Austin Jackson Slams his way out of Camp

Austin Jackson left a lasting impression for the future in last night's Yankees-Red Sox spring training game. The player the Yankees front office hopes is the face of center field in 2010 or 2011 and many years to follow, belted a game breaking grand slam in the Yankees 7-1 victory over the Red Sox last night in Tampa, Florida.

The Yankees had grabbed a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth and were looking for more when Jackson stepped up to face Manny DelCarmen. Moments later, Jackson was circling the bases with his third home run of the spring. Hewas rewarded after the game with a reassignment to the minor league camp. Of course, that was totally expected.

A.J. Burnett had another fine performance, limiting the Sox to one run over 5.2 innings. He left with the bases loaded and two outs, but Jonathan Albaladejo retired Rocco Baldelli to keep it a 1-0 game at that point.

Burnett allowed three hits, walked two and struck out four. He's pitched to a 1.20 ERA this spring. Edwar Ramirez picked up the victory with 1.1 innings of work. Mariano Rivera threw another 1-2-3 inning, recording a pair of strikeouts.

With a slight breeze assisting him, Tim Wakefield baffled the Yankees with his knuckleball. Wakefield, beginning his 15th season in Boston, allowed four hits, one run, a walk, and struck out five in 5.2 innings pitched.

Derek Jeter played his first game since the US was eliminated in the WBC. He went 1-2 with a walk. Jorge Posada threw out would be base stealer Jacoby Ellsbury with the help of a nice tag by Jeter.

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