Ian Kennedy continued his quest down the comeback trail with a surprise start in the Florida State League Championship Series on Saturday night.
The Yankees reliever, who is recovering from surgery to remove an aneurysm from below his left biceps, threw two shutout innings for Tampa and allowed one hit. He lifted the Yankees to a 5-2 win and a 1-0 advantage in the five-game set.
Kennedy threw a simulated game earlier this week but this was his first live game action since surgery in May.
"[Saturday's start] kind of came up last-minute," Kennedy told Yankees.com. "There weren't many guys to throw to building up to mini-camp [because] they sent a lot of guys home before the two-week break."
Kennedy began things with a 1-2-3 first, then allowed a leadoff double in the second before retiring the next three Charlotte Stone Crabs in order.
The next step for Kennedy is somewhat uncertain, but the 24-year-old plans to throw in the Arizona Fall League beginning on Nov. 21 and should be prepared for spring training in 2010. He will not pitch for the remainder of the Championship Series.
"I've been throwing since July and pretty much through this whole process I haven't had any symptoms or soreness to my arm," Kennedy told the Web site. "Because they didn't cut into any muscle [during surgery], my arm has been feeling pretty much back to normal."
In 13 big league games from 2007-08, Kennedy went 1-4 with a 6.14 ERA.
