YANKEES 3, DIAMONDBACKS 3
at Phoenix
Saturday, April 1

Yankees at the plate: Bubba Crosby's suicide squeeze in the eighth scored Felix Escalona to give New York a brief 3-2 lead. The Yankees didn't do much against starter Miguel Batista, but they did make the most of their opportunity in the fifth. Jorge Posada led off with a walk, moved to second on a single by Robinson Cano, and both players moved up on Shawn Chacon's sacrifice. Posada then came home when Bernie Williams grounded out to second. Miguel Cairo led off the eighth with a solo homer off Claudio Vargas.

D-Backs at the plate: Jerry Gil hit his fifth homer of the spring, a solo shot in the fifth. Arizona scored a run in the third when Craig Counsell scored on Chad Tracy's groundout. Luis Gonzalez walked all three times he came to the plate. Orlando Hudson singled in each of his three at-bats. Brian Barden homered in the eighth, a solo shot to tie the game at 3.

Yankees on the mound: Starter Shawn Chacon had himself to blame for Arizona's third-inning run. With runners at first and third and one out, Chacon fielded a comebacker from Tracy and had Counsell out at home should he have thrown there, but he inexplicably threw to first instead and Counsell wound up scoring. Mariano Rivera allowed one hit, bringing his total of hits allowed to two in nine spring innings.

D-Backs on the mound: Batista looked sharp in his final tuneup. The right-hander threw a spring-high 85 pitches. Batista had been set back a bit by throwing only 3 1/3 innings while at the World Baseball Classic for nearly three weeks, but is now on target to be able to throw at least 90 pitches in his first regular-season start.

Up next: The Yankees left for Oakland following the game and will work out on Sunday in preparation for Monday's season opener against the A's. The D-Backs, meanwhile, will leave for Colorado on Sunday, where they will have a workout before opening the season against the Rockies on Monday.