Phillies Lose See-Saw Spring Training Opener to Detroit Tigers
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The Detroit Tigers got off to a 4-0 lead over the Phillies after 3 innings as newly acquired Gary Sheffield rocketed a 3 run shot off of Phillies starter lefthander Jamie Moyer who Brian of TigerBlog says “is the kind of pitcher who gave the Tigers fits last year (i.e. slow throwing lefty).” Moyers gave up 4 runs in his 2 innings of work.
After getting down by 4 runs as Tiger pitchers, starter lefthander Mike Maroth and 3rd year starter, Justin Verlander put up 3 shutout innings, the Phils charged back; Greg Dobbs a 2 run homer in the 4th inning, an RBI double by Karim Garcia in the 5th and the Phils are back in the ballgame at 4-3 after 5. Dobbs was 3 for 4 including a 2 run homer.
TigerBlog then reports the Phils going up 5-4 in the top of the 6th inning scoring two runs off of pitching prospect Eulogio de la Cruz.
But Phils fielding was ragged in this game, 3 errors committed. The Tigers went back into the lead as Placido Polanco’s grounder was mishandled. Another Tiger prospect, Timo Perez singled in another run and the Tigers went up 7-5 after 6 innings.
The Phils and Tigers traded 2 runs in the 7th inning with the Tigers taking a 9-7 lead scoring the 2 winning runs off of losing pitcher Brian Sanches. Then it was lights out as the Zoomer, Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney shut down the Phils in the 8th and 9th innings with Rodney giving up only a single in the 9th.
Young Eulogio de la Cruz received the win and Rodney was credited with the save.
For the Phils, other hitting stars included pitcher Brain Sanches 2 for 2, Shane Victorino 2 for 3 and Garcia 2 for 5 with 2 RBIs.
Click on these links for this game’s boxscore and recap.
On Friday, the Phillies play the Cleveland Indians.
The results, boxscores and recaps for Thursday’s exhibition games can be found here. A listing of today’s exhibition games can be found here.
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In other Phillies news, starter Brett Myers is reported by Inquirer staff writer Todd Zolecki to have said that if needed, he would fill the role of closer and Inquirer Columnist Phil Sheridan explains why the Phils need to keep centerfielder Aaron Rowand.
Zolecki’s report went on to say;
“I’ll do whatever helps the team,” Myers said. “I wouldn’t mind it. I wouldn’t mind doing either one. Either way, the game is on the line.”
The scenario would come about only if the Phillies couldn’t trade one of their starters, and they have indicated that they expect something to happen before their April 2 season opener against Atlanta at Citizens Bank Park.
Gillick visited Myers in Jacksonville in the off-season, when the topic of the six starting pitchers came up.
“I told him I’ll do either,” Myers said. “I don’t really care as long as it helps the team.”
But he has concerns. Myers has a tremendous amount of respect for Gordon and doesn’t want to take his job.
“He’s done this a lot longer than me,” Myers said.
He also wouldn’t want to shuttle between starting and closing throughout the season if another starter went down with an injury. He’d prefer to remain in one role.
Sheridan writes about Rowand;
This will irk the stat-based community of baseball fans - the ones who believe in numbers and dismiss intangibles - but that’s OK. Watch Rowand closely for a few days, and his contribution to the makeup of this Phillies team is obvious. For a franchise with a long history of treating baseball like some kind of grim task performed by equally grim men, it is vital to have a free radical like Rowand around to keep things loose.
He’s a pretty good player, too. Let’s not lose sight of that. He is out of favor with the stat-based community because his numbers last season weren’t all that impressive. But it’s ludicrous to crunch numbers without considering the impact that, well, impact had on Rowand’s season.
He broke his face and broke his ankle in pursuit of fly balls.
“Freak accidents,” Rowand said yesterday, a few hours before the Phillies played an exhibition game against Florida State. “I’ve been playing 10 years, and I’ve only been on the disabled list twice. It just happened to be twice in the same year. I really had hoped to go my whole career without being placed on the disabled list.”
Between the injuries and making the transition from the American League to the National League, Rowand hit .262, 21 points below his career average. Still, he hit 12 home runs and drove in 47 runs while playing in just 109 games.
If he can get close to where he was with the White Sox in 2004 - .310, 24 homers, 69 RBIs - he’d give the Phillies all the offense they need out of a solid defensive centerfielder batting sixth or seventh.
Far-fetched? For the record, Rowand was hitting exactly .310 when he shattered his face on the unpadded fencing at Citizens Bank Park.
But that’s the baseball stuff. The other stuff is important, too. Rowand was a vital cog for the White Sox team that won the World Series two seasons ago. He was one of the players Sox GM Ken Williams pointed to as examples of the kind of players it takes to win in a high-pressure market like Chicago, New York or Philadelphia.
“We’ve got the talent to accomplish a lot of great things,” Rowand said. “No doubt about it. It’s about doing it, about getting lucky and staying healthy. A lot can happen over 162 games, but we’ve got the team to do it. We’ve got a great chance to win.”
The centerfielder, this centerfielder, is one reason for that.
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March 15th, 2007 at 7:22 pm
[…] We’ve also been hearing about the Phillies and their six starters, about possible deals for Jon Lieber to bring in a steady relief hand to share closing with Tom Gordon. We’ve been hearing that Brett Myers has volunteered to go to the bullpen to close if necessary, a position more likely to be thrust upon Lieber himself in event that the team goes into the season bullpen-lean. Last season, Ryan Madson worked in both roles and went 11-9, appeared in 50 games, starting 17, but his ERA exploded to 5.69. […]