Yankees Phillet Phillies with Cortés, Bullpen, Homers

The Yankees started a 3-game home series with the Philadelphia Phillies tonight. The defending National League Champions are in an injury crisis, having lost 1st baseman Rhys Hoskins for the season due to a knee injury, and superstar right fielder Bryce Harper probably until the All-Star Break due to having had Tommy John surgery on his arm. Yes, nonpitchers sometimes need it, too.

Before the game, the Yankees honored former 1st baseman Ron Blomberg, honoring the 50th Anniversary of his becoming the 1st designated hitter in a regular-season game. (The Yankees will be on the road on Thursday, the actual anniversary, April 6, 1973.) He threw out the ceremonial first ball, and watched the game with Dan Epstein, with whom he collaborated on a book about his relationship with Thurman Munson, The Captain and Me. (Epstein also wrote the great baseball books Big Hair and Plastic Grass: A Funky Ride Through Baseball and America in the Swinging '70s and Stars and Strikes: Baseball and America in the Bicentennial Summer of '76.)

Epstein (left) and Blomberg

Nestor Cortés started for the Yankees, and was held to 5 innings, allowing 1 run on 7 hits. The bullpen got the job done: Between them, Ian Hamilton (making his Yankee debut), Jonathan Loáisiga and Clay Holmes pitched 4 shutout innings, allowing 4 hits. My favorite part: For the entire game, the Yankees pitchers didn't walk anybody.

Of course, we needed runs. All that we would need came quickly: DJ LeMahieu led off with a triple, Aaron Judge and Anthony Rizzo both drew walks, Giancarlo Stanton got a run home on a groundout, and Gleyber Torres got another home on an infield single. 2-0 Yankees.

Torres hit a home run in the 3rd, the 100th of his career. The Phillies scored in the 4th, but Cortés worked out of it. The Yankees put the game away in the 5th, with a LeMahieu single, a Rizzo homer, a Stanton walk, a Torres walk, a 2-RBI double by new acquisition Franchy Cordero (that's the 28-year-old Dominican outfielder's real name: Franchy Cordero Vargas), and a single by Jose Trevino.

Yankees 8, Phillies 1. WP: Cortés (1-0). No save. LP: Tajuan Walker (0-1).

The series continues tomorrow night. Domingo Germán is scheduled to start for the Yanks, Matt Strahm for the Phils.