The series this week between the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies was owned by the Phillies in the first two games. However, Wednesday afternoon's contest was a little bit different for the Bronx Bombers. Ivan Nova made his season debut, 14 months after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He got plenty of run support as the Yankees took this one 10-2 to avoid a sweep.
Nova was superb, tossing 6 2/3 scoreless innings while giving up just three hits in picking up his first win since April of 2014.
His mound opponent, Cole Hamels, who has been involved in a lot of trade talk, went five innings and gave up five runs. It definitely was not his best start. In addition, according to Joel Sherman of MLB Network, one of the Los Angeles Dodgers' main scouts, Galen Carr, was in attendance at this game watching Hamels.
The Yankees got the scoring started in the bottom of the second inning. Jose Pirela reached base on a fielder's choice, fielded by third baseman Andres Blanco. Chris Young and John Ryan Murphy scored.
In the fourth inning, Brett Gardner singled to drive in Didi Gregorious to make it 3-0 Yankees. Then, in the fourth still, Chase Headley doubled to score Pirela. Mark Teixeira also singled in Gardner in that same fourth inning to give the Yankees a 5-0 lead.
The Yankees also scored a run in the sixth when Young singled in Headley to make it 6-0.
Eventually, the Yankees led the Phillies 10-0 before the Phillies scored two runs in the ninth inning. The win for the Yankees snapped their three-game losing streak.
Next up, the Yanks start a four-game weekend series with the Houston Astros in Houston. The Phillies will return home Friday night to face baseball's hottest pitcher, Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer.