March 07, 2011
George M. Steinbrenner Field
Tampa, Florida

Tampa Bay Rays vs. New York Yankees

The Yankees are at 2-2 to start the 2012 Spring Training Season.  The Rays are  at 0-4.

Tampa Bay is in for the challenge of facing Yankees #18 RHP Hiroki Kuroda.  The native from Osaka, Japan is new to the Yankees pitching staff.  After spending four  seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers, it is anticipated Kuroda will be taking over the spot left open with the departure of A.J. Burnett, pitching 2nd in the Yankees rotation following ace of the team #52 LHP C.C. Sabathia.

This is Spring Training so win/loss is not as important to the pitcher as is practicing pitches.
Among all Japan-born pitchers ever to play in the Major Leagues, Kuroda’s 3.45 career ERA is the lowest all-time among pitchers who have made more than 12 career starts, while his 523 strikeouts rank fourth and his 41 wins are fifth.  In 2011, he recorded the third-lowest single season ERA (3.07) among Japanese born pitchers to qualify for a Major League ERA title, behide only Hideo Nomo (2.54 in 1995) and Daisuke Matsuzaka (2.90 in 2008).

No Rookie, originally signed by the Dodgers as a non-draft free agent in December, 2007, Kuroda spent 11 seasons (1997-2007) pitching for the Hiroshima Tokyo Carp of the Japanese Central League.

In Hiroki Kuroda’s first ever start in a New York Yankees uniform he pitched two innings, 3 hits, 2 strikeouts and allowed 3 runs.  He practiced  his strike-out pitch against Tampa Bay batters throwing 27 pitches of which 20 were strikes.

After his outing, in the Yankees Clubhouse, Kuroda spoke through his translator expressing his excitment at getting his one game in.
When questioned about his personal goals, he responded “I would rather not talk about my personal goals but instead talk about the goals of the team and my helping to win a Championship”.

Back to the game between Tampa Bay and New York Yankees:
Tampa scored  three runs in the 2nd inning and one run in the 6th.  The Yankees remained scoreless.

And, so, on this day in Spring Training history, Tampa Bay Rays practiced their game against the Yankees and came out victorious for the first time in this Spring month.  It was a shut-out by Tampa .

Tampa Bay Rays:  4 R – 10H – 6 LOB
NY Yankees:  0 R – 4  Hits – 4 LOB

Winning Pitcher:  James Shields (1-0)
Losing Pitcher:  Hiroki Kuroda (0-1)

13 Pitchers were used in the game:  6 by Tampa – 7  by New York
A total of 36 players practiced in the game: 18 of  Tampa – 18 of New York 
Time of the game: 2:31 
Fans in attendance: 10,846 

Countdown: 30 Days until Opening Day