Phillies Tune-Up for Opening Day Splitting With Tampa Bay
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Joe Blanton pitched 5 quality innings on Friday in his final tune-up for the regular season, with Tampa Bay scoring single runs in the 1st and 4th innings. The Phillies bullpen was nearly perfect shutting the door on the Rays over the final 4 innings while infielder Jason Donald drove in the winning run with a bases-loaded rightfield single as the Phils edged the Rays by a 3-2 score in Pat Burrell’s return to Philly game.
In Saturday’s game, ace lefthander Cole Hamels was pounded for 6 Tampa Bay runs on 6 hits in 5 innings, although Hamels struck out 7 while walking 1 and Rays starter Matt Garza was rocked nearly as bad giving up 4 runs on 6 hits in 4 innings as Tampa Bay came out on top in a 9-7 slugfest.
Burrell, sporting a Tampa Bay uniform in 2009 after spending the previous 9 years with the Phils, was emotional about his return to Philadelphia. The AP recap for Yahoo sports reports;
The Phillies treated their former outfielder to a five-minute video presentation on PhanaVision before Friday’s game.
Burrell watched from the dugout as his career played out before his eyes, to the tune of Foreigner’s “I Want to Know What Love is.” An emotional Burrell came out of the dugout to thunderous applause and tipped his cap.
“I didn’t know they’d bring out the archives,” he said. “It was pretty special. I didn’t anticipate that. It was definitely emotional, something I’ll never forget.”
Upon his 1st inning plate appearance, Burrell was yet again loudly cheered and again tipped his cap to the fans.
The AP recap continues that Burrell;
lined an RBI single for Tampa Bay’s first run. He went 1-for-3 with a walk, and delighted the 39,338 by swiping his first stolen base [in the 6th inning] since 2004.
“I couldn’t believe I was safe,” Burrell said.
“We’re going to miss Pat,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. “He was here for a long time and everybody liked him. Pat was a big contributor and played a big role of leadership. We’re going to miss him and wish him all the luck in the world. If he had to leave, I’m glad he’s in the American League. At the same time, life goes on for the Phillies.”
The Phils notched a run in the 6th inning and, trailing 2-1 going into the 9th inning, they sent out closer Brad Lidge who pitched a perfect 9th inning. The Phils tied the game in th 9th before Jason Donald’s bases-loaded walkoff single won the game. Lidge notched a win in his final tune-up while reliever Winston Abreu, who gave up 2 hits and loaded the bases before Donald got his game-winning hit, was charged with the loss.
On Saturday, Hamels was pounded for 4 runs out of the starting blocks in the 1st inning as Burrell, in an unusual lead-off spot in the batting order, solved Hamels for a lead-off homer and 1st baseman Carlos Pena went yard on Hamels with 2 men on later in the inning.
Hamels recovered to pitch scoreless ball in the 2nd through 4th innings as the Phils knotted the game in the 4th as rightfielder Raul Ibanez and 3rd baseman Greg Dobbs each slammed 2 run homers off of Garza.
But a tie is as close as the Phils got as Tampa Bay went ahead with 2 more runs off of Hamels. The Phils got 1 run back as Jason Donald, replacing Jimmy Rollins at shortstop, slugged a 2 out solo shot — 6-5 Rays.
The Phils and Rays trded 2 runs each in the 7th with the Rays pounding lefthanded reliever J.C. Romero in his final pre-season appearance. We won’t be seeing Romero for a while as he begins serving his 50 game suspension on opening day. The Rays added an insurance run in the 9th.
Garza, although being pounded in the 4th inning, was awarded the win and Hamels was charged with the loss.
In other news, lefthander J.A. Happ, who lost out to Chan Ho Park for the 5th rotation spot, made the opening day roster and will be assigned to the bullpen. The Phils now have 3 available lefthanded relief arms with Happ, Jack Taschner and Scott Eyre as Romero serves out his 50 game suspension.
A couple of days ago, this blog noted that the Phils were looking at veteran outfielder Gary Sheffield as a possible additional righthanded bat off of the bench. On Friday, MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo reported that Sheffield has signed a deal with the Mets and may get to play everyday in rightfield. Sheffield would have been a good match for the Phils off of the bench, but, as a starter and a position player in rightfield, he’s old and slow afoot. Look for the Phillies talented and slugging lefthanded hitters such as Chase Utley and Ryan Howard to give a rightfielder Sheffield fits and rack plenty of extra-bases.
For all of Friday’s and Saturday’s results of spring training play, click here and here.
Sunday is opening day and the Phillies open the season hosting the Atlanta Braves. Brett Myers will start the opener for the Phis against Atlanta’s Derek Lowe. The teams have Monday off and resume play on Tuesday as Joe Blanton is opposed by 23 year old Jair Jurrjens.
For all of Sunday’s opening day games, click here.
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