In their exhibition warmup for the exhibition season, the Yankees stomped the University of South Florida 11-4 in a game that wasn’t even as close as that score would suggest.
L – Johnny Damon (LF)
R – Derek Jeter (SS)
L – Bobby Abreu (RF)
R – Alex Rodriguez (3B)
L – Jason Giambi (1B)
S – Jorge Posasa (C)
L – Robinson Cano (2B)
R – Shelley Duncan (DH)
S – Melky Cabrera (CF)
Pitchers: Joba Chamberlain, Ian Kennedy, Phil Hughes, Kei Igawa, Jeff Marquez, Alan Horne, Chase Wright
Subs: Morgan Ensberg (1B), Nick Green (2B), Bernie Castro (2B), Alberto Gonzalez (SS), Cody Ransom (3B), Austin Romine (C), Colin Curtis (RF), Austin Jackson (CF), Justin Christian (LF), Juan Miranda (DH)
Opposition: A college team using wood bats for the first time.
Big Hits: Jorge Posada went 2 for 4 with a double and a two-RBI triple. Colin Curtis went 1 for 3 with a double. Those were the only extra-base hits by the Yankees, who reached base 23 times but didn’t strike out all game. Melky Cabrera was 2 for 2 with a sac fly. Bobby Abreu was 1 for 1 with two walks.
Who Pitched Well: Everyone but Igawa. The other four Yankee pitchers combined for this line: 8 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K, the lone hit against that group was a base hit up the middle off Kennedy. Marquez got all three of his outs on groundballs. Horne got his three on two grounders and a K. Kennedy got three outs on the ground, two by K, and just one in the air. Hughes struck out the first two batters he faced on a total of eight pitches. Ed Price says Hughes looked the sharpest of the Big Three.
Who Didn’t: Kei Igawa’s lone inning of work went: fly out, walk, wild pitch, walk, HBP, grand slam, K, K. Per Peter Abraham, pinch-hitter Eric Baumann, who hit the grand slam, had struck out in his only two previous at bats this season, “was also swinging a wood bat and missed the 2006 and 2007 seasons with a shoulder injury.” Pete also points out that the walk that started the USF rally was a five-pitch walk to the ninth-place hitter in a college lineup with the Yankees leading 9-0.
Nice Plays: Colin Curtis made a sliding catch in right to end Hughes’ inning of work.
Ouchies: Derek Jeter was hit near the left elbow with a pitch in the first inning, but stayed in the game and singled in his next at-bat.
More: Pete Abe’s play-by-play of the first 5 1/3 innings. Anthony McCarron (sitting in for Mark Feinsand) takes the action a few batters further up to the salami of Igawa (read from bottom up). Tyler Kepner reports these other recent finals of MLB vs. College action:
Red Sox 24, Boston College 0
Red Sox 15, Northeastern 0
Nationals 15, Georgetown 0
Cardinals 15, St. Louis U. 0
Pirates 5, Manatee C.C. 0
Braves 8, U. of Georgia 1
I’m tickled that the closest game was between the Pirates and a Community College. Nonetheless, four times as many runs were scored off Igawa in his one inning of work today than were scored by the college teams in the other 62 innings we’ve accounted for. Igawa should be proud. Finally, for trivia fans, Bryan Hoch has the lineup from the last game between the Yanks and USF.
