New York Yankees lose as Alex Rodriguez makes his spring debut

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Philadelphia Phillies 3-1 on Wednesday afternoon in Tampa, Florida.  The game took place at George M. Steinbrenner Field and saw the return of Alex Rodriguez to action after a year long suspension.  He was 1-2 and drew a walk and had a mix of cheers and boos but nothing overwhelming.  Nathan Eovaldi made his pitching debut for the Yankees and looked pretty good as well as Andrew Miller. 

Eovaldi pitched two innings giving up two hits and a run with a strikeout.  Miller pitched a scoreless inning giving up a hit and striking out two, Kyle Davies pitched two innings giving up three hits and a run with a walk and Danny Burawa pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout.  James Pazos pitched an inning giving up two hits and a run with a strikeout, Wilking Rodriguez pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout and Tyler Webb pitched an inning with a strikeout.  

Didi Gregorius drew a walk, Cito Culver had a hit and Rodriguez had a hit and drew a walk.  Gary Sanchez had an RBI, Francisco Arcia had a hit and Cole Figueroa had a hit.  Mason Williams had a hit which was a double, Arcia also hit a double.  The Yankees were 2-4 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base.  Drew committed an error and Williams had an outfield assist. 

In the second Cord Phelps hit an RBI single to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead.  In the fifth Maikel Franco hit an RBI single to give the Phillies a 2-0 lead.  The Yankees got on the board in the bottom of the sixth on a Sanchez sacrifice fly.  In the seventh Aaron Altherr hit an RBI single to give the Phillies a 3-1 lead.  The final score of the game was 3-1 and the Yankees record is 0-1-1 now in the spring.  The Yankees will play in Bradenton against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday afternoon.  Esmil Rogers will make the start.