Yankees' Esmil Rogers allows three runs in rotation bid Thursday

Yankees pitcher Esmil Rogers surrendered three earned runs on five hits and one walk in 3 1/3 innings while striking out three in his team's 7-3 loss to the Phillies Thursday.

"I know I (allowed) a couple of base hits; I got a homer," Rogers said after the outing, per The Journal News. "I just try to pound the zone. That’s one of the keys I got in this spring training. Today I came in a couple of times behind in the count, and I’ve got to pay for that."

Manager Joe Girardi indicated Wednesday that the race for the team's final rotation spot would reach another gear this time through the spring rotation. He spoke about the merits of Rogers Thursday.

"Well, he’s got a good arm," Girardi said. "He’s got four pitches that he can go to, so he’s got a couple of different breaking balls and a changeup, so it allows him to get right handers and left handers out. Larry (Rothschild)’s tried to make subtle changes to come of his mechanics to give him more consistency. It’s there, it just comes down to consistently making pitches. This was a position player who made a change, so sometimes those guys bloom a little later."