeira had a hit, two RBI and drew two walks, Soriano had two hits and four RBI and Francisco Cervelli had two hits.  Brian Roberts had two hits, Kelly Johnson drew a walk and Zelous Wheeler had a hit.  Ichiro Suzuki had a hit and an RBI. 

Beltran and Wheeler each hit a double, Cervelli hit a triple and Soriano hit a homerun.  The Yankees were 6-14 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base.  Roberts had a stolen base.  The Yankees will play at Atlanta on Wednesday afternoon.  They will make the trip to Orlando at the Wide World Of Sports in Disney.   

New York Yankees sweep the split squad games on Sunday

The New York Yankees defeated the Atlanta Braves at home in Tampa by the score of 7-3 on Sunday

afternoon.  In Panama they defeated the Miami Marlins by the score of 7-0 on Sunday afternoon. 

The pitching was very good on Sunday.  Masahiro Tanaka started in Tampa and was very good and

CC Sabathia was great in Panama.  Francisco Cervelli and Yangervis Solarte continued their hot

hitting in Panama.  In Tampa Brian McCann had a couple of RBI. 

Tanaka pitched 4 1/3 innings giving up three hits and a run with two walks and six strikeouts.  Matt Thornton picked up the win pitching 2/3 of an inning.  He gave up two hits and a run, Shawn Kelley pitched an inning striking out two and Greene pitched two innings giving up a hit and a run with four strikeouts.  Dellin Betances pitched an inning giving up a hit and a run with a walk and a strikeout. 

In Tampa Ichiro Suzuki had two hits, an RBI and drew a walk.  Suzuki was filling in for the injured Jacoby Ellsbury.  Eduardo Nunez had two hits and drew a walk, Mark Teixeira drew a walk and McCann had a hit and two RBI.  Kelly Johnson had a hit, Rob Segedin had a hit and Ramon Flores had two hits and an RBI.  Ben Gamel had a hit, Pete O'Brien drew a walk and Wilson had a hit.  Mason Williams had a hit and an RBI.  Suzuki and McCann each hit a double.  The Yankees were 6-15 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base.  Nunez had a stolen base.

In Panama CC Sabathia pitched five no hit innings.  He retired 15 of the 16 batters he faced.  Only 1 reached base on an error.  He walked none and struck out five and picked up the win.  David Robertson pitched a scoreless inning with a walk and a strikeout, Preston Claiborne pitched a scoreless inning giving up a hit and Cesar Cabral pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout.  Chris Leroux pitched a perfect inning with two strikeouts. 

Antoan Richardson had two hits, Derek Jeter drew a walk and Gary Sanchez had a hit and two RBI.  Carlos Beltran had a hit and an RBI, Adonis Garcia had a hit and Zoilo Almonte had two hits.  Francisco Cervelli had three hits and an RBI, Yangervis Solarte had three hits and two RBI and Zelous Wheeler had a hit and an RBI.  Corban Joseph had a hit, Wheeler, Joseph and Richardson each hit a double and Sanchez hit a homerun.  The Yankees were 4-15 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base.  Wheeler and Solarte each committed an error and Almonte had an outfield assist. 

The Yankees are scheduled to play the Pittsburgh Pirates in Bradenton, Florida on Monday afternoon.  The regulars that made the trip to Panama will get the day off and then get back to work on Tuesday. 

New York Yankees notes

The Yankees scratched Jacoby Ellsbury from the lineup and he will be out from a couple of days to

maybe even a week.  It is a sore calf and everyone is downplaying it but the Yankees say they want

to be cautious.  Ellsbury said if it was the regular season he would of played. 

Mashahiro Tanaka started on Sunday against the Atlanta Braves.  It was a good test for him as they had their A lineup in the game.  Freddie Freeman, the Upton Brothers, Dan Uggla and more.  Tanaka was really good only giving up a run and pitching 4 1/3 innings.  He had a couple of long innings that got his pitch count up.  He did strike out six batters and continues to impress.  He seems to have the poise and control which is important.  He needs to build up more and he looks like a guy who isn't going to want to come out of games.  It will be interesting to see how everything translates to the regular season games but so far so good with him. 

Manny Banuelos was optioned to high A today.  It may not be where he ends up but for now he will be in minor league camp and getting regular work.  He actually seemed happy and excited about it.  The Yankees are still talking about where to place him for the season.  He may start in A Tampa because of the warm weather but it still hasn't been determined.  Brian Cashman the GM said they plan on him staying a starter but he didn't rule out the possibility of him being a reliever at some point this season. 

CC Sabathia was dominant in Panama on Sunday.  He pitched five no hit innings and retired 15 of the 16 batters he faced.  The only man to reach base was on an error.  He struck out five batters.  There wasn't much talk about his velocity after this game. 

David Robertson pitched a scoreless inning and Francisco Cervelli and Yangervis Solarte continued their hot hitting in Panama.  Cervelli was 3-3 on Sunday and Solarte was 3-5.  Dellin Betances finally gave up a run this spring.  He still didn't lose it completely though.  He gave up a hit and a walk and a run on an RBI groundout.  He got through the inning though. 

Brendan Ryan went through fielding drills and indoor batting practice as planned.  He should be back in games by the end of the week. 

The Yankees other half will be back to playing by Tuesday/Wednesday.  They are just coming back from Panama on Sunday night and will be off on Monday.  They should be ready to go on Tuesday and then they have a couple more full weeks in Tampa before camp breaks and they head to Houston to start the season.  There are some tough decisions to be made for final roster spots.  The guys competing for spots have all been pretty good, it will be a tough decision but that isn't a bad thing. 

New York Mets weekend notes

The big news of the weekend would have to be that Jon Niese left Sunday's start with left elbow

discomfort.  He had been bothered by shoulder soreness earlier in the spring.  He is heading back to

NY for an MRI.  This is what he said though "It's the back of the elbow, which is good.  I'm almost

100 percent sure it's nothing serious like Tommy John or anything.  It's just a little discomfort .  I

wanted to go back out there.  It's something that I could definitely pitch through." 

The Mets are considering putting Rafael Montero in their bullpen and having him break camp with the team.  He is not being considered to replace Niese.  Jennry Mejia and John Lannan are considered the front runners to take Niese spot in the rotation if need be.  Mejia, Lannan and Matsuzaka are competing for the fifth spot in the rotation. 

Ike Davis and Lucas Duda got at-bats in a minor league intrasquad game on Saturday.  It was at Tradition Field in Port St. Lucie.  The Mets are hoping to have Duda in a major league game by Monday or Tuesday.  Stephen Drew is still out there and Boras says that he and the Mets have talked but he is still looking for a multi-year deal and the Mets are only looking at one year.  I think the Mets should just sign him for two or three years.  They can say it will be less then what he would get for one year.  What do they have to lose, it will look good for them and bolster their shortstop position. 

The New York Yankees lose both ends of a split squad

The New York Yankees lost to the Baltimore Orioles and they lost to the Miami Marlins.  The final score in Sarasota, Florida against the Orioles was 2-1 and the final score in Panama against the Miami Marlins was 5-0.  The Yankees were no hit in the game in Panama.  Adam Warren started that game and pitched well.  In Florida Vidal Nuno started and pitched well.  Brian Roberts and Ramon Flores each had two hits. 

Warren in Panama pitched 4 1/3 innings giving up one run on two hits.  He didn't walk a batter and struck out six.  Warren took the loss, Chase Whitley pitched an inning giving up two hits and a run with a walk and a strikeout, Matt Daley pitched 1 2/3 perfect innings striking out one and Robert Coello pitched 1/3 of an inning and gave up a hit, three runs with two of them being earned.  He walked two and struck out one.  Yoshinori Tateyama pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up two hits and striking out one and Jim Miller struck out one and walked one in one inning. 

Brett Gardner and Zelous Wheeler each drew a walk.  The Yankees left three men on base.  Adonis Garcia committed an error.

In Florida Nuno pitched four innings giving up a hit and no runs.  He walked one and struck out three.  Burawa pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up three hits and a run, Mark Montgomery pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up a hit and a run and took the loss.  Brian Gordon pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout. 

Dugas had a hit, Roberts had two hits and Kelly Johnson drew a walk.  Austin Romine drew a walk, Flores had two hits and Francisco Arcia had a hit, RBI and drew a walk.  Flores and Dugas each hit a double and Arcia hit a homerun.  The Yankees were 0-6 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base. 

The Yankees will play another split squad on Sunday afternoon.  They will take on the Atlanta Braves in Florida and play the final game of the Legends Series in Panama against the Miami Marlins.   

New York Mets tie the Minnesota Twins and lose to the Chicago Cubs

The New York Mets played a split squad on Saturday.  They played a game against the Minnesota

Twins and they played another game against the Chicago Cubs.  The game against the Twins was a

final of 3-3 and took place in Port St. Lucie, Florida.  The game against the Cubs the Mets won 9-4

and that game was played in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Dillon Gee started the game in Florida and only

pitched three innings but didn't give up a run.  Matt Den Dekker and Chris Young had good games. 

The offense for the game in Vegas was very good.  There were many offensive stars.  Bartolo Colon

wasn't great but the bullpen was. 

Gee started the game in Port St. Lucie and pitched three innings giving up no runs and five hits.  He didn't walk a batter and struck out three.  Dana Eveland pitched 2 1/3 innings giving up no hits and no runs with a walk and three strikeouts, Gonzalez Germen pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up a hit and no runs with a strikeout and Vic Black pitched an inning giving up three hits and three runs with two walks.  Jeurys Familia pitched one perfect inning with a strikeout. 

den Dekker had two hits, Daniel Murphy had an RBI and Young had two hits and an RBI.  Josh Satin had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk, Dominic Smith had a hit and Anthony Recker drew a walk.  Taylor Teagarden had a hit, Brian Burgamy had a hit and drew a walk and Matt Reynolds had a hit.

Young hit a homerun, the Mets were 2-4 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base.  Burgamy and den Dekker were caught stealing. 

Colon started the game in Vegas and pitched 4 2/3 innings giving up seven hits and four runs with a walk.  Reid pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up two walks and striking out two, Mazzoni got the win pitching a perfect inning with three strikeouts and Bobby Parnell pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout.  Carreno pitched an inning giving up a walk and striking out one. 

Young had two hits, an RBI and drew a walk, Juan Lagares had a hit and drew a walk and David Wright had a hit, two RBI and drew a walk.  Zach Lutz had a hit, Kirk Nieuwenhuis had a hit an RBI and Andrew Brown had two hits, three RBI and drew a walk.  Campbell had a hit, Wilmer Flores had a hit and two RBI and Plawecki had a hit and drew a walk. 

Lagares, Wright, Brown, Young, Lutz, Nieuwenhuis and Campbell each hit a double.  Flores hit a homerun and the Mets were 7-17 with runners in scoring position and they left nine men on base.  Nieuwenhuis had a stolen base.  The New York Mets will play at the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday afternoon.