Hello everyone...and welcome back to another season of Yankees baseball!
Unfortunately, the Yankees' spring got off to a sour start as they dropped a 6-4 decision to the Blue Jays at Steinbrenner Field in a game that went just seven innings per MLB's new protocols. Check out our full recap of the game here, or re-live the game in the live blog below!
3:38 P.M.: FINAL: Jays 6, Yankees 4. Bryan Baker strikes out Alvarez, gets Brantly to ground out to second, and fans Thomas Milone to finish out the game. Back at it tomorrow, as Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon will pitch against the Tigers. WFAN is back on coverage next Sunday, when the Yankees host the Phillies.
3:30 P.M.: Nick Goody, a former draftee back after stints in Texas and Cleveland, got two quick outs but allowed a solo homer to Logan Warmoth. A foul out and a nice play by third baseman Armando Alvarez ends the inning, but it's 6-4 Jays as Bryan Baker comes on to try to close out the abbreviated opener.
3:16 P.M.: Lucas Luetge got the sixth for the Yankees, his first appearance in what he hopes is a spring that brings him back to the Majors. Luetge spent last season at Oakland's alternate site, but he hasn't appeared in an MLB game since 2015 with Seattle, and the Yankees are his seventh team. He works around a two-out single for another clean inning.
3:05 P.M.: Back-to-back jacks in the fifth! Rob Brantly crushed a two-run shot to center to make it 5-3 - a blast that made Luke Voit drop a curse word on live mic during his in-game interview - and Mike Tauchman followed with a solo blast off the roof of the party deck in right. 5-4 Jays after five.
2:45 P.M.: Warren punctuates the first scoreless inning of the season for the Yankees with back-to-back strikeouts. Welcome back, Adam!
2:40 P.M.: Adam Warren's fourth stint (fifth?) with the Yankees officially begins...and he gets a ground ball on the first pitch. The fourth pitch yields a double to left-center, but hey, Warren is back on the mound.
2:36 P.M.: A fly out and groundout get Zeuch out of the jam. 5-1 Jays after 4.
2:33 P.M.: Yankees hitting T.J. Zeuch hard this inning. Aaron Judge flew out to deep center on a good swing, and Gleyber Torres ropes a one-out double to left. But, it's their softest swing of the inning that brings home a run: Luke Voit hits a chopper to short that brings home Velazquez. 5-1 Jays.
2:28 P.M.: DJ LeMahieu ends Toronto's perfecto bid, roping a single over shortstop for the Yankees' first hit of 2021! He is immediately replaced by a pinch-runner, Andrew Velazquez.
2:24 P.M.: Kyle Barraclough's Yankees debut nets a pair of strikeouts, but a single, stolen base, wild pitch, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. RBI single make it 5-0 halfway through.
2:10 P.M.: Another 1-2-3 inning for Jays pitching, this time T.J. Zeuch. The Yankees are 9 up, 9 down through 3, and it's 4-0 Jays.
2:01 P.M.: A bloop and a bleeder put two on for the Jays, before Wojciechowski struck out two in a row. Luck ran out against Jonathan Davis, though, as Davis singled to left and Vlad Jr. beat Clint Frazier's throw to the plate. A popup to second ends it, but it's 4-0 Jays after 2 1/2.
1:48 P.M.: A second 1-2-3 inning for Anthony Kay includes a strikeout of Gary Sanchez. 3-0 Jays after 2, and Asher Wojciechowski is on to pitch for the Yankees.
1:40 P.M.: A nice slide and spin play by Torres ends the second, but also ends a rough outing for King: 2 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 2 HBP, 1 K.
1:35 P.M.: King hits his second batter, plunking Jonathan Davis, who promptly stole second on the next pitch (and may have come off the bag while the tag was on...darn you replay!). Cavan Biggio then doubled over Clint Frazier's head in left to make it 3-0 Toronto/Dunedin/wherever.
1:31 P.M.: An early call for the cans! Sort of. Luke Voit fielded a chopper to first that was ruled a foul ball, and, while laughing, looked at the Yankees dugout and pantomimed putting on headphones. No worries, though, as two pitches later, Mike King got a fly out to retire Josh Palacios.
1:28 P.M: A 1-2-3 inning for local kid Anthony Kay. DJLM and Judge worked 3-2 counts both both grounded out, and Gleyber Torres struck out swinging on three pitches to end the first.
1:20 P.M: The Yankees have their first deficit of 2020. King hit Vlad Jr. to load 'em up, and Rowdy Tellez raps a ground-rule double down the right field line to score a pair. Danny Jansen rapped King's 20th pitch to short for a 6-3 putout to end the inning, but it's 2-0 Jays as the Yankees come to bat.
1:15 P.M.: Interesting start for the Yankees. Mike King got Cavan Biggio to fly out to left on the first pitch, but Aaron Judge misplayed Marcus Semien's fly ball (ruled a hit) and Bo Bichette worked an eight pitch walk. Lourdes Gurriel's fly out to right has runners on the corners for Vlad Jr.
1:00 P.M.: We are LIVE from George M. Steinbrenner Field! Six regulars in the lineup today - no Hicks, Urshela or Stanton, so Mike Tauchman is in center field, Miguel Andujar is at third, Gary Sanchez is the DH, and Robinson Chirinos will catch Mike King.
