TAMPA, FL. (93.7 The Fan) – Giancarlo Stanton hit 1334 feet worth of home runs off Marco Gonzales as the Yankees beat the Pirates 12-0 Wednesday night as we are down to a handful of Grapefruit League games left.
To just tip the hat to Stanton for a second, one of the home runs was a grand slam and he finished 3-3 with 8 RBI.
“Giancarlo just seems like he's not from this planet,” Gonzales said. “I've got to make up a pitch to throw to him next time.”
Gonzales would get pulled from the game and then actually return under Spring Training rules and throw a little longer. He said that actually helped that he was able to return and pitch a little better in his second appearance on the mound.
“I mean, it's weird,” Gonzales said. “You come out of a game and it's hard to not decompress and get back up. Just trying to stay in it the best I could. I feel like it calmed me down a little bit, just helped me to focus on making pitches instead of not making pitches, I guess."
Overall--3.2 innings, 10 hits, nine runs, two walks and one strikeout with four total home runs allowed.
"Not my best,” Gonzales said. “But you know, you've got to get those out of your system I guess. Fortunate to feel good physically, but not my best. They came out swinging and they squared up some balls for sure."
He said he will just throw that one away, because what is the alternative, to hang onto it entering the regular season. Gonzales said they have some games coming up that mean something and this doesn’t mean anything.
5th starter
While Gonzales is pretty much locked into a spot in the rotation, right-hander Quinn Priester is in a battle to try and secure a spot. The Bucs 2019 first-round draft pick gave up three runs on four hits with a pair of walks and three strikeouts over three innings against New York Wednesday night.
Like Gonzales, Priester was coming off his best outing, 4.2 innings of one-run ball with five strikeouts and no walks. Last year, the right-hander struggled in 10 appearance (eight starts) in the majors. He went 3-3 with a 7.74 ERA with 27 walks to 36 strikeouts in 50 innings with a 1.70 WHIP.
Thursday night it’s the opportunity for Bailey Falter to make a statement for a spot in the rotation, the lefty will start against the Blue Jays in Bradenton at 6:05 and you can hear it on 100.1 FM and AM 1020 KDKA.