Yankees Capture 3rd Straight

The Yankees got another round of good pitching performances this afternoon as they toppled the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-1 at G.M.S Field in Tampa. Chien-Ming Wang recovered from last week's debacle to go 3.2 innings as the Yankees won their 3rd straight game and improved to 6-4 overall. Five Yankees pitchers limited the Blue Jays to just 6 hits

Pitching coach Dave Eiland discovered a mistake in Wang's motion that was causing him to keep his pitches up in the zone. Today, the Wanger came out with his great sinker and reach the mid-nineties on his fastball.

The Yankees lineup gave Wang a boost immediately to start the game. Melky Cabrera led off with a single and Derek Jeter followed with a walk. Bobby Abreu, celebrating his 34th birthday, doubled to drive in both runners for a quick 2-0 lead. Alex Rodriguez followed with a blast to deep center, for his second home run of the spring and a 4-0 lead.

Wang left to a loud ovation after 3.2 innings, having allowed 2 hits and 2 walks. He also struck out 1 batter and induced 1 double play grounder.

After Edwar Ramirez finished the 4th, Joe Girardi turned things over to Kyle Farnsworth. The hard throwing right-hander allowed a hit and a walk, but escaped without giving up a run. Joe Girardi continued to back his boy in a mid-game interview with Michael Kay.

Darrell Rasner, battling for the long man job in the pen, allowed a run on 2 hits and a walk in 2 innings. Brian Bruney finished up the final 1.2 innings to complete a win.

Cabrera added an RBI double in the 4th and Jason Lane belted a long solo home run in the 6th. It was Lane's 2nd blast of the spring.

Johnny Damon went for X-Rays and MRI on his right foot today after fouling a ball of it last night. Both turned up negative. He'll sit out tomorrow's contest with the Rays in St. Petersburg and is listed as day-to-day.

March 11, 2008 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Toronto 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 6 1 NY Yankees 4 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 X 6 11 0

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Cabrera, CF	3	1	2	1	0	0	1	.389
Gardner, B, CF	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	.267
Jeter, SS	1	1	0	0	2	0	2	.222
Ransom, SS	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	.214
Abreu, RF	3	1	2	2	0	1	2	.526
Porter, RF	2	0	0	0	0	1	4	.364
Rodriguez, A, 3B	2	1	1	2	0	1	0	.500
a-Green, PH-3B	2	0	0	0	0	1	2	.091
Giambi, DH	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	.353
b-Posada, PH-DH	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.067
Cano, 2B	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	.409
Betemit, 2B	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.211
Duncan, 1B	3	0	0	0	0	1	1	.421
Ensberg, 1B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.400
Lane, LF	3	2	2	1	0	0	0	.333
Woodward, LF	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.474
Molina, C	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	.235
Moeller, C	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	.071
Totals	34	6	11	6	4	5	15
a-Struck out for Rodriguez, A in the 4th. b-Lined out for Giambi in the 5th.
BATTING 2B: Abreu (1, Chacin), Cabrera (3, Davis), Ransom (1, Purcey, D). HR: Rodriguez, A (2, 1st inning off Chacin, 1 on, 0 out), Lane (2, 6th inning off Purcey, D, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Cabrera 3; Ransom 2; Abreu 3; Rodriguez, A 4; Giambi; Lane 5; Molina 2. RBI: Abreu 2 (4), Rodriguez, A 2 (4), Cabrera (4), Lane (4). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Green 2; Porter 3. Team LOB: 9. FIELDING DP: (Rodriguez, A-Cano-Duncan).

	NY Yankees IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Wang (W, 2-1) 3.2 2 0 0 2 1 0 8.53 Ramirez 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 10.13 Farnsworth 1.0 1 0 0 1 0 0 2.25 Rasner 2.1 2 1 1 1 2 0 10.13 Bruney 1.2 1 0 0 0 2 0 6.00
HBP: Ensberg (by Machi, J). Ground outs-fly outs: Wang 8-1, Ramirez 0-1, Farnsworth 0-3, Rasner 2-3, Bruney 0-3. Batters faced: Wang 13, Ramirez 1, Farnsworth 5, Rasner 10, Bruney 6. Inherited runners-scored: Bruney 1-0. Umpires: HP: Paul Emmel. 1B: Mark Carlson. 2B: Andy Fletcher. 3B: Dan Iassogna. Weather: 73 degrees, cloudy. Wind: 12 mph, Varies. T: 2:59. Att: 10,510.

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Get Up and Stretch

While the title of this post has become an acceptable Michael Kay phrase, his "Generation Trey" nickname for the trio Joba Chamberlain-Phil Hughes-Ian Kennedy is downright vomitous. Hughes has stated on his blog that they prefer not to be lumped together with a group nickname. He didn't say it, but if you are going to come up with one, at least make it a good one. This could possibly be worse than the "QuanGorMo" of '04.

As for the Yankees-Jays game today, the Yankees lead 6-1 in the top of the 8th. Melky Cabrera added an RBI double in the 4th and Jason Lane smacked a solo HR in the 6th.

Chien-Ming Wang's 3.2 scoreless innings performance was followed by Edwar Ramirez (.1), Kyle Farnsworth (1), and Darrell Rasner (2). Rasner allowed the Jays run in the 7th. Brian Bruney has come on in the 8th.

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Yankees vs. Blue Jays - March 11 Update

The Yankees are leading the Blue Jays 4-0 after 2nd innings of play. Bobby Abreu delivered a 2-run homer in the first, and Alex Rodriguez followed with a 2-run HR, his 2nd of the spring. Abreu was deprived of another RBI when Jose Molina was thrown out on a close play at the plate on Abreu's single.

Things are going much better for Chien-Ming Wang, who has allowed 2 hits over 2 innings.

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Yankees vs. Blue Jays - March 11

The Yankees host the Toronto Blue Jays for the first time this spring in a 1:15 pm contest. The Yankees hooked up with the Jays a week ago in Dunedin. Chien-Ming Wang gets the start for the Yankees as he looks to bounce back from his horrendous outing against the Reds last time out.

Here are the lineups and pitching probables, courtesy of Peter Abraham:

YANKEES
Cabrera CF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Giambi DH
Cano 2B
Duncan 1B
Lane LF
Molina C

Pitching
Wang (3-4)
Rasner
Farnsworth
Phillips
Albaladejo
Ohlendorf

BLUE JAYS
Eckstein SS
Stairs RF
Wells CF
Rolen 3B
Thomas DH
Overbay 1B
Stewart LF
Hill 2B
Zaun C

Pitching
Chacin
Purcey
Davis
Carlson
Wells

Roster Cuts

The Yankees further reduced their roster this morning, sending Juan Miranda to optioned to Triple-A and reassigning outfielders Austin Jackson, Collin Curtis, Jose Tabata, and catcher P.J. Pilittere to the minor-league camp.

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