Luck of the Rays

MATT MOORE (PHOTO BUCK DAVIDSON)

The Philadelphia Phillies came up on the short end of a 6-1 score at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rays Thursday in front of a record crowd of 11,222 fans on St. Patrick’s Day at Bright House Field in Clearwater. The home run ball was the Phillies’ undoing on this day, as the visiting Rays cleared the fences with four long balls. The Phils also didn’t aid their own cause, going 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. The Phillies saw their spring record fall to 11-5-2, while the Rays are now 7-9 in Grapefruit League play.

Tampa Bay Rays second baseman Logan Forsythe homers to lead off Thursday’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies. (PHOTO BUCK DAVIDSON)

Tampa Bay wasted no time in getting on the board, as Logan Forsythe led off the game with his first home run of the spring. The Phils tied the game in the bottom of the fourth, when designated hitter Ryan Howard connected for his first Grapefruit League long ball of 2016. The score remained knotted until the top of the sixth, when Tampa Bay’s Steve Pearce drove reliever Edward Mujica’s first pitch over the left field fence for his first homer as a member of the Rays.

Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Vince Velasquez was dominant after allowing a leadoff homer in Thursday’s game. (PHOTO BUCK DAVIDSON)

The Rays padded their lead two innings later, when third baseman Richie Shaffer crushed a long home run to left, and outfielder Mikie Mahtook launched a two-run no-doubter to left-center. The Phils loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth, but Logan Moore bounced out to end the threat. Tampa Bay tacked on another run in the top of the ninth, but the game was pretty well out of hand at that point.

Philadelphia starting pitcher Vince Velasquez allowed the leadoff homer to Forsythe, but he was dominant thereafter, allowing just three hits and striking out seven batters in his five innings of work. Velasquez’s fastball touched 95 mph on the Bright House Field radar gun, and 51 of his 74 pitches were strikes. Offensively, Howard contributed a homer, a double and the Phils’ lone RBI, while David Lough and Emmanuel Burris also had a pair of hits.

Starting pitcher Matt Moore logged a solid outing for Tampa Bay, fanning eight batters and finding the strike zone with 52 of his 70 pitches. The Rays hitting stars included home-run hitters Forsythe, Mahtook, Shaffer and Pearce. Rays’ star third baseman Evan Longoria fouled a pitch off his leg in the first inning, and he subsequently left the game due to a left shin contusion.

The Phillies host the Pittsburgh Pirates Friday, March 18 at Bright House Field, and then the team travels a few miles north and west to Dunedin for a date with the Toronto Blue Jays.