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.