On their own, the Yankees are tough enough, bringing superstars and swagger and a few thousand fans to Dunedin Stadium. But the presence of Alex Rodriguez and the media circus that has surrounded him since his admitted steroid use made the spotlight seem a little brighter yesterday.

Then, Yankees leadoff hitter Brett Gardner sent Cecil's second pitch over the right-field fence.

A tough situation for sure, but Cecil soon settled down.

He said seeing Derek Jeter stride toward the batter's box jolted him back to attention, but added that yesterday's game was about the process of pitching, not about the game's outcome.

"I'm not really worried about the result, just about how I do and how I feel afterward," he said. "I felt great. I made a couple not-so-good pitches ... but I'm happy with today and looking forward to the next one."

After the leadoff homer, Cecil retired six of the next seven batters, giving up only one walk.

To Rodriguez. On five pitches.

Cecil swears he had planned to challenge the three-time MVP.

"It's just one of those things - pitches got away," he said. "The high-and-inside pitch, I tried to challenge him then. I just didn't make the pitch."

It's probably better that he missed his spots, since Rodriguez homered off Ricky Romero his next time up.

The focus of intense media and fan attention since his positive steroid tests became public, Rodriguez told reporters earlier this week that eight years of playing in New York had prepared him for any hostility fans in Dunedin could muster.

But as the game started, it became clear that many of the 5,014 spectators supported Rodriguez, and each time he came to the plate their cheers overpowered the jeers.

"Even in a stadium like this, it's the loudest I've heard people cheering or booing," Cecil said. "I try not to get too caught up in any of that stuff. I just try to throw strikes."

Two hours before the game, Gaston told reporters that he expected to see fairly sharp pitching and pretty rusty hitting in the first handful of Toronto's 34 spring training games.

Afterward, he acknowledged that his own pitchers looked dull yesterday, but said he's not going to worry about it with the regular season still six weeks away.

"We went through a lot of pitches today ... 180, 190 pitches," Gaston said.

"It's a little bit of a rough day for the pitchers and we didn't hit the ball well, but it's the first day."

Romero was tagged with the loss after surrendering three runs in the fourth inning, and Rick Bauer gave up two more in the fifth. The Yankees also stroked a pair of singles off B.J. Ryan.

Even Cecil, who struck out four of the eight batters he faced, said his game still needs plenty of polish.

"You saw the second pitch of the game today," he said. "(The hitters) are right there with us."