Yankees Lose 5-3

The Yankees lost 5-3 today to fall to 6-6 on the spring, but that's no big deal, the real story of today's game was Mike Mussina. He pitched five perfect innings, striking out 2 along the way. Since his first outing where he got roughed up, Mussina has thrown 7.2 innings, giving up 1 run on 2 hits while striking out 7 and walking 2, not too shabby. ... Mariano Rivera is no longer perfect for the spring, he gave up 2 hits, but did not allow a run thanks to a nice double play turned by Shelley Duncan. With runners on 2nd and 3rd and 1 out he fielded a ground ball, looked the runner(Bautista) back to third and stepped on first. Bautista then broke for home and Duncan made an accurate throw to the plate and Bautista was caught in a rundown. ... Jeff Karstens then came in a got rocked. In 1.1 IP he gave up 5 runs, all earned, on 7 hits, walked two, and took the loss.. ... Billy Traber then came in and allowed all 3 inherited runners to score, so it wasn't a good outing for him either. ... Brian Bruney retired the only batter he faced, and Jose Veras pitched a perfect ninth.

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Mussina	5.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	4.66
Rivera	1.0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Karstens(L, 1-2)	1.1	7	5	5	2	0	0	8.53
Traber(BS, 1)	0.1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Bruney	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	5.40
Veras	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	6.00

Billy Crystal was o-for-1 with a strikeout, but he did work a full-count, and fouled a ball off. He got a standing ovation from the crowd as he walked back to the dugout. ... Robinson Cano was 1-for-3 with 2 RBI and a long 2-run homer. ... Justin Christian was 2-for-2 with a run scored and a stolen base. ... Cody Ransom was 1-for-1 with a home run. ... Jose Molina, Melky Cabrera, and Brett Gardner all had one hit each. Cabrera also stole a base.

	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Crystal, DH	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000
a-Damon, PH-DH	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	.273
Jeter, SS	3	0	0	0	0	1	1	.190
Green, 3B	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.083
Abreu, RF	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	.455
b-Porter, PH-RF	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	.294
Rodriguez, A, 3B	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	.438
Ransom, SS	2	1	1	1	0	0	0	.222
Matsui, LF	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	.273
1-Christian, PR-LF	2	1	2	0	0	0	0	.333
Cano, 2B	3	1	1	2	0	0	1	.429
Gonzalez, 2B	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.333
Duncan, 1B	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	.364
Ensberg, 1B	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	.300
Molina, C	2	0	1	0	0	0	1	.263
Moeller, C	2	0	0	0	0	2	1	.063
Cabrera, CF	2	0	1	0	0	0	1	.391
Gardner, B, CF	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.353
Totals	35	3	8	3	0	7	12

ON THE RADAR: There have been talks about the Yankees trying to trade for Pirates left-hander Damaso Marte. He pitched today, and threw a scoreless inning, giving up one hit and striking out one.

The Yankees travel to Sarasota tomorrow afternoon to take on the Cincinnati Reds at Ed Smith Stadium. Phil Hughes gets the start for the Yanks, and the first pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m., the game is not on TV.