Aaron Judge, Yankees Rally for Tie vs. Phillies in MLB Summer Camp Exhibition

At least the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees won't enter the 2020 season on a losing note.

Philadelphia and New York tied 2-2 in Monday's exhibition at Yankee Stadium in what was the final tuneup for both teams with the season approaching. New York faces the Washington Nationals in its opener Thursday, while the Phillies play the Miami Marlins on Friday.

It appeared as if the Phillies would come away with a 2-1 victory, but Mike Ford blasted a solo homer in the ninth inning to pull even before both sides decided they were fine with a tie.

The biggest storyline coming into the game was the performance of Yankees' starter Deivi Garcia.

After all, the 21-year-old is New York's No. 3 prospect on MLB.com's database for the 2020 season. The website's profile says the right-hander has "one of the best breaking balls in the minors" to go with a fastball with movement, slider, "solid changeup" and "high-spin curveball."

While the future is bright, Monday's performance was not a memorable one.

He allowed two runs, four hits and two walks with just one strikeout in 1.2 innings even though Bryce Harper and Andrew McCutchen were out of the Philadelphia lineup. The damage would have been worse if he didn't escape a bases-loaded jam in the first inning after allowing a J.T. Realmuto RBI double, but Roman Quinn's RBI single in the second came after he threw a pickoff away.

Control was a problem, as Garcia threw two pickoffs away and hit Jean Segura in the second inning alone before manager Aaron Boone pulled him.

It was a different story for counterpart Vince Velasquez, who would have pitched five shutout innings if his manager didn't fully embrace the fact this game didn't count and have him face one last hitter.

After Velasquez worked through the fifth unscathed, manager Joe Girardi asked him to stay out and face Aaron Judge in a practice situation. As if things weren't confusing enough, Judge blasted a solo home run that apparently counted on the scoreboard even though the Yankees already had three outs.

Velasquez finished with the one run and four hits allowed to go with six strikeouts in five impressive innings, notably working out of a bases-loaded jam in the first by striking out Gary Sanchez.

It was a welcome sign for the Phillies after the veteran finished with a 4.91 ERA and 1.39 WHIP in an unspectacular 2019 campaign. He is not expected to anchor a rotation featuring Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler and Jake Arrieta, but Philadelphia's ceiling will be much higher if Velasquez pitches like he did Monday.

Both offenses went relatively quiet against the bullpens with Phillies left fielder Adam Haseley snuffing out an opportunity for New York by throwing out Aaron Hicks at the plate in the sixth inning to preserve the visitors' one-run lead.

However, Mauricio Llovera was unable to shut the door for Philadelphia, giving up the homer to Ford.

Both teams are done with summer exhibitions following Monday's contest, meaning it is time to turn attention to the 60-game sprint to the playoffs.