TAMPA, Fla. — Francisco Liriano gave up four hits over five shutout innings in the Minnesota Twins’ 6-4 loss to a New York Yankees split squad on Friday.
“Pitching is all about location,” Liriano said. “I think I’ve been locating my pitches better than last year. My fastball, change up, slider, everything is working pretty good.”
Coming off five hitless innings against Pittsburgh last Sunday, Liriano struck out five and walked one.
“Things are going the way I want them to right now,” Liriano said.
Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter had a hit and made a nice defensive play in his return from a stiff left calf. The team captain didn’t play for eight days.
“Everything was fine,” said Jeter, who played three innings. “I’m not stealing bases right now. Be smart about it. This is still spring training.”
Ivan Nova retired 12 in a row before allowing a leadoff double to Justin Morneau and Josh Willingham’s two-run home run to start the fifth.
Yankees reliever Joba Chamberlain had surgery after dislocating his right ankle while playing with his son Thursday. There is no timetable for his return.
YANKEES (SS) 5, PHILLIES 3 Hiroki Kuroda pitched well into the sixth inning and Robinson Cano got three hits as a split squad of New York Yankees beat the Philadelphia Phillies in Clearwater, Fla. Kuroda gave up one run and six hits in 5 2/3 innings of his fourth exhibition outing. CARDINALS 2, MARLINS 1 Adam Wainwright pitched five shutout innings and St. Louis beat Miami in Jupiter, Fla, overcoming Jose Reyes’ first home run for the Marlins. Wainwright, who missed last season following elbow surgery, allowed three hits and struck out five. He has given up just an unearned run in 14 innings this spring.
ASTROS 5, NATIONALS 1 Bud Norris and Lucas Harrell each pitched three hitless innings and Chris Johnson homered for Houston in a victory over Washington in Kissimmee, Fla. Johnson’s third spring home run came off Tyler Clippard in the sixth inning.
ORIOLES 6, RED SOX 5 Clay Buchholz allowed five runs over five innings in a shaky outing and Boston lost to Baltimore in Sarasota, Fla. Projected as Boston’s third starter, Buchholz gave up two-run home runs to Adam Jones in the first and Nick Markakis in the third.
BRAVES 9, METS 4 Dan Uggla hit his fifth home run of the spring and drove in three runs, leading Atlanta over the New York Mets in Kissimmee, Fla. Uggla, who hit a career-high 36 home runs last season, broke a 4-4 tie with his two-out shot to left field in the fifth.
TIGERS 7, PIRATES 2 Doug Fister left his start in the fifth inning of Detroit’s victory over Pittsburgh because of soreness in his right middle finger in Bradenton, Fla. Fister was scheduled to throw 75 pitches but came out after 41/3 innings.
ROYALS 2, DODGERS (SS) 0 Luke Hochevar pitched three-hit ball for six innings and struck out eight as Kansas City defeated a Los Angeles split squad in Surprise, Ariz. Hochevar, the first player selected in the 2006 amateur draft, is 3-1 with a 1.29 ERA in four exhibition starts. Jason Bourgeois, acquired by the Royals in a trade with Houston on Tuesday, singled home Mike Moustakas, who had doubled, in the second inning. Dodgers starter Aaron Harang gave up one run and five hits in five innings.
ANGELS 6, BREWERS 3 Mark Trumbo hit his third home run and Dan Haren allowed two runs in five innings to help Los Angeles beat Milwaukee in Phoenix. Haren gave up five hits and a walk with three strikeouts. The righthander entered with only one earned run allowed in 10 previous innings.
CUBS 10, ROCKIES 8 Geovany Soto homered twice and drove in five runs, sending Chicago to a victory over Colorado in Scottsdale, Ariz. Soto had three hits, including 2 two-run home runs off Rockies starter Tyler Chatwood. Colorado slugger Carlos Gonzalez drove in five runs as well, with a bases-loaded double and a two-run single.
DODGERS 14 (SS), WHITE SOX (SS) 7 Matt Kemp homered among his three hits and had four RBI, and Dee Gordon also had three hits as Los Angeles routed Chicago in a split-squad game in Tucson, Ariz. The game was played in Tucson to raise money for the fund set up to honor Christina-Taylor Green, the daughter of Dodgers scout John Green. Christina was one of the victims of the shooting on Jan. 8, 2011, in which former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was wounded.
Spring training glance
FRIDAY’S GAMES
NY Yankees (ss) 6, Minnesota 4 Baltimore 6, Boston 5 St. Louis 2, Miami 1 NY Yankees (ss) 5, Philadelphia 3 Atlanta 9, NY Mets 4 Detroit 7, Pittsburgh 2 Houston 5, Washington 1 LA Dodgers (ss) 17,
Chicago White Sox (ss) 4 LA Angels (ss) 6, Milwaukee 3 Kansas City 2, LA Dodgers (ss) 0 Chicago Cubs 10, Colorado 8 Toronto 7, Tampa Bay 5 Arizona vs. Chicago White Sox (ss), (n) Cincinnati vs. San Diego, (n) LA Angels (ss) vs. Cleveland, (n) Texas vs. San Francisco, (n)
Sports, Pages 24 on 03/24/2012