Yankees Pitch Their Way to 4-2 Win (3/29)

The Yankees pitching staff will be under much scrutiny this season, but for today at least it was outstanding. Minor leaguer Jeff Karstens limited the Detroit Tigers to three hits over 5 innings, and Scott Erickson, Ron Villone, Kyle Farnsworth, and Matt Childers shut down the Tigers lineup the rest of the way.

The Yankees didn't do much hitting of their own, scratching out the same number as the Tigers, seven. Andy Phillips had two of those hits and scored a pair of runs. He also stole his second base of the spring. Russ Johnson delivered a key 2-run double.

Karstens quickly blew a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second, but was otherwise outstanding. Erickson was just glad to be back on the mound after missing a couple of weeks with a bad back. Childers has yet to be scored upon this spring in eight innings. Kenny Rogers took the loss for the Tigers.