The Yankees did not get to play a full nine inning game against the Phillies in their last Grapefruit League bout, but there was enough action to satisfy the senses. Michael Pineda was on the mound for the Yankees, and the Phillies went to Jonathan Papelbon.
Pineda was predictably excellent. He pitched all five innings of the game, striking out five and walking no one while allowing five hits. He did get in to a bit of trouble in the first inning as he had men on first and third with one out, but he got Ryan Howard to ground into a double play to end the threat. That was pretty much the best the Phillies could do.
On the offensive side, the bats remained dormant until the fifth inning. Papelbon threw a scoreless inning in the first just so he could get some work in, and then Ryne Sandberg went to Aaron Nola, the seventh overall pick in the 2014 draft, for innings two through four. For someone getting their first look in big league camp, Nola was impressive. He did allow five hits, but he struck out four and walked no one.
Once Nola was out of the game, things fell apart for the Phillies. They brought in Jake Diekman, and he recorded just one out in what would be a seven-run inning. Brendan Ryan started the inning with a double, followed by a Brett Gardner single, a passed ball to bring Ryan home, a Chase Headley single, a Carlos Beltran RBI single, and a Mark Teixeira RBI single. Diekman then got McCann to fly out, but then walked Alex Rodriguez and allowed an RBI single to Stephen Drew to make the score 5-0.
That would end the game for Diekman, and Sandberg then brought in Hector Neris. Neris immediately allowed an RBI double to Chris Young, and the Yankees led 7-0. He was able to squeak out of the inning without any more damage, but the onslaught would not end.
It seemed like Neris would get through the sixth inning quickly as he struck out Aaron Judge and got Jonathan Galvez to fly out, but he then allowed a single to Eddy Rodriguez, a single to Kyle Higashioka, walked Rob Refsnyder, and then let up a bases-clearing double to Tyler Austin to make the score 10-0.
And just like that, with two outs in the top of the sixth inning, the Heavens invoked the mercy rule and it began to pour. The grounds crew promptly put the tarp out on to the field and a rain delay began. The delay only lasted briefly and the game was called, giving the Yankees a 10-0 victory.
The Yankees will play another game tomorrow afternoon against the Baltimore Orioles as the Yankees' Scott Baker will take on Bud Norris. The game will begin at 1:05 PM EST, and you can catch it on YES, MLB.tv, or WFAN.