New York Yankees edge Washington Nationals 4-3 – MLB Spring Training
New York Yankees will be very relieved after securing a narrow 4-3 win over Washington Nationals at the George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida on March 16 in their Grapefruit League encounter of the 2012 Major League Baseball Spring Training.
Alex Rodriguez looked in fine form as he hit a two run home run for the Yankees. Brandon Laird also made a useful contribution, making a sacrifice fly in tenth inning. C.C. Sabathia had a very poor outing as he gave up three runs and six hits in just over
three innings. The Yankees’ ace expressed his frustration in a post game interview.
Phil Hughes impressed the skipper with a great performance as he gave up three hits and no runs in four innings. Competing for the spot on Yankees’ pitching rotation, the starter will be hoping to continue his impressive run throughout this spring.
For the Nationals, starter Gio Gonzalez allowed two hits and three walks in just over 3 innings. Striking out six batters, he kept his side in the hunt right till the end.
"Today was a learning curve for me," Gonzalez said. "There's more stuff for me to work on. Can't stay up in the zone. Can't walk people to get my pitch count up. Obviously I need to get my conditioning in, other stuff to work on, like staying tall and staying
back."
"I remembered what happened last year even through it was a different calf, so I'm just being cautious," Girardi said.
With their win over the Nationals, the Yankees improved their spring record to 7-8. The Yankees are considered one of the strongest teams in American League but they have not looked to be in their comfort zone since the start of 2012 Spring Training campaign.
Surely, the Yankees will be looking to gain some sort of momentum going into the regular season. It will be interesting to see if they can turn the tables in second half of this spring.
Washington will also be hoping to turn things around in their upcoming spring season games. Having won just five out their seven spring season games, they are definitely struggling to find the right pitching and hitting combinations.
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