Fister ready for season to start after six strong innings in spring finale

Nationals right-hander Doug Fister tossed six innings Saturday in his final start of spring training. He allowed four hits, the lone blemish a two-run homer by Stephen Drew that got the Yankees on the board in the fifth.

But Fister started very well, retiring the first nine New York batters he faced. Jacob Ellsbury was hit by pitch to start the fourth and Brett Gardner followed with a single. But Fister induced a 4-6-3 Mark Teixeira double play grounder to end the threat. Brian McCann doubled to begin the fifth and Drew brought him home with the two-run shot into the right field bullpen.

"That was a sinker," Fister said of the home run. "I had him 3-1. I needed to attack the zone. I figured I got to get him. I can't walk him. He got me. I got to tip my cap there. I put him in a situation that's good for hitting and bad for pitching. Again, tip my cap and go on to the next guy."

The Yankees came back from a 3-0 deficit to win 4-3 on a late Chris Young homer. The Nationals' final record for spring training stands at 11-16-4.

Fister fired 87 pitches, 51 for strikes, striking out three and walking none. He will likely get his first regular season start next Saturday night in Philadelphia.

"Overall I felt pretty good about today," he said. "I made a couple of mistakes but overall I feel good where we are at going into the season."

Fister finished spring with a 0-0 record and a 5.96 ERA. He started six games and pitched 22 2/3 innings, allowing 30 hits, 15 earned runs with seven homers, but also had 12 strikeouts and only three walks. Fister believes he accomplished what he wanted to in order to get ready for the season.

"I feel like yes," Fister said. "There's always things maybe you could've done better, but at the same time you can't look back and you just got to be able to make the adjustments on the fly and be ready for your next start."

Fister is well aware of the injury situation the fielders will have to get through to begin the season, something that they have had to contend with as recent as last season when Ryan Zimmerman, Bryce Harper, Wilson Ramos and others missed games.

"Experiences like that kind of give you confidence in the guys that have stepped up in certain situations before and that's what we've got going on," Fister said. "Guys are playing well together, going through our lumps and bumps as we always do, no matter what team or position you're at. There's always going to be something that comes up and guys are taking care of what they need to and getting ready for it."

Fister said he has confidence Max Scherzer will do well as the opening day starter Monday when the New York Mets arrive.

"He's a quality starter and that's why he's got that job," Fister said. "He's going to go out there and set the tone for us and everything will fall in line from there."