Phillies ace Roy Halladay provided another solid outing on Monday, although giving up his 1st run of the spring through ten innings.  The Phils scored a fourth inning run on Pirates starting lefthander Zach Duke and jumped on reliever Evan Meek for 3 more in the fifth and scored another in the sixth.  Halladay went five Innings as the Phillies topped the Pirates by a 5-1 score.

The Phils played a fine game but there were a couple of minuses.  3rd baseman Placido Polanco suffered a sprained right knee while attempting to catch a pop-up on the mound.  Polanco came down hard and funny on his right foot after losing the pop-up in the sun.  It dropped in for a hit as Polanco hit the ground in pain.  The AP recap for Yahoo sports describes what happened next:

Two trainers helped him off the field.

Polanco was examined by the Pirates medical staff, which told him there was a sprain in the back of the knee as well as a slight hyperextension of the upper calf. Polanco said he could return by the end of the week.

“I don’t think it’s too bad,” Polanco said. “When it first happens, you really get scared. You don’t know what’s happening. It doesn’t feel right. But now that the doctor took a look at it, it’s nothing big at all.”

Meanwhile, veteran lefthander Jamie Moyer was pounded for 5 runs and 8 hits in three innings in his start in the “B” game against the against the  Toronto Blue Jays who featured 7 of their regulars in the lineup.  It was a setback in his competition with Kyle Kendrick for the 4th starter role.   If Kendrick is making every effort to beat Moyer for the position, Moyer beat himself in this one.

Halladay gave up 3 hits and a run while walking 2 and striking out 6 in five innings and then 3 relievers, including Chad Durbin, finished up allowing the Pirates 1 baserunner in the final 4 innings.

1st baseman Ryan Howard and substitute 3rd baseman Cody Ransom each went 2 for 3 with Ransom clubbing a 3 run homer in the fifth inning and Howard driving in the fourth inning run.

On Tuesday, the Phils face the Detroit Tigers as lefthander Cole Hamels opposes Dustin Verlander for the Tigers.  Relievers Ryan Madson, Antonio Bastardo and Danys Baez also are scheduled for action.

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Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick hurled four 2 hit shutout innings at the  Baltimore Orioles on Sunday giving his drive for the 5th starter further impetus in his competition with veteran lefthander Jamie Moyer.  But young Orioles lefthander Brian Matusz cooled Phillies bats giving up 1 run on 3 hits in five innings while 4 other Baltimore relievers finished the job.  The Phillies managed 2 more runs in the sixth inning so that while Kendrick hurled 4 shutout innings, the Phillies were edged by the Orioles by a 4-3 score.

With the Phils up 1-0, reliever Sergio Escalona was hammered for a 3 run Baltimore fifth inning giving up 4 hits and walking 1.  Andrew Carpenter came on in the sixth to finish the game.  Carpenter gave up the winning run in the seventh and 3 hits but struck out 5 and walked none.  Meanwhile, Phillies bats went cold over the last 2 1/3 innings as Will Ohman emerged the game winner getting the final out in the seventh after the Phils scored twice on Jim Johnson in the sixth.

The Doc has office hours again on Monday as the Phils play 2 split-squad games on Monday.  Roy Halladay takes the ball to start against the Pittsburgh Pirates while ageless lefthander Jamie Moyer gets another “B” game start against the Toronto Blue Jays.

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Phillies lefthander J.A. Happ extended his spring scoreless string to 8 1-3 innings on Saturday as DH Ben Franscisco and 3rd baseman Cody Ransom each homered.  Minnesota starter Carl Pavano threw a perfect three innings but the Phils rallied late after reliever Antonio Bastardo was touched up for a 4 run, 5 hit sixth inning.  Down 4-1, the Phils rallied featuring Ransom’s 3 run seventh inning homer. 4 other Phils relievers held the Twins to 2 hits as Happ 1 hit the Twins for four innings and the Phillies rallied late for a 5-4 win.

In all, the 5 Phillies relievers struck out 9 Twins to go along with Happ’s 3 strikeouts Ryan Madson emerged as the game winner after throwing a perfect seventh inning.   Chad Durbin, Jose Contreras and Danys Baez all looked solid against the Twins.  Former Phil Clay Condrey gave up a run on 2 hits in the sixth inning while Jose Mijares was tagged as the losing pitcher after giving up 3 seventh inning hits including Ransom’s 3 run shot, his 2nd homer of the spring.

Due to Friday’s rain cancellation, the Phils’ pitching rotation faced revision.   MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki lines up the starting pitching for the next two games:

Kyle Kendrick will pitch Sunday against the Orioles in Sarasota, and Roy Halladay will pitch Monday against the Pirates in Bradenton.

Zolecki adds in a subsequent report:

Andrew Carpenter and Sergio Escalona are also scheduled to pitch [on Sunday]. Escalona is competing for one of three potential openings in the bullpen.

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Phillies starter Joe Blanton stifled the Detroit Tigers on Thursday with an effective mix of fastballs and changeups through four scoreless innings.  Meanwhile, the Phils took a 2-0 lead on Tiger starter Justin Verlander in the third inning as shortstop prospect Freddy Galvis followed a double by catcher Brian Schneider with a single for 1 run with 2nd baseman Chase Utley singling in the 2nd run.  Leftfielder Raul Ibanez added a solo homer in the sixth of of hard-throwing reliever Joel Zumaya.  4 Phillies relievers held Detroit hitless over the final five innings as Blanton went 4 scoreless innings and the Phils shutout the Tigers by a 4-0 score.

Verlander gave up 6 hits in his four inning stint, 4 of the hits coming in the 2 run Phillies second inning.  Blanton, meanwhile showed zeros all across his line for four innings, except for the 3 Tiger hits.  Centerfielder Shane Victorino went 2 for 3 for the game, one of those 2 hits was in the 2 run third inning.  Following Galvis’ RBI single, the “Flyin’ Hawaiian” moved him to scoring position afterwhich Utley drove in Galvis with a single for the 2nd run.  Utley also went 2 for 3 with an RBI and 1st baseman Ryan Howard went 1 for 3 with an RBI.  The Phils collected 11 hits in all.

Relievers Don Herndon, Joe Savery, Yohan Flande and Scott Mathieson held Detroit hitless and scoreless while issuing 4 walks and striking out 5 over the final five innings of the game. The AP recap for Yahoo sports notes Herndon’s scoreless spring training:

Herndon, the Phillies’ selection in the Rule 5 draft in December, has yet to allow a run or a hit in four appearances this spring. Herndon pitched a scoreless fifth inning against the Tigers; he walked one and struck out one.

Both the starting rotation and the bullpen have thus far been big pluses for the Phils despite several disappointments, most notably, Ryan Madson’s spring debut this week against the  http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/teams/atl Braves.  The blanking of the Tigers was the first full-game shutout tossed by Phillies pitching this spring.

MLB’s Todd Zolecki outlines Phillies split-squad Friday games:

The Tigers host the Phillies on Friday at 1:05 p.m. ET in Lakeland, Fla.  Jeremy Bonderman will try to rebound from his first-inning shellacking his last time out and regain momentum in his bid for a rotation spot. Fellow rotation candidate Nate Robertson is also slated to pitch…

The Phils have a split squad Friday. They play the Tigers at 1:05 p.m. in Lakeland and the Rays at 1:05 p.m. in Port Charlotte, Fla. Drew Naylor, Phillippe Aumont, Jesus Sanchez and Sergio Escalona will take the hill in Lakeland.  J.A. Happ, Chad Durbin, Ryan Madson and Danys Baez will be pitching in Port Charlotte.

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Phillies lefthander Cole Hamels threw three perfect innings on Wednesday before surrendering a 1st pitch homer to Blue Jay 3rd baseman Jose Bautista and walking 2 in the fourth inning.  The Phils had scored a run in the fourth and 2 more in the sixth and another in the ninth to make a winner out of invitee Ryan Vogelsong who pitched 2 1/3 innings.   J.C. Ramirez notched a save pitching the final three innings.  Meanwhile, Kyle Drabek, who the Phillies traded to the Blue Jays for  Roy Halladay, gave up a hit and a walk in two innings while veteran lefthander Jamie Moyer allowed 2 hits and no runs through three innings.  Hamels and Moyer were excellent as the Phillies took 2 From Toronto by 4-2 and 5-1 scores.

The AP recap for Yahoo sports reported about Drabek’s start against the Phils:

Drabek said…., “Going out there first, it was a lot of fun, especially going against the Phillies,” he said. “I was glad I was able to keep the ball down and get a few ground balls.”

Drabek likely will start the season at Double-A New Hampshire, but could jump quickly to Triple-A Las Vegas.

“He’s not that far away from being on this club,” manager Cito Gaston said…

Once Drabek’s two-inning stint was over, Greg Dobbs and John Mayberry Jr. jumped on Kevin Gregg in the fourth inning and Lance Broadway in the sixth, opening each with back-to-back doubles that led to three of the Phillies’ runs. Cody Ransom added a solo homer in the ninth.

MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo described ageless lefthander Jamie Moyer’s outing as he fights to keep his fifth starter job:

Facing mainly Blue Jays Minor Leaguers, Moyer allowed just two baserunners on a single and a hit batsman — and he picked one of them off first.

Moyer threw just 31 pitches in anticipation of another outing on Sunday, and the Phillies won, 5-1.

MLB.com’s John Bastian reports:

Right-hander Joe Blanton, coming off a rocky showing in his Grapefruit League debut…, will look to make strides in a 1:05 p.m. game Thursday against the Tigers. Blanton will oppose Detroit right-hander Justin Verlander. Also scheduled to pitch for the Phillies are Scott Mathieson, Yohan Flande and Joe Savery.

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The Doc held office hours again on Tuesday as Phillies new ace Roy Halladay struck out 5 and held the Atlanta Braves scoreless in three innings of work.  He did give up 3 hits, 2 of them were consecutive two-out singles by Chipper Jones and Troy Glaus in the first inning.   With the Phils up 2-0 after three, reliever Ryan Madson was disappointing in his first relief outing of the spring giving up 4 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks in a shaky fourth inning.  But the Phils came back with 5 sixth inning runs off of reliever  Jose Ortegano as Halladay was again sharp and the Phils beat the Braves by a 7-4 score.

The AP recap for Yahoo sports provided this background on Halladay’s outing and the Phils’ offense:

Halladay went 17-10 with a 2.79 ERA last season. He said the results didn’t matter and that he’s just looking do build his stamina for the season. He’s pitched five innings this spring without allowing a run.

“I’m just working on my stamina this spring,” Halladay said. “All I am thinking about is throwing strikes. The rest will come.”

Jayson Werth homered off Braves starter Kenshin Kawakami in the second inning and was 2-for-3 on the night.

Kawakami allowed two earned runs in thtee innings for the Braves, but Philadelphia blew the game open, scoring five runs in the sixth off of Jose Ortegano.

1st baseman Ryan Howard continued hitting, again going 2 for 4 while outfielder John Mayberry Jr., leftfielder Ben Francisco and Werth each drove in 2 runs apiece.  Centerfielder Shane Victorino had a hit in 3 ABs in his first game of the spring after being hampered by a sore right shoulder.

MLB.com’s Mark Bowman report’s on closer Billy Wagner’s fourth inning:

Billy Wagner hit Francisco’s right foot with a pitch and then completed a scoreless fourth inning with Brian Schneider’s double-play groundout.

And the AP recap notes:

Wagner came into the spring with a new attitude. He decided to drop the intensity a few notches.

“This year I just want to relax and have fun” Wagner said….

While he was working on his rehab at the nearby University of Virginia, he got the itch to pitch back again…. He wanted to be a closer and the Braves were looking.

“This is a good fit,” Wagner said. “I can still pitch and once I get comfortable out there again in my normal role, I have something left.”

“Wags is looking great,” Braves manager Billy Cox said. “He’s off to a great start and we’re excited about him.”

MLB.com reports on Wednesday’s game:

The Phillies play two games on Wednesday against the Blue Jays: a “B” game at 10 a.m. at Bright House Field and a Grapefruit League game at 1 p.m. at Dunedin Stadium. Left-hander Jamie Moyer pitches in the “B” game. Left-hander Cole Hamels and right-handers Ryan Vogelsong, J.C. Ramriez and David Herndon pitch for the Phillies in Dunedin.  Kyle Drabek, who, the Phillies traded to the Blue Jays for Roy Halladay, will be pitching for Toronto.

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