TAMPA, Fla. -- Jacoby Ellsbury homered and doubled to spark the Yankees' offense as they defeated the Braves, 8-7, in Grapefruit League action on Wednesday evening at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
Ellsbury connected for his first home run of the spring, a solo shot to right field off Jaime Garcia -- making his first start in a Braves uniform -- in the first inning. New York added three runs in the third, with Starlin Castro, Matthew Holliday and Chase Headley driving in runs off Matt Wisler, and four more in the sixth.
"If [Brett Gardner] and Ells are getting on, that's a dangerous combination," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "In the years that they've both gotten on a lot, we've scored a lot of runs."

Johan Camargo and Micah Johnson hit back-to-back home runs off Yankees reliever J.P. Feyereisen in the seventh inning, with Camargo's a three-run shot. Adam Walker launched a two-run homer facing Travis Hissong in the eighth.

Yankees right-hander Bryan Mitchell enjoyed a breezy outing, hurling three hitless innings. Mitchell walked one and struck out two, throwing 20 of 36 pitches for strikes. Dellin Betances hurled a scoreless fourth inning in his spring debut.
"I felt really good in my first inning honestly, but the second and third innings I really wasn't attacking as well," Mitchell said. "I made some pitches when I needed to. Good results tonight but I felt like I could have thrown the ball a little better."

Garcia worked two innings, permitting a run on two hits. He walked one and struck out none, throwing 25 of 39 pitches for strikes.
"I think the main thing is just getting your body going and getting your timing working with some of the pitches and executing the strike zone," Garcia said. "I was a little jumpy there in the first inning, but overall, I felt pretty good."

WHAT'S NEXT
Braves: Coming off their first night game, the Braves will travel to play the Cardinals in Jupiter on Thursday at 1:05 p.m. ET (listen on Gameday Audio). Bartolo Colon will be scheduled to complete three innings as he makes his second start. Colon is preparing for the regular season and the possibility of being added to the Dominican Republic's active roster during the World Baseball Classic.
Yankees: The Yankees are under the lights again on Thursday, hosting the Orioles in a 6:35 p.m. ET (watch on MLB.TV) contest at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Right-hander Adam Warren will make his second spring start for New York, with right-hander Tyler Wilson going for Baltimore. The game will be televised on the YES Network and MLB Network.
Watch every out-of-market regular-season game live on MLB.TV.