The minors today.

AAA: SWB lost 5-1. Wang (L, 2-4, 3.07) 1 R in 5 2/3. Cody Eppley 3 R in 1 IP (5.06 and what a difference a year makes). SWB got only 1 run despite 11 hits. CF Melky Mesa and LF Zoilo Almonte 2 h each. 3B Ronnier Mustelier with 3 hits. Thomas (I should be replacing Ben Francisco) Neal 1 H, 2 walks, .323.

AA: Trenton won 3-0. Matt Tracy 6 IP 2 H 7 K. CF Slade Heathcott w/2rbi.

High A: Tampa won 7-0. Sean Black 5 1/3 scoreless. LF Ben Gamel 3 doubles and 3 RBI.

Low A: Charleston won 2-0. Rafael De Paula 6 scoreless.

The minors today.

AAA: SWB lost 12-11. Chris Bootcheck 8 R in 3 IP. Iineffective relief from Josh Spence, Cody Eppley and Jim Miller. RF Thomas Neal 3 for 4, .329, and I hope he replaces Ben Francisco (.100) NOW! 1B Dan Johnson 2 H, HR, 2 RBI. 2 hits each for LF Zoilo Almonte (3 RBI), 3B Ronnier Mustelier (3 RBI), and C Bobby Wilson (1 RBI).

AA: 6-4 win for Trenton. Mikey O’Brien 2 R in 5 IP. 2 H, 2 RBI RF Tyler Austin. SS Ali Castillo 2 RBI. CF Slade Heathcott 2 h, rbi.

High A: 7-2 loss for Tampa. Shane Greene 5 R in 5 IP.

Low A: 6-3 win for Charleston. CF Jake Cave 4 for 5. C Pete O’Brien 1 for 2, HR, 3 RBI. 2 H, solo HR DH Rey Nunez. 3B Dante Bichette Jr. 2 h and an rbi, but he’s hitting just .177.

The Minors Today.

AAA: SWB won 4-3. Wang 3 R in 7 2/3. ND, ERA 2.84. Our old buddies Cody Eppley 2/3 (W, 2-1, 2.13) and Clay Rapada (S #1, 2/3 Ip, 0.00) finished up. Granderson 2-4, RBI. He DH’d today. 2B Corban Joseph 2 hits. 2 doubles, RBI for CF Melky Mesa. C Bobby Wilson 2 H, RBI.

AA:  Trenton won 6-2. Jeremy Bleich 3 scoreless IP. Matt Tracy 2 R in 5 2/3 IP. DH Kyle Roller 2 H, solo HR. 2 H, RBI LF Ramon Flores.

High A: Tampa PPD.

Low A: Charleston won 8-0. Gabe Encinas, Brett Gerritse and Alex Smith combined for 14K. 3 H, HR, 4 rbi for 1B Rey Nunez.  2 H, rbi for both DH Greg Bird and LF Kelvin De Leon.

The minors today.

AAA: SWB lost 5-4. Cody Eppley gave up 3 in 1 IP for the loss. Solo HR DH Cody (NOT Dan) Johnson. 3B Dave Adams 2 RBI.

AA: Trenton lost 5-4. Caleb Cotham 4 R, 3 ER in 4 IP. 2 H, HR, 2 RBI for C Kyle Higashioka.

High A: Tampa lost 9-7. Scottie Allen 7 R in 5 IP. C Gary Sanchez 2 H, Solo HR. DH Francisco Arcia & 1B Fu-Lin Kuo solo hr. 2 h, 2 RBI 2B Rob Refsnyder.

Low A: 6-5 win for Charleston. Jose Campos 3 R in 3 IP.  1B Greg Bird with 2 RBI.

The minors today.

AAA: SWB won 1-0. Chris Bootcheck (6), Mark Montgomery (2) and Cody Eppley (1) a combined 5-hit shutout. (Note: Bootcheck is not a prospect. He’s 34, has pitched in 90 MLB games, 87 in relief. 3-7, 6.54). 2 hits each for CF Melky Mesa and RF Thomas Neal.

AA: Trenton lost 5-1. Zach Nuding 5 R, 2 ER in 4 IP. Jeremy Bleich 4 innings of scoreless relief. 2 hits CF Ramon Flores.

High A: 8-6 loss for Tampa. Corey Black 4 R in 5IP. John Brebbia 4 R in 2 IP. 2B Ali Castillo 2 H, 3 rbi. 2 hits, rbi for RF Eduardo Sosa. CF Mason Williams with 2 hits.

Low A: Charleston lost 2-0, getting just 2 hits. Rafael De Paula 3 R in 6 IP.

The minors today.

AAA: SWB split a DH. Both 7-inning games.

Gm 1: 6-1 loss. Dellin Betances was awful, 6 R in 2/3 IP.

Gm 2: 12-5 win. Brett Marshall 5 R in 4 1/3, but Cody Eppley 2 2/3 scoreless. LF Zoilo Almonte 3 for 3, 2 RBI. C Bobby Wilson 4 RBI. 2 H, 2 RBI RF Thomas Neal.

AA: Trenton won a 15-1 laugher. Caleb Cotham 1 R in 4 IP. Shaeffer Hall (1), Kelvin Perez (2) and Josh Romanski (2) with five scoreless innings of relief. CF Ramon Flores 2 for 2, 4 RBI. RF Tyler Austin 3 H, 5 RBI. C J.R. Murphy 3 H, 4 RBI. Six players with 2 or more hits.

High A:    Tampa lost 3-1. Scottie Allen 3 R in 6 IP. DH Francisco Arcia 2 hits.

Low A: Charleston’s game was suspended, tied 7-7 after 13. 2B Rob Refsnyder 3 H, 2 RBI.

Gm. 2. Yanks lose again, 7-4.

The Yanks dropped to 0-2 on the season with a 7-4 loss to Boston on a frigid night.

Hiroki Kuroda lasted only 1 1/3 IP, due to trying to catch a liner back up the middle with his bare hand. He did give up a run in the first, and after that liner leading off the second, he tried to stay in the game. Bad move, as was trying to catch the liner with his bare hand in the first place. A couple HBP and a walk later, Kuroda was gone. He gave up 2 R in his 1 1/3.

Girardi brought in Cody Eppley. Bad Move. Eppley had a terrible spring training, and frankly I would have kept Nuno over Eppley. Not only because Nuno had a great spring, but Nuno would have given a second lefty besides Logan in the bullpen. The Yanks probably want him to stay as a starter, however. Anyway, Eppley gave up 4 in 1 1/3. The Yanks were down 6-0 after 3 and with this Yankee lineup, ballgame over.

Travis Hafner had a solo HR for the Yanks in the 4th to cut it to 6-1.

One bright spot for the Yanks tonight was Adam Warren, who gave up just 1 R in 5 1/3 IP. Shawn Kelley pitched a scoreless inning.

Vernon Wells made the score halfway respectable with a 3-Run HR in the 8th. Wells had 3 hits and those 3 RBI. Eduardo Nunez had 2 hits and a SB, and Kevin Youkilis had 2 hits.

What a difference a few weeks make

The Yanks made a bit of a surprise move today, DFA-ing David Aardsma. Instead, Shawn Kelley, Cody Eppley and Adam Warren make the team. My guess is that once Phil Hughes comes off the DL, Warren will be sent down to AAA.

But think of this. A month ago, it looked like Aardsma was a lock. You didn’t expect Warren to be on (and frankly, I’d have taken Nuno over Warren).

Not only that, a month ago, Boesch, Wells, Francisco and Overbay were trying to win jobs WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS.

You didn’t expect them to be going north with the Yankees.

What a crazy month.

S.T. Game 33. Yanks lose 2-1 to Pirates, Kuroda great.

Hiroki Kuroda gave up just one hit in six scoreless innings as the Yanks lost 2-1 to Pittsburgh on Thursday to drop their spring training record to 13-19-1. They now leave Florida. They will play the Nationals in an exhibition game on Friday in D.C., then play an exhibition game at West Point on Saturday. Sunday will be an off day and they will open the season vs. Boston on Monday.

Kuroda struck out five and walked no one. Boone Logan faced two batters and got no one out. Both runners scored. He gave up a walk and then one-time Yanks’ prospect Jose Tabata lined one off Logan’s hip. Logan says he’s fine but he was then removed from the game as a precaution. David Aardsma gave up hit, walk and WP in 2/3 IP. Cody Eppley went 1 1/3, scoreless. Jim Miller pitched a scoreless inning.

In the bottom of the 9th, Lyle Overbay’s two-out double with men on 1st and 2nd scored Thomas Neal with the Yanks’ only run, but PR Casey Stevenson had to be held at third. Dan Johnson, who has had a poor spring (.061 and four errors) struck out to end the game.

S.T. Game 30. Yanks walk-off with 7-6, 10 inning win.

Ronnier Mustelier, fighting for a place on the team, hit a walkoff HR leading off the bottom of the 10th as the Yanks won 7-6 over the Rays to increase their S.T. record to 12-18. Mustelier may have trouble sticking despite a good spring because apparently the Yanks are making a deal for Vernon Wells from the Angels (see the next post).

Long-time readers of this blog know I wanted Mustelier up last year and wanted Andruw Jones cut. Jones hit .197-14-34, OPS+ 88 and his D (10 GG) diminished. Mustelier’s D is a “?” but he did hit .314-15-69 in 114 games between AA and AAA.

Kevin Youkilis hit two two-run HRs in the game, but also made an error that led to four unearned runs. Travis Hafner, having a rough spring, also homered.

Eduardo Nunez was 2 for 3 with an RBI triple.

Adam Warren started, went 3 2/3, 5 R, 1 ER, 6 hits, 2 walks, 2 K. Vidal Nuno 1/3, 0 R, 2 H a walk, no K (the out was on Cervelli catching a runner trying to steal. Cervelli nabbed two runners today).

Eppley, Mo, Joba and Logan combined for four shutout innings (one each) before Aardsma allowed the Rays to tie it in the top of the 9th (1 IP, 1 R).

Josh Spence (1/3) and Preston Claiborne (2/3, W) combined for a scoreless tenth before Musty’s walkoff.

John Sterling is a bit over-the-top, but his HR call of Play Musty For Me is a good one.

Yuniesky Betancourt has been released by the Phils. You wonder, given Jeter’s problems, if the Yanks may take a flyer. More on Wells and Betancourt in the next post.