Venue Changes, but Sloppy Play Does Not
By Adam Shemesh
Tyler Wade looked more like someone stranded on a desert island, as opposed to a centerfielder
Like Friday’s 9-2 victory that featured three Yankee homers, Saturday’s affair also featured excitement. Unfortunately, this time the Phillies laid claim to most of it.
Scott Kingery’s second base hit of the day scored the speedster Roman Quinn to give the Phillies a 6-5 win in their home opener this spring.
After not getting a hit until the 7th inning on Friday, the Phillies’ lineup featured some more star power in their spring home opener on Saturday.
One example of added star power, Maikel Franco made his 2017 debut on Saturday. In the 6th, with young righty Daniel Camarena on the mound, Franco drove a ball into the left-center field gap. Centerfielder Tyler Wade threw his hands up, asking for a ground-rule double call. Franco kept running, and he crossed the plate with his second home run of the day- an inside-the-park job.
Ealier, Franco drove a home run into dead center field with Camarena on the bump. In 2015, he put his name on the map by driving in 10 runs in three games against the Yankees.
After Franco’s inside the parker, the Phillies’ Rhys Hoskins took Camarena deep. The 6’4″, 225 LB first base prospect used an effortless swing that provided a perfect sound off the bat and landed well into the right-center field seats. The unusual combo of back to back home runs gave Philadelphia a 5-3 lead. They would go on to win 5-4.
Wade’s miscue would not be the only costly one of the day. In the third, Miguel Andujar made a throwing error that would lead to the Phillies’ first run of the ballgame.
Outside of Camarena’s rocky outing, the Yankee pitchers held their own until the 9th, when Kyle Holder served up the fateful base knock. Adam Warren opened the game with a pair of scoreless frames, and fellow rotation candidate Dietrich Enns posted a pair of solid innings as well. Ben Heller struck out the side in the 7th.
In a losing effort, the Yankees recieved a good dosage of luck. Down to their last out in the 9th, the Yankees scored after a bloop double by Ji Man Choi and an RBI single by Pete Kozma. Three New York runs scored on a pair of Mark Appel wild pitches, in the second and fifth innings, respectively. The latter scored a pair of runs, as Gleyber Torres came around all the way from second, beating Appel’s tag at the plate.
Appel pitched two innings, allowing a pair and striking out three. Six additional pitchers pieced together the victory for the Phillies.
Gleyber Torres had a productive day at the plate, doubling twice and scoring those two runs on wild pitches. Here’s more info about his ride from international free agent to top prospect.
In their opening Spring Training act, the Yankees commited two errors. Unlike yesterday, the offense could not bail out costly defensive miscues on Saturday.
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