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The Phillies notched another one in the symbolic win column tonight, beating the Yankees and their never ending parade of pitchers in rather easy fashion. The Phillies and the Yankees had nine hits each, which happens to match the number of pitchers Joe Girardi used in tonight's game. Nine!
It was mostly a good night for the Phillies, with a small hiccup here and there. Jeff Manship pitched four scoreless innings, allowing four hits. Five other pitchers would see an inning each: Mike Adams, Justin De Fratus, Brad Lincoln, Shawn Camp, and Barry Enright. Collectively, Phillies pitching staff notched eight strikeouts and allowed only one walk on the night. The Yankees didn't score a run. Things on the other side of the dish looked pretty good as well. Eight different players were responsible for the Phillies' nine hits, Marlon Byrd the only one with two. Six different players knocked in the Phillies six runs. Five different players walked, including Bobby Abreu (of course) and Ryan Howard (?!?!). Howard and Byrd hit back-to-back home runs in the third inning. If these Phillies can show up next week, I'd be ok with that.
Now, about those hiccups. In the third inning, Domonic Brown made a nasty looking baserunning error when he ran through the stop sign at third base, slid about four feet beyond the base, and then got caught in a rundown between third and home. It wasn't pretty, and exactly the type of thing I'm sure Ryne Sandberg doesn't want to see. I don't really want to see it either. The other hiccup? It's the exact size and shape of Mike Adams. Adams made his Grapefruit League debut tonight, and even though he pitched a scoreless fifth inning, he allowed two hits and looked a bit uncomfortable on the mound. Additionally, his velocity appeared to be way down.
Adams was a 94-96 mph guy in his prime. He's throwing 84-87 tops here.
— Dennis Deitch (@DennisDeitch) March 26, 2014
Yikes. That is all kinds of not good.
The Phillies have two more games at Bright House Field before they pack up and leave Clearwater for the snowy, cold confines of Citizens Bank Park. They'll play two games there (known as the On-Deck Series) before heading blessedly south to play the Rangers on opening day. Opening day! It's almost here!