The minors today.

AAA: SWB lost 6-5. Chris Bootcheck 1 R in 6 Ip, 3 H, 3 walks and 7 K but the bullpen blew it. Jim Miller 4 R in 1 IP, ERA 7.20 and you could smell DFA coming. DH Thomas Neal (who SHOULD be up to replace Francisco) 2 H, double, 3 RBI, .323. 3B Josh Bell 2 H, RBI. RF Brennan Boesch has sucked since going down. 2 for 19, .105.

AA: Trenton won 7-3. Mikey O’Brien 3 R, 2 ER in 7 IP. CF Slade Heathcott 3 H, 3 RBI.

High A: Tampa won 2-1. Shane Greene 1 unearned run in 6 IP. Cesar Cabral 1 2/3 scoreless. 2B Angelo Gumbs and C Gary Sanchez 2 hits each.

Low A: Charleston lost 5-2. 2 H 3B Dante Bichette, Jr. (.200) and LF Kelvin De Leon.

The minors today.

AAA: SWB lost 4-3. Jim Miller, 1 R in 2/3 IP the loss. 0-4, 5.68. Corban Joseph, 2B, double, HR, 2 RBI. Thomas Neal (please bring him up to replace Ben Francisco. Are you reading, Cashman?) 1 for 2, 2 walks, .326.

AA: 6-1 win for Trenton. Nik Turley 6 Ip, 1 R, 1 H, 2 walks and 6 K. 2 H, rbi 2B Jose Pirela.

High A: Tampa won 5-4 in 10. DH Angelo Gumbs 3 H, rbi. 2 H, 2 RBI SS Carmen Angelini.

Low A: Charleston won 10-8. Jose Campos 1 r in 3 IP. 1B Rey Nunez 3 H and 3 RBI. 2 H, 2 RBI for 2B Claudio Custodio.

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.

Yesterday in the minors.

AAA: The Yanks aren’t the only ones off to a slow start. SWB is now 0-3 after losing 7-2 on Saturday. Graham Stoneburner was an emergency starter (Phil Hughes was supposed to make a rehab start here, but was called up to make the Yankees start). Stoneburner gave up 3 R, 2 ER, in 4 IP. Juan Cedeno and Mark Montgomery kept the RailRiders in the game, combining for four scoreless innings, but Jim Miller continued to struggle, giving up 4 runs in the ninth. Miller gave up 5 R in his 1 IP on April 4th, so in 2 innings at AAA so far, he’s giving up 9 runs for an ERA of 40.50.

1B Luke Murton and 3B Addison Maruszak had two hits each—four of the RailRiders’ seven.

AA: Trenton’s game was ppd. due to cold weather.

High A: Tampa lost 8-3. Once again, the BP (see AAA above) didn’t come through. Shane Greene gave up 1 R and struck out 8 in 5 IP, but Joel De La Cruz gave up 2 in 2 IP and Zach Arneson gave up 5, 4 ER in 2/3 IP. LF Ben Gamel was 3 for 5, 1 RBI. C Gary Sanchez 2 for 4, RBI. CF Mason Williams 2 hits and RF Eduardo Sosa 3 hits.

Low A: Charleston had a DH. They split.

Game 1: 9 inn., reg. sched. game: 6-2 win. Rafael DePaula 2 R in 4 1/3, with 11 of the 13 outs via the K. Alex Smith and Charlie Short combined for 4 2/3 scoreless innings of relief and 6 more K. 3b Dante Bichette, Jr. w/2 RBI. 2 hits, RBI for both C Pete O’Brien and 1B Saxon Butler.

Game 2: 7 inn (make up game from 4/4). An 8-4 loss. Derek Varnadore gave up 5 R, 4 ER in just 2 IP. Five players had 2 or more hits for the Riverdogs. HR: RF Yeicok Calderon.

The minors today.

AAA: SWB lost 8-4. Vidal Nuno, who had a great S.T., gave up 2 R in 4 2/3 IP. He struck out six. Sam Demel, just picked up this week, gave up 1 R in 1 1/3.

Demel is 4-4, 4.95 in his MLB career. He pitched in one game for Arizona last year. Most of his MLB experience came in 2010 & 2011. He is a 27 yr. old righty.

Mark Montgomery pitched a scoreless inning, Juan Cedeno 2/3 scoreless and Preston Claiborne a scoreless 1 1/3.

It was tied at 3 going into the top of the 10th, when Jim Miller imploded, giving up 5 runs in the top of the 10th as SWB lost 8-4.

SWB was 3 for 18 with RISP and left 17 on.

Dave Adams and Corban Joseph each had 2 hits.

AA: Trenton won 13-5. Nik Turley gave up 5, 4 earned, in just 2 2/3 but the BP picked him up. Dan Burawa (1 1/3), Shaeffer Hall (2), Kelvin Perez (2) and Branden Pinder combined for 6 1/3 scoreless IP, 12 K, and NO hits.  J.R. Murphy had a 3-run HR, as did Kyle Roller. Rob Segedin and Neil Medchill also HR’d, and Medchill had 4 RBI for the night.

High A:  Tampa won 7-4.  Bryan Mitchell 1 R in 5 IP. Gary Sanchez 2 H, double, 2 RBI.

Low A: Charleston’s game was ppd.

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 23. Yanks shut out in other split-squad game, too.

One split squad (see S.T. Game 22) got shut out at home today (Phils 7-0) and the other one got shut out away at the Braves 4-0.

In the road game, the Yanks managed just three hits.

David Phelps went 5, gave up 4 R, 7 H, 1 walk and 6 K.

The bullpen, Preston Claiborne (1), Tom Kahnle (1), Jeremy Bleich (1/3) and Jim Miller ( 2/3) combined for four shutout innings.

The losses dropped the Yanks’ spring training record (inc. the loss to WBC’s D.R. team) to 8-15.

S.T. Game 19. Pettitte shaky, but Yanks beat Phils, 6-2.

Andy Pettitte gave up 4 hits in 3 IP, along with 3 walks, but only gave up 1 run as the Yanks beat the Phils 6-2 tonight.

Pettitte struck out three in his three innings of work.

Cody Eppley pitched a scoreless inning, and Mariano had (you expected otherwise?) a 1-2-3.

David Aardsma gave up an unearned run in his inning of work, and Jim Miller (2) and Shawn Kelley (1 IP) finished up.

Kelley, acquired from Seattle, has done well this spring.

Ichiro had 2 hits and an RBI, as did Juan Rivera. Newly acquired Ben Francisco had 2 RBI.

S.T. Game 15. Jeter, Mo play, but Yanks lose 2-1 on the day Mo announces 2013 will be it.

Mariano Rivera made it official in a press conference this morning, that this year would be his last. He then took the mound in a game for the first time since tearing his ACL last May.

1-2-3, with two K. Of course. That’s why he’s the great Mariano. He pitched the one inning, the fifth.

Derek Jeter singled on the first pitch he saw in game action since breaking his ankle in game 1 of last year’s ALCS. Of course. Jeter was 1 for 2 for the game, playing as the DH.

It wasn’t enough to keep the Yanks from losing the game 2-1 and falling to 3-12 for spring training (thank goodness these games don’t count).

Jose Ramirez continued his solid spring. The 23 year old, who was 7-6, 3.19 for High-A Tampa last year, pitched the first four innings, no runs, one hit, no walks and 4 K. You wonder if he is going to AA Trenton or if they’ll jump him right to AAA. He’s been great this spring.

Joba pitched one scoreless inning, then Francisco Rondon gave up a run in the seventh. Cody Eppley pitched a scoreless eighth, and Jim Miller gave up a run in the ninth.

In the ninth, Bobby Wilson blooped a single and Slade Heathcott beat out an infield hit. After an out and an error, Thomas Neal hit an RBI groundout for the Yanks’ only run.

Ichiro had two hits, and Ronnier Mustelier had a triple (but Mustelier struck out with two on and no one out in the ninth).

Nuno (pitching for D.R) impresses again as Yanks lose 8-2 to D.R.

There are few times that when a member of the opposition does well, it’s a good thing for YOUR team.

Today was one of those rare times. The Yanks lost 8-2 to the Dominican Republic WBC team today, but a couple of players playing for that D.R. team were Yankees.

Robbie Cano played for the D.R. team, and went 1 for 3 with an RBI.

More importantly, Vidal Nuno continued his remarkable ascent. The 25-year-old lefty, who came out of nowhere to have a good year at AA Trenton last year, started for the D.R. team, and threw four scoreless, hitless innings against the Yanks. He is sure making a name for himself to possibly be one of the first (if not the first) pitcher called up if the Yanks need a starter or long man in the mid-season (if he continues to do this at AAA).

Besides giving up no hits or runs in his four innings of work, Nuno walked one and struck out four.

In order for the Dominican team not to burn arms before the World Baseball Classic, the Yanks “loaned” some arms to the D.R. team today. Nuno was one of them.

Another was Juan Cedeno, who threw a scoreless inning. Another was Josh Spence who also threw a scoreless inning.

As for Nuno, in 9 innings this spring, he’s given up 1 R on 2 hits, 3 walks and 13 K. If that doesn’t impress the coaches, what will?

As for the Yankees team, they only got two hits. Zoilo Almonte accounted for their two runs with a HR. Dan Johnson had trouble at third, making two errors.

Hiroki Kuroda started and did well, 3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 4 K. Cody Eppley gave up a run in 1 IP. Clay Rapada only lasted 1/3 IP, giving up a run. Jim Miller gave up 3 runs in 1 1/3 IP. Tom Kahnle gave up an unearned run in 1 1/3. Preston Claiborne gave up an unearned run in 1 IP, and Chase Whitley gave up a run in his inning of work.

But good work today by the still surprising Nuno along with Kuroda.