New York Yankees’ journey in the 2011 MLB season – Part 8
After an irrefutable comeback recorded with a 10-0 shut-out over the Baltimore Orioles, the Yankees fans were hopeful to see some more brilliant performances in the upcoming outings and the bullpen had the ambition to prove their dominating position.
Their next battle was against the Tampa Bay Rays, who had given them a crucial time in the first outing at Charlotte Sports Park in Port Charlotte, Florida, on March 3.
Game 21 of Spring Training: Yankees snatched close confrontation 3-2
The Yankees were sure to grab their rivals at the George M. Steinbrenner Field on March 17, but they had to struggle against the determined pitching depth to record their second straight win of Spring Training.
Alex Rodriguez launched his third consecutive homer in three games to impress his team-mates. Yankees’ manager Girardi was worried about his numbers, but the third baseman was not. It was his fourth homer overall and the team were aware of the destructive
form the right-hander had gained.
"I'll tell you what, this is my third season here, and I've never seen him so focused as I've seen him now." The Yankees’ right-fielder Nick Swisher said about the star hitter.
Despite the fact that Rodriguez had laid the foundation, the other batters struggled against the Rays’ pitching rotation. Brett Gardner, Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, Jorge Posada and Jesus Montero each could not touch even a single hit over their three at-bats.
As the regular season was just two weeks away, Girardi did not hesitate to experiment with the positions of his batters. He moved Brett Gardner from ninth to first position and dropped Derek Jeter to the 2-hole from the lead off position.
The pitching rotation was still undecided because of the consistent performance from the young hurlers. Phil Hughes tossed six two-run innings and got three strike-outs, but his changeups were exceptional to impress Girardi.
However, the Yankees moved again to Florida Auto Exchange Stadium to take on the Toronto Blue Jays for two consecutive outings in two days.
Game 22 of Spring Training: Another loss for the Yankees
Allan James Burnett was on the mound to face the Blue Jays’ Brandon Morrow. James received a line drive hit, which rattled him, but he found his curveballs and that started to work for him.
Burnett gave away four runs on five hits including a homer to Jose Molina in the bottom of the second inning and the Yankees lost a close confrontation 3-2. Burnett also made two wild pitches to allow two earned runs. He got five strikeouts though, that
provided him little encouragement for the next outing.
Sergio Mitre, who was struggling for one of the two spots behind CC Sabathia, Allan James Burnett and Phil Hughes, had a destructive game. He allowed two runs on three hits including a homer over his three innings.
It made the decision for Girardi to decide about the final pitching rotation a little more easy. However, there were many games to come and no one was sure about the Yankees’ final bullpen.
The Yankees’ batting was still a problem for team officials. Twenty-two outings had gone but the batters were still struggling to achieve their consistency. The Yankees then moved to George M. Steinbrenner Stadium to try their luck for the second time against
the Rays on March 19.
Continued in Part 9
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