Yankees-Cardinals 1:05 (3/17)

The Yankees travel to Jupiter, FL today to take on the St. Louis Cardinals in a 1:05 start. Shawn Chacon will be opposed by Jeff Suppan.

Tanyon Sturtze blamed yesterday's poor outing on bad mechanics caused by overthrowing. It still remains to be seen whether Sturtze will be ready for the start of the regular season. One player who won't be starting the season on time is Aaron Small. Small will on the DL for a minimum of two weeks with a pulled hamstring. He'll join Carl Pavano who, if all goes well, will be activated April 15.

With the USA's elimination yesterday in the WBC, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez will be returning to camp shortly. Bernie Williams, whose Puerto Rican team was eliminated earlier, should be back this Sunday.

Update 1:55

Yankees-Cards scoreless after 2.

Update 3:50

The Cardinals have just scored two in the bottom of the eighth to take a 3-2 lead, and are still batting.

Game Notes

The Cardinals rallied for four runs in the eighth, off of Jose Veras and Matt Smith to capture a 5-2 win. Veras allowed one run and left the game with the bases loaded. John Gall's sacrifice fly snapped the 2-2 tie, and Hector Luna's 2-run single broke the game open. The loss droppped the Yankees pre-season record to 7-11.

Starter Shawn Chacon allowed a run on five hits, while walking two and striking out three in 3 2-3 innings. Deivi Cruz homered for the lone run Chacon allowed. Ron Villone, Scott Proctor, and Frank Brooks combined for four shutout innings of relief.

Gary Sheffield, sac fly, and Kevin Thompson drove in the Yankees runs. Thompson, Miguel Cairo, and Kelly Stinnett had two hits apiece.