Tampa, FL., March 7 — Ten years ago, Brad Radke pitched one of his better games against the Yankees in the Bronx on a cool summer evening, with soutpaw Jimmy Key providing the mound opposition. Radke calmly retired the first 20 Yankee batters until Paul O’Neill smacked an opposite-field double down the left field line with two down in the seventh, and Tino Martinez hooked a 320-foot line drive around the right field foul pole. The Yanks completed their 2-0 victory, and the paying customers found themselves in the unaccustomed position of being outside the ballpark shortly after 9:00 pm.

Although regular season games and spring training contests are hardly comparable, Radke fell victim to yet another two-run bomb Tuesday afternoon in Legends Field in a game that took all of 2:20 to complete. This time the Yankees struck with two down in the first inning, as DH Hideki Matsui smacked a single up the middle, and catcher Jorge Posada homered to right. Radke then retired six of the next eight, losing an 11-pitch battle in walking Russ Johnson and watching helplessly as first baseman Terry Tiffee let left fielder Chris Prieto’s lead-off third-inning grounder roll through his legs fo an error. But it was of no consequnce, as Minnesota would never score.

Yankee right hander Shawn Chacon looked sharp in notching two strike outs in pitching around a soft single in the first, and again in a one-two-three third inning, but the heavy lifting portion of Shawn’s outing came in the second inning. The Yankees surprised many in the crowd today by playing hot-as-a-firecracker Kevin Thompson in center and shifting Melky Cabrera, also hitting very well, to right. When Torii Hunter stroked a hard liner into right center leading off the second, Thompson aggressively ran right at the ball. His leaping try failed, and Hunter cruised around to third. Fans hoped Chacon could duplicate the high cheese he used to whiff ex-Yank Rondell White to end the first, but Shawn knew better. It took him just seven pitches to garner harmless pops to second and first by Terry Tiffee and Lew Ford, and when Thompson charged and grabbed Mark Redmond’s short liner to left center, the inning ended with Hunter still standing on third.

That turned out to be Minnesota’s last, best chance. Sean Henn went two, surviving a bloop double Prieto lost in the sun in the fourth, and a Redmond line shot that Thompson made a full body dive to catch starting the fifth. Mariano Rivera took six pitches to retire three in the sixth, and Kyle Farnsworth, Ron Villone, and young lefty Matt Smith finished up the 5-0 shutout. The home team hardly hit the cover off the ball themselves, adding a run on a sac fly set up by a gorgeous Cabrera sac bunt in the fourth and two more tallies after Cabrera reached on a strike three wild pitch two frames later.

Floridians scanning the skies in search of a cloud or two were disappointed Tuesday for the fifth straight day, as 70-degree temps and bright skies provided the tableau yet again. The Yankees, as expected, held a short and dignified tribute and moment of silence before the game’s first pitch for ex-Twin Kirby Pucket the day after his death. The contest was played with just three umpires again, and locals warned visiting fans of expected cool temperatures for the coming Wednesday evening tilt against the Pirates. It was good to see White and ex-Yankee DH Ruben Sierra in Tampa, and Ruben in particular received hardy rounds of applause both when he batted in the first, and when he took his place defending left field later that frame.

With Jason Giambi with a muscle tweak joining Gary Sheffield on the sidelines, it was the Yankee veterans who supplied the offense this day. Uncharacteristically, both Thompson and Cabrera went hitless while playing the whole game, and four of six Yankee hits came from Posada and Matsui with two apiece. Rivera looked good, but his appearance was brief, Farnsworth allowed a walk in one frame, and Villone a double. It was surprising to see this lefty appear in back-to-back games this early in March. But the story of the day was Chacon, who has allowed three hits and no runs over five innings now, and appears ready to reclaim the rotation spot he pitched so well in last year.

BTW,TYW

YANKEE BASEBALL!!!