Aceves pitches eight shutout innings
The Yankees defeated the Lehigh Valley IronPigs Wednesday night, 7-0, recovering from a tough loss the night before.
Alfredo Aceves notched his second straight win, pitching eight shutout inning and striking out six.
Aceves tossed 91 pitches, 69 of which were strikes.
"He probably would have finished the game tonight," pitching coach Scott Aldred said. "He pitched efficiently, and could have pitched through the game tonight."
In the eighth, Aceves struck out a batter and forced another into a ground out with just three pitches. The next batter, however, took at least 10 more.
"I would expect him to keep building and be the same guy that we saw last year," Aldred said. "He was phenomenal last year, and can pitch his way through any lineup."
It helped that the Yankees scored early and scored often to back up Aceves' outing.
"The middle of the order has driven in the runs for us," said manager Dave Miley.
John Rodriguez, Todd Linden, Shelley Duncan and Juan Miranda comprise that middle of the order, and all produced in some way Wednesday night.
Just four batters into the game, Duncan posted his seventh homerun of the year, launching the ball over the left field wall and scoring Linden.
Tack on a three-run homerun from Rodriguez in the fourth.
"It's easier to have fun and easier to hit when you know you have guys behind you in the order that are there to pick you up," Duncan said.
The Norfolk Tides come to PNC Field for a four-game series, starting Thursday at 7:05 p.m.