The Yankees shut out the Braves this afternoon, thanks to a strong display of pitching from everyone who took the mound. Freddy Garcia looked sharp today, pitching three innings allowing only one hit, walking one, and striking out two batters. Rafael Soriano followed up Garcia with an uneventful scoreless inning of his own.
Manny Banuelos pitched two scoreless innings and looked much better than he did in his prior outing, giving up two hits while striking out three. ManBan's fastball and changeup looked good, which got him a few swings and misses, and he managed to work around having a runner in scoring position in both innings. Possibly the most impressive strike out of Manny's day came against Freddie Freeman to end his 2nd inning of work.
D.J. Mitchell also contributed two scoreless innings, allowing one hit, one walk, and striking out one. Juan Cedeno and Kevin Whelan combined to close out the game. Cedeno struck out one and Whelan allowed one hit.
On the offensive side, starters Nick Swisher, Russell Martin, and Eric Chavez all doubled. Derek Jeter scored on the Swisher double and a Robinson Cano sac fly. Adding to the scoring was Doug Bernier, who took over at shortstop later in the game. He stretched a likely single into a double and scored on a Melky Mesa(!) bloop single.
Andruw Jones body checked Curtis Granderson going for a fly ball that Granderson eventually caught. It was a slightly scary moment when Grandy didn't get up immediately, but it turned out to be a non-issue. The very last thing we need is for Granderson to get hurt in a meaningless Spring Training game. Luckily Jones doesn't seem to carry the luck of Adrian Beltre when it comes to injuring teammates.
Good news about David Robertson's foot was passed along by Jack Curry during the game. He has been diagnosed with a bone bruise and should be fine. They will keep him in a walking boot until Monday, at which point he will begin to get back to baseball activities. That has to be a huge sigh of relief for everyone.
Tomorrow, the Yankees will travel to Lake Buena Vista to take on the Braves again at 1:05 p.m. where Michael Pineda will get his 2nd start. Jair Jurrjens will start for the Braves.