Phillies starter Zach Eflin lives dream of facing, beating Yankees

The right-hander pitched seven shutout innings.

For Zach Eflin, pitching against the New York Yankees was a dream.

The experience may have even lived up to his childhood expectations.

Eflin shut the Yankees down for seven innings on Wednesday as the Phillies salvaged the final game of a three-game series with a 3-0 win.

Eflin (6-2) finished off a 5-0 May by allowing just four hits, walking two and striking out six. He threw 22 of 26 first-pitch strikes before yielding to Seranthony Dominguez for the final two innings and a six-out save.

Yanks, Phils Machado front-runners?

“It’s pretty cool, very cool actually,” said Eflin of facing baseball’s most storied franchise. “When you’re a kid, you dream of facing the Yankees. To be able to face the Yankees and go seven scoreless was awesome.”

The Yankees played with an eye on this weekend’s big series against the Red Sox. CC Sabathia was pushed back to Friday and Luis Cessa made a spot start – giving up a three-run homer to Rhys Hoskins in the second inning for the game’s only runs – and lasted three innings before hitting his pitch count.

Aaron Judge rested. Greg Bird and Austin Romine were on the bench as well, and the make-shift lineup was over-matched by the Phillies’ hottest pitcher.

The bottom three hitters were .189-hitting Neil Walker, Kyle Higashioka – still looking for his first major-league hit – and the pitcher’s spot.

Still there were enough dangerous hitters that Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said it might have been Eflin’s most impressive outing yet.

“He was dominant in June against some of baseball’s best teams and tonight was kind of the cherry on top,” said Kapler. “He went through a Yankees’ lineup that is arguably one of the top 5 in baseball.”

Yankees manager Aaron Boone was impressed as well.

“Fastball both sides of the plate, mixing in the slider,” said Boone. “I knew we had a tough customer coming in. I know he’s been pitching well. Really, we saw three good pitchers for the Phillies in this series and Eflin, you can see why they’re kind of excited about him. I thought he threw the ball really well and really was in command, and he kind of shut us down.

“We were pretty quiet. Usually even when we’re not scoring runs, we’re mounting things. We really didn’t mount that much against him. He was in command.”

For Eflin, who has been injury-prone throughout his career, health has been the biggest factor. He has admittedly gone from a sinker-baller trying for ground balls to a pitcher who can throw a four-seamer by hitters.

In the process, he is shedding the label that he didn’t miss enough bats.

“To be healthy and have two catchers who know how to catch a great game and be able to put the puzzle pieces together has been awesome,” said Eflin. “I’m understanding who I am as a pitcher, correcting mistakes and doing my homework on hitters.

“I came over (in a trade with the Padres) as a sinker and change-up guy and now I have a locked and loaded arsenal. I can more aggressively throw my four-seamer. It’s kind of cool to think you’re one pitcher and ultimately be a different pitcher.”

Bill Evans can be reached at [email protected] or by leaving a note in the comments below. Follow him on Twitter @BEvansSports.