Brett Gardner's five total bases led the Yankee attack on Saturday. (AP)
CC Sabathia had the first bad start of the spring by a Yankee as the Bombers lost a slugfest with the Nationals that included 12 extra-base hits, though only one home run.
Lineup:
L - Brett Gardner (LF)
S - Nick Swisher (RF)
L - Curtis Granderson (CF)
S - Jorge Posada (DH)
L - Eric Chavez (3B)
R - Jesus Montero (C)
R - Eduardo Nuñez (2B)
R - Jorge Vazquez (1B)
S - Ramiro Peña (SS)
Pitchers (IP): CC Sabathia (2 2/3), Joba Chamberlain (1), David Robertson (1/3), Robert Fish (2), Daniel Turpen (1), Romulo Sanchez (1), Ryan Pope (1)
Subs: Brandon Laird (1B), Kevin Russo (2B), Doug Bernier (SS), Bradley Suttle (3B), Austin Romine (C), Colin Curtis (RF), Melky Mesa (CF), Justin Maxwell (LF), Greg Golson (DH)
Formidable Opponents: Ryan Zimmerman. Maybe Ian Desmond and Michael Morse. Not so much Jerry Hairston Jr. and Ivan Rodriguez. No one else. The Nationals' starting pitcher was Chad Gaudin. Then again, Bryce Harper did appear as a sub in right field.
Big Hits: Brett Gardner doubled and tripled in three trips, driving in one run and scoring another. Jorge Vazquez doubled and singled in three trips, driving in two and scoring another. Austin Romine doubled in his only at-bat. Jesus Montero, in his first start after the news of Francisco Cervelli's broken foot, singled twice in three trips, driving in a run and scoring one. Eric Chavez singled and walked in three trips, (say it with me) driving in one run and scoring another.
Who Pitched Well: With Boone Logan struggling of late, Rule 5 lefty Robert Fish had a nice day, going beyond his LOOGY profile to pitch two hitless innings allowing just one walk, though he didn't record a single strikeout. David Robertson struck out the only man he faced, (Ivan Rodriguez). Ryan Pope worked around a Brian Bixler double in the ninth.
Who Didn't: CC Sabathia was greeted by a Jerry Hairston Jr. double and an Ian Desmond RBI single, then recorded six straight outs before falling apart in the third inning. That inning opened with a Jeff Frazier solo homer followed by a walk to Bixler, a single by Hairston, another RBI single by Desmond, and RBI double by Ryan Zimmerman, a sac fly that plated another run, then, after Ivan Rodriguez made a hard out to right field, a walk to catching prospect Derek Norris. With that, Sabathia reached his pitch limit and got the hook having failed to get the final out of his final inning, which Joba Chamberlain promptly did. However, Chamberlain ran into his own trouble in the fourth, when Frazier led off with a double. Joba got the next two men to ground out, but then walked Desmond, gave up an RBI double to Zimmerman, then walked Michael Morse, getting the hook with two outs, which is when Robertson came on and struck out Rodriguez. Rule 5 righty Danile Turpen came on with the Yankees nursing an 8-7 lead in the seventh. With one out, he gave up a double to Morse, hit Jesus Flores with a pitch, then gave up a game-tying double to Matt Stairs. The go-ahead run scored on an error by Bradley Suttle at third before Turpen got an inning-ending double play. Romulo Sanchez, who despite being out of options doesn't seem to be getting much of a look this spring, gave up a run in the eighth on a single by Bixler, a walk to Alex Cora, and an RBI single by überprospect Bryce Harper. He then walked one more batter before getting out of the inning.
Rotation Battle: None of the candidates appeared in this game.
Ouchies: A foul tip caught Jesus Montero on the right hand but stayed in the game and showed no ill-effects. Andrew Brackman (groin) threw a simulated inning Sunday morning and is ready to appear in a game sometime this week.
Oopsies: Bradley Suttle's seventh inning error allowed what proved to be the winning run to score. Colin Curtis made the other Yankee error.
Other: CC Sabathia has been hit hard in his second spring outing in each of his three Yankee seasons thus far.
Next: The Yankees travel to Kissimmee play the Astros. Phil Hughes gets the start.