A-Rod Starts Grapefruit Games with a Bang

Alex Rodriguez received the expected boos from the Toronto Blue Jays fans in Dunedin, FL today, but his teammates applauded when he smacked a 2-run home run in the fourth inning.

The Yankees lead the Blue Jays 6-1 in the fifth inning- you can see the details on Peter Abraham's blog. Brett Gardner got his spring off to a nice start with a game lead off home run.

Brett Tomko went the first two (correction from earlier) innings before giving way to Jose Veras.

Update 4:22 PM: It's all over down in Dunedin, with the Yankees winning their exhibition opener, 6-1.

This quote from A-Rod about the crowd, via Peter Abraham- “I hope they bring some of these people to Fenway".

Yeah, sure you do buddy.

Todd Linden and Juan Miranda added RBI singles. In addition to Tomko and Veras, Dan Giese, Kei Igawa, Christian Garcia, Mike Dunn, Steven Jackson, and Dave Robertson all took the hill.




















February 25, 2009

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
NY Yankees	1	0	0	3	2	0	0	0	0		6	11	4
Toronto	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0		1	4	0

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Gardner, CF	3	1	1	1	0	0	2	.333
Jackson, A, CF	2	0	1	0	0	1	1	.500
Jeter, SS	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	.333
Pena, SS	2	0	0	0	0	1	2	.000
Cano, 2B	2	2	1	0	0	1	0	.500
Ransom, 2B	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	.000
Rodriguez, A, 3B	1	1	1	2	2	0	0	1.000
Russo, 3B	2	0	0	0	0	1	3	.000
Swisher, RF	1	1	0	1	2	1	1	.000
Curtis, RF	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Duncan, S, DH	3	0	0	0	0	2	4	.000
a-Montero, PH-DH	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	.500
Miranda, 1B	3	0	1	1	0	2	1	.333
Leone, 1B	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	.000
Linden, LF	3	0	1	1	0	1	3	.333
Rodriguez, John, LF	2	0	1	0	0	0	1	.500
Cash, C	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	.667
Pilittere, C	1	0	0	0	0	1	2	.000
Totals	37	6	11	6	5	13	22
a-Singled for Duncan, S in the 7th.
BATTING 2B: Cano (1, Bauer), Jackson, A (1, Hayhurst). HR: Gardner (1, 1st inning off Cecil, 0 on, 0 out), Rodriguez, A (1, 4th inning off Romero, R, 1 on, 0 out). TB: Gardner 4; Jackson, A 2; Jeter; Cano 2; Rodriguez, A 4; Montero; Miranda; Linden; Rodriguez, John; Cash 2. RBI: Gardner (1), Rodriguez, A 2 (2), Linden (1), Swisher (1), Miranda (1). 2-out RBI: Linden. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Gardner; Russo 2; Pilittere. GIDP: Linden. Team LOB: 11. BASERUNNING SB: Cash (1, 2nd base off Burres/Thigpen). FIELDING E: Gardner (1, throw), Pena (1, throw), Leone (1, fielding), Russo (1, throw).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Tomko	2.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Veras (W, 1-0)	1.0	1	1	1	2	2	0	9.00
Giese	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Igawa	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
Garcia	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
Dunn	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Jackson, S	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
Robertson	1.0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0.00

BATTING 2B: McDonald (1, Veras), Snider (1, Giese). TB: Adams; Barajas; Snider 2; McDonald 2. RBI: Rios (1). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Lind 2; McDonald; Adams 2. SF: Rios. Team LOB: 10. FIELDING DP: (Sanchez-Adams-Dopirak).

Toronto	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Cecil	2.0	1	1	1	1	4	1	4.50
Romero, R (L, 0-1)	1.2	1	3	3	1	2	1	16.20
Ryan	0.1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Bauer	1.0	3	2	2	2	1	0	18.00
Burres	1.0	1	0	0	1	2	0	0.00
Beam	1.0	2	0	0	0	2	0	0.00
Hayhurst	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
Ray	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00

WP: Veras, Robertson, Romero, R.
HBP: Inglett (by Veras), Cano (by Romero, R), Leone (by Ray).
Groundouts-flyouts: Tomko 1-5, Veras 0-1, Giese 2-1, Igawa 1-1, Garcia 1-1, Dunn 1-2, Jackson, S 2-0, Robertson 0-1, Cecil 1-1, Romero, R 3-0, Ryan 0-1, Bauer 2-0, Burres 0-1, Beam 0-1, Hayhurst 2-0, Ray 1-1.
Batters faced: Tomko 7, Veras 7, Giese 4, Igawa 4, Garcia 4, Dunn 3, Jackson, S 3, Robertson 6, Cecil 8, Romero, R 8, Ryan 3, Bauer 7, Burres 5, Beam 5, Hayhurst 4, Ray 4.
Inherited runners-scored: Ryan 1-1.
Umpires: HP: D.J. Reyburn. 1B: Phil Cuzzi. 2B: Kevin Causey. 3B: Damien Beal.
Weather: 72 degrees, sunny.
Wind: 5 mph, In from LF.
T: 2:53.
Att: 5,014.