TAMPA, Florida -- The New York Yankees will be looking for more outings like this from Kei Igawa when the games count for real.
Igawa pitched five effective innings and Alex Rodriguez hit a three-run homer as the New York Yankees posted a 5-1 Grapefruit League victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.
A lefthander who pitched in Japan last season, Igawa is being counted on by the Yankees to help the back end of their rotation. He has pitched well this spring, going 2-0 with a 2.65 ERA in five starts.
Igawa was strong again Monday, limiting the Phillies to one run and three hits with two walks and four strikeouts.
Rodriguez belted his third homer of the spring, a blast off Zack Segovia in the bottom of the first inning.
The Japanese Jaret Wright hasn't exactly set the world on fire during his short stint as a Yankee, but he is getting the job done nonetheless.
His stuff is good enough to succeed in this league (as evidenced by his good change-up and team-leading 19 K's this Spring), but he needs to have better command of his pitches or he's going to get hammered by the offensive machines in the AL East.
By the way, the bomb that A-Rod hit in the 1st inning just crashed through my living room window.
Update [2007-3-26 18:20:46 by John Amato]: I agree with Anaconda, ARod smoked the first pitch he saw and crushed it over the scoreboard in Fl. It had that sound you only hear from few players in baseball... Igawa looked sharper than his other outings and faced the Phiilies big guns for five innings...He still was a bit wld, but his fastball is kind of sneaky... Bruney struck out the side in his inning of work and is starting to round out into shape again...Will he make the roster?