Washington Nationals 2 — New York Yankees 4
With his two types of curveballs working, Ivan Nova put on a sparkling effort in today’s start against the Washington Nationals. The righty dealt with an error in the first inning with a fly out and two swinging strikeouts, stranding the lone baserunner. Nova would continue his Spring start with his third consecutive strikeout before he produced a ground out and one more strikeout. His last inning of work included two ground outs and a fly out for a great start.
In three innings, Ivan Nova allowed no hits and no runs while striking out four, all swinging. The only batter to reach base did so on an error.
Facing lefty Ross Detwiler, the Yankees got the offense going in the second inning. second baseman Brian Roberts would lead off the inning with a single. Francisco Cervelli would follow with a single of his own and Kelly Johnson would keep the hits coming with a run-scoring double to give the Yankees the one-run lead. Ichiro Suzuki would reach on an error, allowing another run to score as things continued getting worse for Detwiler. Zoilo Almonte would hit a ground-rule double and Corban Joseph would bring in the final run of the inning with a single to right field. Detwiler would not finish his second inning of work and the Yankees would have a four-run lead after two innings.
In the fourth inning, David Robertson, the likely closer for the Yankees, made his Spring debut. Robertson would hit the first batter he faced but he would get the next batter to ground into a double play and a fly out to left field made quick work of his debut inning this Spring.
Shawn Kelley would be the next out of the bullpen and would give up the first hit and run to the Nationals today with a solo home run by shortstop Zach Walters. Kelley would strike out two in his lone inning of work.
Francisco Cervelli and Zoilo Almonte each had a two-hit day.
