YANKEES SWEEP PHILLIES WITH HELP FROM NEW PLAYERS

The Yankees thumped the Phillies in game 1 of a 3 game series on Monday as Giancarlo Stanton returned to the lineup and Jazz Chisholm Jr. tried out third base. Luis Gil pitched against All Star Zach Wheeler. What should have been a pitchers dual was thwarted by the Yankees as they scored 7 runs on 7 hits against Wheeler in five innings. Gil pitched 5 1/3 innings and gave up 3 runs on 5 hits and struck out 8. Aaron Judge hit a home run in the first inning and Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Ben Rice each hit solo home runs in the second inning. The Phillies didn’t score until the third inning when Nick Castellanos scored on a fielders choice. The next inning Brandon Marsh hit a solo home run. The Yankees were winning 3-2 going into the fifth inning where they scored 4 more runs off Wheeler, 2 off a double by Juan Soto and 2 off a triple by Austin Wells. Marsh hit a RBI single in the sixth inning to add one more run for the Phillies but in the seventh inning Judge hit his second home run of the night (430 feet) which added 2 more runs for the Yankees. The Phillies scored one more run in the seventh inning on a wild pitch by Michael Tonkin.  The Yankees were winning 9-4 but didn’t stop there. In the eighth inning Anthony Volpe hit a 2 run home run and Soto hit a RBI double. In the ninth inning Giancarlo Stanton walked and scored when Chisholm Jr. hit his second home run of the night. The Yankees won 14-4.

Tuesday night was a battle for the win. Gerrit Cole was scratched with fatigue so the Yankees called up Will Warren from Triple-A to start the game. Warren pitched 5 1/3 innings and gave up 4 runs on 4 hits and struck out 6. Not a bad start for a newcomer making his first start at Citizens Bank Park against a good team.  Aaron Nola started for the Phillies. He pitched 5 2/3 innings and gave up 2 runs and struck out 4. Both teams scored in the first inning tying the game at 1-1. This will not be the only time the score is tied. In the second inning Austin Hays hit a 3 run home run giving the Phillies the lead. In the sixth inning Jazz Chisholm Jr hit a monster home run putting the Yankees down by 2. In the seventh inning Juan Soto and Aaron Judge walked and Chisholm Jr. hit his second home run of the night. Not only did he have 2 home runs but he made some great fielding plays at his new position at third base. With the Yankees now up by 1, Clay Holmes came in to pitch the ninth inning. He struggled giving up a few singles but the Yankees defense made some plays to stop runners from scoring. That was until Holmes threw a pitch that hit the dirt and it got away from Austin Wells. They tried to make the play at home but was unsuccessful as Johan Rojas scored to tie the game. Mark Leiter Jr., acquired by trade hours before the game, made his debut and pitched the 10th inning for the Yankees. He allowed 1 walk and 1 hit. Neither team scored in the 10th inning so onto the 11th. Anthony Volpe was on second, Trent Grisham grounded out which allowed Volpe to get to third and he later scored on a sacrifice fly by Alex Verdugo. But the Phillies had Bryson Stott on second for them and he was able to move to third on a wild pitch by Michael Tonkin. He later scored on a single by Hays. Game is now tied for the third time. In the 12th inning Wells was able to score on a sacrifice fly by Gleyber Torres and Tonkin got himself together. Brandon Marsh flied out to center and J.T. Realmuto and Weston Wilson struck out. The Yankees pulled out the win 7-6. The sacrifice fly by Torres was the only good thing he did in this game as he was 0-5 and fumbled the ball twice resulting in missed outs that could have altered the score and possibly ended the game sooner. Chisholm Jr. is having a great start to his Yankee career as this was his second night with two home runs. He also had 5 RBIs.

Wednesday afternoon DJ LeMahieu shined as the Yankees beat the Phillies 6-5 for the sweep. LeMahieu had a career high 6 RBIs. Nestor Cortes pitched against Christopher Sanchez. Cortes earned his fifth win of the season (his first win on the road) as he pitched 5 1/3 innings and gave up 3 runs on 3 hits and struck out 6. Sanchez pitched 5 2/3 innings and gave up 6 runs but also struck out 7. In the second inning the Yankees scored 3 runs on what appeared to be a double by LeMahieu. The ball went over the wall and a fan tried to catch it so the play went under review and it was determined it was actually a grand slam. The Phillies scored 2 runs in the fourth inning off a couple hits and another in the fifth inning off a home run by Weston Wilson. LeMahieu hit a double in the sixth inning and had 2 more RBIs. Also in the sixth inning, Luke Weaver replaced Cortes and allowed one run, an RBI for Nick Castellanos. Clay Holmes closed out the game and earned his 22nd save.

It seems like the Yankees have some new energy. Let’s hope it continues as they face the Toronto Blue Jays in a 3 game series starting Friday.