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Phillies will play exhibition games vs. Nationals, Orioles and Yankees before 60-game season begins

MLB might allow teams to play their preseason games with relaxed rules and not the traditional rules used in the Grapefruit League or regular-season game.

Outfielder Andrew McCutchen captures the scene with his phone as he prepares to take batting practice during the Phillies workout at Citizens Bank Park on Monday.
Outfielder Andrew McCutchen captures the scene with his phone as he prepares to take batting practice during the Phillies workout at Citizens Bank Park on Monday.Read moreDAVID MAIALETTI / Staff Photographer
    by Matt Breen
    Published 

The Phillies will play three exhibition games in big-league ballparks later this month, but the final tune-ups before a 60-game season could look more like an anonymous afternoon on the backfields of the team’s spring-training complex than a major-league game.

Major League Baseball, Phillies general manager Matt Klentak said, might allow teams to play their preseason games with relaxed rules and not the traditional rules used in the Grapefruit League or regular-season game. The teams could play with modified innings as pitchers will still be gearing up for the season.

The Phillies will play the Washington Nationals on July 18 at Nationals Park, host the Baltimore Orioles on July 19, and travel to Yankee Stadium on July 20. All three games will begin at 6:05 p.m. The season is scheduled to begin July 24 against the Marlins at Citizens Bank Park. They play the Nationals 10 times during the regular season, face the Orioles three times, and play the Yankees four times.

“I think over the next couple weeks as our pitchers get built up and more and more players arrive in camp we should be in position to play those games,” general manager Matt Klentak said. “I hope we will because the regular season starts just a few days later. So we should be in position to field those.”