By: Matt Rappa, managing editor 
Final: Phillies 4, Blue Jays 4 ❖ Attendance: 4,643
CLEARWATER, Fla. — Despite a solo home run by right fielder Aaron Altherr in the top of the fourth inning, and a strong outing by David Buchanan in which he allowed just one hit over two innings of work, the Philadelphia Phillies (0-1-1) and Toronto Blue Jays' (1-0-1) second game of Grapefruit League action resulted in a 4-4 tie.
Five of the eight hits produced by the Phillies' offense went for extra bases, three of which were doubles by outfielders David Lough, Emmanuel Burriss and catcher Andrew Knapp.
The Phillies will have two opportunities to get into the win column on Thursday, with split squad games: one at home against RHP Doug Fister the Houston Astros, and the other on the road at Tampa against RHP Ivan Nova the New York Yankees.
Hub: Game Summary ❖ Starting Pitchers ❖ At the Plate ❖ Bullpen ❖ What's Next
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| PHI | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 1 |
| TOR |
0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 0 |
The Phillies' first hit of the afternoon came five batters into the lineup, when non-roster invitee left fielder David Lough doubled on a fly ball to left fielder Michael Saunders in the top of the second inning. Two batters later, catcher Cameron Rupp came through with a clutch, two-out RBI single to right fielder Domonic Brown for the first run of the game.
In his second at-bat of the afteroon, following a ground out to shortstop Jio Mier in the second, right fielder Aaron Altherr went yard to left field against Blue Jay's 23-year-old right-hander Aaron Sanchez to give the Phillies a two-run advantage.
Crushed: Aaron Altherr just hit one up to Main Street jn Dunedin, where Delco's is located. Great cheesesteaks and hoagies
— Jim Salisbury (@JSalisburyCSN) March 2, 2016
Toronto took a 3-2 lead the next half-inning, facing Phillies' right-hander Vincent Velasquez. A two-run RBI triple by second baseman Ryan Goins was facilitated with two costly misplays by the Phillies: a hit-by-pitch of third baseman Josh Donaldson and a fielding error by first baseman Darin Ruf. Brown, the next batter, then hurt his former team with a go-ahead RBI single to center fielder Roman Quinn.
The game remained steady in favor of the Blue Jays by one run until the top of the seventh inning, when center fielder Peter Bourjos laced a game-tying, two-out RBI triple to left field, which scored catcher Andrew Knapp from second base.
The Blue Jays poised a threat in the latter-half of the frame, batting against right-hander Jeanmar Gomez. Shortstop Richard Urena got into scoring position with less than two outs with a line-drive double to center. Gomez escaped trouble, however, retiring both catcher Tony Sanchez and right fielder Anthony Alford on ground outs to end the inning.
Momentum turned the Phillies' way after Blue Jays' center fielder Junior Lake was tagged out at third base for the final out of the bottom of the eighth after he over-slid the second base bag on a stolen base attempt.
Philadelphia capitalized the next half-inning to score the go-ahead run. Facing right-hander Ben Rowen, non-roster invitee right fielder Emmanuel Burriss began the ninth with his first hit of spring training, a double on a ground ball to left fielder Roemon Fields. The next batter, Knapp, came through with the Phillies' third double of the afternoon to bring home Burriss from second.
Non-roster invitee Reinier Roibal had the chance to secure the Phillies' first win of Grapefruit League action in the latter-half of the ninth. However, with runners on the corners and two outs, he threw a wild pitch to allow pinch runner Dwight Smith Jr. to score from third.
With the score evened at four after nine innings of play, the game ended in a 4-4 tie.
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Buchanan | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
| R.A. Dickey | 2.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.50 |
Phillies
- Peter Bourjos 1-2, 3B, BB, .400 AVG
- Aaron Altherr: 1-3, R, HR, RBI, .200 AVG
- Andrew Knapp: 1-1, R, 2B, RBI, BB, 1.000 AVG
Blue Jays
- Ryan Goins: 1-2, R, 3B, 2 RBI, .500 AVG
- Jio Mier: 1-2, 2B, .667 AVG
- Richard Urena: 2-2, 2B, 1.000 AVG
Phillies
- Vincent Velasquez (3rd, 4th): 2.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR, 9.00 ERA
- Brett Oberholtzer (5th, 6th): 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA
- Jeanmar Gomez (7th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA
- Reinier Roibal (8th, 9th): 2.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR, 4.50 ERA
Blue Jays
- Aaron Sanchez (3rd, 4th): 2.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO, 1 HR, 4.50 ERA
- Jesse Chavez (5th, 6th): 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA
- David Aardsma (7th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 9.00 ERA
- Scott Diamond (8th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA
- Ben Rowen (9th): 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 9.00 ERA
- Thursday, March 3, 2016:
- vs. Houston Astros, 1:05 p.m.
- Clearwater – Bright House Field
- RHP Doug Fister (2015: 5-7, 4.19 ERA) vs. RHP Jake Thompson (2015, Double-A: 11-7, 3.73 ERA)
- TV: TCN, MLBN, MLB.TV; Radio: N/A
- at New York Yankees, 1:05 p.m.
- Tampa - George M. Steinbrenner Field
- LHP Adam Morgan (2015: 5-7, 4.48 ERA) vs. RHP Ivan Nova (2015: 6-11, 5.07 ERA)
- TV: N/A; Radio: N/A
- Friday, March 4, 2016: vs. Atlanta Braves, 1:05 p.m.
- Clearwater – Bright House Field
- RHP Lucas Sims (2015, Double-A: 4-2, 3.21 ERA) vs. RHP Jeremy Hellickson (2015: 9-12, 4.62 ERA)
- TV: TCN, MLB.TV; Radio: WFOM 1230, WIFN 1340
