March 13, 2014 -- Phillies 6, Yankees (split-squad) 2 -- Clearwater FL

Hernandez perfect for 5, Phils single Yanks into oblivion 

Weather: 56 degrees, sunny  [but much warmer than the 30-degree temps up north]

Wind: 18 mph, L to R.

T: 2:31.

Att: 9,003  [sellout]

Umpires: HP: Toby Basner. 1B: Tom Hallion. 2B: Phil Cuzzi. 3B: Seth Buckminster.

Section 103, Row 13, Seat 9 (lower level, down the RF line) 

First Spring Training trip of the century, and so the first visit to Bright House Field. The field is within easy walking distance (less than a mile) from my hotel, which is fortunate because, despite the many virtues of Clearwater, freedom from heavy traffic is not a selling point.

The Phillie Phanatic is spending March in Clearwater (I believe for the first time), and drawing some national attention.

Nice to be able to get a 16-ounce cup of beer (OK, it’s Bud, but who’s counting) for just $4.75. Pulled pork sandwich from the Boar’s Head stand was excellent. The turquoise lettering on the scoreboard can be a little hard to read, though, and they really need to find a better seventh-inning stretch song than “Cotton-Eyed Joe.” And I can’t say I was overwhelmed by the Tiki Pavilion beyond the left field wall.

Despite it being a split-squad road game, the Yankees were classy enough to send a representative contingent of players to the game, including Jacoby Ellsbury, Ichiro, Mark Teixeira, Kelly Johnson, and starting pitcher Ivan Nova. It was interesting that Ellsbury was the first batter of the game – I had been chatting with a Red Sox fan on the flight down to Tampa, and we were commiserating about Jacoby’s defection to the Evil Empire. (I also hadn’t been aware that Boston fans had changed another outfielder’s surname from “Damon” to “Demon” after a similar move several years earlier.) Phils played all of their starters except for Jimmy Rollins (which turned into quite the story).

The Phils had no-out singles by Ben Revere in the first inning and by both Carlos Ruiz and Dominic Brown in the second, but Nova pitched out of trouble both times. He would not be so lucky in the third. After fouling off two bunt attempts, Revere singled to left. Chase Utley, Marlon Byrd, and Ryan Howard followed with singles to plate two runs, and a third scored on a Ruiz double-play grounder. The excitement continued with an infield single by Brown and a double to left by Darin Ruf, but Brown was gunned down at the plate to end the inning.

Perhaps somewhat fatigued by the unusual offensive explosion – the 6 3^rd-inning hits is more than they managed in some entire games earlier in the spring – the Phils managed no hits and only a single base runner over the next 4 innings. They reawakened in the 8^th against Yankees reliever Preston Claiborne with mostly reserves in the game. A leadoff single by Kevin Frandsen and a hit-and-run single by Clete Thomas set the stage, and the Phils scored one run on a double by Reid Brignac and two more on a double by Tommy Joseph.

Phillies starter Roberto Hernandez was extremely impressive, retiring the first 15 batters (10 on ground balls) before New York second baseman Scott Sizemore ended a tough at-bat with a clean single to center to lead off the 6^th. The Phils promptly removed Hernandez, who left to a nice ovation. Ellsbury led off the 7^th by homering to right, which was the first ball of the game to get into the strong wind blowing in that direction. The Yanks pushed another run across later that inning to cut the gap to 3-2, but the Phils’ bullpen retired the side in order in the 8^th and 9^th.