Citizens Bank Park became Yankee Stadium on the Delaware on Monday night.
Making their first visit to Philadelphia since the 2009 World Series, the New York Yankees brought droves of their fans with them - and the Yanks gave their many backers something to cheer about by handing the Phillies a 4-2 defeat.
It was a frustrating loss for the Phillies, who were dominated by a rookie starter and finished the night with just three hits, one a solo homer by Maikel Franco against gas-throwing Aroldis Chapman with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.
The frustration was palpable in the team's most respected player. Rhys Hoskins had words with home plate umpire Joe West after being called out looking at a third strike in the fourth inning. West, known for his short fuse, removed his mask and stared down Hoskins as the player voice his displeasure with the call.
Two innings later, in a key point in the game, Hoskins struck out again, this time with runners on second and third base. The ball got away from catcher Austin Romine and Hoskins was late getting down the first base line. Romine retrieved the ball and completed the out at first base. Upon returning to the dugout, Hoskins engaged in some not-so-friendly byplay with a fan above the dugout. Hoskins was clearly agitated with the fan. After going down the dugout stairs and removing his helmet, he returned to the top step and jawed a little more with the fan. Hoskins pointed toward home plate and appeared to say, "You go hit," to the fan.
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It was 80 degrees, perfect baseball weather, at first pitch. The seats were packed with just the second sellout crowd of the year - 44,136 - at Citizens Bank Park.
Phillies starter Vince Velasquez did not pitch badly, but he had no margin for error and paid a price for a couple of mistakes. Velasquez went six innings and gave up just three hits and two runs. However, he walked four and threw a costly wild pitch. He walked Greg Bird to lead off the second then threw a wild pitch. Velasquez then fooled the next batter, Gleyber Torres, with a 2-2 slider, but the off-balance Torres got enough wood on the ball to dunk an RBI double down the right-field line for a run.
In the fifth, Velasquez went to his slider again with a 2-2 count and Aaron Judge scorched a liner over the left-field wall to give the Yanks a 2-0 lead. Judge's homer came off the bat at 110.9 miles per hour.
Jonathan Loaisiga was brilliant for the Yankees in just his third big-league start. He came out of the gate with five no-hit innings and left after giving up a single, a walk and a groundout in the sixth. Reliever David Robertson came on and got two outs, including the strikeout of Hoskins, to end the Phillies' threat.
Loaisiga, 23, opened the season in the Single A Florida State League. Nine weeks ago, he pitched against the Clearwater Threshers, the Phillies' minor-league team in that league. In this one, he gave up just one hit and two walks while striking out eight in 5⅓ scoreless innings.
The Phillies got on the board and made it a 2-1 game when Scott Kingery singled home Carlos Santana with one out in the seventh. The rally went no further as Franco and Jorge Alfaro struck out. Alfaro struck out against Dellin Betances after Kingery had stolen second.
The Yankees pulled away with two runs against the Phillies' beleaguered bullpen in the top of the eighth. Giancarlo Stanton knocked in both runs with a bases-loaded high chop over a drawn-infield on the first pitch he saw from Yacksel Rios. Both runs were charged to Adam Morgan.
Chapman survived the Franco homer and got the final four outs for the Yankees, who are 51-25.
The Phillies are 41-35.
Notes
• The Phillies recalled reliever Hector Neris from Triple A just a week after he was demoted. Neris replaced reliever Edubray Ramos, who went on the disabled list with an impingement in his right shoulder. Neris pitched a 1-2-3 sixth inning.
