Yankees Beat Phillies in First of Six Spring Meetings Fla. - With palm trees bending in a stiff wind and players wearing jerseys with numbers in the high 80s, Saturday's Grapefruit League opener would never be mistaken for an important game. But because it was the first baseball game the Yankees have played against another major league club since last year, and because of the quality of the opposition, it was a reminder that the two teams playing in their 2012 spring training openers could close out another postseason as well. "This is exactly the World Series that everyone wants to see," Yankees outfielder Nick Swisher said. I know it's the World Series I want to see. They're the Yankees of the National League and I feel it's the two best teams in baseball. A year ago, the Phillies and the Yankees did own the two best records in baseball, but both lost in the first round of the playoffs. The Phillies won 102 games but were defeated at home by the eventual World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals in Game 5 of their National League division series. The Yankees won 97 games but were bounced at home in Game 5 by the Detroit Tigers. Still, the Yankees and the Phillies have won two of the last four World Series, and they faced each other in the 2009 Series, which the Yankees won. Five months after the 2011 season ended in disappointment for both teams, they returned to the field. "I know I woke up feeling a little different today," Yankees catcher Russell Martin said. You definitely feel a little something for the first spring game. After all this time, you want to play in a real game. You're tired of facing your own teammates and you want real competition. If nothing else, Saturday was one of many marking posts along the road to late October. Spring training games may be meaningless, but the first one can still provide a small jolt of enthusiasm, and even create a case of nerves for some veterans. When some of the regulars came out of the Yankees" tuneup game against the University of South Florida on Friday, infielder Eric Chavez asked them if they felt any nerves. "They said they did," said Chavez, who did not play in that game, "and I anticipate I will, too." But after he came out of the Yankees" 8-5 victory at the Phillies" complex in Clearwater, in the first of six Grapefruit League games between the teams, Chavez was surprised to discover that he did not feel any butterflies at all. "But it's still good to play in a game and see another team out there," Chavez said. Ivan Nova started for the Yankees against Cole Hamels in the first of three straight spring training games between the teams - a miniseries of sorts. "Best of three," Manager Joe Girardi said. The last time Nova pitched for real was in his ill-fated Game 5 start against the Tigers, when soreness in his right forearm forced him from the game after two innings. Nova surrendered two runs in that game, and the Yankees, unable to get a key hit, lost, 3-2. On Saturday, Nova said he could not wait to get back on the mound after all that time off, and he pitched two reasonable innings. He also reported no problems with the arm. He allowed one earned run on a two-run homer by Hunter Pence and did not accept the excuse of the stiff wind carrying the ball. "When I heard the contact I said, "That ball's gone," " Nova said. Curtis Granderson also hit a home run, although he acknowledged it was carried over the wall by the wind. Granderson, who hit 41 home runs and knocked in 119 runs last season, also doubled and scored two runs. For him, the best part of finally playing in games against other teams is the chance to do things that are not suitably replicated in practice, like tagging up, breaking to steal a base or sliding back to the bag. When Girardi was asked about finally seeing a major league team in the other dugout, he said he considered South Florida a worthy opponent. But that game did not count, and neither did Saturday's against the Phillies. If the two teams do play a meaningful game this year, it will mean that the season went according to Swisher's plan. Raul Ibanez made his Yankees Grapefruit League debut against his old team and was cheered by the fans, who serenaded him with "Raoooool" chants that sounded a bit like boos. "I can't tell the difference," he said. ... The Phillies" Roy Halladay is scheduled to start and pitch an inning or two Sunday against the Yankees in Tampa. ... The Yankees have shut down catcher Austin Romine except for exercises to build up strength in his injured back.