CLEARWATER, Fla. — Yankees right-hander Adam Warren normally heads straight to the clubhouse after his spring training outings.
His Saturday routine changed.
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After working two perfect innings as the Yankees’ starter in their 6-5 loss to the Phillies, Warren hung around in the dugout to watch the five Baby Bombers who were in the starting lineup get another at-bat.
“You kind of stick around a little bit longer and say, ‘Let me see what these guys have got,'” Warren said. “It’s a lot more enjoyable just to see the talent out there and how they compete.”
Most of the Baby Bombers did something to be noticed.
Gleyber Torres, a 20-year-old shortstop who is a top 5 prospect in baseball, was the Yankees’ star of the day with two doubles and impressive hustle in the fifth inning when he scored from second base on a wild pitch.
Third baseman Miguel Andujar, a hero in Yankees’ 9-4 win over the Phils in Tampa with a double and triple as a reserve, contributed again in his first start with a single and run scored in two at-bats.
Clint Frazier, also one baseball’s best outfield prospects, started in left and was 1-for-2 with a bloop single.
A day earlier, the Baby Bombers contributed seven of the Yankees hits and seven RBIs in the club’s winning spring opener, the highlight a long homer to left-center by rookie right fielder Aaron Judge that hit the scoreboard at Steinbrenner Field.
Yankees veterans have taken notice.
“There’s a little bit of buzz,” Warren said “I’ve seen Judge’s home run about 20 times already on the highlights. I think there’s a buzz and a little bit of energy with those guys. … It is spring training, but to come on a bigger stage and act like they’re just playing in the backyard, it’s pretty neat how mature they are.”
NOTABLE
— The Phillies won by scoring a ninth-inning run on a walk-off hit after the Yankees scored a run in the ninth to tie. The Phils scored three sixth-inning runs off lefty Daniel Camerena to turn score a 3-2 deficit into a 5-3 lead. The tie-breaker came on an inside-the-park homer by Maikel Franco, then Rhys Hoskins followed with a homer to center to make it 5-3.
— Franco also homered in the third off lefty Dietrich Enns to tie the game 1-1.
— Warren retired all six batters that he faced on 27 pitches, 17 of them strikes. He’s one of five right-handers competing this spring for two open rotation spots, but assured of a middle relief spot if he isn’t in the rotation.
— Slugger Chris Carter a February free agent signee, debuted with the Yankees by going 1-for-3 batting cleanup and DHing. With the Phillies in a heavy left-side shift, the right-handed-hitting Carter rocketed a ground single between two infielders for a leadoff hit in the fourth.
— The Yankees’ three runs scored on two wild pitches. Andujar and Torres both crossed the on the second to give the Yanks a 3-2 lead in the fifth inning.
JOB FIGHT AT CATCHER?
Maybe Austin Romine isn’t a sure thing to be the Yankees’ backup catcher again this season.
Kyle Higashioka, a defensive whiz whose 21 homers in Double-A and Triple-A last season tied for the best among all Yankees minor leaguers, is a candidate for the job, manager Joe Girardi said in his Saturday morning presser.
“Oh yeah,” Girardi said. “Here’s another kid that was drafted (in the seventh round in 2008) … Maybe he didn’t get to where he wanted to get to at a certain point he had envisioned — (he) went through an arm injury, came back — but he’s really put himself on the radar and he’s going to catch in the big leagues, too, at some point.”
Romine made his spring debut Saturday and was 0-for-3 at the plate with a grounder to second and can-of-corn flyball to right.
LOOKING AHEAD
Sunday: Toronto Blue Jays at Yankees in Tampa, 1:05 p.m. LHP Brett Oberholtzer (3-3, 5.89 ERA in 2016) vs. RHP Luis Severino (3-8, 5.83 ERA in 2016), YES/WFAN
Monday: Yankees at Baltimore Orioles at Sarasota, 1:05 p.m., RHP Chad Green (2-4, 4.73 ERA in 2016) vs. RHP Ubaldo Jimenez (8-12, 5.44 ERA in 2016), MLB Network
Tuesday: Yankees (split squad) at Boston Red Sox in Fort Myers, 1:05 p.m. TBA vs. RHP Luis Cessa (0-0, 0.00, 2 IP in spring)
Tuesday: Detroit Tigers vs. Yankees (split-squad) in Tampa, 1:05 p.m., TBA vs. Masahiro Tanaka (14-4, 3.07 ERA in 2016).
Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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