Tigers Rally to beat Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies and Detroit Tigers locked up in a see-saw battle Saturday at Bright House Field in Clearwater, with the Tigers coming up on the winning side of a 6-5 score. The Tigers scored twice in the top of the ninth inning to register their 10^th victory of the spring, while the Phillies suffered their eighth loss of the Grapefruit League season.

Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Freddy Galvis smacked his first home run of the spring Saturday against Detroit. (photo Buck Davidson)

The Tigers wasted very little in getting into the scoring column, as outfielder Justin Upton blasted a solo home run in the top of the first inning off Philadelphia starting pitcher James Russell. The Tigers tacked on another run in the fourth, but the Phillies responded by plating a run in the bottom of that inning and another in the following frame. The Tigers surged back ahead in the top of the sixth thanks to Upton’s second homer of the game – a tape-measure shot just to the left of the batter’s eye in center field. True to form, the Phillies bounced back with a run in the bottom of the inning, with Cameron Rupp’s two-base hit plating Ryan Howard, who had doubled to lead off the frame.

Philadelphia Phillies reliever Andrew Bailey allowed an earned run and two hits against the Detroit Tigers on Saturday. (photo Buck Davidson)

The Phils struck again in the bottom of the seventh: Odubel Herrera laced an RBI single, and Philly capitalized on some questionable defense by Detroit to plate another run. The Tigers pulled closer with a run in the eighth and had a chance for more, but a key double play ended the threat. Detroit was back knocking on the door in the top of the ninth, and this time the Tigers cashed in with a key two-out, two-run single by Gustavo Nunez to take a one-run lead. Detroit reliever Logan Kensing set the Phillies down in order in the bottom of the frame to notch his first save of the spring.

Saturday was a “bullpen day” for the Phillies’ pitching staff: nine different hurlers worked one inning apiece. Andrew Bailey, who is competing for the closer’s job, allowed an earned run and two hits, and the damage could have been worse had he not pitched his way out of a jam. Offensively, Howard, Herrera and Galvis each had two hits, plated an RBI and scored a run. Galvis smacked his first home run of the spring in a losing cause.

Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Justin Verlander was charged with three earned runs and he allowed seven hits in his 86-pitch outing against Philadelphia on Saturday. (photo Buck Davidson)

Detroit starting pitcher Justin Verlander allowed seven hits and was charged with three earned runs, one of which was an inherited baserunner. The big right-hander threw 86 pitches, 58 of which found the strike zone. Closer Francisco Rodriguez worked a 1-2-3 eighth inning. Upton led the way offensively with four hits, two RBIs and three runs scored, while Ty Collins added three hits and two RBIs.

The Phillies travel to Fort Myers for a date with the Boston Red Sox on Easter Sunday, and then head back north to Dunedin to take on the Toronto Blue Jays Monday, March 28.

DETROIT (6) AT PHILADELPHIA (5)

 DETROIT          AB  R  H BI  PHILADELPHIA     AB  R  H BI
 Bernard cf        5  0  0  0  Galvis ss         3  1  2  1 
 Iglesias ss       3  0  0  0  Burriss pr-ss     1  1  0  0 
 G Núñez ss        2  0  1  2  Blanco 2b         5  1  1  0 
 Upton lf          4  3  4  2  Herrera cf        5  1  2  1 
 B. Verlander pr-l 1  1  0  0  Howard 1b         4  1  2  1 
 Collins rf        4  0  3  2  Rupp c            2  0  1  1 
 C Gibson pr-rf    0  0  0  0  Moore c           2  0  0  0 
 Saltalamacchia c  3  0  0  0  Hunter rf         3  0  1  1 
 J. Wilson p       0  0  0  0  Goeddel lf        4  0  1  0 
 Lowe p            0  0  0  0  Jackson 3b        3  0  0  0 
 C Lara p          0  0  0  0  Russell p         0  0  0  0 
 Ficociello ph     1  0  0  0  Gómez p           0  0  0  0 
 Rodríguez p       0  0  0  0  Araujo p          0  0  0  0 
 Kensing p         0  0  0  0  Velasquez ph      1  0  1  0 
 Castellanos 3b    4  0  1  0  Bailey p          0  0  0  0 
 Mayberry 1b       3  0  0  0  Hinojosa p        0  0  0  0 
 Aviles 2b         4  1  0  0  Lough ph          1  0  0  0 
 J. Verlander p    2  0  0  0  García p          0  0  0  0 
 Holaday c         2  0  1  0  Frieri p          0  0  0  0 
 Brown pr          0  1  0  0  C. Hernández ph   1  0  0  0 
 Lopez c           0  0  0  0  LaFromboise p     0  0  0  0 
                               Sweeney ph        1  0  0  0 
                               Leroux p          0  0  0  0 
 TOTALS           38  6 10  6  TOTALS           36  5 11  5

 DETROIT                   100 101 012 --  6
 PHILADELPHIA              000 111 200 --  5

 E--Blanco. DP--DETROIT 1, PHILADELPHIA 1. 
 LOB--DETROIT 6, PHILADELPHIA 7. 2B--Howard, 
 Herrera, Rupp. 3B--Collins 2. HR--Upton 2 (2) (off
 García, Russell), Galvis 1 (1) (off J. Verlander).
 S--Galvis. SF--Hunter.
                                   IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR
  DETROIT
 J. Verlander                       5   7   3   3   1   2   1
 J. Wilson                          1   1   0   0   0   1   0
 Lowe                             2-3   3   2   2   0   1   0
 C Lara                           1-3   0   0   0   0   0   0
 Rodríguez (W,1-0)                  1   0   0   0   0   1   0
 Kensing (S,1)                      1   0   0   0   0   1   0
  PHILADELPHIA
 Russell                            1   1   1   1   0   1   1
 Gómez                              1   0   0   0   0   0   0
 Araujo                             1   0   0   0   0   2   0
 Bailey                             1   2   1   1   0   2   0
 Hinojosa                           1   0   0   0   0   0   0
 García                             1   3   1   1   0   1   1
 Frieri                             1   0   0   0   0   0   0
 LaFromboise                        1   2   1   1   0   1   0
 Leroux (L,0-1)                     1   2   2   2   1   1   0

 WP--Gómez. SO--DET: Saltalamacchia 2, Iglesias, 
 B. Verlander, Collins, Bernard, G Núñez, Mayberry.
 PHI: Jackson 2, Moore, Goeddel, Rupp, Herrera. 
 BB--DET: Mayberry. PHI: Jackson. T--3:10. 
 A--8,382.