Game Day - Yankees vs. Astros

After taking a break yesterday, the Yankees square off against the Astros at 7:05 p.m. Unfortunately, the game will not be shown on television. Today's lineup is, as Joe Girardi noted, an approximation of the expected opening day lineup. The evaluations and judgements are going to pick up with today's action, all previous exhibition games were deemed more of a "warm up" period. Obviously, many things can change between now and April 4th.

Yankees
Jeter - SS
Johnson - DH
Teixeira - 1B
Rodriguez - 3B
Cano - 2B
Posada - C
Granderson - LF
Swisher - RF
Gardner - CF

RHP A.J. Burnett

Astros
Jason Bourgeois - CF
Jeff Keppinger - 2B
Hunter Pence - RF
Geoff Blum - 1B
Pedro Feliz - 3B
Jason Michaels - LF
Jason Castro - C
Edwin Maysonet - SS
Brian Bogusevic - DH

RHP Brian Moehler

Things to Watch: Mariano Rivera is going to make his Grapefruit League debut today. Also scheduled to pitch - Phil Hughes, Romulo Sanchez and Zack Segovia. No real surprises in the batting order. Cano has officially claimed the fifth spot, batting behind Teixeira and A-rod. His struggles with RISP last year were well documented, that area of his game needs to improve if he's going to stick there. He's been hitting really well thus far. Granderson is getting his second start of the spring in left, while Gardner is patrolling center. I think this alignment can change and is still up in the air, but the team was definitely impressed with Granderson's work in left field in the last game. Scheduled to come off the bench are Jesus Montero, Jamie Hoffman, Colin Curtis and Eduardo Nunez among others. LoHud has a breakdown of players who are opening eyes in camp.

Game Notes: The Yankees beat the Astros 4-1. Phil Hughes stepped up his game with four scoreless innings allowing three hits, one walk and striking out two. It was an impressive showing coming directly after Girardi mentioned how today begins the performance evaluations and he even earned the save. Hughes threw 59 pitches, 37 of which were strikes, and he mixed in a lot of change ups, continuing to refine the pitch. From the way he was throwing it tonight, it looks to be a very effective weapon. Rivera threw 27 pitches and said his arm felt great. When comparing how his arm felt now as compared to this time last year, when he was coming off surgery, he said "wasn't even close." His final line was one inning, one hit, no runs, one walk and one strikeout. After a 10-day layoff, A.J. Burnett showed some rust, allowing two hits and walking four in two and 1/3 innings. He wasn't happy with his fastball, but Jorge Posada commented on his change up, saying it was the best it had looked. Teixeira homered, his second of the spring, and Posada went 2-for-3 with a run and a RBI. Swisher and Cano both had a double a piece, Cano's came with two outs.