Record crowd at Joker Marchant sees Yankees slip past Tigers, 2-1
3/28/2010LAKELAND, Fla. - Joba Chamberlain's first relief outing since he was sent back to the bullpen was a bit of an adventure.
The result was just fine.
Chamberlain allowed two hits and struck out one during a scoreless ninth inning, earning the save in the New York Yankees' 2-1 exhibition victory over the Detroit Tigers yesterday.
The crowd of 10,219 was the largest ever at Joker Marchant Stadium, where the Tigers are 9-4 this spring.
It was his first game since manager Joe Girardi announced on Thursday that Phil Hughes had won the competition for the team's fifth starter spot, beating out Chamberlain and three other candidates.
A.J. Burnett pitched 6 2/3 innings for the Yankees, yielding one run and three hits.
Magglio Ordonez drove in Detroit's run with a two-out single in the third inning.
Tigers starter Nate Robertson allowed two runs and five hits in five innings. The left-hander struck out five and walked one. Robertson is competing with Dontrelle Willis and Jeremy Bonderman for the last two spots in Detroit's rotation.
Former Tigers Marcus Thames and Curtis Granderson did well. Thames homered in the fourth for New York, and Granderson had two hits and drove in a run.