Good Afternoon Mr. Phelps

Josh Phelps took another step forward today in his battle with Andy Phillips for the right-handed side of the 1st base platoon. Phelps knocked in the go-ahead run in the Yankees' 5-3, 10 inning win over the Atlanta Braves in Orlando, Florida. Phelps got his chance when Chris Britton blew a 1 run lead with 2 out in the bottom of the 9th. Tony Pena Jr. made his Dad proud when he tripled home Willie Harris to tie the game at 3-3.

The Yankees answered right back in the 10th against Braves reliever Steve Colyer with a pair of runs. Phelps had given the Yankees a 3-2 lead in the 8th with a sacrifice fly and came through again, singling home Ben Davis for a 4-3 lead. Phelps is hitting .600 thus far and has taken advantage of Phillips' time away from the team. There's still plenty of spring games left, but it will leave Joe Torre with a tough call. Phillips is a proven major league entity to Torre, especially with his glove. But with Doug Mientkiewicz around, that may not prove to be as important. Phelps won't ever be mistaken for Don Mattingly, but if he can continue to hit, he can give the Yankees lineup a boost this year. That's something Phillips couldn't do last year.

Bronson Sardinha- yeah him again- continues to impress. Though not major league ready, he'll definitely be in the back of Brian Cashman's and Joe Torre's minds when the time comes. After already having game-winning and game-tying hits this week, "Then Came Bronson" went 3-5 to raise his spring average to .438.

Kevin Reese has quietly helped his chances of being a call-up in case of an injury to an outfielder. He's hitting a torrid .462 and has driven in 5 runs.

The Yankees pitching continues to excel. Mike Mussina wasn't spectacular, but wasn't too bad either. Moose allowed 2 runs, including a Jeff Francoeur home run, in his 3 innings of work. The bullpen really stood out though, allowing 1 run over 7 innings. Colter Bean and Matt DeSalvo threw a pair of scoreless innings each, while Scott Proctor and Ron Villone each put up a 1 inning goose egg. Villone picked up the save in the 10th.

FIRST AID ALERT - Carl Pavano makes his second spring start on Friday.