Final: Tigers 6, Phillies 6
CLEARWATER, Fla. — Maikel Franco blasted two homers as the Phillies blew a ninth-inning lead, then came back and tied the Detroit Tigers on Thursday afternoon at Bright House Field.
Ryan Jackson's homer in the bottom of the ninth tied the game at 6-6 after Ernesto Frieri gave up two runs in the top of the frame. As spring training games have no extra innings, the game ended in a tie. The Phils' Grapefruit League record is now 7-3-2.
Franco hit a two-run shot in the first and fourth innings. Both came against Tigers' starter Jordan Zimmermann, a familiar foe for the Phils. Zimmermann left the Washington Nationals for Detroit and a five-year, $110 million contract in the offseason.
The Tigers tied up the game in the third before Franco's second blast. Catcher James McCann (no, he's NOT related to Brian McCann, despite what one might think) matched Franco with a two-run homer of his own against Aaron Nola.
Nola struggled Thursday, going just 2.2 innings and giving up two runs on four hits. He was replaced by Rule 5 draft pick Daniel Stumpf directly following McCann's homer, likely to preserve Nola's energy for later starts.
Stumpf, who has pitched well this spring, gave up a run on an RBI single by Tyler Collins in the fourth.
In the top of the fifth, after Franco put the Phils up 4-3 with his second two-run shot, two former Phillies combined to push across a run for the Tigers. John Mayberry, Jr. tapped a comebacker to reliever Jeanmar Gomez with Nate Schierholtz (acquired from San Francisco in the Hunter Pence deal in 2012) on third, but Schierholtz managed to beat the rundown and tie the game with a dive into the plate ahead of Carlos Ruiz's tag.
Angelys Nina, who took over third base for Franco, drove in a run on a single in the bottom of the sixth frame. Facing former Mets' reliever Bobby Parnell, Nina singled through the outfield with Darnell Sweeney on second. Sweeney scored when left fielder Steven Moya bobbled the ball, giving the Phils a 5-4 lead.
Luís García and Colton Murray kept Detroit scoreless from the sixth to eighth innings, but the Tigers tied the game, then pulled ahead, in the ninth.
Mike Gerber led off with a triple against Ernesto Frieri, the former Los Angeles Angel, who had been brought on to close by the Phillies. Austin Green, the next batter, brought him home with a sacrifice fly to even the score at 5-5. With two outs, Thomas Field homered to give Detroit back the lead, 6-5.
Tigers reliever Kevin Ziomek allowed a leadoff homer to Jackson in the Phils' last ups. Taylor Featherston walked with one out and was replaced by speedster Roman Quinn, but Quinn was picked off for the second out. Andrew Knapp flied out to center to end the contest in an anti-climactic tie.
Yet another former Phillie makes an appearance tomorrow as the Phils take on the Atlanta Braves. Kyle Kendrick gets the start for the Barves Braves in a 1:05 start in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The game is not televised, but audio will be broadcast on MLB.com.
Starting Pitchers
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jordan Zimmermann | 3.2 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 7.11 |
| Aaron Nola | 2.2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 11.57 |
- Zimmermann: No-decision; 4 groundouts, 2 flyouts; 15 faced batters
- Nola: No-decision; 4 groundouts, 0 flyouts; 15 faced batters
Out of the 'Pen
Marlins
- Drew VerHagen (4th): 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR, 9.00 ERA
- Bobby Parnell (6th): 1.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 2.70 ERA
- Jairo Labourt (7th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 4.50 ERA
- Kevin Ziomek (8th): 2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO, 1 HR, 9.00 ERA
Phillies
- Daniel Stumpf (3rd): 1.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR, 1.80 ERA
- Jeanmar Gomez (5th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 2 HR, 3.00 ERA
- Luis Garcia (6th): 1.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR, 10.80 ERA
- Colton Murray (7th): 1.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA
- Ernesto Frieri (9th): 1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 1 HR, 9.82 ERA
At the Plate:
Tigers
- James McCann: 1-3, R, HR, 2 RBI, .333 AVG
- José Iglesias: 3-3, .368 AVG
- Nick Castellanos: 1-3, R, .200 AVG
Phillies
- Maikel Franco: 2-2, 2 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI, .350 AVG
- Angelys Nina: 1-2, H, .333 AVG
- Darnell Sweeney: 1-1, 2 R, .167 AVG
What's Next
- Friday, March 11: at Atlanta Braves, 1:05 pm
- RHP David Buchanan (0-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Kyle Kendrick (–)
- TV: TBD; Radio: MLB.com
Theo DeRosa (@Derosatheo11) is a contributor to Philliedelphia.com.
