New York Yankees 5 – Philadelphia Phillies 6
Tanaka Time officially got under way with Masahiro Tanaka taking the mound in the visit to the Philadelphia Phillies.
In the two innings of work by Masahiro Tanaka, he gave up a pair of singles in the second inning but received an assist from a source-in-training. With two on and no out, Tanaka generated a ground ball to third base where Rob Refsnyder made a sliding stab at it and started an around-the-horn double play.
Despite two hits and a walk, Masahiro Tanaka pitched two scoreless innings that featured two strikeouts.
Through the first two innings for the Yankees’ offense, they were held off the bases. Third baseman Rob Refsnyder started the Yankees rally with a single in the third inning. Lane Adams walked and with two outs, Starlin Castro put the Yankees on the board with a single that brought home Refsnyder.
Relievers Anthony Swarzak and James Pazos combined for three scoreless innings despite Pazos walking two in his inning of work. Unfortunately for the Yankees, offseason acquisition Chad Green struggled in his Yankees debut.
In the sixth inning, Green started by giving up a pair of singles and a walk that loaded the bases with no outs. He got the first out of the inning on a sacrifice fly but continued painting himself in a corner with a walk to load the bases again. Another sacrifice fly followed by a run-scoring single ended Green’s day early. Branden Pinder came in to face Andrew Knapp who jumped on a 2-1 pitch and put it over the right center field wall for a three-run home run to wrap up the six-run sixth inning.
In 2/3 of an inning, Chad Green allowed five runs on three hits and two walks. Not a good first impression for the Yankees.
The Yankees showed some signs of life in the seventh inning. With one out, Aaron Judge walked and, competing for the backup catcher job, Austin Romine ripped a deep fly ball to left center field for a run-scoring double. Jorge Mateo followed with a single and proceeded to show his wheels by stealing second. Tyler Wade brought home Romine with a single and the two-run seventh inning cut the Yankees’ deficit to three.
In the eighth inning, Austin Romine continued making a strong early bid for the backup catcher’s job when he came through with two on. Romine hit his second double of the game, this one bringing home two runs and making it a one-run deficit.
The Yankees ultimately fell short but plenty of positives shined in the form of Tanaka, third baseman Refsnyder and Romine.
Win – Greg Burke
Loss – Chad Green
Save – Jeanmar Gomez
Notables
Yankees
*Austin Romine – 2 for 2, R, 2 2B, 3 RBI (4)
*Starlin Castro – 1 for 3, RBI (2)
Phillies
*Andrew Knapp – 1 for 3, R, BB, Three-Run Home Run (1) in the 6, 3 RBI (4)
*David Lough – 1 for 2, R, BB, RBI (2)
