GAME 16

PHILLIES 6, YANKEES (SS) 2

Roberto Hernandez threw five perfect innings and the Phillies touched Ivan Nova for three runs in the third inning as Philadelphia downed a New York split squad on Thursday at Bright House Field in Clearwater, FL.

Hernandez (1-0) gave up a leadoff single to Scott Sizemore in the sixth and was removed the game.

Nova (1-1) yielded three runs on nine hits while he struck out five in five innings of work.

Ben Revere, Chase Utley, Marlon Byrd, Ryan Howard and Domonic Brown all singled off Nova in the third inning. Darin Ruf then doubled but Brown was thrown out at the plate by left-fielder Ramon Flores.

Jacoby Ellsbury hit a solo home run, his first with the Yankees, in the seventh and Francisco Cervelli added another run in the frame with an RBI single off left-hander Jeremy Horst.

The Yankees’ spring record fell to 8-6-2. The Phillies are now 4-10.

PINSTRIPE POSITIVES

• Ellsbury has not had a good spring with the bat but his home run was a welcome site. The Yankees are counting on Ellsbury for batting average, power and speed at the top of the order this season.
• Cervelli’s hot spring continues. He has five RBIs and three of them have come in his last two games. The Yankees have pretty much given him the backup catching job. But he is earning it with his stellar play.
• Remember the name Bryan Mitchell. The 22-year-old right-hander pitched a perfect inning against the Phillies and struck out a pair. The Yankees think he could be a top of the rotation starter someday.

NAGGING NEGATIVES

• Nova has now put together two very shaky starts in a row. In those starts he has yielded six runs on 17 hits in nine innings. That has raised his spring ERA to 5.40. It is not worth worrying about quite yet. But Nova could stand to work on being more consistent.
• The Yankees managed only four hits in the game, It is hard to believe the Yankees could not solve Hernandez, who was formerly known as Fausto Carmons, was 6-13 with a 4.89 ERA in 32 games (24 starts) with the Tampa Bay Rays last season.

ON DECK

The Yankees will play host to the Minnesota Twins at George M. Steinbrenner Field on Friday.

Right-hander David Phelps will start for the Yankees.

Right-hander Kyle Gibson will pitch for the Twins.

Game-time will be 1:05 p.m. EDT and the game will be broadcast by the YES Network.