Lakeland, Fla., March 1, 2020; Detroit 10, Yankees 4 — The fatigue anticipated coming into the Yanks’ 10th game in nine days appeared on the field Sunday, as the home-standing Tigers beat the visiting Yankees 10-4 on the strength of an ugly six-run bottom of the seventh inning. The end-of-game box score listed two errors for Detroit and none for New York, a scoring Yankee fans in the stands would rush to dispute. Continue reading →

Tampa, Fla., February 29, 2020; Yankees 8, Detroit 2 — The visiting Tigers and Yankees breezed through 4.5 innings of scoreless baseball in one hour and 11 minutes in a warming George M. Steinbrenner Field Saturday afternoon while a split squad of Yankee players were battling the Red Sox in Fort Myers, a nearly three-hour bus trip to the South. The visitors reached Gerrit Cole, in his second Yankee start, for two hits, as did the Yankees a very game lefty Matthew Boyd for Detroit. Continue reading →

North Port, Fla., February 28, 2020; Yankees 5, Atlanta 3 — Following a couple of days of revitalized offense, the Yankees continued to hit the ball, and once again the pitching held up its end on Friday afternoon. Visiting the Braves’ brand-new facility in North Port, Yankee players collected hits in every inning but the third and ninth, and 10 overall. Although the team precipitated a lot more action than the Braves, who rarely reached base, the visitors were on the wrong end of a 2-0 score through five innings once third baseman Johan Camargo reached young righthander Deivi Garcia for a two-run shot in the second inning. Continue reading →

Tampa, Fla., February 27, 2020; Yankees 7, Tampa Bay 1 — The toughest thing about describing the Yankees’ 7-1 victory over visiting Tampa Bay Thursday is picking the aspect that pleased most. The offense trumped Wednesday’s three-double attack by clearing three fences; two ready-for-prime pitchers and two of the knocking-on-the-door variety shut down the visitors over nine frames, and all this was accomplished in a neat, no-nonsense two hours and 18 minutes. Continue reading →

Tampa, Fla. February 26, 2020; Yankees 8, Washington 2 — Tommy Kahnle must have felt like he was pitching for the save in a postseason game when he finally got a called strike to retire Washington second baseman Jake Noll for the third out of the top of the fifth inning Wednesday afternoon. With the most tenuous grasp on the weather, he assured fans that, yes, we were watching a complete game 8-2 victory by the Yankees. Continue reading →

Dunedin, Fla., February 25, 2020; Yankees 4, Toronto 1 — Spring Training fans in the Tampa area awoke to overcast skies, but warm temps, Tuesday. As the sun intermittently broke through the cloud cover, we took the warmth as a good sign for Yankee baseball. And we were right to do so. Continue reading →

Tampa, Fla., February 24, 2020; Yankees 3, Pittsburgh 3 — We caught more than six hours of baseball Monday, and both games had their final outcomes decided at the very end. No shortcuts would have worked. The Orioles fell 8-7 to the homestanding Phillies in Clearwater despite a furious comeback from 7-1 down after six. And in Tampa, the Yankees failed to notch their first win of the Spring when the Pirates scratched together the tying run in the top of the ninth. Continue reading →

Port Charlotte, Fla., February 23, 2020; Tampa Bay 9, Yankees 7 — Well, we “suffered” through another Yankee Spring Training loss on Sunday, 9-7, visiting the Rays in Port Charlotte. The work of 36 position players and 19 pitchers resulted in three hours and seven minutes of baseball action, with the visitors unfortunately ending on the losing side. Continue reading →

Tampa, Fla., February 22, 2020; Toronto 2, Yankees 1 — Under blue skies; a bright, sometimes blinding, sun; and temps warm enough in the low 60s, the Yankees opened their 25th season of Spring Training in Tampa Saturday afternoon with a 2-1 loss to the visiting Blue Jays. Following entertainment from a local high school marching band, the introduction of Yankee royalty who were present (Tino Martinez, Willie Randolph, and Ron Guidry, to name a few), fine renditions of the National Anthems of both Canada and the United States, and a flyover from a military helicopter from a nearby base, nominal fifth starter J.A. Happ got the game started by pouring in a strike to Toronto shortstop Bo Bichette at 1:06 pm. Continue reading →

Tampa, Fla., March 6, 2019; St. Louis 9, Yankees 5 — A chilly, windy Wednesday Tampa morning became a perfect day for a ballgame IF you had a seat bathed in sunlight, as I did. And it figured to be an interesting contest, what with two cogs of the projected Yankee rotation likely to start the season on the Injured List. Continue reading →