» Yankees, on Just 3 Hits, Beat Phillies 5-1

Yankees, on Just 3 Hits, Beat Phillies 5-1

Phillies bats went back into deep freeze on Monday as the Yankees got 5 innings of 1 run, 3 hit pitching from starter and winning pitcher Japanese acquisition Kei Igawa, 4 shutout innings from their bullpen, including a dominating 9th inning performance from closer Mariano Rivera while scoring 5 runs on a game total of but 3 hits in beating the Phils by a 5-1 score on Monday.

Yahoo sports’ AP post reports;

Igawa gave up one run, three hits, two walks and had four strikeouts. He threw 49 of 87 pitches for strikes.

New York Daily News sports writer Mark Feinsand commented on Igawa’s performance;

Igawa allowed three hits and walked two, striking out four to increase his team-leading total to 19 in 17 innings this spring.

“I think he’s beyond the point of just trying to impress people,” Joe Torre said. “Now I think he’s understanding what he needs to improve or feel better about going into the season. To me, that’s a good step and a good presence for him to have.”

Igawa allowed just one baserunner the first time through the Phillies’ lineup, striking out Chase Utley and getting both Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell to ground out.

Philadelphia got its only run in the third on a Jimmy Rollins double and Jayson Werth single, but Igawa came back to strike out Utley for a second time to end the inning. He also whiffed Howard, the reigning NL MVP, on a nasty slider to open the fourth.

“He had good life on his fastball and it looked like he was making pitches when he needed to,” Torre said. “He wasn’t afraid to throw the off-speed pitch when he was behind.”

The Yanks jumped off to a 3-0 lead in the first inning on a towering 3 run homer by Alex Rodriguez off of Phils starter and losing pitcher Zack Segovia. The Yanks then scored 2 more runs off of Segovia on a double by 1st baseman Doug Mientkiewicz in the 5th inning before lefthanded reliever Matt Smith replaced Segovia to get the final out of the inning. Smith, Ryan Madson and Antonio Alfonseca totally closed down the Yankees allowing no hits and allowing but 1 baserunner over the last 3 innings of the game in what has to be good news for the Phillies.

Philadelphia Inquirer writer Bob Ford reports;

Segovia wasn’t bad against the Yankees, not horrible, anyway. He gave up all five runs, four of them earned, which New York scored on an economy of just three hits in their 4 2/3 innings of work against him. He had the misfortune to throw the wrong pitch to Alex Rodriguez with two runners aboard in the first - three-run home run - and went walk, double, double to begin the fifth for the other two runs. In between he retired 11 straight, and Manuel liked that part.

“I’d say he could be our first option,” Manuel said of Segovia, in the event that neither Garcia nor Lieber is ready.

For boxscores and recaps on this and all of Monday’s games, click here.

Todd Zolecki reports from Clearwater that the Phils have trimmed their bullpen down in preparation for Opening Day.

Zolecki reports on the bullpen moves as well as other moves;

The Phils yesterday optioned lefthanders Eude Brito (3.00 ERA in three appearances) and Fabio Castro (9.24 ERA in seven appearances) to minor-league camp. Lefthander Matt Smith’s job now seems secure because he is the only lefthanded reliever in camp.

Righthander Joe Bisenius (1.80 ERA in seven appearances) has been told he will not make the opening-day roster. Bisenius pitched well, but the Phillies think he needs more innings at the minor-league level. He has never pitched higher than at the double-A level.

Righthander Jon Lieber, who is out indefinitely with a strained abdominal muscle, would take one of the two remaining bullpen jobs if he is healthy to open the season. If that is the case, righthanders Clay Condrey (4.22 ERA in eight appearances) and Jim Ed Warden (5.68 ERA in seven appearances) would seem to be left to fight for the final spot, unless righthander Zack Segovia or lefthander J.A. Happ is in the picture.

Condrey is out of options, so he can’t be sent to the minors without clearing waivers first. Warden is a Rule 5 draft pick, so he must remain on the 25-man roster for the entire season or be offered back to the Cleveland Indians.

Garcia throws
Righthander Freddy Garcia, who is expected to be ready to start the season despite tendinitis in his right biceps, played long toss yesterday and will throw a bullpen session today. He is expected to start for the Phillies during the April 6-8 series in Florida.

Other moves
The Phillies reassigned third baseman Brennan King and catcher Dusty Wathan to minor-league camp. The club also told outfielder Ron Calloway and infielder Brent Abernathy that they would not make the opening-day roster but would accompany the team to Philadelphia for the weekend exhibition series against the Boston Red Sox at Citizens Bank Park.

Catcher Jason Jaramillo rejoined the Phillies’ big-league camp because of injuries to catchers Carlos Ruiz, Chris Coste and Ryan Budde.