Yankees 8, Phillies 3: Pitching and offense come together as Bombers win third straight

Another spring training game is in the books, and the Yankees have another win under their belts. That’s three straight wins for New York. Both the regulars and the second-string players made solid contributions today, and the pitching was great aside from one rocky outing by Justus Sheffield.

Wasting no time at all, the Yankees loaded the bases after Jacoby Ellsbury singled, Gleyber Torres doubled, and Aaron Hicks singled. Danny Espinosa made himself useful and knocked in all three runs, but he was thrown out at third base for the third out. Hicks picked up another hit in the fourth inning with a leadoff double, and Ronald Torreyes hit a sac fly to give the Yankees a 4-0 lead.

By the time the sixth inning rolled around, the Yankees had replaced most of their original lineup. Kyle Higashioka hit a leadoff single, Torreyes doubled, and then both players scored after Jeff Hendrix reached on a fielding error. Higgy ended up going 3-for-3 with another double and a single. The Yankees tacked on their final two runs in the eighth after Hendrix singled and Rashad Crawford hit a sac fly.

As for the Yankee pitchers, Jordan Montgomery made his spring training debut today and pitched well. He gave up just one hit through two innings of work, and struck out two batters. We also got our first look at Justus Sheffield. He notched two strikeouts and looked filthy during his first inning of work, but his second inning was a different story. Sheffield surrendered a leadoff walk and hit the next batter. Nick Williams grounded into a force out to move the runner to third, and the Phillies got on the board with a sac fly. Maikel Franco ended Sheffield’s day with a two-run blast to left center field.

The rest of the Yankee relievers tossed scoreless innings, though it looked like the Phillies might be able to get something going in the fifth inning. Wade LeBlanc surrendered a leadoff walk in the fifth, then picked the runner off. Dylan Cozens followed with a double, then got caught stealing third. Pedro Florimon grounded out to end the inning. The rest of the game was smooth sailing, with LeBlanc, Cale Coshow, Raynel Espinal, and Giovanny Gallegos combining to strikeout eight batters.

Will this team ever lose? Check back tomorrow to find out. The Yankees will take on the Phillies at home at 6:35 EST. Unfortunately, there will be no video available, but you will be able to listen to the game if you have MLB.tv.

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