Somehow this game wasn't on TV or radio, so there's no evidence to suggest that any of the following actually happened. If it did, it wasn't very eventful until the end of the game, but there were some great things to come out of it. Hiroki Kuroda pitched great, striking out five, while giving up a hit and a walk over 2.2 innings. But no one cares.
What we do care about is Michael Pineda's spring debut. This is the first time Pineda has suited up for a game as a member of the Yankees and he definitely did not disappoint. In two innings, the big right-hander struck out four, one of which was Miguel Cabrera, and gave up a lonely single. This is what people had to say about his stuff:
Scouts had Pineda with 1 fastball at 93, mostly 90-92, mainly 91. Worked inside well/aggressively. Slider was wipeout at 80-82mph #Yankees
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) March 8, 2014Pineda is done after two impressive innings. He threw 27 pitches, 21 were strikes.
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) March 8, 20141 scout: "If I'm #Yankees I'm pleased (with Pineda). Enough velocity. Sharp with slider/location. Appeared confident/aggrssive" #Yankees
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) March 8, 2014Michael Pineda said his command was "perfect" and Brian McCann said his slider was "pretty much unhittable." 90-93 on fastball.
— Sweeny Murti (@YankeesWFAN) March 8, 2014This is all pretty exciting. It's early, so his velocity can improve, but he didn't show any sign of limitation due to injury. At least from what I could tell from no picture or sound.
The Yankees scored their first two runs in the bottom of the third when Carlos Beltran hit a two-run home run. The Tigers would tie it in the top of the seventh against Matt Thornton. The noted lefty surrendered a hit against lefty Alex Avila, a triple to right-handed Austin Jackson, a single to switch-hitter Steve Lombardozzi, and a single to right-hander Nick Castellanos all in one inning. Sure, he gave up a hit to everyone, but most of them were hitting right-handed, which is something they'll need to look out for in the regular season.
Other than Thornton, the bullpen pitched wonderfully. Shawn Kelley got the one batter he faced out, and David Robertson (K), Preston Claiborne, and Jim Miller (H) all pitched one inning each.
It wasn't until the bottom of the ninth when the Yankees scored again to win the game. Zelous Wheeler and Francisco Cervelli singled to put runners at the corners when Luis Marte balked to bring in the winning run in a finish that would have been spectacular if we could actually react to it in real time.
The Yankee offense wasn't able to do much for most of the game. Derek Jeter collected two hits, making him now 4-4 after an 0-10 start to the spring. Brian McCann, Jose Pirela, and Jose Gil also collected hits while Brian Roberts, Ichiro Suzuki, and Dean Anna all walked. Or so the box score tells me.