TAMPA, Florida – Corey Kluber outscored the occasional wild, allowing two runs and four hits in four innings in his second early spring, and the New York Yankees defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-5 on Saturday.
Kluber has twice won the Cy Young Award with his third team in three years. He has thrown just one official entry since he was hit in the right forearm by a lifter in May 2019 and broke a muscle in his right shoulder in his Texas debut last July.
Kluber hit two batters, threw a wild pitch and allowed a third solo goal to Troy Stokes Jr. on Saturday. Two came out on an outing in which the pirates went down in order only once.
“Some launches could probably have been located a little better, be a little sharper,” Kluber said. “The home throw, the first throw, left him a little too high above the plate. There’s definitely things to work on. Tune the location, stuff like that.
“I was happy with the way I felt physically.”
The right-hander allowed a double lead and hit a batter in the first inning, but came out of the jam with a double play. After a perfect second, Kluber gave up the Stokes score and avoided further damage by working in a two-on-two situation.
On March 3 against Toronto, Kluber, who turned 35 in April, scored three more than two perfect innings on his other outing. Five days later he had a live training session.
After losing to eventual American League champions Tampa Bay Rays in a five-game series in the division last year, the Yankees allowed Masahiro Tanaka, James Paxton and JA Happ to become free agents. They signed Kluber on a $ 11 million one-year contract, and acquired Jameson Taillon of Pittsburgh for four potential customers.
“He looks like himself,” said Yankees second baseman DJ LeMahieu. “The ball moves everywhere.”
The projected rotation in New York also includes ace Gerrit Cole and Jordan Montgomery. Deivi Garcia and Domingo German are among the candidates for the fifth place holder.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.