If the competition for the Yankees' No. 5 starter's spot is truly a five-man race, frontrunners Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes would currently rank fourth and fifth on the depth chart.
After Chad Gaudin, Sergio Mitre and Alfredo Aceves each turned in two scoreless innings of work in Wednesday's spring opener against the Pirates, Hughes and Chamberlain both struggled in their first outings on Friday.
Hughes started the game against the Rays and nearly gave up a home run on the second pitch he threw to leadoff man Jason Bartlett, but the ball drifted just foul down the left-field line.
After the shortstop grounded out, however, left fielder Sean Rodriguez belted a home run over Curtis Granderson in center field.
The next two batters, Evan Longoria and Ben Zobrist also hit the ball hard, bu ...
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Article written by Jordan Schwartz
Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain Struggle in Spring Debuts for Yankees
Posted: 5th March 2010 by Jordan Schwartz in MLBComments Off on Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain Struggle in Spring Debuts for Yankees