Stinnett's Return a Blast (4/1)

Former DBack Homer Caps Yankees Comeback



Kelly Stinnett spent four seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks (1998-2000,2005)and his return to Phoenix last night turned out to be a good one. Stinnett's ninth inning home run capped a Yankee rally from a 5-3 deficit and gave them a 6-5 victory. Stinnett had 39 home runs in his time in Arizona, and although it was only an exhibition game, last night's solo shot was pretty satisfying.

Chien-Ming Wang started for the Yankees and had difficulty spotting his pitches. The Diamondbacks took advantage by scoring a run in the first and two more in the third. Chad Tracy and Luis Gonzalez drove in 2 runs each and Orlando Hudson had 3 hits as the Diamondbacks took a 5-3 lead off of Wang and Kyle Farnsworth after 5 innings.

Bubba Crosby's solo home run and an RBI ground by Luis Garcia tied the game at 5-5 in the top of the eighth, leading to Stinnett's heroics in the ninth. Stinnett took former teammate Jose Valverde deep to push the Yankees ahead 6-5. Matt Childers, who has yet to be scored on this spring and eventually could be a mid-season call up, worked a scoreless eighth and ninth to pick up his second victory of the spring.

Notes

Carl Pavano will be sidelined for several days with a bruised tailbone. Pavano fell in his first outing on Tuesday and was still showing the effects of it when he made a minor league appearance on Thursday. Pavano's fastball topped out at only 86 mph as he struggled to push off the rubber.

Scott Proctor has left the team to be with his seriously ill newborn daughter. Details were not available. If Proctor isn't ready to go for opening day, Ramiro Mendoza will most likely be added to the roster.

John Flaherty retired this spring shortly after reporting to Boston Red Sox camp. It was then thought that the former Yankee catcher would work for the Mets new cable channel. That is until YES stepped in and apparently hired Flaherty to host their new pre-game batting practice show.

Joe Torre officially announced his starting rotation for the start of the season. Randy Johnson, Mike Mussina, and Chien-Ming Wang will face the Oakland A's while Shawn Chacon will start Friday's game in Anaheim. Jaret Wright will work out of the bullpen for now and will move into the fifth spot in the rotation when needed.