The Yankees finished their sweep of the short two-game exhibition set in the Miami Marlins' new park by beating them 5-2 tonight. Hiroki Kuroda started the game for New York and pitched three innings, allowing one run on three hits and a walk. He recorded five groundouts, and two of the hits he allowed came on grounders through the infield. He also showed that he could come up with a great pitch when pressed, as he struck out Hanley Ramirez with runners on the corners with one out in the third. If Kuroda pitches like he did tonight (and in Spring Training as a whole, given his 2.92 ERA) during the season, he will easily find success.
After Rafael Soriano bailed Boone Logan out of some trouble in the fourth inning by striking out John Buck with runners on first and third, Phil Hughes came in from the bullpen in the fifth, and he pitched four scoreless, five-hit innings to finish his Spring Training with a sterling 1.56 ERA. He ran into a bases-loaded jam in the seventh, but he got out of trouble by striking out Chris Coghlan. David Robertson ended the game with an impressive performance in the ninth, retiring the Marlins 1-2-3 with two strikeouts.
The Yankees offense only amounted five hits on the game, but they reaped the benefits of a very wild Carlos Zambrano and scored five runs against him thanks to seven walks. Such poor control allows rallies like the following to occur: walk-double-walk-walk-sac fly for two runs in the second, and double-walk-double-single for three runs in the fifth (the last single was against Mike Dunn, but the point stands). Raul Ibanez and Russell Martin were the weak points in the lineup today, combining to go hitless in seven at bats, with only a Martin walk preventing them from a .000 OBP on the day.
Nonetheless, it was a good game from the Yankees, who advanced to 17-11-3 on the Spring. They'll finish up the Spring with an away-and-home two-game set with the Mets. The regular season is just around the corner, folks.