Dunedin and Tampa, Fla., March 12, 2012 – Another great day in West Florida, even if the second of two games we witnessed had the Yanks drop a 4-3 nail-biter. (Yes, I know they’re exhibitions, but I defy any true fan to see one like this in person and not get wrapped up in the outcome.) After watching the Blue Jays beat the Orioles under bright sunny low-eighties skies in Dunedin, we returned to Tampa for a three-hour-plus war of attrition between the Yankees and the Houston Astros.

New Yankee starter Hiroki Kuroda and one-time Boston prospect Kyle Weiland threw blanks at their respective opponents through three innings, with the Houston righty throwing a fourth frame as well. Kuroda threw effectively, allowing just two singles, one a swinging bunt, but Weiland’s results were more impressive. Whether it was him, or that several of the Yankee starters [seemingly] had plans, five Yankee hitters went down on one-pitch at bats, with one more ab extending to two throws, through his four innings. He struck out just one to Kuroda’s two, but then again, a pitcher has to throw at least three pitches for a strike out.

But if fans were disappointed with the early offense, it was the defense and pitching that would put the team in an early hole. Rafael Soriano came on with the goal to pitch one inning in the top of the fourth, but 32 pitches later he would leave after two outs, three hits and a 1-0 score. But it wasn’t all the second-year Yankee’s fault. Following a swinging strike out he coaxed a harmless foul pop-up near the Yankee dugout on a 2-2 pitch to former Mets prospect Fernando Martinez. Both Sori and Eric Chavez, playing first base, charged the ball, as did Francisco Cervelli from home plate. The ball was not hit high but Chavez pulled up as Cisco sped toward it. Did the Yankee catcher call Chavez off? It looked that way, and the ball fell to the turf before anyone could catch it.

Martinez then doubled to right, and was scored on a Jason Castro bloop single to left, with Brett Wallace blooping another ball that way for a second single that sent Soriano to the showers. DeWayne Wise in left clearly tried hard to catch both short flies, but he just didn’t get there, particularly disappointing on the Castro run scorer, which carried a little further. Young southpaw Juan Cedeno closed the frame, then pitched a scoreless fifth.

Wise atoned for his part in the early run by singling in the home fifth, eventually tying the game on a Brandon Laird rbi grounder. But lefty Cesar Cabral, replacing Cedeno, gave that run back in the sixth. He, too, started with a strike out, but his problem was that he couldn’t seem to pitch from ahead in the count. The left-handed, light-hitting Astros stroked three straight singles, on 0-1, 0-2, and 0-2 counts, respectively, not a good sign for a guy bidding to be the port-sided specialist. Right fielder Cole Garner got into the act as well, unleashing a badly misdirected throw that allowed Castro, with the second one-base hit, to coast into second as the ball bounded through the infield far from the cutoff man. But Cole made up for it, nailing Castro trying to score with a much better throw on the third hit, which did score one run.

The Yanks came back immediately, as Robinson Cano singled with one down in the home sixth, and Nick Swisher, serving as the DH, tripled to the base of the right-centerfield wall. But Chavez bounced back to the box, yet another two-pitch out, and pinch runner Justin Maxwell was out at the plate.

Not a pretty game, but now at 2-2 in the seventh an exciting one, and the Yanks threatened to take the lead in the bottom of the eighth after Dellin Betances came on and restored order by retiring six of seven visiting hitters to get us there. Ramiro Pena, in for Jeter, and Melky Mesa, who had run for Cano earlier, walked around a fly out, then each moved up a base on a wild pitch. Having already issued two free passes, right-hander Fernando Rodriguez fell behind Maxwell 3-0. Discussing the game back and forth now, we mentioned to nearby Astros fans that Maxwell is a true athlete, with perhaps the best body on the team, but we weren’t sure he could hit the curve ball. They joked not to worry, that Rodriguez didn’t have one, but he recovered to strike Justin out anyway. Then he then struck Chris Dickerson out as well, and the opportunity passed.

In the ninth another lefty failed, as Michael O’Connor came on and gave up a single, stolen base and double for the lead. Following a steal of third Vazquez pulled a rock at first, going to tag the bag with a grounder rather than firing home, allowing a second run to score, and the Yanks were down 4-2. This of course came back to haunt the remaining fans, because the young Yankees did score one run on Jose Gil and J.R. Murphy singles, but Pena struck out and the game was over.

The earlier Jays/O’s game was a better one, and quicker at about 2:20 as well. One-time Yank Nick Johnson looked healthy, but as DH he went 0-for-3 and did not hit the ball hard. Fellow one-time Yank [et al] Chris Woodward, trying to land a job with Toronto, had an rbi base hit, ageless Omar Vizguel made a couple of nice plays at third for the Jays, and we took the opportunity to give a loud cheer to Baltimore second baseman Robert Andino, who played a big role in the premature end of the 2011 Boston season, though his visiting Orioles fell in the game, 4-1. Both the afternoon and the evening enveloped us in great weather. But the nightcap at George M. Steinbrenner Field, for all its foibles and shortcomings (and the 3:10 run time), ended up a much more exciting battle. But the Yanks lost, and were outhit 12-5.

Tomorrow we go for a similar double dip, starting with a 1:00 pm matinee billed as Canada Day pitting the Canadian National team vs. the Blue Jays in St. Petersburg’s Al Lang Field, as venerable a piece of spring training real estate as you’ll find anywhere on the Florida Gulf Coast. And this day ends with a night game vs. AL East rivals Boston in Tampa. Let’s hope the Yanks have their bats, gloves and arms in perfect working order for that one.

YANKEE BASEBALL!!!