Yankees takeaways from Friday’s 4-1 loss to Phillies, including Deivi Garcia’s shaky-but-effective start

The Yankees pitching ruled the day against the Phillies until the ninth inning, as the Bombers dropped Friday’s game by a score of 4-1.

Here are some key takeaways from Friday’s loss…

– Deivi Garcia’s night on the mound got off to a shaky start, command-wise. The 21-year-old walked three Phillies in the first inning to load the bases with one out. But to Garcia’s credit, he was able to lock in and get out of the jam by forcing Odubel Herrera to flyout and getting Andrew Knapp on a called strike three.

Garcia’s second inning also started with a walk to Matt Joyce, and the right-hander needed 45 pitches to get out of the first two innings. The third inning was a good sign for Garcia though, as he needed just 11 pitches to retire the side in order.

In four spring starts, Garcia now has a 1.64 ERA in 11.0 innings of work. The Yankees have a lot of questions in their rotation after Gerrit Cole, but Garcia could be the answer at the back end.

– Aroldis Chapman made his third appearance of the spring, pitching the fourth inning for the Yankees. He didn’t strike out any batters, but he pitched a 1-2-3 inning and has still yet to allow an earned run this spring.

– The Yankees broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth inning. After Aaron Judge walked against Ivan Nova to start things, Aaron Hicks doubled and Giancarlo Stanton drew a walk to load the bases with nobody out. Luke Voit then lifted a sac fly to right to put the Yankees on board. But after Gleyber Torres walked to load the bases again, Gio Urshela bounced into a double play to end the threat.

– Yankees pitching continued to dominate Phillies hitters. Following Garcia and Chapman, Darren O’Day, Justin Wilson, and Chad Green all threw a scoreless inning each, with Green striking out two hitters. The Yankees took a combined no-hitter into the eighth.

Luis Garcia finally allowed the Phillies’ first hit of the game in top of the eighth inning, a single to former Yankee Ronald Torreyes.

Story continues

– Kyle Barraclough could not close the door in the top of the ninth inning, as he walked three and uncorked a wild pitch to allow the tying run to score. Later in the inning, Reggie McClain dropped a throw back from catcher Rob Brantly, allowing the go-ahead run to score. Darick Hall then doubled in two more give the Phillies a 4-1 lead.

– The Yankees only had two hits of their own, doubles by Voit and Hicks. Other starters like Judge, Torres, Gary Sanchez and DJ LeMahieu combined to go hitless.

What’s next

The Yankees travel to play the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday at 6:05 p.m..