Strong pitching and a two-run homer from Curtis Granderson helped push the New York Yankees past the Philadelphia Phillies 7-3 in their second Grapefruit League contest of the spring.
The pitching staff was led by Ivan Nova, who started the game and worked two scoreless innings in his initial bid to win a spot at the back end of New York’s rotation.
Manager Joe Girardi seemed impressed.
“He looked good,” Girardi said of Nova. “His ball was moving, he had a good curve. You could tell by the ground balls he got that he was keeping the ball down in the zone.”
The highlight of the day, perhaps, was the appearance of the highly regarded Dellin Betances, who struck out the side in the bottom of the fifth inning around a two-out walk.
Betances was explosive, reaching 97 miles per hour with his fastball. If there’s a knock on the 22-year-old’s performance, it’s that he had trouble locating his secondary pitches, often leaving them well up in the zone.
The Yankees blew the game open with a four-run bottom of the sixth, as Nick Swisher and Jorge Posada each had RBI hits. Jesus Montero added another RBI on a broken-bat single to left field.
Jorge Vazquez closed the scoring for the Yankees in the top of the ninth with his second home run in as many games this spring, this one off a brand name: Phillies closer Brad Lidge.
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