Tampa, FL (Sports Network) - Derek Jeter singled in his first at-bat of the
spring and Mariano Rivera pitched a perfect inning just hours after announcing
that he will retire after the upcoming season, but the New York Yankees
dropped a 2-1 decision to the Atlanta Braves.
Jeter, coming off surgery to repair a broken ankle he suffered in Game 1 of
the ALCS last October, batted leadoff as the designated hitter. He singled in
the first inning and grounded out to third in the third.
Rivera, as expected, announced his retirement plans in a press conference on
Saturday morning. He also made his spring debut after recovering from a torn
ACL that he sustained last May while shagging fly balls during batting
practice before a game in Kansas City.
Baseball's all-time saves leader worked the fifth inning after Jose Ramirez
went the first four for New York, and retired each of the three batters he
faced. Dan Uggla popped out before Juan Francisco and Chris Johnson were each
called out on strikes.
Atlanta scored in the seventh when Tyler Pastornicky tripled and came home on
an Uggla single. Jordan Parraz knocked in a run in the ninth with a sacrifice
fly for a 2-0 edge before the Yankees scored once in the bottom of the inning
on an RBI grounder by Thomas Neal.
Ichiro Suzuki had two hits for New York and Pastornicky finished with two for
Atlanta.
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