New York Yankees lose game and also lose Brendan Ryan to injury

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Tampa Bay Rays by the score of 3-0.  The game took place at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida.  Chase Whitley started and pitched very well, probably locking up a bullpen spot.  The Yankees offense didn't do much but Carlos Beltran, Brett Gardner  and Mark Teixeira each had a hit. 

Whitley pitched four innings giving up four hits and a run with no walks and six strikeouts.  Whitley took his first loss of the spring.  Esmil Rogers pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up two hits and an unearned run with a walk and three strikeouts, Chasen Shreve pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and an unearned run with a strikeout and Andrew Bailey pitched an inning giving up a hit and a walk with a strikeout.  Nick Rumbelow pitched two innings giving up a walk and striking out three batters. 

Gardner had a hit, Beltran had a hit and Ramon Flores had a hit.  Teixeira had a hit, John Ryan Murphy drew a walk and Chase Headley drew a walk.  Alex Rodriguez drew a walk, Ryan drew a walk and the Yankees were 0-6 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base.  Ryan committed an error and Flores had an outfield assist. 

In the second James Loney hit an RBI single giving the Rays a 1-0 lead.  In the sixth Kevin Kiermaier reached on a fielding error and two runs scored.  The score was 3-0 and that was the final score.  The Yankees will play a split squad on Thursday afternoon.  They will be at home in Tampa against the Pittsburgh Pirates and on the road in Lakeland against the Detroit Tigers. 

Alex Rodriguez hits first homerun and Chris Capuano are injured in New York Yankees loss

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday afternoon by the score of 10-6.  The game took place at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida.  There were two big stories that came out of this game and they were Rodriguez hitting his first homerun and Capuano leaving the game after two batters with a leg injury. 

Capuano pitched 2/3 of an inning and was later diagnosed with a grade two strain of his quad.  He will miss several weeks and not be ready for opening day.  The Yankees fifth starter spot is now completely up for grabs with several candidates.  Nick Rumbelow pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit and striking out one, Dellin Betances pitched a perfect inning with two strikeouts and Andrew Miller pitched an inning giving up two hits and a run with a walk.  Bryan Mitchell who is one of the guys who will compete for a fifth spot in the rotation was roughed up.  He pitched two innings giving up seven hits and four runs with a walk and two strikeouts, Jared Burton pitched an inning giving up a hit and Tyler Webb pitched an inning giving up three hits and two runs with a strikeout.   Chris Martin pitched an inning giving up three hits and three runs with two of them being earned and striking out two batters. 

Jacoby Ellsbury had a hit and an RBI, Mason Williams drew a walk and Brett Gardner drew a walk.  Slade Heathcott had a hit and two RBI, Carlos Beltran had a hit and an RBI and Jonathan Galvez drew a walk.  Rodriguez had a hit and an RBI, Chris Young had a hit and Greg Bird drew a walk.  Jose Pirela had two hits, Rob Refsnyder drew a walk and Cole Figueroa had a hit.  Pirela hit a double and Rodriguez and Heathcott each hit a homerun.  The Yankees were 2-8 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base.  Young had a stolen bbase and Refsnyder and Galvez each committed an error.  Murphy had a passed ball. 

In the third Travis Shaw hit a solo homerun giving the Red Sox a 1-0 lead.  In the bottom of the third Ellsbury hit an RBI single to tie the game at one.  Beltran hit an RBI single to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead.  In the fourth Garin Cecchini hit an RBI single to tie the game at two.  In the fourth Shaw hit a two run double to give the Red Sox a 4-2 lead.  Jeff Bianchi hit an RBI single to increase the Red Sox lead to 5-2.  In the bottom of the fourth Rodriguez hit a solo homerun to cut the Red Sox lead to 5-3.  In the seventh Cecchini hit a two run double to give the Red Sox a 7-3 lead.  In the bottom of the seventh Galvez reached on a fielding error to make it a 7-4 game.  In the eighth Luke Montz homered to increase the Red Sox lead to 9-4.  Manuel Margot grounded into a force out and it was 10-4 Red Sox.  In the bottom of the ninth Heathcott hit a two run homerun to cut the lead to 10-6 but that was the final score. 

The Yankees will take on the Atlanta Braves on Thursday night in Tampa, Florida. 

The New York Yankees lose a crazy game in 12 innings and lose their captain

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Detroit Tigers by the score of 6-4 in 12 innings. The game took place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York. Andy Pettitte started for the Yankees and pitched well and their bullpen was up and down. Raul Ibanez did it again with a game tying homerun in the ninth and Ichiro Suzuki had a great game. The Yankees lose their captain though in the 12^th with an injury and we are awaiting word on how severe it is. Doug Fister started for the Tigers and pitched well although he was very lucky in the first couple of innings. The Tigers bullpen was good other then their closer Jose Valverde who got lit up in the ninth. Delmon Young led the Tigers offense. 
Pettitte pitched 6 2/3 innings giving up seven hits and two runs with three walks and five strikeouts. Derek Lowe pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up two hits and two runs with a strikeout, Boone Logan pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and Cody Eppley pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and a strikeout. Clay Rapada struck out the only guy that he faced, Rafael Soriano pitched a perfect inning and David Robertson gave up a hit and struck out one in one inning. David Phelps lost the game pitching an inning giving up three hits and two runs with a walk and a strikeout. Fister pitched 6 1/3 innings giving up six hits and no runs with four walks and five strikeouts. Phil Coke pitched a perfect inning, Joaquin Benoit pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and Valverde pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up three hits and four runs with a walk and two strikeouts. Octavio Dotel pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up a walk and striking out one, Drew Smyly won the game pitching two innings giving up a hit and striking out two.

Derek Jeter had a hit and drew a walk, Suzuki had four hits and two RBI and Mark Teixeira had a hit and drew two walks. Ibanez had two hits, two RBI and drew a walk, Nick Swisher had a hit and drew a walk and Curtis Granderson drew a walk. Russell Martin had two hits, Ibanez and Swisher each hit a double. Suzuki and Ibanez each hit a homerun. The Yankees were 3-13 with runners in scoring position and left 13 men on base. Gardner had two stolen bases

Austin Jackson had two hits, Omar Infante drew a walk and Miguel Cabrera had a hit and drew two walks. Prince Fielder had two hits and an RBI, Young had three hits and three RBI and Jhonny Peralta had three hits and drew a walk. Andy Dirks had a hit and an RBI, Avisail Garcia had a hit and an RBI and Gerald Laird had a hit. Alex Avila had a hit, Peralta, Jackson and Young each hit a double. Jackson hit a triple and Young hit a homerun. The Tigers were 6-15 with runners in scoring position and left 12 men on base. Infante committed an error.

In the sixth the Tigers took a 2-0 lead. Fielder hit an RBI single and Young hit an RBI single. In the eighth Young hit a solo homerun and Garcia hit an RBI single to make it 4-0. In the ninth the Yankees hit two two run homeruns. Suzuki and Ibanez were the two guys who hit the homeruns to tie the game at four. In the 12^th the Tigers scored two to take a 6-4 lead and that was the final score.

The Tigers take a 1-0 lead in the best of seven series. This game was full of emotion and really took a drastic turn as the Tigers were able to win after a tough blown chance in the ninth and then the Yankees lost Jeter for the rest of the season. The two teams will play game two on Sunday afternoon at 4:00PM.

The New York Mets get by the Atlanta Braves 1-0 on Opening Day

The New York Mets defeated the Atlanta Braves on Thursday afternoon by the score of 1-0. The Mets are pretty much a guarantee on Opening Day as they have won 33 out of their last 44 on Opening Day. Johan Santana started for the Mets and they brought a fully healthy team to the game. They didn’t end up with the same team as Andres Torres had to leave the game with a strained calf. Santana pitched well and the bullpen pitched very well. The offense only produced one run but David Wright, Daniel Murphy and Josh Thole each had two hits. 
Santana pitched five innings giving up two hits and no runs. He walked two and struck out five. Ramon Ramirez got the win pitching 1 1/3 innings giving up two hits and a walk, Tim Byrdak pitched 2/3 of an inning and struck out both batters that he faced and Jon Rauch pitched a perfect inning. Frank Francisco saved his first game in his first game with the Mets. He pitched a perfect inning, striking out a batter. Tommy Hanson also pitched five innings. Hanson for the Braves gave up four hits and one run with three walks and four strikeouts. He took the loss and the bullpen pitched three good innings for them. The bullpen gave up three hits and a walk without allowing a run.

Andres Torres drew a walk, Scott Hairston had a hit and Murphy had two hits. Wright had two hits, an RBI and a walk, Jason Bay drew a walk and Thole had two hits. Ruben Tejada drew a walk and Murphy had a double. The Mets were 1-9 with runners in scoring position and they left eight men on base. Torres was picked off of first base. The Braves managed four hits and three walks. They didn’t have a batter who had more then one hit.

In the fifth the Braves had the bases loaded and two outs. Michael Bourn grounded out to Santana to end the inning. In the sixth inning the Braves had first and second one out and the next two batters got out. The Mets broke through in the sixth inning with a run. Torres walked, Murphy singled pushing Torres to third and Wright hit an RBI single. The Mets next three hitters were retired. In the top of the seventh inning Tyler Pastornicky tripled with one out and then the next two Braves struck out. There were no other good chances in the game.

The Mets are 1-0 and the Braves 0-1. The two teams will take off on Friday and resume their series on Saturday afternoon at 1:10PM. R.A. Dickey will face off against Jair Jurrjens.

More Yankee Notes

Jorge Posada is the emergency catcher for the next couple of days, he says hopefully he will be back in the lineup on friday. He will be reevaluated on Thursday but it doesn't look like he will go on the DL. Mariano Rivera was scheduled to throw a bullpen session today and if he came through it fine he could be available tonight. Joe Girardi said though that he would like to give him another day off. Joba would be the closer again tonight in that case. Chan Ho Park has been playing catch in Tampa and said he feels better. Park will throw off half a mound tomorrow. The Yankees plan to have him throw a bullpen session on Friday. If that goes well the Yankees will have him make a rehab appearance next week. It is not known how many rehab appearances he will need before coming back up but Girardi said one isn't going to be enough. Girardi said he may start Golson against some lefties. Marcus Thames had three hits against Matusz last week though so this made sense for tonight. Mark Melancon was optioned back to AAA-Scranton. Javier Vazquez said he still wishes he wasn't being skipped but understands it. There is no Jeter injury, Girardi just wanted to give him a day off in the field. He said as the team plays more and more days in a row you will see more of this. Girardi did this a lot last year and it worked, keeping the older players fresh.

Some Yankee notes from Today

Here are some notes from today via Chad Jennings of the Journal News and Lohud Yankees Blog. Chad Gaudin has reportedly signed with the Oakland A's. Sergio Mitre is starting the home game of the split squad games on Tuesday and the Yankees plan on him pitching more then 3 innings. They want to keep him stretched out in case of an injury, he will be the guy they go to early in the season. It could also be Alfredo Aceves but most likely it would be Mitre. CC Sabathia will pitch the road split squad game on Tuesday. Girardi said "That is where CC asked to go. I said great that works out good." Joe Girardi said that all of these missed games for Andy Pettitte may actually keep him stronger through the year. I guess you can always find a positive in any negative. The Pitchers scheduled for tomorrow night are Javier Vazquez, Joba Chamberlain, Chan Ho Park, Dave Robertson and Royce Ring. The whole regular infield will make the trip tomorrow. Brett Gardner, Curtis Granderson and Nick Swisher will not along with Jorge Posada.

Mets receive good injury news

Kevin Kernan of the NY Post had a story on Jose Reyes in todays paper. He was at a private workout with Jose yesterday. Jose has been working out at this complex in Long Island and is doing great according to the article. He will be reporting to spring training in about a week or so ahead of everyone to continue his rehab. He stated that he feels great and can't wait to hit a triple. He knows that he is going to be fine this season and credits the trainer who set up the program for him. It is funny though that even as the Mets got good news with injuries there was another bad injury story. J.J. Putz who pitched for the Mets last season claims the Mets never gave him a physical last season after he hurt his elbow and that they screwed the whole injury up. He even implied that they may have told him to hide his injury from the media. The Mets of course said this isn't true. The thing is who believes the Mets anymore when it comes to these kinds of things. I wouldn't worry about that so much as it involves their image which is already damaged. The important thing for the Mets is to get their sparkplug and ignitor back and it appears they will be getting Jose Reyes back. He will go a long way in determining if they can get back to being a good team or not.

The Super Bowl Is Set

The AFC Championship game had the momentum carrying New York Jets taking on the Indianapolis Colts. The game was in Indianapolis where in week 16 the Jets ruined the Colts perfect season. That game back then was controversial as the Jets were 7-7 and the Colts were 14-0, the Colts pulled their starters in the second half after leading and of course ended up losing the game which kept the Jets alive for the playoffs. The Jets won the next week to get themselves in the playoffs and then won 2 playoff games on the road to get to this AFC Championship game. The Jets and their fans wanted validation bad but the Colts were ready to prove that they let them in the playoffs and they were going to knock them out. The final score was Colts 30 Jets 17. The game started off very well with the Jets, they were playing good and getting to Peyton Manning a little. The Jets had a 17-6 lead with just over 2 minutes left in the first half. Peyton Manning got the ball and as he does so often in the 2 minute drill, he took his team down the field for a touchdown to get them within 17-13 at the half. The Colts got the ball in the second half after stopping the Jets and went down and scored again to take the lead that they would never relinquish. It was like a switch flipped on and Peyton Manning just took the Jets defense apart. He threw for near 400 yards with 3 touchdown passes. The Jets running game never got it going like they had in the previous playoff games and Shonn Greene left the game with an injury which hurt them badly. Mark Sanchez played a pretty good game but in the end the Colts were just too good for the Jets and they are headed back to the Super Bowl with Peyton Manning trying to win his second ring. The Mannings have been in 3 of the last 4 Super Bowls and this week Archie Manning will be front and center with his son in the Big Game against his Old Team. The NFC Championship was a great game, it was back and forth the whole game. The Minnesota Vikings really controlled the game but had 5 turnovers which kept the Saints in the game. The Saints did cause most of those turnovers as you could really see them going for the strips and playing aggressive defense. Brett Favre was really getting hammered and even left the game at one point for an injury. He is a tough guy though and came back in after getting taped up. The game ended up being history repeating itself. The Vikings were in field goal range with not much time left when Brett Favre threw a pick and the game went into overtime. The Saints won the coin toss and ended up going down the field and kicking the game winning field goal. This is a rule that is going to have to be looked at and we can debate that another time. The last time Brett Favre was in the title game was in 2007 with the Packers against the Giants. He threw a pick in OT that ended up leading to the game winning field goal by the Giants. I don't think you ever know with Brett Favre but the way he got beat up last night this may be the end for him. I can't see him saying yeah let me try this all again next season. It should be a great Super Bowl and we will have plenty of time to go over everything with the Big Game. Congratulations to the Saints and Colts, it is really good to see New Orleans be able to celebrate after everything that city has gone through and it will be a big boost for them.

NFL Week 11

The New York Giants are coming off of their buy week needing a win. They are playing the Atlanta Falcons at home and at 5-4 with a 4 game losing streak this is as close to a must win as you are going to get. The Giants just found out yesterday also that they would be without their defensive leader Antonio Pierce for possibly the rest of the season, he has a bulging disk in his neck. Chase Blackburn will take over for him. I see the Giants really getting back to their strength which is running the ball and controlling the clock. Danny Ware is back now and I think they will get the 3 headed monster going again a lot like they did last year. Eli Manning has had a foot problem so I am not sure if that has hurt him or he hasn't played well. The Giants defense needs to step it up also. I am going to say the Giants come out flying and they will win this game. Giants 28 Falcons 20 is my prediction. The Jets will be heading up to New England to face the Patriots after coming off a tough loss to Jacksonville at home and Rex Ryan making a impassioned speech in which he cried to his team. I just don't see the Jets beating the Patriots again especially in Foxborough. I think the Jets season basically ended last week when they lost and a loss here will really basically end it for them. I don't think Mark Sanchez will fair too well in this environment and I really see the Patriots putting a beating on the Jets. I am going to go with Patriots 31 Jets 17. I am not going to pick another game this week as I haven't really looked at the games other then the local teams. We will have a special thanksgiving special with 3 picks on Thursday. Enjoy the games everyone and hopefully the local teams will get back on the winning track.

Yankees at Phillies-World Series Game 5

The Yankees will play tonight at 7:57 on Fox, they are one win away from their 27th title. The Yankees have held a 3-1 lead in the World Series eight previous times and they’ve won the title each time (six times in Game 5, two times in Game 6). I think tonight is going to be a tough task with Cliff Lee on the mound against them but A.J. Burnett pitched brilliant in game 2 and has done very well in the past on 3 days rest. Here are the pregame notes and lineups via Sam Borden of the Journal News. The Yankees have used only three starters throughout the postseason and they are the first team to reach the World Series with a three-man rotation since the 1992 Braves (Maddux, Glavine, Avery). The last team to win the World Series with three starters came a year before that, when the 1991 Twins (Morris, Tapani, Erickson) beat Atlanta. The 15 runs scored by the Yankees in Games 3 and 4 marks their biggest World Series outburst since they scored 18 runs over Games 1 and 2 of the 1998 World Series against San Diego. The Yankees haven't been hitting but I think it is a combination of who is pitching for the Phillies and th small ballpark in Philly. Mariano Rivera made his 11th appearance of the postseason in Game 4, matching his career high (also 2001). The only games in which he hasn’t pitched are Game 4 of the ALCS and Game 1 of the World Series. Rivera has thrown more than one inning five out of 11 times and more than two innings three times, recording a 0.63 ERA in 14 1/3 innings while striking out 13. I wonder with a lead if the Yankees will go to MO in the 8th tonight with a chance to wrap things up, i am guessing yes but we will see. The middle of the Yankees order hasn’t been a consistent producer during the World Series with Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez combining to go 3-for-28 with 13 strikeouts. Rodriguez’s two hits, at least, have been meaningful – he homered in Game 3 and drove in the decisive run in Game 4. It looks like A-rod has awoken maybe by getting hit all these times they woke a sleeping giant. When Johnny Damon stole second and third base in the ninth inning of Game 4, he became the 13th player to record two stolen bases in an inning in the World Series. The last was Tampa Bay’s B.J. Upton in Game 3 last year. That was such a heads up play by Damon but I think he gave a lot of people heart failure. The Yankees have been hit by five pitches in the World Series, one shy of the World Series record. Pittsburgh was hit by six in 1909 and Arizona was hit by six (from Yankees pitchers) in 2001, both of which were seven-game series. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Swisher(RF) Cano(2B) Gardner(CF) Molina(C) Burnett(P) Phillies Lineup: Rollins(SS) Victorino(CF) Utley(2B) Howard(1B) Werth(RF) Ibanez(LF) Feliz(3B) Ruiz(C) Lee(P) Ramiro Pena is replacing Melky Cabrera on the roster as he is out with a hamstring injury. The Yankees are able to replace him on the roster with approval by MLB if they feel he won't play anymore games this season. He injured himself late in last nights game running to first base.

Yankees injury news

The Yankees got good news on Jorge Posada yesterday as X-rays were negative on his foot and he is expected to be back catching tomorrow. The Yankees also got good news today when Jerry Hairston Jr. was told he had tendinitis in his wrist and recieved a cortisone shot. He should be day to day and be back next week. This is good news as he is very versatile and will be on the postseason roster. Nick Swisher is banged up but I would expect him to be back also tomorrow night against the Red Sox.

Manny and Big Papi on List

Is anyone really suprised that Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz were on the list from 2003? I just wonder what this means to them, Big Papi came out earlier in the year and said that anyone that is caught should be suspended for the whole year, I wonder if he thinks that now. I wonder where Curt Shilling is considering he is so against it but it was happening right under his nose, he may even be involved for all we know. I wonder though will these guys get the same treatment that A-rod got earlier in the year having to do the ESPN interview and having the press all over him, the funny thing is the injury actually helped him because since he came back you don't really hear much about the steroids, I wonder if they will still yell at him in Fenway Park about that, always seemed pretty hypocritical to me. I think this whole thing is crazy that they leaked the names that were supposed to remain confidential but they may as well just let them all out now, I really don't like this little by little stuff so the story never truly goes away. I wonder what anyone else thinks about this, chime in with your thoughts in the comments section and keep this debate going.

Pitching matchups for Mets/Washington series

The New York Mets start a 3 game series with the Nationals tomorrow and this may be just what the doctor ordered as the Mets lost 3 out of 4 to the Braves and are just fading quickly with none of their players coming back anytime soon and they lost Sheffield to injury the other day and Fernando Nieve today. Tomorrow- Livan Hernandez vs J.D. Martin Tuesday- Oliver Perez vs John Lannan Wednesday- Mike Pelfrey vs Craig Stammen

Ian Kennedy Dominant

The Scranton Yankees-AAA affiliate of the New York Yankees beat the Lehigh Valley Ironpigs yesterday by a score of 2-1 in 11 innings. Ian Kennedy made his first start of the year and went a strong 6 innings giving up 1 run on 4 hits with 0 walks and 11 strikeouts. Dave Robertson had a strong 2 innings of relief giving up 1 hit, 0 runs and 3 strikeouts. Brett Tomko pitched 2 innings giving up 2 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks and had 3 strikeouts and JB Cox closed it out with a walk and hit but no runs allowed. The offense had Kevin Russo go 3-5, Shelly Duncan 1-5 with a rbi and Juan Miranda also go 1-5. Austin Jackson went 2-5 but also had 3 strikeouts. Angel Berroa went 1-4 with a rbi. Chad Jennings of the Times-Tribune and the Scranton Yankees blog had some postgame notes and reaction. Chris Stewart the catcher said that Kennedy was as good as he ever was last season and Manager Dave Miley said it was as good as he as ever seen him pitch in AAA. Chad Jennings thought he looked aggressive and confident like he did when he breezed through AAA on his way to the majors in 2007. He said you can be as aggressive as you want but it still comes down to execution. I think Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy are going to have big years and be waiting for another chance at the big leagues. The Trenton Thunder AA affiliate of the Yankees lost to the Binghamton Mets 4-3 yesterday. Zach McAllister pitched 5 innings for Trenton allowing 4 hits and 3 runs only 1 earned though with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts. Kevin Whelan pitched a scoreless inning giving up a walk and having a strikeout. The offense saw Eduardo Nunez go 2-5, Edward Gonzalez was 3-4. Tampa the A affiliate of the Yankees won 2-1 in a strong debut by Dellin Betances. He has been called the Baby Unit and keep your eye on him, he is young and has had some injury problems but if he stays healthy he could be in AA at some point this year and definitely next year and expect to see him in the Big Leagues in a couple of years. He pitched 6 innings giving up 3 hits, 1 run, 2 walks and 7 strikeouts. The offense saw Jesus Montero go 1-4 and Austin Romine go 0-3. Damon Sublett went 0-4 and Brandon Laird was 1-4. Tampa has a bunch of pretty good prospects so I expect to talk a lot about them this year. Charleston A affiliate of the Yankees won 4-2. DJ Mitchell pitched 6 innings giving up 1 hit, 1 run with 6 strikeouts. The run was unearned. Pat Venditte who is the ambidextrous reliever pitched a scoreless inning giving up a hit and had a strikeout. He picked up the save, he is a guy I will be watching this year as it is a fascinating story. DJ Mitchell is another good prospect for the Yankees but is in A so we can't get too excited over him with so many guys in front of him.

Spring Game 19: Twins at Yankees

Peter Abraham has the lineups with some notes. There were some more cuts today as the Yankees get closer and closer to opening day. Today is a very important day for the Yankees as Jorge Posada will catch 3 innings and then we will see how he feels. If all goes well he will catch a couple of games next week and start catching more innings. He is leading off so he can get a couple of at bats. Matsui is also in the lineup for the second consecutive day and if all is well with him he will play tomorrow again making it 3 days in a row for the first time. The Yankees walking wounded seem to be progressing well and this is a great sign but they still got to be careful with them before they are out of the woods. The game is not on TV but listen to John and Suzyn on the radio WCBS 880 AM. It will be nice to see more of the starting lineup now, there will still be changes towards the end of the game but as we move along now there are less minor leaguers with the team and the starters have to start getting used to playing full games. Cano and of course Arod are still not in the lineup and Jeter, but once Jeter gets back the Yanks will resemble the lineup they will have on opening day. Andy gets the start followed by Phil Coke today, if Marte injury is serious Coke will become that late inning lefty and he has looked good so far. Spring Game 19: Twins at Yankees Posted using ShareThis

Spring Game 6: Yankees at Astros

Here is the lineups and pitchers via Peter Abraham. This is the kind of lineup you can get used to seeing for at least the next couple of weeks as 3/4 of the infield is gone. Tex didn't make the trip today, so the yankees don't have any of their infield playing today. Jorge Posada is back and will do some long tossing before the game. CC is throwing about 25 pitches in a simulated game today, this is Wangs first start since leaving a game last June with an injury. It will be good to see him back on the mound. Brett Tomko will pitch after him, could he win the long relief job? So far he is the only one who really pitched well, lets see if he keeps it up today. It will be good to see more of the prospects get playing time like Austin Jackson and Austin Romine. The guys who are playing the infield today are all vying for the utility role on the yankees. Juan Miranda is probably trying to show off for another team now that the Yanks have Tex. Melky better do something today as Gardner is really showing he wants to be the CF. Spring Game 6: Yankees at Astros Posted using ShareThis