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David Phelps' second pitch of the game went for a ground rule double off the bat of Jordan Schafer, but he'd go on to allow only one other hit in four innings of work in tonight's loss to the Atlanta Braves. If the Yankees are truly allowing Phelps and Ivan Nova to compete for the final spot in the rotation, Phelps has certainly shown he's not going to go quietly back to the bullpen. Unfortunately, the offense failed to establish itself as anything but quiet tonight, as the Yankees failed to push a run across at any point.
Also, this happened:
H/T Andrew
The pitching brigade that followed Phelps featured Joba Chamberlain, Branden Pinder, Mark Montgomery, Francisco Rondon, and Shawn Kelley with Montgomery being responsible for the other Braves' run. After Tyler Pastornicky led off the inning with an infield single, he stole second and advanced to third on an error by JR Murphy. A balk by Montgomery would bring Pastornicky in to score and that would be all the scoring that either team would do tonight. Montgomery has looked a little uncomfortable in his last few outings, which may be able to be explained by nerves associated with being in big league camp for the first time. He has not been especially sharp, but he really wasn't going to make the majors out of camp, so nothing is really lost by not being as impressive as he's shown he is before. Things got momentarily dicey for Pinder after he hit Dan Uggla in the side of the helmet, but nothing escalated beyond some huffiness.
Brett Gardner continued his hot hitting with two more singles. GGBG has gotten at least one hit in each of his Spring Training games so far. The Yankees need him to hit and hit he has done so far. Presumed DH and utility infielder Travis Hafner and Eduardo Nunez, respectively, each walked twice in the game. The only other hits on the night came from an Ichiro Suzuki double, an infield single from Ronnier Mustelier, and a single from Corban Joseph, who continues to exhibit growing pains at third base with two more errors tonight. Three more errors by the defense tonight goes along with some incredibly shaky defense that has been played since Spring Training began. Maybe that's because so many kids are getting a chance to play, I don't know. It's been ugly, though. Better to work it out now, I guess.
At least no one got hurt, right? Wait...
Robertson was supposed to pitch tonight but Cashman said shoulder had "trouble loosening up" in the bullpen. Said DRob didnt seem concerned
— Erik Boland (@eboland11) March 6, 2013
Sigh. I guess it could be worse. Like this:
Cashman said he heard Teixeira heard a pop in his wrist. He's out a minimum of 2 weeks
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) March 6, 2013
Welp.
The Yankees have a quick turnaround tomorrow, taking on Robinson Cano and the Dominican Republic team tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. at Steinbrenner Field. You can catch the game on YES, MLB Network, or MLB.tv as current Yankee Hiroki Kuroda and former Yankee Jose Veras get the starts.