Phillies vs NY Yankees
By Matt Veasey
The Phillies (0-0) open Grapefruit League play this afternoon with a 1:05pm scheduled first pitch in Clearwater, Florida against the visiting New York Yankees at Bright House Field.
The game will be televised locally in the Philly market ‘live’ on CSN, and will rebroadcast on MLB Network tonight at 9pm. On radio, fans can catch the action on the usual local outlets: 1210 WPHT on the AM dials, and 94 WIP on the FM side.
This will be the first opportunity fans have to catch the regular players in game action this spring, after a group of mostly projected minor leaguers and bench players dropped a 6-2 exhibition decision on Sunday to the University of Tampa.
With regular 2nd baseman Chase Utley still nursing a sore ankle that is likely to keep him out of action for at least this first week of games, Cesar Hernandez will step in to man the keystone.
Slotting into Utley’s usual 3-hole in the batting order will be leftfielder Grady Sizemore. The catching will be done by Cameron Rupp, as Carlos Ruiz takes up the DH position.
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For the visiting Yanks, there will be no debut by Alex Rodriguez. The controversial 3rd baseman is not making this trip, instead holding off his spring debut until tomorrow, when the Phils will again be the opponent at George Steinbrenner Field.
A number of other familiar faces will also be held out until tomorrow by New York, including catcher Brian McCann and 1st baseman Mark Teixeira. High-profile starters scheduled to make the trip for the Yankees include outfielders Jacoby Ellsbury and Brett Gardner.
PITCHING MATCHUPS:
Jerome Williams PHI (0-0) vs. Adam Warren NYY (0-0)
Scheduled to follow Williams for the Phillies are David Buchanan, Joely Rodriguez, Jeanmar Gomez, and Mario Hollands.