The New York Yankees were back home at George M. Steinbrenner Field to take on the Phillies in a matchup under sunny skies with a game-time temperature of 78 degrees. There was also another matchup, Michael Kay and John Sterling broadcast the game together for the first time in 20 years. Kay and Sterling worked together for 10 years on the radio, but Kay left the partnership when the new YES Network hired him. Today they were together again. The Yankees won the game 4-2.
Domingo German took to the mound for the third time. In his first two outings, he was near perfect, allowing no runs. He first faced former Yankee Andrew McCutchen, who singled, Hoskins singled, but McCutchen was called out at second in a failed double play. Didi Gregorius drove to deep center but was caught by Aaron Hicks. Hoskins stole second. Segura walked. Hererra struck out swinging, and German got out of his first jam of the spring.
Leading off for the New York Yankee’s “A” lineup was DJ LeMahieu facing the Phillies Chase Anderson. DJ ground out to second. Aaron Judge struck out. Aaron Hicks walked. Giancarlo Stanton ripped a long one caught by the left-field wall for the final out of a scoreless inning for Anderson. Stanton drive was 120 mph off the bat. Anderson has a connection to Yankees history; he gave up 5 home runs in one inning to the Yankees last September when he was with the Jays. It was the first time the Yankees hit five home runs in one inning in franchise history.
At the top of the second, Kingery lined out. Chatham struck out, giving German 9 strikeouts in seven innings pitched. Quinn doubled to Judge. Mathis struck out to give German an easy inning. Gleyber Torres led off the bottom by popping out. Jay Bruce struck out. Gio Urshela had a hard single to left. Gary Sanchez also struck out. No runs, no hits at the end of two innings, there was no score.
German out for the third, got McCutchen to ground out to him. Hoskins struck out. Gregorius struck out, giving German a 1-2-3 inning and 12 strikeouts in eight innings pitched this spring. Gardner ground out at his first swing. Back to the top of the lineup, DJ LeMahieu struck out, and Judge followed with a line-drive single to left. Hicks walked for the second time. Stanton ground for a quick one for both pitchers. No score.
At the top of the fourth found German back on the mound. He allowed a single by Segura. Hererra hit into a double play with a tremendous tag out by Torres. Mathis struck out while German was showing off with a great selection of pitches. At the bottom, the New York Yankees faced Archie Bradley. Torres singled up the middle. Bruce hit one to the wall, but Kingery made a beauty of a catch for the out. With Urshela at the plate, Torres stole second. Gio following that stuck out. Sanchez hit an RBI single driving in Torres from second. Yankees 1 Phillies 0. Gardner hit into a force out at second to end the inning.
Michael King started the fifth, striking out Chatham. Quinn hit one to Aaron Hicks while Kay was interviewing him in centerfield for some live-action TV. Mathis struck out for a quick 1-2-3 half for King. At the bottom, DJ faced Neris and struck out for the third time in the game. Judge flew out to center, and Hicks struck out for another quick inning. Yankees 1 Phillies 0.
King back on the mound ground out McCutchen. Hoskins hit a home run tying up the game at one apiece. Gregorius followed that with a long line drive to right for a double. Segura walked for two on and one out. Hererra was thrown a wild pitch that advanced both runners, but he ended flying out for the second out. Kingery ground out to Ushela for the final out of the inning. King got out of it, giving up just the one run. At the bottom, Stanton singled sharply to center. Torres went down looking. Mike Ford, in his at-bat, lost his bat into the Yankee dugout. No one was hurt. Ford ended up walking for two on and one out. Urshela hit a long one that was caught, but Stanton moved to third. Sanchez grounded out, leaving two Yankees on base. Scored tied at 1.
King ground out Chatham at the top of the seventh. Quinn flew out to deep center, Mathis ground out for three up and three down for King. Greg Allen at the plate for the Yankees, and he walked. Velazquez walked, Brito, grounded out to the pitcher, as the runners advanced to second and third. LaMarre had a comebacker that caught Allen for an out at home plate, still two on but now with two outs. Stanton singled again, this time to the far center, and Velazquez and LaMarre scored on the play. Wells pinched ran for Stanton and stole second base. Brantly got a single scoring Wells as the Yankees tagged on another run. Brantly moved to second. Mike Ford struck out, but the Yankees picked up 3 runs. Yankees 4 Phillies 1.
At the top of the eighth, Luis Garcia was on the mound for the New York Yankees. O’Hoppe struck out on a Garcia breaker. Moniak ground out to Ford. Jankowski ground out to third for the final out of the half. Alvarez started off the bottom with a single up the middle. Duran struck out. Allen singled, and Velazquez had a loud outfield out. Brito struck out.
With last licks on the line for the Phillies, Nestor Cortes Jr. took the mound. He faced Luis Garcia, who singled. Hall struck out looking. Maton flew out to left. Williams had a long base hit that scored Garcia for the 4-2 Yankee score. Rojas struck out to end the game. Yankees are now 10-4-1 with the 4-2 win over the Phillies. Michael King was the winning pitcher, Rondon the loser, and Cortes Jr. got the save.