Both the Yankees and Phillies ran out partial lineups in Sunday’s afternoon action, with many players on both sides gearing up for action in this year’s World Baseball Classic. Despite that fact, it was a relatively tight game, that moved quickly end-to-end, featuring plenty of good pitching on both sides and promise for their starters, Will Warren for the Yankees and Andrew Painter for Philadelphia. The Yanks got the better of the Phils at the end of the afternoon, 5-3.
Warren, who co-led the American League in starts last season and will almost certainly have a regular role in 2026, looked excellent in his second spring outing. The right-hander was cut off at 50 pitches on the afternoon, but he certainly made the most of them. Across 3.2 innings of work, Warren punched out three Phillies, allowed just one hit while avoiding any walks and keeping the scoreboard blank.
This was obviously a promising start for Warren and the Yankees. If the 26-year-old can take a step forward in his second full big league season, it could be a major relief to a rotation that will be missing several key pieces in the early part of the season.
The first half of this ballgame flew by, thanks in large part to Warren’s performance in tandem with an equally dominant showing from Painter. The prized Phillies pitching prospect worked two innings against the Yankees, keeping things scoreless and striking out one in his limited 20-pitch outing. The Yankees did not record a hit against the 22-year-old.
For both sides, scoring kicked off in the fifth inning, after the bullpens had gone to work. The Yankee got things rolling their half when J.C. Escarra reached with a sun-aided double deep into center field. Two batters later, former Athletic Seth Brown singled to bring him home and give New York a 1-0 lead.
The Phillies punched right back in their half, however. The Yankees had Cade Winquest on the mound, who met Bryson Stott leading off for Philadelphia. The second baseman poked an 0-2 changeup deep and out to center field for a game-tying solo shot.
Against the Phillies ‘pen in the seventh, New York once again took the lead thanks to some high-quality two-out at-bats. With Jorbit Vivas in scoring position after a walk and a stolen base with two outs, Miguel Palma kicked off scoring with an RBI knock. Yanquiel Fernández continued the rally with a run-scoring double, before Duke Ellis piled on with a triple off the wall in left-center. Ernesto Martinez Jr. put the finishing touches on the inning with an infield single toward the hole on the left side, bringing the score to 5-1 after an eventful top half of the seventh.
After Stott’s homer, the Yankees relievers continued to keep the Phillies’ bats quiet. Angel Chivilli recorded two quick outs after Winquest left the game, and Ben Hess followed with two scoreless inning, allowing just one hit in his solid effort.
The Phillies put a solid fight together in the bottom half of the ninth against Michael Arias. After a walk, Philadelphia’s Dylan Campbell plated their second run of the day with a deep triple off the wall in left-center, before being quickly scored himself thanks to a single from Felix Reyes. Suddenly, the Yanks had their backs against the wall, with the tying run at the plate, but Reyes was able to induce a flyout to the center fielder Ellis to put a cap on their 5-3 victory.
With the win, the Yankees improve to 8-2 in Grapefruit League play, and will next take on Panama’s WBC team this Tuesday in a tune-up game for the national team.
