The New York Yankees met the Philadelphia Phillies at Clearwater, Florida, at Baycare Park. The result was an unusual 25 run game that the Yankees lost to the Phillies 13 to 12.
Micheal King implodes big time.
Last night Micheal King lost any chance that he would be the fifth starter in the Yankee rotation. King was just horrible in the matchup with the Philadelphia Phillies. He gave up seven runs in just 2.1 innings of work. He walked two and struck out tow in the disaster for King. There isn’t much more to say; he had no command of his pitching, hitting three Phillies hitters.
Yankee’s bullpen was almost good.
After King’s disastrous start, Trevor Lane then closed out the inning, not allowing any more runs. Jonathan Loaisige, the New York Yankees’ best relief pitcher in spring training, took over for Lane. He pitched three innings, giving up just one earned run, raising his ERA to 1.35. After that, Tyler Lyons failed to keep the Phillies’ hitters down. He allowed 4 runs in just one inning after Lucas Luetage pitched a clean inning. But in the ninth inning Nestor Cortes Jr.. gave up the winning run to the Phillies for the final score of 13-12 Phillies.
Aaron Judge gets his first homer of the spring
Anyone watching New York Yankees’ baseball this spring training knows that slugger Aaron Judge has gotten off to a slow start. Before last night he had not had a home run and was only hitting .250 in the spring. That changed last night when he hit his first home run of the spring, a monster shot that drove in two runs for the Yankees.
Everything about Aaron Judge this season will be about his health. So far, he is healthy for the first time in two seasons. This home run last night was encouraging as the Yankees know that if Judge is healthy, he will perform as he did in 2017. In 2017 he recorded 52 home runs. Last season, he hit 9 home runs in just 18 games before he became injured. Now healthy, the Yankees are hoping they can keep both Judge and slugger Giancarlo Stanton on the team simultaneously. If they do, they will have a lineup to be contented with.