Aceves' First Bump In the Road Could Be Costly

FINAL	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
NY Yankees	0	1	2	1	0	0	0	1	1		6	16	1
Houston	0	0	0	2	4	0	0	2	X		8	11	1

WP: B. Myers (3-0)
LP: A. Aceves (1-1)

If Alfredo Aceves was ever actually the lead for the fifth starter spot (I honestly don't think he ever was) today's performance against the Astros probably changed that. This afternoon in Kissimmee, Aceves got knocked around for five runs on five hits in 4.1 innings pitched. For a guy coming in to today with an ERA under 1 it was obviously his worst outing of the spring. With decision time coming soon for Girardi, this couldn't have come at a worse time for Aceves.

By pitching like he did Aceves was making it impossible for the Yankees to keep him out of the fifth starter discussion, but now that he's had a bad game it will be easy for the Yankees to focus their attention to the real candidates, Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes. While the Yankees have been saying this is a five-man race, the reality is that they want Joba or Hughes in the rotation. They haven't groomed these guys to be middle relievers.

In the fight for the last spot in the pen, Boone Logan continued to make his case throwing a scoreless inning. He allowed one single, struck out one, and lowered his ERA to 2.57. Royce Ring has only given up one hit this spring, so I have to believe he's still in the race too. I'm guessing he'll pitch tomorrow.

Alex Rodriguez had a big day for the Yanks offensively, going 2-for-3, with 2 doubles and 2 RBI. He's now hitting .320 this spring. Brett Gardner also had a good day, picking up two hits including a triple, and scoring a run. Robinson Cano hit his first home run of the spring, a solo shot off Brett Myers in the 2nd. Mike Rivera, Eduardo Nunez and Colin Curtis each had RBIs.

AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG Gardner, CF 3 1 2 0 0 0 1 .281 Vazquez, Jo, 3B 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 .222 3-Corona, PR-3B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .211 Johnson, N, DH 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 .333 a-Hoffmann, PH-DH 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .130 Teixeira, 1B 2 0 1 0 1 1 2 .308 1-Golson, PR-CF 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 .316 Rodriguez, A, 3B 3 0 2 2 0 0 2 .320 2-Winfree, PR-1B 2 1 1 0 0 1 2 .294 Cano, 2B 3 1 1 1 0 2 3 .387 Russo, 2B-SS 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 .368 Thames, LF 3 0 0 0 0 2 2 .107 Curtis, LF 1 0 0 1 0 0 3 .500 Weber, J, RF 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 .550 Cervelli, C 2 0 1 0 0 1 3 .471 Pena, R, SS 3 1 1 0 0 1 1 .214 Gorecki, RF 2 1 1 0 0 0 1 .143 Rivera, Mi, C 3 0 1 1 0 1 1 .125 Nunez, E, 2B 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .217 Totals 38 6 16 6 3 10 24 a-Batted for Johnson, N in the 6th. 1-Ran for Teixeira in the 5th. 2-Ran for Rodriguez, A in the 5th. 3-Ran for Vazquez, Jo in the 8th. BATTING 2B: Rodriguez, A 2 (3, Myers, Myers), Pena, R (1, Myers), Rivera, Mi (2, Myers), Vazquez, Jo (3, Daigle). 3B: Gardner (2, Myers), Gorecki (1, Daigle). HR: Cano (1, 2nd inning off Myers, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Gardner 4; Vazquez, Jo 3; Teixeira; Golson; Rodriguez, A 4; Winfree; Cano 4; Russo; Weber, J; Cervelli; Pena, R 2; Gorecki 3; Rivera, Mi 2. RBI: Cano (4), Rodriguez, A 2 (6), Rivera, Mi (2), Nunez, E (3), Curtis (8). 2-out RBI: Rodriguez, A 2; Rivera, Mi. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Cano; Gardner; Thames 2; Cervelli 2; Golson. SF: Nunez, E; Curtis. GIDP: Rodriguez, A. Team RISP: 3-for-15. Team LOB: 11. BASERUNNING PO: Gardner (1st base by Quintero, H). FIELDING E: Russo (2, throw). DP: 2 (Pena, R-Cano-Teixeira, Russo-Nunez, E-Winfree).

IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Aceves, A (L, 1-1) 4.1 5 5 5 1 2 0 3.77 Melancon (BS, 1) 0.2 2 1 1 0 1 0 2.84 Logan 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2.57 Moseley 2.0 3 2 2 0 1 1 9.95

Tomorrow's Game

A nice pitching matchup tomorrow as A.J. Burnett and Justin Verlander square off as the Yankees take on the Tigers in Tampa. The game will be on YES and first pitch is 1:05 p.m.