JOBA WELL DONE YOUNG GUNS CHAMBERLAIN, KENNEDY SHINE By GEORGE A. KING III March 11, 2008 -- TAMPA - On the night the Yankees and commissioner Bud Selig made a farce out of the game by signing all-time foof Billy Crystal to a ludicrous one-day contract and foolishly announcing he will play in an exhibition game Thursday, the club found time to watch two-thirds of Generation Trey pitch last night against the Reds at Legends Field. Perhaps Crystal, a legendary jock sniffer, will stop by Joba Chamberlain's and Ian Kennedy's locker to hang out. More likely, he will tie up the massage table, something he has done in past visits to Legends Field , an act that ticked off the real players. Chamberlain, Kennedy and Mariano Rivera were on display last night in a 4-0 Yankee victory while the Yankees were fitting Crystal for what used to be the most prestigious uniform in sports. Chamberlain was coming off a very poor outing. Kennedy wasn't terrible the last time out but not sharp. So much of what the Yankees will do this season rests on the shoulders of Generation Trey - Phil Hughes, Chamberlain and Kennedy. And while nobody reached for the panic button after Chamberlain was spanked for two runs and two hits (a homer) and walked one in two innings on March 5 against the Twins, it was important for him to improve. And he did. In 21/3 scoreless innings Chamberlain allowed two hits and fanned one. Chamberlain added a pickoff of Jay Bruce in the first inning after Bruce led off by reaching on an Alex Rodriguez error. Kennedy, who threw four scoreless innings, surfaced to start the fifth after Rivera worked a perfect fourth. It was his second one-two-three inning in two outings. "I think that's what you want every start," Joe Girardi said of Chamberlain and Kennedy improving. "You want to extend them and improve their arm strength. Ian was sharper the last two innings than he was the first two." Chamberlain was pleased that he was able to put his last outing in the trash bin. "I had a good rhythm and command of the fastball," Chamberlain said. "It was night and day difference." Chamberlain used three two-seam, sinking fastballs after learning the pitch from Chien-Ming Wang while playing catch. "It feels really comfortable," Chamberlain said of Wang's signature pitch. "I got three ground balls on them. It's not a swing and a miss pitch but you can get ground balls when you need them." Though Chamberlain's fastball, curveball, change-up and sinking fastball all got good grades, the only pitch that wasn't behaving was his best one: the slider. "I have to be aggressive with it and try not to be too fine," Chamberlain said. Jorge Posada says more is less when it comes to Chamberlain's put-away pitch. "The slider is still a little short," Posada said. "It will come but he is trying to do too much with it." Chamberlain also got a kick out of facing Ken Griffey Jr., a player he liked growing up. "He still has he best swing in the game," Chamberlain said. When right, Chamberlain may possess the best slider in baseball. And while that isn't where it will be in three weeks, he was pleased with the bounce-back effort. "The fastball had more life and my mechanics were good," Chamberlain said. "It was a lot better." [email protected] http://www.nypost.com/seven/03112008/sports/yankees/joba_well_done_101440.htm --

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