After seven seasons of toiling in the minors, former Caruthersville native Matt Palmer may have found his groove in the majors.

Palmer outpitched New York Yankees ace C.C. Sabathia to lead the Los Angeles Angels to an 8-4 win at Yankee Stadium Saturday night.

As Bill Plunkett said in Sunday's Pasadena Star-News, "CC Sabathia is in the money. But Matt Palmer was on the money."

Palmer is 2-0 with an earned-run average of 3.65 this spring. He is a 1997 graduate of Caruthersville High School and played at Three Rivers Community College in 1999-2000 before finishing his collegiate career at Southwest Missouri State (now Missouri State) in 2001-2002.

He was drafted in the 31st round of the June 2002 draft by the San Francisco Giants and pitched seven seasons in the Giants' organization -- briefly earning a call-up last summer -- before becoming a free agent and signing with the Angels in the offseason.