Game Day - Yankees vs. Phillies, Yankees at Pirates

The Yankees have a split squad game today, so half of the team is down in Bradenton to face the Pirates. The game against the Phillies is airing on YES at 1:05 p.m. Temperatures in Tampa are expected to reach the 70's, beautiful day for baseball.

Some quick notes:

Mariano Rivera threw a live batting practice today and stated that the session was "delicious." He's expected to make his Grapefruit League debut next Wednesday, March 17th, against the Phillies, but that's not set in stone.

Chan Ho Park was scratched from his BP session due to some tightness in his glute, it's considered minor and he's expected to resume normal activities tomorrow.

Francisco Cervelli is scheduled to see a neurologist today, but he's reportedly already free of symptoms.

Here are the lineups:

Yankees
Gardner - CF
Johnson - DH
Teixeira - 1B
Posada - C
Cano - 2B
Swisher - RF
Thames - LF
Kevin Russo - 3B
Pena - SS

RHP Javier Vazquez

Phillies
Rollins - SS
Polanco - 3B
Utley - 2B
Howard - 1B
Ibanez - LF
Werth - DH
Francisco - CF
Mayberry - RF
Ruiz - C

RHP Kyle Kendrick

Yankees
Jeter - SS
Granderson - CF
Winn - RF
Rodriguez - 3B
Miranda - 1B
Pena - C
Hoffman - LF
P.J. Pilittere - DH
Reegie Corona - 2B

RHP Alfredo Aceves

Pirates
McCutchen - CF
Iwamura - 2B
Jones - RF
Doumit - C
Pearce - 1B
Moss - LF
Crosby - SS
Jones - DH
Walker - 3B

LHP Paul Maholm

Things to Watch: Nick Johnson is making his return to the lineup after dealing with a sore back. The split squad situation allows both Granderson and Gardner to play center, that competition is still an even race at this point. Gardner gets an opportunity to lead off as well. Vazquez is making his spring debut today, he's scheduled to throw two innings and following him in the bullpen will be Mark Melancon, David Robertson, Amaury Sanit and Royce Ring, among others. Alfredo Aceves will bump up his workload today, he looked pretty good in his last outing, let's see if he can keep it going. Good opportunity to look at some young players today, such as catcher P.J. Pilittere and infielders Kevin Russo and Reegie Corona.

Game Notes: The Yankees topped the Pirates 6-0, with four pitchers combining on a one hitter. Alfredo Aceves was perfect through four innings and struck out three. Ivan Nova, Zach McAllister and and Jason Hirsch finished it off. So far, Aceves has yet to allow a hit in six spring innings. He and Mitre have looked the best out of the prospective fifth starters.

The Bombers beat the Phillies 7-5. Vazquez threw 26 pitches, 16 of which were strikes, and looked good for his first start. He served up a homer to Jimmy Rollins on his first pitch, but then settled down and struck out the side in the second. His final line was two innings, one hit, one walk, one earned run and four strikeouts. Amaury Sanit walked away with his second win of the spring and continues to look great out of the pen, he went one and 1/3 innings, giving up no runs on two hits and struck out two - he'll be featured in an upcoming "Kids Making Noise." David Robertson got lit up to the tune of two runs on three hits and two walks in 2/3 of an inning. Jose Contreras made an appearance for the Phillies and looked downright awful, giving up six runs in one and 2/3 innings and taking the loss. Cano roped two doubles and drove in two runs. Nick Johnson came out of the game saying his back felt fine. All neurological tests on Cervelli came back negative and he was cleared to resume baseball activities tomorrow.

LoHud has a wrap up of today's action.