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The Yankees demolished their crosstown rivals over the weekend, but had to settle for a draw against Joe Girardi and the Phillies. With the 2-2 tie, the Yankees have concluded their three-game exhibition slate, and are now locked and loaded for their Opening Day date with the defending champion Washington Nationals. The beginning of this strange (to say the very least) season is truly upon is.
Winner of the Game
After putting on a power show last night, the Yankees’ bats were a little quieter tonight. The only damage through the first eight innings came via another Aaron Judge home run, his third in the past two nights:
Enjoy this home run that may or may not have been hit by @TheJudge44 #AllRise? pic.twitter.com/klb8N0Uhym
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 21, 2020
After pulling his two dingers yesterday, Judge went oppo, showing off his all-fields all-world power.
It was Mike Ford that snatched a tie from the jaws of defeat. Ford led off the bottom of the ninth with a solo home run to even the score:
Absolutely OBLITERATED
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) July 21, 2020
Mike Ford ties it up in the 9th!
FINAL: Phillies 2, Yankees 2 pic.twitter.com/lkUroYKSQb
After the ninth inning concluded without further action, the teams agreed not to carry the proceedings over into extras and called it a night.
Honorable mention: Weird baseball. The Phillies started the game with two DH’s but phased one out in the middle of the game. Judge’s home run came after the third out of the fifth inning was recorded, because Philly wanted to get Vince Velazquez a bit more work. I for one support MLB’s initiative to institute a touch of Calvinball.
Loser of the Game
It was a rough outing for the Yankees’ top prospect. Deivi Garcia looked a bit jittery in the first inning of his first start at Yankee Stadium, missing spots to both his glove side and his arm side. After a pair of quick outs to begin the game, Garcia yielded a run and loaded the bases with two doubles and two walks. He escaped with minimal damage, but threw away a pickoff throw and hit a batter in the second before Aaron Boone came and got the young right-hander.
With any luck, the 21-year-old Garcia will make many excellent starts in the Bronx as a member of the Yankees. This just didn’t happen to be one of them.