The New York Yankees defeat the Philadelphia Phillies in grapefruit league opener

The New York Yankees defeated the Philadelphia Phillies by the score of 8-5 on Saturday afternoon. It was the grapefruit league opener for both teams. The Yankees did play a game on Friday afternoon against the University of Southern Florida and won that game 11-0. In this game Ivan Nova made the start and looked pretty good for two innings. He did give up a two run homerun but one of the runs was unearned. The Yankees defense behind him was sloppy as they made three errors in the first two innings. Nova had one of the errors though on a attempted pickoff play. Eric Chavez was playing first and should of at least knocked the ball down if not caught it. 
David Phelps pitched two scoreless innings giving up a hit. He struck out one. Nova also had two strikeouts in his outing. Manny Banuelos the Yankees top pitching prospect got the win pitching two innings and giving up a hit. He walked two though, that is the biggest thing with him his control. He is only 20 years old though and will be in AAA Scranton Wilkes/Barre this season. Dellin Betances another top prospect pitched one scoreless inning. He also struggled with his control walking two guys. Michael O’Connor did not have a good debut. The Yankees are still looking for a second lefty out of the pen and he didn’t leave a good first impression. O’Connor pitched one inning giving up three runs on three hits with a walk and a strikeout. He turned an 8-2 blowout into an 8-5 tight game.

Curtis Granderson was the offensive star starting out as he left off last year. Granderson had a double and a homerun in the game. Raul Ibanez had a hit and an RBI, they were the only regulars with hits. Bill Hall did have a hit but he is a longshot to make the team. Chris Dickerson who could be a fifth outfielder candidate had a hit and a walk. Dewayne Wise who is best known for his catch to preserve Mark Buehrles perfect game had two hits and an RBI. Cole Garner who the Yankees picked up from the Rockies organization had two hits and two RBI including a two run homerun. Zoile Almonte who was the star yesterday had another hit and two RBI.

The Yankees will play their first home grapefruit league game of the season on Sunday afternoon. The Yankees will once again play the Phillies. The game will be broadcast on the YES network and will begin at 1:00PM.