Alex Rodriguez watches one of the four homers in Sunday's game. (AP)
With the wind blowing out at Osceola County Stadium, the Yankees and Astros combined for 18 runs on 29 hits, 16 of which went for extra-bases as the Yankees reversed Saturday's score to win 10-8.
Lineup:
R - Derek Jeter (SS)
R - Russell Martin (C)
S - Mark Teixeira (1B)
R - Alex Rodriguez (3B)
L - Robinson Cano (2B)
R - Andruw Jones (LF)
L - Eric Chavez (DH)
L - Colin Curtis (RF)
R - Greg Golson (CF)
Pitchers (IP): Phil Hughes (3), Steve Garrison (3), Brian Anderson (2/3), Eric Wordekemper (1/3), David Phelps (2)
Subs: Jose Gil (1B), Kevin Russo (2B), Eduardo Nuñez (SS), Bradley Suttle (3B), Gustavo Molina (C), Daniel Brewer (RF), Melky Mesa (RF), Austin Krum (CF), Jordan Parraz (LF), Justin Maxwell (DH)
Formidable Opponents: Three innings of Brett Myers, one of Brandon Lyon, and Hunter Pence, Carlos Lee, and Bill Hall in the starting lineup.
Big Hits: Home runs by Alex Rodriguez (1-for-3, with a two-run shot off Jeff Fulchino) and Greg Golson (1-for-3, with a solo shot off Fernando Abad). Doubles by Robinson Cano and Andruw Jones (both 2-for-3) both off Brett Myers, and Daniel Brewer (1-for-2) and Eduardo Nuñez (2-for-3), both of Gustavo Chacin. Yankees with two singles included Derek Jeter (2-for-3), Russell Martin (2-for-4), and Jordan Parraz and Justin Maxwell (both 2-for-2). Of the 18 Yankees to come to the plate in this game, 14 had a hit, but none drew a walk.
Who Pitched Well: Eric Wordekemper got the only man he faced, Matt Downs, to pop out to clean up Brian Anderson's mess in the seventh. Otherwise, it wasn't pretty.
Who Didn't: Converted center fielder Brian Anderson had nothing in the seventh. He was greeted by an Anderson Hernandez single and a Jason Bourgeois triple. Bourgeois scored on a throwing error by Kevin Russo but would have made it home anyway as, after a fly-out to right, Anderson gave up three more singles (to Jon Gaston, Carlos Corporan, and J.D. Martinez) sandwiched around a groundout and was hooked having retired just two of eight batters and failed to complete his one-inning assignment. Phil Hughes worked around a Hunter Pence double in the first, but staked to a 2-0 lead in the second, he gave up a home run to Jason Michaels and back-to-back doubles to Downs and Brian Dopirak that tied the game, though the second one was a routine fly that Andruw Jones completely lost in the sun. He then gave up a home run to Carlos Lee in the third that gave the Astros an early lead. Hughes didn't walk any one, but all five of the hits he allowed went for extra bases. With the Yankees up 8-7 in the eighth, David Phelps walked lead-off man Oswaldo Navarro. He picked pinch-runner, and former Yankee farmhand, Jimmy Paredes off first to erase that runner, but then gave up back-to-back doubles to Anderson Hernandez and T.J. Steele that tied the game. Given a fresh lead in the ninth, he put the tying runs on base via a pair of one-out singles then balked them in to scoring position before nailing down the vultured win by striking out Roger's kid Koby Clemens. Steve Garrison gave the Astros a run in the fourth on a walk, a Dopirak single, and a Humberto Quintaro double, then after a 1-2-3 fifth inning, had to work around a two-out triple by Downs in the sixth.
Rotation Battle: David Phelps has had three poor outings thus far and has gone from dark-horse candidate to possible early cut. Steve Garrison might get more of a look, but never seemed like a real contender.
Ouchies: Colin Curtis hurt his right shoulder making a diving catch. He'll have an MRI on Monday. Daniel Brewer had to be pinch-run for in the ninth due to some pain in his leg that's being written off as a Charley horse. An elderly fan was hit in the head with a ball in the ninth inning. He held the ball aloft as he was taken away by paramedics.
Oopsies: Andruw Jones lost a fly ball in the sun, turning what should have been the second out of the second inning into an RBI double, though he quickly made up for it with a diving catch on the third out of the inning. Kevin Russo's throwing error allowed a run to score in the seventh. David Phelps balked the tying runs into scoring position in the bottom of the ninth.
Next: The Yankees play their first of two split-squad sets this week (their only two of the spring). A.J. Burnett starts at home against the Phillies at 1:05 in a game being shown on the YES Network. Sergio Mitre will start a 7:05 game on the road against the Orioles (who will also be a split-squad) that won't be televised.