Kuroda Struggles As Yankees Tie Tigers
By Jason Evans
Mar 12, 2014; Tampa, FL, USA; New York Yankees catcher
Francisco Cervelli(29) hits his second home run of the game in the fifth inning against the Detroit Tigers at George M. Steinbrenner Field.The New York Yankees tied the Detroit Tigers 7-7. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Hiroki Kuroda struggled the last two months of the season. In today’s spring outing, he continued to. His spring ERA is up to 6.48 after giving up six runs in 3.2 innings, but the Yankees were able to rally back and tie the Tigers at 7.
Ian Kinsler led off the game with a single. Don Kelly followed with a single to right. Kinsler would score and Kelly would move to third on Kelly Johnson‘s error. Victor Martinez followed with a sac fly. After two singles, Nick Castellanos brought home both runners with a double. The Tigers made it 6-0 in the third on a two run double by Trevor Crowe.
Francisco Cervelli got a run back with a solo shot leading off the bottom half of the inning. He would go yard again leading off the fifth to make it 6-2.
The game stayed that way until the bottom of the eighth. The Yanks loaded the bases on singles by Zoilo Almonte, Yangervis Solarte (because all he does is hit) and Adonis Garcia. John Ryan Murphy brought home a run with a groundout. After a walk reloaded the bases, Zelous Wheeler hit a ground-rule double to make it 6-5.
The Tigers would get one of those runs back of Robert Coello. Hernan Perez led off with a walk, went to second on passed ball, went to third on a groundout and scored on a fielder’s choice.
The Yanks, as they have a few times this spring, rallied to tie in the ninth. Jose Gil hit a ground-rule double and two batters later Almonte would jack one out to tie.
The Yanks will split their squad for the first time this spring. Michael Pineda will start against the Orioles at home, while Ivan Nova will start against the Phillies on the road. Both are at 1:05 ET and both are on mlb.tv. Plan your device usage accordingly.