The Yankees only drew one walk yesterday afternoon and Ian Kennedy was awful, thus the 6-2 loss to Toronto. Meanwhile, the Netherlands took a 1-0 lead on Puerto Rico into the bottom of the eighth, putting them six outs from a Round 2 berth. Sadly, Puerto Rico rallied to advance instead, but Netherlands has had one hell of a ride. They re-match with the Dominican Republic at 6:30 tonight on the MLB Network. Loser goes home. Lang levensecht honkbal!

Lineup:

L – Brett Gardner (CF)
S – Melky Cabrera (LF)
S – Mark Teixeira (1B)
S – Jorge Posada (DH)
S – Nick Swisher (RF)
R – Jose Molina (C)
R – Angel Berroa (2B)
R – Justin Leone (3B)
S – Ramiro Peña (SS)

Subs: Juan Miranda (1B), Doug Bernier (2B), Eduardo Nuñez (SS), Kevin Russo (3B), Kevin Cash (C), Todd Linden (RF), Austin Jackson (CF), Colin Curtis (LF), Shelley Duncan (DH)

Pitchers: Andy Pettitte, Dan Giese, Ian Kennedy, Steven Jackson, Jonathan Albaladejo, David Robertson

Opposition: The non-WBC Blue Jays.

Big Hits:

Brett Gardner‘s third home run of the spring, a two-run shot off Jays’ prospect Brad Mills. Again, this man had three home runs all of last year, including spring training (when he hit none). Mark Teixeira (2-for-3) doubled. Angel Berroa, who is 9-for-18 with five extra-base hits this spring, doubled in two trips.

Who Pitched Well:

David Robertson pitched a perfect ninth inning. Jonathan Albaladejo preceded him by pitching around a single in the eighth while striking out two. Steven Jackson struck out the only batter he faced. Andy Pettitte struck out two in a scoreless inning and two-thirds, though he did walk one and give up a double to Aaron Hill.

Who Didn’t:

Ian Kennedy got beat about the head and neck, giving up five runs on five hits (including three doubles and a Travis Snider homer), a walk, and two wild pitches in 2 2/3 inings. After a poor outing his last time out, Kennedy said that he had lost the feel for his curveball. Clearly, he didn’t get it back before his appearance today.

Battles:

Starting in center, Brett Gardner went 2-for-3 with a two-run homer, while Melky Cabrera, starting in left, went 1-for-3 with a single. Nick Swisher went 0-for-3; he has seven walks, but just two hits this spring, both singles. Xavier Nady, who didn’t play yesterday, has three hits, all for extra bases, and no walks. As a result, Swisher’s line is all on-base percentage, while Nady’s is all slugging. Check it out:

Swisher: .133/.409/.133
X. Nady: .176/.176/.529

Using Gross Production average, which properly weights on-base percentage against slugging and converts the result to the batting-average scale, Swisher is hitting .217 and Nady is hitting .213. That’s a wash, though I would rather have Swisher getting on base regularly than have to wait around for one of Nady’s big hits.

Be afraid: with Cody Ransom starting at third, the Yankees will need a reserve infielder. Among all the players in camp, Angel Berroa currently trails only Gardner in total bases and home runs, and leads all players in hits, more than half of which have gone for extra bases.

On the mound, David Robertson and Jonathan Albaladejo both pitched well. Dan Giese gave up a single and a two-run homer to Russ Adams, but nothing else in 2 1/3 innings, striking out two along the way.

Here’s a quick look at the relievers battling for the last four spots in the bullpen:

Jose Veras: 3.00 ERA, 3 IP, 3 BB, 6 K
Robertson: 2.25 ERA, 4 IP, 1 BB, 6 K
Albaladejo: 2.45 ERA, 3 2/3 IP, 1 BB, 3 K
Phil Coke: 3.00 ERA, 3 IP, 0 BB, 1 K
Melancon: 0.00 ERA, 4 IP, 2 BB, 4 K
S. Jackson: 3.86 ERA, 4 2/3 IP, 1 BB, 4 K
Dan Giese: 6.58 ERA, 8 1/3 IP, 2 BB, 6 K
A. Aceves: 7.36 ERA, 3 2/3 IP, 2 BB, 2 K
B. Tomko: 2.57 ERA, 7 IP, 1 BB, 5 K

Edwar Ramirez has yet to pitch in a game due to shoulder bursitis.

Giese’s ERA is inflated and Aceves has pitched only twice (the first bad, the second good). A lot could happen within that group in the next four weeks.

Cuts:

Pitchers Kanekoa Texeira, J.B. Cox, George Kontos, Eric Hacker, and Wilkin De La Rosa were reassigned to minor league camp. Andrew Brackman was optioned to Single-A Charleston. Of the first group, Cox will land back in Triple-A, and Kontos and Hacker might join him depending on how quickly Scranton’s rotation fills up, but Texeira, who is likely ticketed for Double-A Trenton, is the pitcher to watch. As for Brackman, he posted a 5.56 ERA and 1.44 K/BB in eight starts in the Hawaiian winter league this offseason. Those starts and his three spring innnings (3 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 0 K) are the only action he’s seen since making 13 starts for NC State in 2007. He has some work to do.

Ouchies:

Mariano Rivera threw 30 pitches in the bullpen and said he felt “tremendous.” Jorge Posada made a dozen throws to second base and said he “felt great.”

Italy upset Canada in the Pool C “losers” game, so Francisco Cervelli will be away from camp for an extra day as Italy takes on Cervelli’s native Venezuela in a double-elimination game at 5pm tonight on ESPN2. Cervelli went 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout in the game against Canada.

Which reminds me, I failed to include the WBC Yankee stats from yesterday. Here they are:

Derek Jeter: 0-for-2 with a walk
Robinson Cano: 1-for-3 with a walk