New York Yankees left-hander Kei Igawa allowed one hit in three scoreless innings against the Atlanta Braves in his third outing of the spring on Thursday.
New York's Kei Igawa talks with pitching coach Ron Guidry as catcher Jorge Posada looks on duringThursday's spring training game against Atlanta. The Yankees won 3-2.
AP PHOTOIgawa walked the first two batters he faced, but struck out the side in the first inning en route to the Yankees' 3-2 victory. He finished with four walks and five strikeouts.
"I quickly found out I wasn't in good form, so I mixed in my slider and changeup with a fastball to get strikes," Igawa said.
The latest performance was still shaky but was the best in his spring starts thus far for the Yankees.
The former Hanshin Tigers ace was charged with two runs in one-plus inning on March 5 and gave up two runs in three innings last Saturday.
"I tried to shut down the batters after walking the first two because I didn't want to give up runs like in my start against the Detroit Tigers (on March 5)," he said.
Outfielder Hideki Matsui went 1-for-3 with a double down the left-field line.