New York Yankees fans should hope young right-handers Ivan Nova and Phil Hughes were paying close attention to the masterful work done by veteran Freddy Garcia Saturday. In his first start of the season Garcia (1-0) pitched six shutout innings to lead the Yankees to a 5-2 victory over the Texas Rangers.
Garcia, signed to a minor-league contract in the off-season, allowed just two hits and one walk during his six innings. According to PitchFX data, Garcia's fastball topped out at just 87.5 miles per hour. He masterfully used a changeup, curveball, slider and splitter -- all of varying speeds and breaks -- to keep Texas hitters guessing.
Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano each hit two- run homers to back Garcia's pitching. Teixeira went two-for-three with three RBI for the Yankees.
The Yankees led 3-0 after seven innings, but Texas scored twice off Yankee reliever Rafael Soriano in the eighth inning to move with 3-2. Cano's two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth pushed the margin back to three runs. Mariano Rivera finished for his sixth save of the season.