Michael Pineda made a strong pitch to be in the New York Yankees' rotation. Pineda allowed one run and five hits over five innings in the Yankees' 1-1, 10-inning tie with a Detroit Tigers split squad on Sunday. "Seems like he's putting it all together," New York catcher Russell Martin said.

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Andy Pettitte pulled his cap down low, peered into the catcher and delivered each pitch with the intensity of a postseason game. Clearly, this was no ordinary bullpen session. Pettitte arrived at camp on Tuesday, took a physical and pulled on the familiar navy pinstripes. The lefty felt right at home with the New York Yankees.

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New York Yankees pitcher Freddy Garcia left Wednesday's game with a bruised right, throwing hand after he was struck by a batted ball. He was taken to Tampa for precautionary X-rays. Toronto's Edwin Encarnacion, leading off the bottom of the fourth, drilled the second pitch up the middle. Garcia tried to field it and the ball ricocheted in the air.

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Phillies' Lee puts final start of 2011 behind him DUNEDIN, Fla. - From the time Cliff Lee arrived to spring training last year until he threw his final pitch in Game 2 of the National League Division Series last fall, the expectations that followed him were inescapable.

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TAMPA, Fla. (AP) Alex Rodriguez homered on the first pitch he saw from Roy Halladay and later added an RBI double and single Sunday that sent the New York Yankees past the Philadelphia Phillies 7-4.

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Walking by Alex Rodriguez's locker, Reggie Jackson saw a crowd of reporters. "Ask him if he's going to hit 1.000," Mr. October said. A-Rod got his spring training season off to a perfect start. Rodriguez homered on the first pitch he saw -- from Roy Halladay, no less -- and added an RBI double and single Sunday that led the New York Yankees over the Philadelphia Phillies 7-4.

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Before he rehabilitates his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, A.J. Burnett must rehabilitate his body after undergoing surgery to fix a fractured right orbital bone . Burnett, who fouled a pitch off his face during batting practice Wednesday — ESPN has video — will have surgery Friday in Pittsburgh. At least it's not a pitching injury. Right? This seems like a good time to bring up how pitchers batting is a bad idea and both leagues should use the designated hitter. The American League adopted the DH in 1973, freeing its pitchers to fully concentrate on, well, pitching (aside from World Series appearances, that is). The NL has been stubborn about it, obviously, and we don't seem to be on the verge of change there. As a result, their pitchers spend valuable time practicing their hitting when they could be doing more pitcher-ly pursuits. The same goes for AL pitchers come interleague play. No matter that it was a freak occurrence, if Burnett wasn't wasting time at the plate trying to bunt (bunting — there's another abomination!), he would be preparing for his first Grapefruit League appearance and not for surgery.

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Before he rehabilitates his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, A.J. Burnett must rehabilitate his body after undergoing surgery to fix a fractured right orbital bone. Burnett, who fouled a pitch off his face during batting practice Wednesday — ESPN has … Continue reading →

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If you listen closely, you can hear a sigh of relief coming from the greater New York area as the New York Yankees have traded away the over-paid and under producing A.J. Burnett to the Pittsburgh Pirates. After acquiring pitchers Michael Pineda from the Seattle Mariners and...

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Allie Reynolds once again came up short when the Veteran's Committee failed to elect him to the baseball Hall of Fame this week. Reynolds, in my opinion as a New York Yankees fan that never had the privilege of seeing him pitch, is more than deserving of the honor.

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