Minor League game and notes

I forgot to write about yesterdays minor league happenings so please forgive me. Phil Hughes was scratched from pitching yesterday but not because he was injured. He said today he was just as shocked as everyone else. He will be pitching tomorrow instead and is not sure why they shifted it. Ian Kennedy pitched 6 innings giving up 6 hits, 3 runs with 7 strikeouts. Mariano Rivera pitched in this game giving up a solo homerun but then getting 5 outs. He had 2 strikeouts. Kevin Whelan pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up 4 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk and 2 strikeouts. Ian Kennedy has looked good since being sent down to minor league camp, he has been working on getting his curveball down in the zone and it has worked so far. Austin Jackson was 1-4 with a rbi, Shelly Duncan was also 1-4 with with a solo homerun. Juan Miranda was 1-3, Edwar Gonzalez was 1-1 with a rbi. Todd Linden was 2-4, Eric Duncan 1-4 and Kevin Russo 2-3 with a sac bunt. Chris Stewart was 2-2 with 2 rbi. Shelly Duncan had a nice juggling catch running into the wall in the outfield. Austin Jackson almost had 2 diving/sliding catches in CF. Thanks to Chad Jennings for doing a great job with the minor league information and don't forget to check out his blog at the times tribune.

Yanks Win Again

The New York Yankees won their 7th in a row today and 16th out of their last 18. They defeated the Cincinatti Reds by a score of 6-3. Joba Chamberlain got the start and went 5 1/3 innings giving up 2 runs on 5 hits with 3 walks and 6 strikeouts. He said the ball felt better coming out today and his velocity was up. He hit 96 on the gun and was at 95 throuout the game, he tired in the 6th but had a good day. He does still have to work on getting his pitch count down which he said after the game but he will get better with that and remember he is the 5th starter so he will be going up against other 5th starters which aren't very good and the Yankees can score runs for him. He has a 2.77 era over his last 3 starts and has a tuneup on Sunday left. I don't know about you but I would take a era of that from the fifth starter, he only has to pitch to a 4 era or so and that would be great. Brian Bruney came in to get the two hitters in the 6th with one strikeout and Edwar Ramirez pitched one inning giving up a hit and run. Phil Coke pitched a perfect inning with 2 strikeouts. Phil Coke has just been outstanding this spring, I don't have the numbers in front of me but he has been a strikeout machine and has a 1.42era. Dan Giese finished the game with a perfect inning striking out two. Melky Cabrera after losing out on the CF job was the offensive start today going 1-2 with 3 rbi. Brett Gardner was 3-4 with a rbi, Mark Teixera was 1-2 with a walk and Cody Ransom was 1-3 with a rbi. Angel Berroa was 2-4 and Ramiro Pena was 1-4 in the battle for the last roster spot. The Yankees will play their final spring game in Florida tomorrow against the Phillies at Steinbrenner Field. The Yankees will be flying to NY tomorrow evening and have a workout at the New Stadium Thursday before playing the final 2 exhibition games their friday and saturday against Lou Piniella and the Chicago Cubs. The Yankees issued a press release today that Bob Sheppard will not be their for the 2 exhibition games or the home opener. Brett Gardner won the James P. Dawson award for most outstanding rookie in camp. I hope he fares better then past winners which have included Bubba Crosby, Shelly Duncan, Kei Igawa, Eric Duncan and Andy Phillips. They did have Tony Kubek and Tom Tresh win it and go on to win rookie of the year the same year. He batted 390 with 2 doubles, 2 triples 3 hrs and 7 rbi. He leads the team in hits and stolen bases.

Spring Game 34: Yankees at Reds

Today marks the Yankees penultimate game in Florida. Joba Chamberlain makes the start and there has been a lot of buzz over his velocity diminishing. The thing to remember here is as a starter your not going to have the same velocity and also it is being said that he has been working on his mechanics. If you take away that one disastourous start against Team Canada he hasn't pitched bad and he does have 14 strikeouts in just over 14 innings. I am looking for him to go deeper in games, that is the one problem I see, he throws too many pitches, he will get better with this the more he starts. The Yankees did announce earlier today that Jon Albaladejo made the team as the last reliever and Dan Giese, Alfredo Aceves and Brett Tomko were sent down to the minors along with Kevin Cash. The AAA rotation was announced as Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, Kei Igawa, Alfredo Aceves and Jason Johnson. Brett Tomko will be used out of the bullpen. Kevin Cash will be the AAA catcher or one of them. The game is on Cincinattis radio station but no radio or TV from NY. Spring Game 34: Yankees at Reds Posted using ShareThis

YES Network says YES

The Yes Network had a good night last night picking up 13 emmy awards. I am not going to go through the whole list but you can check it out on Peter Abrahams blog http://yankees.lhblogs.com he has all the names and what they won listed. This is the most they ever won and the most by a NY regional sports network. I didn't mention this earlier but on Thursday when the Yankees have their first workout at the New Stadium the Hard Rock Cafe will be opening up with Bernie Williams along with Ace Frehley(Kiss), Scott Ian and Frank Bello(Anthrax), Darryl "DMC" McDaniels(Run DMC), Anton Figg(Late Show Band). They will be signing Take Me Out to the ballgame along with students from the Bronx. There will be a celebratory guitar smash also, Bernies new CD will be released April 14, he has his performance with Bruce Springsteen on it, they performed Glory Days.

Yanks recap

The New York Yankees defeated the Toronto Blue Jays today by a score of 3-1. The Yankees including the Team USA and Canada games are now 20-12-1, they have now won 6 straight and 15 of their last 17. This doesn't mean much as it is spring training and it doesn't count, the thing that does mean something though is that their pitching has been there pretty much day in and day out. The Yankees have the pitching all around this year and when you get good pitching you always have a chance to win and that is why they have been winning all these games even though its spring training. Andy Pettitte got the start today going 6 1/3 innings giving up 1 run on 5 hits with 0 walks and 7 strikeouts. The other thing I have been noticing about the Yankee pitching is they haven't walked too many and they do strike out a lot of guys. Damaso Marte pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit and thats all. Jose Veras pitched an inning giving up a hit and thats all and Edwar Ramirez finished it off pitching an inning with 0 hits, 0 runs and 1 strikeout. Andy Pettitte was thrilled with what he did today and said his shoulder has been doing great, no trouble at all. If you count the two minor league games Pettitte has pitched 22 innings this spring and allowed 3 runs with 18 hits and 20 strikeouts. The offense was led by Mark Teixera who had 2 rbi going 2-3 with a walk, he also made a diving stop in the field, this is going to be a huge difference this year with him, the Big G was just a statue and he is going to make that whole infield so much better. Drek Jeter was 1-2 with a walk, Melky Cabrera was 1-2. Johnny Damon had 2 walks and Jose Molina was 1-4. Mariano Rivera will pitch in a minor league game tomorrow then one of the Cubs games, he does not need to pitch back to back days before the season Joe Girardi said today. The Yankees will finish up their grapefruit league schedule with a game tomorrow at Cincinatti and then home wednesday against the Phillies, they will head to NY Wednesday evening and have a workout at the new stadium on Thursday. They play the first 2 games at the New Stadium on Friday night at 7:00pm and Saturday at 1:00pm.