Yanks Beat Phillies 13 - 4

The Yankees improved to 13-8 on the spring with a 13-4 victory over the Phillies tonight at Steinbrenner Field.

Phil Hughes got the start for the Yanks and picked up his third win of the spring. He pitched much better than his two previous outings, allowing only three runs on three hits and two walks, while striking out six in five innings of work. The only big mistake of the game was a two-run home run off the bat of Pedro Feliz. ... Billy Traber then pitched an inning and did not pitch well, allowing one run on three hits. ... Mariano Rivera then pitched and was lights-out, he didn't allow a hit and struck out the side in his only inning of work. ... Next out of the pen for the Yanks was Latroy Hawkins, and he had an easy 1-2-3 inning, getting a fly out, strike out, and ground out. Hawkins has quietly had a great spring, he hasn't allowed a run in eight innings pitched. ... Brian Bruney, who is also having a good spring, pitched a scoreless ninth, walking one and striking out one.

Here's some quotes from Hughes on his performance:

He said today was "one thousand times better" than his last few games.

"I'm ready to go," Hughes said. "One more and we're going."

"I needed to get my fastball back where it needed to be and fix a couple things with my mechanics," said Hughes, who walked two and struck out six. "I feel like I did that. That was more encouraging than the hits or runs."

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Hughes (W, 3-0)	5.0	3	3	3	2	6	1	7.02
Traber	1.0	3	1	1	0	1	0	1.17
Rivera	1.0	0	0	0	1	3	0	1.50
Hawkins	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
Bruney	1.0	0	0	0	1	1	0	2.45

PHILLIES PITCHING

The Yankees offense was outstanding tonight pounding out 13 runs and 19 hits. Three Yankees had three hits, including Derek Jeter (3-for-4, 2B, R), Shelley Duncan (3-for-4, 2B, RBI, R, SB), and player of the game, Robinson Cano (3-for-4, HR, 3B, 5 RBI, 3 R). Jason Giambi (2-for-2, HR, 2 RBI), Melky Cabrera (2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI), and Alex Rodriguez (2-for-3, BB, 2R) had two hits apiece.

In the battle for the last few spots on the bench, Chris Woodward was 1-for-2 with a strike out, and he's currently hitting .407. Wilson Betemit - still a loser - went 0-for-2 with a strike out. He reached base on an error on a ball that should have been a double play. Betemit is now hitting .167 this spring, but for some reason has "earned" a spot on this team. Cody Ransom went 0-for-1 dropping his average to .250. Morgan Ensberg went 1-for-3, he's now hitting .256. Brett Gardner did play and went 0-for-1. According to Suzyn Waldman, Girardi told her that Gardner will definitely start the year in center field for Scranton.

	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Cabrera, CF	4	1	2	2	0	0	1	.348
b-Woodward, PH-2B	2	0	1	0	0	1	2	.407
Jeter, SS	4	1	3	0	0	0	2	.275
c-Green, PH-SS	2	0	0	0	0	0	4	.167
Abreu, RF	3	1	0	0	1	2	3	.441
d-Lane, PH-RF	2	0	0	0	0	2	4	.238
Rodriguez, A, 3B	3	2	2	0	1	0	1	.471
Ransom, 3B	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.250
Giambi, DH	2	1	2	2	0	0	0	.406
a-Matsui, PH-DH	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	.414
1-Castro, B, PR-DH	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.278
Posada, C	5	2	1	0	0	2	3	.235
Moeller, C	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.160
Cano, 2B	4	3	3	5	0	0	2	.442
Gardner, B, CF	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	.367
Duncan, LF	4	1	3	1	0	0	0	.400
Porter, LF	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.280
Ensberg, 1B	3	0	1	0	0	1	2	.256
Betemit, 1B	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	.167
Totals	44	13	19	11	3	10	26

BATTING
2B: Jeter (4, Moyer), Duncan (5, Durbin, J.D.).
3B: Cano (1, Darensbourg).
HR: Giambi (2, 2nd inning off Moyer, 0 on, 0 out), Cano (2, 5th inning off Durbin, J.D., 2 on, 1 out), Cabrera (1, 5th inning off Durbin, J.D., 1 on, 2 out).
TB: Cabrera 5; Woodward; Jeter 4; Rodriguez, A 2; Giambi 5; Matsui; Posada; Cano 8; Duncan 4; Ensberg.
RBI: Giambi 2 (8), Matsui (6), Cano 5 (17), Cabrera 2 (6), Duncan (14).
2-out RBI: Cabrera 2.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Cabrera; Cano; Lane 2.
SF: Matsui.
GIDP: Jeter.
Team LOB: 11.

BASERUNNING
SB: Duncan (1, 2nd base off Moyer/Coste).

PHILLIES HITTING

The next game for the Yanks is tomorrow afternoon against the Cleveland Indians at Chain of Lakes Park in Winter Haven, FL. Ian Kennedy gets the start for the Yanks, and will go up against Indians right-hander Paul Byrd. First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m., and the game can be seen on YES, and MLB.TV.