Yankees open new stadium in true Bombers style

It may have only been an exhibition game, but the Yankees opened their new ballpark in fine fashion. Robinson Cano, Hideki Matsui, and Cody Ransom each homered off of Ted Lilly in the Yankees 7-4 win over the Chicago Cubs.

While the players get used to the new digs, so do the fans in attendance and at home. A few things jumped out at us right off the bat.

The fences are navy blue rather than the royal blue that was used in the old stadium (ooh, it's difficult to say old stadium).

YES had a number of camera shots through the net behind home plate for fly balls to center field. It was annoying and needs to stop.

Way too many signs on the outfield fence. It's hard to pick up the baseball on a deep drive.

Good job by the YES crew showing off the new place.

We definitely got hungry seeing all the food and signs for food.

Okay, back to the ball game. The Yankees fell behind 3-0 due to some erratic pitching from Chien-Ming Wang (The Wanger did throw a called strike with the first pitch of the game). Cano's 2-run home run to right field in the 2nd inning cut the deficit to one, and Matsui's 2-run shot off the foul pole in right put the Yankees up 4-3.

The Cubs tied the game up with a run in the fourth, though if this had been a meaningful game the Yankees most likely would have had the infield in with a runner on third and less than two outs.

Ransom put the Yankees right back up on top though in the home half of the fourth, hitting a high shot off the foul pole in left field with two aboard for a 7-4 advantage.

Mariano Rivera tossed a scoreless sixth and was followed by Edwar Ramirez, Jose Veras, and Jonathan Albaladejo, who tossed a scoreless inning each.

Derek Jeter enjoyed a good day in the batter's box before leaving in favor of Ramiro Pena in the sixth. The captain singled, doubled, and walked for a perfect day at the plate. Jeter's defensive day had mixed results as he committed a throwing error and had another throwing error overturned.

Matsui is hitting just .239 in the exhibition season, but now has four home runs and 14 RBI.

Probably more impressive than his home run, was Cano taking a pitch to left field for a single.

After a slow start, Xavier Nady's spring average is up to .311 after he went 2-3 tonight.

April 3, 2009

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Chi Cubs	1	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0		4	6	1
NY Yankees	0	2	2	3	0	0	0	0	X		7	13	1

Box Score