Phillies blank Yankees, 7-0
TAMPA — Domonic Brown blasted his fourth homer of the spring, and Philadelphia pitchers shut out a Yankees’ split squad 7 − 0 Saturday afternoon at Steinbrenner Field.
Starter Raul Valdes pitched three shutout innings, throwing 30 of his 40 pitches for strikes. He gave up three hits. Meanwhile regular starter Cole Hamels, who has looked superb this spring, was knocked around in a morning minor league game. Hamels allowed four earned runs in five innings, permitting six hits and two walks and striking out six.
Valdes, an option for the Phillies bullpen, also had pitched three scoreless innings in his previous appearance on Tuesday. Chad Durbin did not give up a run in his three innings. Mike Adams, Michael Stutes and Jake Diekman went one inning a piece to preserve the shutout against a Yankees split squad that included Derek Jeter, Ichiro Suzuku and Kevin Youkilis at the top of the order.
The Phillies added three more runs in the ninth inning against reliever Shawn Kelley. Catcher Steven Lerud smacked a 2-run homer to make it 6-0. Freddy Galvis knocked his sixth double of the spring, and a Pete Orr triple brought him home for the seventh run.
New York starter Hiroki Kuroda allowed all his runs in the fourth inning. Brown hit his bomb after an error put Ryan Howard on first and moved Chase Utley to third. Jermaine Mitchell followed up Brown’s homer with his third triple of the spring, and Yuniesky Betancourt singled Mitchell home. Mitchell, who also had a double, is hitting .467 this spring in 15 at-bats. Betancourt led Philadelphia with three hits, including a double.
But Brown perhaps shined the brightest among the Phillies’ hitters Saturday. He made a couple of impressive diving catches, alongside his first home run since March 3. Brown finished 1-for-3 and was hit by pitch.
Kuroda pitched six innings, allowing four runs, two earned, six hits and a walk.
Struggling star Roy Halladay returns to the mound for a home game Sunday against Baltimore.
