New York Yankees’ journey in the 2011 MLB season – Part 9
The New York Yankees had lost the last two games against the Toronto Blue Jays and it was their last chance to take revenge in Spring Training. Alex Rodriguez had extended his hitting streak to eleven games and he was the biggest satisfaction for manager
Joe Girardi.
Ivan Nova, Freddy Garcia, Sergio Mitre and Bartolo Colon were competing for two open starting spots behind A.J. Burnett, Phil Hughes and CC Sabathia. The Yankees’ general manager Brian Cashman had stated the decision would come “sooner than later”.
It was the third chance of Garcia to impress Girardi to a level that he could select him at one of the two open spots.
Game 23 of Spring Training: Equal efforts tie it 5-all in the tenth
Alex Rodriguez scored a run in the sixth consecutive outing, as Freddy Garcia yielded five runs on five hits over six innings and the game tied at 5-5 in the tenth inning.
Rodriguez had made a hit in all of the twelve outings he played in. He drove in an RBI double in the bottom of the first inning to contribute in the club’s 3-0 lead. Rodriguez was considered the player, who has never shown any signs of worry about his stats.
"I've never put a lot of stock in preseason stats or preseason results," After the game when reporters asked about his recent forms Rodriguez said. "For me, spring training is all about what happens pre and postgame.”
Garcia struck out six batters and it was a positive sign for his selection as a fourth or fifth spot pitcher. Garcia retired the first nine batters he faced before allowing a single in the top of the third inning. He also allowed five hits that were the
negative aspect at that point of the month.
Jeter, who was struggling before this outing, made three hits and scored a run to open his bat. It was an encouraging sign for the right-hand batter. Following the captain, Robinson Cano, Jorge Posada and Erick Nunez also touched hits.
Until then Mariano Rivera had eased the starters with his destructive closing performances. As the backfire pitcher was at his best, the Yankees were still overdue to face the toughest pitching depth in MLB history, the Philadelphia Phillies.
Game 24 of Spring Training: Yankees destroy Phillies 8-1
Alex Rodriguez was having a same kind of form he had shown in 2009. Alex and Mark Teixeira launched consecutive homers in the top of the fourth inning and CC Sabathia overthrew Joe Blanton as New York Yankees defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 8-1.
As the spring schedule was winding down, the Yankees had called the complete bullpen. Rodriguez also scored a double along with his fifth homer of Spring Training as Brett Gardner and Curtis Granderson opened their arms.
After the outing, Rodriguez had said. "We have a great group of guys. I get the feeling in here like we did in '09. People are having fun, are in good shape. CC threw the ball really well today. There are a lot of good things going on."
Two runs each in the fourth, seventh and the ninth against the Phillies were the real cause of happiness for Girardi. Just a week away from the regular season, such a win had produced some extra energy in the Yankees’ roster. The decision about the fourth
and fifth pitcher was still to come but the batting had gained their near perfect momentum.
Continued in Part 10
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