TAMPA, Florida – Corey Kluber defeated the occasional savagery, allowing two runs and four hits in four innings in his second start, and the New York Yankees defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-5 on Saturday.
Kluber, who has won two Cy Young awards, is with the third team in three years. He has thrown one inning since a line hit him in the right forearm in May 2019 and tore a muscle in his right shoulder in the Texas Rangers debut in July last year.
Kluber hit two battles, threw a wild pitch and allowed a lone run in the third inning to Troy Stokes Jr. on Saturday. He broke out twice, in an outing in which the Pirates were in order only once.
“Some pitches could have been positioned probably better, a little sharper,” Kluber said. “Running away from home, the first pitch, left him too much on the set. Definitely some things to work on. Adjusting the placement, things like that.”
“I was happy with the way I felt physically,” he said.
The left allowed a double lead and hit a batter in the first half, but came out of the block with a double play. After a perfect second, Kluber gave up running home to Stokes Jr. and then avoided further damage by resolving a two-on-one situation.
Kluber, who turns 35 in April, eliminated three of two perfect innings in his other start on March 3 against the Toronto Blue Jays. Five days later, he had a live training session.
After losing to eventual champions Tampa Bay Rays in a five-game Division last year, the Yankees lost to Masahiro Tanaka, James Paxton and JA Happ to free agents. They signed Kluber on a one-year deal for $ 11 million and bought Jameson Taillon of Pittsburgh for four prospects.
“He looks like himself,” said DJ LeMahieu, the second member of the Yankees. “The ball moves everywhere.”
New York’s planned rotation also includes Gerrit Cole and Jordan Montgomery. Deivi García and Domingo Germán are among the candidates for the fifth starting position.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.