A late game home run off the bat of Darin Ruf proved to be the difference maker as the Phillies (9-7-1) defeated the Yankees by a score of 7-3 tonight in Tampa, Florida. Domonic Brown left the game early with a sore Achillies and will be examined tomorrow. Todd Zolecki of Phillies.com caught up with Brown in the clubhouse after his early exit.
“They’re saying tendinitis,” Brown said.
“I want to be in there, Spring Training or not,” Brown said. “I feel pretty good at the plate. I don’t want to miss any time, but this is part of the game, also. I’m definitely frustrated for sure. It seemed like we were going in the right direction, it was getting a little bit better.
“As soon as Chase Headley hit the home run (in the second inning), I took off and started feeling it then. Once I got to the on-deck circle … I could definitely feel it. Not pulling but grabbing a little bit.”
Prior to him leaving the game, he was 0-for-2 at the plate with two strikeouts.
Aaron Harang took the mound for his second start of the spring. Lingering back issues have kept the veteran right-hander out of action for a while. In his three innings of work, Harang gave up two runs, one earned. Jonathan Papelbon followed him with a scoreless frame. Meanwhile, Joely Rodriguez tossed two innings and gave up the game-tying run to Carlos Beltran. Rule-5 pick Andy Oliver continued his impressive spring though, going 1.2 innings perfect innings, striking out four in the process. Luis Garcia finished up the final 1.1 innings, earning his third save of the spring.
Offensively, Chase Utley went 2-for-2 at the plate with a walk and two runs scored. Ryan Howard went 1-f0r-3 with an RBI and Darin Ruf contributed with a homer in his two plate appearances. Other regulars in the lineup included Cody Asche (1-3, HR. RBI) and Freddy Galvis (1-4, 2 K's). Ben Revere continued to struggle, going 0-for-4 in the lead-off spot, lowering his spring average to .121.
Chase Headley went 1-for-3 with an RBI for the Yankees while first baseman Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez combined to go 0-for-6.
The Phillies were first to strike in this one, thanks to an RBI-single from Ryan Howard in the opening frame to score Chase Utley. Cody Asche blasted a solo homer in the second to give the Phils a 2-0 lead. Carlos Ruiz made it a 3-1 game with an RBI-single in the third. With the game tied at three in the eighth, Darin Ruf went deep for his first home run of the spring, a solo shot to give the Phillies a 4-3 lead. They added on three more runs in the ninth, thans to a Jordan Danks RBI-double, a Chris Nelson RBI-single and a fielding error on behalf of the Yankees.
Chase Headley got the Yankees on the board in the bottom of the second with a solo home run. In the fourth, Stephen Drew drove in Slade Heathcott with an RBI-double to cut the Phillies lead to just one. They tied the game on a Carlos Beltran RBI-single in the sixth, which would be their final run of the night.
Tomorrow afternoon at 1:05pm, the Phillies head to Bradenton to play the Pirates. Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez and Vance Worley are listed as the probable starters.
