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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As previously noted on this blog, when the Phillies released outfielder  Geoff Jenkins, they also initiated contacts with veteran outfielder and AL DH Gary Sheffield in their search for another righthanded hitting bat off of the bench.  MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki indicates that the Phils are also looking at  Texas Rangers’ outfielder Andruw Jones but, IMHO, Sheffield, with his 499 career homers and career BA in the .290’s is by far the preferable choice.

Zolecki rpeorts:

Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said he spoke with Sheffield and his representative, Rufus Williams, after the the slugger’s release was announced Tuesday morning. Sheffield, who will make $14 million this season, can sign with any team once he clears waivers. And the team that signs him would have to pay only the league-minimum $400,000.

The Phillies want Sheffield, but would Sheffield want to play for the Phillies?

It seems like a long shot. He played just 18 games in the outfield over the past two seasons with the Tigers, while playing 225 games as a designated hitter. Obviously, Sheffield would not have that option with the Phillies.

“I can go out there on an everyday basis and play in the outfield,” Sheffield said. “That’s what I yearn for. I want to be in the outfield. At the same time, it kind of puts you in a box when you accept the DH role, because people start labeling you as that’s all you can do. And that’s not the case.”

But even if Sheffield can play in the outfield, he would not be an everyday player with the Phillies, who have Raul Ibanez,  Shane Victorino and Jayson Werth in the outfield. Sheffield has just 34 plate appearances as a pinch-hitter in his career, hitting .360 (9-for-25) with one homer and 10 RBIs. Would he accept a reserve role?

“We had a very productive conversation with the Phillies,” Williams said Tuesday evening in a telephone interview. “We’ll take the next couple days to see where we are. It’s a hard question to answer at this point. We’ll have to see the opportunities that present themselves, and see where he wants to go based on those opportunities.”

But it is clear the Phillies prefer another right-handed bat for their bench.

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Righthander Brett Myers provided a quality pitching performance giving up 1 run, a homer, and 3 hits while striking out 3 in 4 innings, leftfielder   Raul Ibanez and rightfielder Jayson Werth put on a hitting clinic and 5 relievers pitching an inning apiece gave up but 2 hits while walking none for the Phillies as they breezed past the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday at Clearwater by a 9-1 score.

The Phils scored single runs in the 1st and 3rd innings before scoring 2, 3 and 2 more in the 5th, 6th and 7th innings.  Shortstop Jimmy Rollins, Werth, Ibanez and 3rd baseman Pedro Feliz each picked up 2 hits as Ibanez drove in 3 runs and Werth collected 2 RBIS.    Myers won his 2nd game of the spring while Toronto’s lefthander Brad Mills, against whom 7 of the 9 Phillie runs scored in 5 1/3 innings of work, was charged with the loss.

MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki reports that the Phils have released outfielder  Geoff Jenkins, who pounded a clutch pinch hit double which led to the World Series winning run in the 6th inning of the 5th game of last season’s post-season classic against the Tampa Bay Rays.  Zolecki notes:

While Jenkins had one of the biggest pinch-hit at-bats in Phillies’ history, Philadelphia did not think he could be as effective a pinch-hitter as Matt Stairs, and the club unconditionally released Jenkins on Tuesday — paving the way for an additional right-handed bat off the bench.

Jenkins said that the move is tough to take but Zolecki reports:

“What’s there to be mad about?” Jenkins said. “I picked a great year to be here. I wish it worked out better and I could be with them, but I don’t regret one minute. I wouldn’t change a thing being with these guys, going through what we went through last year.”

At the same time that the Phils released Jenkins, they have apparently had contacts with veteran outfielder Gary Sheffield who had just been released by the Detroit Tigers, but more about that in separate post.

The Phillies also announced the news that Chan Ho Park beat out J.A. Happ in the competition for the No. 5 starter behind Myers, Cole Hamels,   Jamie Moyer and Joe Blanton.

For all of Tuesday’s results of spring training play, click here.

It’s official that Myers will be the opening day starter for the 3rd consecutive year according to this report by MLB.com’s Zolecki:

Myers allowed three hits and one run in four innings against the Jays on Tuesday. He struck out three en route to finishing the spring with a 3.52 ERA.

“The way he’s pitched here, he was the logical choice,” Manuel said.

Left-hander Jamie Moyer will start next Tuesday against the Braves. Right-hander Joe Blanton will pitch April 8.  Hamels, who will make an exhibition start Saturday against the Tampa Bay Rays at Citizens Bank Park, is scheduled to pitch April 10 against the Rockies in Denver. Myers would then be slated to pitch the 11th, and right-hander Chan Ho Park would toe the rubber on the 12th.

The Phillies next play the Yankees on Wednesday at Steinbrenner Field. The Phils have yet not named a starter but it is reported that Brad Lidge, Lefthanded reliever Scott Eyre and Ryan Madson are scheduled to pitch against the Bronx guys.  The Phils close out their Florida exhibition schedule by entertaining the Washington Nationals at Clearwater on Thursday.

For all of Wednesday’s scheduled exhibition games, click here.

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The Phillies displayed their offensive power pounding 3 of their 4 homers against lefthander Mike Hampton.  Veteran Chan Ho Park made a big pitch for the 5th rotation spot count as the Phillies belted the Houston Astros by a 13-3 score at Clearwater on Monday.

After the Astros touched Park for a run on rightfielder Hunter Pence’s RBI double in the 1st inning, the Phils answered in the bottom of the inning as shortstop Jimmy Rollins quickly knotted the score by solving Hampton for a lead-off homer.

When Kazuo Matsui’s RBI double put Houston up by 2-1 in the 2nd inning,  Eric Bruntlett, playing 3rd base, reached Hampton for a 2 run shot to give the Phils a 3-2 lead.  The Phils added 2 runs in the 4th on RBIs by Bruntlett and catcher Carlos Ruiz, as well as 2 more in the 5th on a 2 out, 2 run shot by 1st baseman Ryan Howard, his 9th homer of the spring.

Meanwhile, Park breezed through his final 3 2/3 innings, allowing a total of six hits, two runs while walking 1 and striking out 7 in an impressive 5 2/3 innings to win his 2nd game of the spring.  Hampton was charged with his 2nd spring loss.

Reliever Chad Durbin replaced Park with 2 out in the 6th and was touched for a solo shot by shortstop Edwin Maysonet before recording the final out of the inning.

The Phils offense continued to click in the 6th inning busting the game wide open with 4 more runs highlighted by catcher Ruiz’s 2nd homer of the spring, a 2 run blast off of lefthanded reliever Wesley Wright as the score mounted to 11-3.

Relievers Clay Condrey and Mike Koplove shut down the Astros in the 7th and 8th innings.

The Phillies added 2 more runs on 3 hits in the 8th off of reliever Chris Sampson

For all of Monday’s results of spring training play, click here.

In other news, the Phils reported releasing veteran infielder Marcus Giles while optioning off outfielder John Mayberry Jr. and right-hander Carlos Carrasco to Minor League camp.   The Carrasco move was expected in that he’s got potential but showed this spring that he still needs more seasoning.  Regarding Mayberry,  MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki notes:

Mayberry hit .246 (17-for-69) with six doubles, three homers and 10 RBIs. The Phillies prefer he play every day in Triple-A Lehigh Valley rather than sit on the bench and get a couple pinch-hit at-bats a week with the Phillies.

Ace lefthander Cole Hamels, recovering from left elbow discomfort, was shelled for 3 runs on 10 hits in 4 innings in a minor league start, also at the Carpenter Complex.   Hamels threw 65 pitches in the outing and is scheduled to start the Saturday exhibition game in Philadelphia against the Tampa Bay Rays.   MLB’s Todd Zolecki indicates that Hamels “believes he will be ready to pitch April 10 against the Rockies in Denver.”

Righthander Brett Myers goes for the Phils as they host the Toronto Blue Jays in a Tuesday night game at Clearwater in one of his final tune-ups for the April 5th season opener against the Atlanta Braves.   Zolecki also indicates that the opening day start may be up for grabs between Myers and Joe Blanton who has had an excellent spring.

For all of Tuesday’s scheduled exhibition games, click here.

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The Phillies lost a pair of weekend games to the Houston Astros and the  Pittsburgh Pirates as manager Charlie Manuel apparently stayed with his starters a wee-bit too long, a trait he’s been guilty of to the team’s detriment in the past.  Good thing that its only the exhibition season.

On Friday, apparent opening game starter Brett Myers gave up 2 runs in 5 innings as Houston shortstop Miguel Tejada solved him for a 4th inning solo homer and a game-tying RBI double in the 6th.  The Astros took a 4-3 lead in the 6th on an RBI single off of reliever Ryan Madson (the run charged to Myers).  The Astros added 2 more runs in the 8th inning and held off a late 2 run 9th inning Phillies charge, including a Matt Stairs’ pinch solo homer, for a narrow 6-5 win.

Tejeda went 3 for 3 and was joined by 2nd baseman Kazuo Matsui and outfielder Hunter Pence who also had 3 hits apiece for the Astros.  Infielder Geoff Blum had 2 hits for Houston including driving in the lead run in the 6th inning with an single off of Madson.

Houston starter Roy Oswalt gave up 3 runs on 10 hits through 6 full innings but the Phils couldn’t turn more of those hits into runs.  Oswalt struck out 6 while walking none to earn the win.   Myers was charged with 4 runs on 8 hits in his 5 1/3 innings and was charged with the loss.

Rightfielder Jayson Werth led off the 2nd inning with a solo homer as the Phils went on to score 3 in the inning off of Oswalt.

On Saturday, veteran lefthander Jamie Moyer kept the Phillies in a 3-1 game through 5 innings before Pittsburgh broke the game wide open with a 4 run outburst to take a 7-1 lead in the 6th inning.  Moyer recorded the 1st 2 outs of the 6th before lefthanded reliever Scott Eyre recorded the final out as the Pirates went on to hand the Phillies a 10-4 shellacking.

Meanwhile, the only run which scored on Pirates starter Ian Snell was a mammoth 500 foot plus 4th inning solo shot by Ryan Howard who is having a fine spring training hitting .293 with 8 homers.

The Phillies, however, rebounded on a 3 run homer by catcher Carlos Ruiz to close the gap to 7-4 in the 7th after reliever Denny Bautista walked the first 2 hitters he faced and walked 3 for the inning.  It was Ruiz’s 1st dinger of the spring.  But the Bucs rocked closer Brad Lidge in the 8th inning for 3 runs on 2 hits including a pinch homer by Garrett Jones.

The Pirate bullpen was lights out on the Phils giving up only an 8th inning single.

The hitting star for the Pirates was undoubtedly non rostered invitee centerfielder Andrew McCutchen who went 5 for 5 with a solo homer, 3 doubles 2 RBIs and 3 runs scored.

For all of Friday’s and Saturday’s results of spring training play, click here and here.

The Phils entertain the Boston Red Sox in Clearwater in the first of 3 straight home games as Joe Blanton gets the start against emerging star lefthander Jon Lester and Ryan Madson and Scott Eyre will also see mound time for the Phillies.  Ace lefthander Cole Hamels, seemingly recovered from his left elbow discomfort, was reportedly slated to start Sunday’s game against the BoSox, but has nopw been replaced by Blanton.  Could it be that Manuel still has Hamels in mind to start the opener?

In other news, the Phils swapped catcher Ronny Paulino to San Francisco  on Friday night for lefthanded reliever Jack Taschner.  Taschner was obtained to add another lefthanded reliever to the Phils bullpen to spell Scott Eyre during J.C. Romero’s upcoming regular season 50 game suspension.  The Giants quickly shuffled off Paulino on Saturday to the Florida Marlins for a minor-league righthanded pitching prospect.

For the Phillies, the catchers remain Carlos Ruiz as #1 catcher with Chris Coste in the backup role that he has occupied for his 3 MLB seasons.

For all of Sunday’s scheduled exhibition games, click here.

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Righthander Brett Myers was rocked early on 3rd baseman Mike Lowell’s 2 run 1st inning homer but settled down to pitch scoreless ball over the next 4 innings giving up only 3 more hits.  Meanwhile, the Phillies could solve neither starter Josh Beckett nor the Red Sox bullpen as Boston shut out the Phils by a 3-0 score on Monday.

Beckett, who was credited with the win, spread 4 hits over his 5 innings and Boston’s bullpen held the Phils to 2 hits over the final 4 innings while the Red Sox added an 8th inning insurance run on leftfielder Chris Carter’s solo homer off of reliever Ryan Madson.  Myers was charged with the loss.

The Phils could manage only 6 hits for the game as their offense, once again for the 3rd straight game, couldn’t get untracked despite doubles by catcher Carlos Ruiz and leftfielder Raul Ibanez.   The time is ticking down to the beginning of the regular season so the Phils offense better find their hitting shoes quickly.

For all of the results of spring training play on Sunday, as well as World Baseball classic results, click here.

Ageless veteran lefthander Jamie Moyer gets the starting nod on Monday as the Phils entertain the Yankees at Clearwater and try to wipe away the 12-0 rout which occured when the teams last met.  The Yankees starting nod goes to non-rostered invitee Brett Tomko who hopes to latch-on with the Yanks.

For all of Monday’s scheduled exhibition games and the World Baseball Classic game as well, click here.

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