Last night at George M. Steinbrenner Field in St. Pete, the New York Yankees hosted Joe Girardi’s Philadelphia Phillies. It was a great night for baseball, it was 68 degrees and game time, and the game was played under mostly cloudy skies. There were about 2,800 fans in the stands rooting on their favorite team. Jameson Taillon was on the mound for the Yankees and Aaron Nola for the Phillies. The Phillies shutout the Yankees 4-0.
At the top of the first, Taillon, one of the best New York Yankee pitchers in spring training, took to the Yankee’s mound. Taillon, so far in the spring, has not allowed an opponent run. He faced McCutchen, who struck out, Hoskins doubled, Gregorius flew out, and Bohm struck out for the quick inning for Taillon. At the bottom, DJ LeMahieu faced Nola and struck out. Arron Judge ground out. Aaron Hicks struck out for a quick inning for the Phillies.
At the second, Hererra grounded out against Taillon. Quinn struck out, and Joyce struck out for Taillon’s 4th strikeout of six hitters. At the bottom, Giancarlo Stanton hit a single up the middle. Gleyber Torres struck out, Jay Bruce struck out, and Gio Urshela had a long fly out to end the inning.
The third inning had Mathis faced Taillon. Mathis is an unusual player; he is a 14 veteran and has only hit .194 for a career average. He struck out for Taillon’s fifth strikeout of the game. Ex-Yankee Ronald Torreyes singled to left. Back to the top of the lineup, McCutchen popped back to Taillon for the second out. Hoskins singled, and Torreyes scored for the Phillies’ one-game lead. Gregorius singled, and Bohm singled, loading the bases, and that was it for starter Taillon. Chad Green came in and struck out Hererra for the final out. Phillies 1 Yankees 0. At the bottom, Sanchez struck out, Frazier struck out, and LeMahieu ground out as Nola, who had three excellent innings.
At the top of the fourth, Quinn singled when Joyce at first failed to catch the ball, nevertheless, it was called a single. Quinn made a play for second, ran back to first, and made it back to second with an errant throw. Then Joyce flew to Frazier, Frazier moved back instead of forward, and the ball fell about 15 feet in front of him for the double, and Quinn scored on the screwed-up play for the 2 run lead for the Phillies. Torreyes struck out, and McCutchen flew out to end the inning, but the Phillies picked up another run. Phillies 2 Yankees 0.
At the bottom of the fourth, Aaron Judge hit a long ball to the wall in the center, but it was caught at the warning track. Aaron Hicks ground out. Stanton, on the second pitch, was hit in the upper arm. Stanton took first, and Gleyber Torres flew to first for the final out as Nola again conquered the Yankees.
Aroldis Chapman took over in the fifth inning. Chapman walked Hoskins on four pitches. Gregorius got a wild pitch, and Hoskins moved to second. Gregorius ended up striking out. Bohm at the plate, Chapman, threw a ball in the dirt that Sanchez didn’t catch and Hoskins moved to third base. Bohm struck out, Hererra ground out to end the half, but Chapman did not look sharp and didn’t seem to have command of his pitches.
Jay Bruce led off the Yankees half of the fifth; he flew out to center. Urshela popped to the infield for the second out. Gary Sanchez followed with another strikeout. Nola really looked good for the Phillies in five innings of play while striking out seven Yankees.
Darren O’Day, the sidearmer, took over for the New York Yankees at the bottom of the fifth inning. Quinn struck out. Joyce walked, and Mathis hit into a force out of Joyce at second two men out. Torreyes had a line-drive single to left. Two on two outs. McCutchen flew out to deep center to Hicks for the final out of the inning.
At the top of the sixth, Clint Frazier faced Nola out for the sixth inning of work. Frazier struck out against the pitcher that has only allowed one Yankee hit over his innings. LeMahieu struck out, and Aaron Judge lined out to second for six innings of shut-out baseball for Aaron Nola.
At the bottom, Justin Wilson took over for the New York Yankees. Hoskins singled to center. Gregorius followed with a long home run to right for the Phillies 4-0 lead. Bohm walked. Hererra at the plate, Wilson thew a pitch and called for the Yankees trainer. Apparently injured, he was taken out of the game, replaced by Nestor Cortes Jr. with no outs. Herrera walked charged to Wilson. Quinn bunt for an out but moved the runners to second and third. Joyce popped to the infield for the second out. Mathis struck out, and the Yankees got away with leaving two on base. Phillies 4 Yankees 0.
At the bottom of the seventh, Hicks flew out. Stanton had a long base hit to left. Torres ground to second, reaching first, but Stanton forced out at second. Jay Bruce almost got a home run, but Rojas snagged it for an amazing catch, and the Yankees last out of the inning. At the bottom, Jankowski walked. Moniak at the plate, Sanchez had a passed ball, and Jankowski advanced to second. Moniak, still at the plate, Jankowski headed for third and was called out. Two away. Moniak flew out to right for the end of the inning.
At the top of the eighth, with Hector Neris on the mound, Gio Urshela flew out to left. Sanchez struck out for his third strikeout of the game. Brito lined to first for the 1-2-3 inning for Neris. At the bottom Tyler Lyons the seventh pitcher on the Yankee’s mound, William struck out, Stott struck out swinging, Garcia doubled to left, and Rojas struck out.
With last licks in the line and trying to avoid the shut-out, Chris Gittens, one of the Yankees’ best hitters in the spring, faced the Phillies’ De Los Santos. Gittens was the Eastern League MVP in 2019. As the rain started at Steinbrenner field, he stuck out, one away. Tommy Milone struck out. The New York Yankees down to their last out brought Trey Amburgey to the plate. Amburgey ground out to second to end the game.
The Phillies won the game 4-0 for the Yankees shut out. The Yankees starter Jameson failed, and the Yankee hitting couldn’t catch up to the Phillies pitching. The winner was and the loser Jameson Taillon. It was reported that Yankees pitcher Justin Wilson had a shoulder injury and would undergo tests.