Yankees unable to score in loss to Pirates

By Gary W. Marchese Jr.

Bradenton, FL (Mar 2) – The New York Yankees lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday afternoon by the score of 2-0. Phil Hughes made the start and pitched well in his two innings. The topic of discussion with him though was his changeup and he found it amusing.

Hughes worked on his changeup last spring and that was presumably, what won him the fifth starters position, he did not carry it into the regular season though and now he is trying to develop the pitch once again. He said he would not throw the pitch just to throw it because he wants to get his other pitches going as well. Hughes said the pitch is the same pitch but he wants to throw it enough where it is a factor so that it is in the hitter’s heads. Hughes also said that Larry Rothschild the new pitching coach explained it in a different way and he feels that his advice is helping. Here is the rest of the statistics from the game and some minor notes.

Hughes pitched two innings and gave up a walk, Dave Robertson pitched an inning giving up a hit, and he struck out two batters. Steve Garrison pitched two innings giving up two hits, Brett Anderson who is an interesting story pitched one inning giving up two hits and one run. He was a top prospect for the White Sox at one time and outfielder but is now trying to make it back as a pitcher something he has not done since high school.

Andrew Sisco gave up a walk and a run without recording an out, Eric Wordkemper pitched an inning giving up a hit and striking out two batters. Ryan Pope pitched a perfect inning picking up a strikeout.

Nick Swisher and Curtis Granderson each had a hit and Eric Chavez had two hits. That was all the offense the Yankees could muster on this day. Jordann Parazz picked up the only walk for the Yankees.

The other story of the day was Jesus Montero who continues to impress, he threw out two base runners on the day although one thought it was ball four and pulled up as he got close to second base. Montero looks like a different person behind the plate and he is receiving praise from the pitchers. It looks like he really may make it as a catcher and has a chance at breaking camp with the big club.

The Yankees will face the Astros at Steinbrenner Field tomorrow afternoon at 1:05PM. A.J. Burnett will get his season going tomorrow and try to erase the memory of last season, which was a disaster for him.

Girardi talked about Monteros arm strength and how he has a lot of it. Girardi stated, “I can’t tell you how many strides he has made since last year.” Girardi added that his only complaint with Hughes outing was that his fastball was a little bit up.

Russell Martin still does not know when he will catch but he should DH the second half of tomorrow’s game. Jorge Posada will start the game. Boone Logan made the trip with the team but did not pitch on Tuesday, that is unusual for a big leaguer but it does happen sometimes.

Posted by gmarchesej on March 2, 2011. Filed under MLB News,News and Sports with Gary W. Marchese Jr.,Sports,US Sports,Yankees. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.