New York Yankees crush Washington Nationals 8-5 – MLB Spring Training
New York Yankees crushed Washington Nationals 8-5 at the Space Coast Stadium in Melbourne, Florida on Thursday, March 15 in their Grapefruit League clash of the 2012 Major League Baseball Spring Training Sessions.
Nationals’ starter Chien-Ming Wang had a forgettable outing after he had to leave the field with a strained left hamstring. Wang has polished his game play significantly in the last few seasons and he is one of the favourites to win the fifth starting spot
on Washington’s rotation. In a post game interview, Nationals’ manager Davey Johnson stated that Wang will undergo medical tests to determine the seriousness of injury.
"That's probably one of the tougher plays that there is," Chad Tracy said of Wang. "It's tough to judge off the bat. We're taught in spring training if the pitcher can get that ball, then get it and keep going. He did the right thing, just something happened
to throw him off balance."
Michael Pineda, the fifth most promising rookie from last year pitched with great control and accuracy as he allowed just two runs and four hits in just over 3 innings. Retiring first seven batters on his 65 pitch limit, he used his fastballs and sliders
to great effect.
"Last year, I didn't throw a lot of changeups," Pineda said. "This year, I focus a little more on my changeup, make it a good pitch all the time. I'm not worried (about) my fastball. I don't know how my fastball is right now, but it feels good."
The Yankees will be very pleased with the way things went for him during the contest. Although they are one of the strongest teams in MLB right now, they have managed to earn a very moderate 6-8 win-loss record so far this season. Yankees’ Manager Jim Leyland
also looked very satisfied after beating the Nationals 8-5.
The Nationals, on the other hand, will be looking to bounce back strongly in their upcoming spring games. Having won only five out of their eleven Spring Training games, they have a lot of work to do to put things on the right track and it will be interesting
to see if they Nationals can perform any better in second half of the spring.
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