Fortunately for Yankees, This One Didn't Count DUNEDIN, Fla. - The off-season champions in the American League East flexed their new-found muscles Thursday, hammering the Yankees, 17-5. Although the victory was earned by one of the Toronto Blue Jays" key winter acquisitions, the starting pitcher Josh Johnson, it was still far too early to regard the game as a harbinger of change in what has traditionally been baseball's toughest division. For the Yankees, Thursday was, mercifully, a throwaway day. After watching his team give up nine walks and 15 runs in the first two innings alone, Manager Joe Girardi had to pause and think when he was asked what he could take away from a truly ugly performance by the Yankees. He came up with two things: that Kevin Youkilis hit a home run off Johnson in the first inning and, more important, that the game didn't count. "You know, this was a tough game to watch," Girardi said. We walked 10 guys, nine in the first two innings. That's a tough game to watch. Two of the Yankees" young pitchers fell apart and let everything get out of hand. Jose Ramirez, the 23-year-old right-hander who had been the charm of camp until Thursday, surrendered six runs and managed just one out. Adam Warren gave up eight runs in one and two-thirds innings of relief."One of those games," Warren said. You just have to put it away and move on. While Toronto fielded a representative lineup, with Johnson pitching and Jose Bautista swinging, the Yankees brought their C team. Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano, Mark Teixeira, Curtis Granderson, Alex Rodriguez, Ichiro Suzuki and every member of the major league pitching staff was absent. C.C. Sabathia, who is coming off elbow surgery, will make his first spring start on Friday, and Andy Pettitte made his first start on Wednesday. Phil Hughes threw live batting practice for the first time Thursday morning since a bulging disc sidelined him last month. He reported no problems, and is scheduled to throw a simulated game on Monday. He could pitch in a spring training game after that. Of the six pitchers who threw for the Yankees Thursday, only one had any major league experience - Warren, who had two and one-third major-league innings to his credit. He had been sent down to the minor leagues on Wednesday night, but was told he would pitch Thursday because the Yankees are being so careful with their pitchers. To blame his poor performance on Thursday on his demotion, or on the cool and windy conditions. "I was just out there pitching," he said with a shrug. The Yankees are 7-12 in the exhibition season. The Blue Jays, who added Johnson, R.A. Dickey, Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Melky Cabrera in the off-season, are 8-10. "It wasn't pretty, but it's just spring training," said Ben Francisco, the newest Yankee who spent last spring in the Blue Jays" camp. You're just trying to get your work in, get some at-bats. Best to get it over with and just get out of here.