Philadelphia Phillies 3 — New York Yankees 1
In the first home game of this year’s Spring Training, Alex Rodriguez started his first game in a Yankees lineup in over a year.
After new shortstop Didi Gregorius flew out to left field, Alex Rodriguez stepped to the plate, designated hitter and second in the batting order and received a mixed reaction with a slight edge to the cheers. On an 0-1 count, Alex Rodriguez would hit a single to left field for the Yankees first hit of the game.
In other Yankees news, another new member of the team took the mound, right-hander Nathan Eovaldi. The former Miami Marlins pitcher pitched a scoreless first inning but second baseman Stephen Drew joined Refsnyder and Pirela in committing an error so far this Spring. In his second inning of work, Eovaldi gave up a double to Darin Ruf, who would eventually come around to score on a single by Cord Phelps to put the Phillies ahead by one.
In two innings, Nathan Eovaldi allowed one run on two hits while striking out one with a nice splitter.
After two innings by Eovaldi, Andrew Miller made his Yankees debut in the third inning. After a leadoff single, Miller would strike out the next two batters but the baserunner would steal two bases over the course of the strikeouts as McCann had a difficult time catching pitches from the new left-handed reliever.
In one inning, Andrew Miller allowed one hit while striking out two.
The Phillies would score the second run of the game against Kyle Davies in the fifth inning before “wholesale changes” to the Yankees lineup began to produce. In the sixth inning, Mason Williams got the Yankees second hit of the game, a double to deep left center field. After a single by Cito Culver, Alex Rodriguez would walk in his third at-bat of the day.
Alex Rodriguez had one hit, a ground out and a walk in his first game this Spring.
Prospect catcher Gary Sanchez would hit a sacrifice fly to right field to put the Yankees on the board. A double play would end the inning and the Yankees still trailed.
The Phillies put one more run on the board and the Yankees attempted a rally in the ninth inning. With two outs, Francisco Arcia hit a ground-rule double to right field and Cole Figueroa hit a single to put runners on the corners. Nick Noonan came up as the potential winning run but would go down looking at strike three to give the Yankees their first loss of the Spring.
Win – Kevin Slowey (1-0)
Loss – Nathan Eovaldi (0-1)
Save – Justin De Fratus
Notables
Phillies
*Odubel Herrera – 3 for 4, 2 R, 3 SB
*Darin Ruf – 1 for 4, R, 2B
Yankees
*Alex Rodriguez – 1 for 2, BB
*Mason Williams – 1 for 2, R, 2B
Current Yankees Spring Record: 0-1
