Giancarlo Stanton, Masahiro Tanaka shine in Yankees’ tie with Phillies

The Yankees got their first look at Bryce Harper in a Phillies uniform today. Unfortunately, the game wasn’t televised, so the rest of us will have to keep waiting. After trailing for most of the game, the Bombers finally took the lead in the sixth. They squandered it in the ninth, however, after Phillip Diehl loaded the bases and allowed the tying run to score on a wild pitch. In the bottom half, Pedro Beato struggled to find the zone, but the Yankees’ second-string players were not able to walk it off.

Here are three takeaways from the game:

1. It was a classic Masahiro Tanaka outing tonight. He struck out six batters, including Bryce Harper, but also got into trouble. He started the second inning with three consecutive singles to load the bases. Somehow, the Phillies didn’t score. Tanaka got two strikeouts, then Scott Kingery lined out to end the inning. He surrendered a solo home run to start the fourth, and was pulled from the game with one on and two outs. Chad Green promptly gave up a two-run bomb to make it a two-run night for Tanaka.
2. Another pitcher who worked his way into trouble was Adam Ottavino. He was not lucky enough to get out if it, though. With one out, Bryce Harper reached on catcher’s interference, then stole second base. Rhys Hoskins singled, and J.T. Realmuto walked to load the bases. Ottavino proceeded to strike out Maikel Franco, but Aaron Altherr knocked an RBI single before the top-half ended.
3. Whenever I find myself thinking we’ve reached the point in spring training games where they aren’t all that fun anymore, something exciting happens. During his third at-bat, Giancarlo Stanton homered over the left field scoreboard. It’s great to see him healthy and mashing the ball.

Highlight of the Game

Tomorrow we return to our regularly scheduled programming. The Yankees take on the Blue Jays in Dunedin at 1:07 ET. Luis Cessa is lined up to start opposite of Matt Shoemaker. Unfortunately, this game won’t be televised either. There will be audio on MLB.tv though.