The Philadelphia Phillies opened up their slate of Spring Training games Sunday afternoon at Bright House Field against the University of Tampa. A season ago, the Phillies drew national headlines when they lost to the D-II powerhouse, 6-2. This afternoon, the Phillies showed they were the superior team, pulling out an 8-3 win.
Off-season acquisition Jeremy Hellickson got the start for the Phillies, pitching a perfect first inning.
The Phillies gave their pitchers some early run support in the bottom of the first, as DH Andrew Knapp knocked in Odubel Herrera and Aaron Altherr with an RBI single. Knapp's fellow catching prospect Jorge Alfaro tacked on a third run in the inning with an RBI ground-out that brought Darin Ruf home.
The Phillies got a second perfect inning in the the second inning, as Aaron Nola kept pace with Hellickson by throwing a scoreless inning.
In the bottom half of the second, Herrera plated a fourth run with his second single of the game. Herrera would finish the afternoon with two hits, including that RBI.
Veteran Edward Mujica, in camp as a non-roster invitee with a fair amount of back end of the bullpen experience, struggled in the third inning. After allowing two singles to start the inning, Mujica allowed University of Tampa's Michael Kleinman to rope a double into the left-field corner, bringing home two runs. Mujica would work out of the inning, but not before allowing a third run on a Danny Lee ground-out.
Mujica's third-inning struggles didn't turn into a trend for Phillies' pitchers, as the six other pitchers used after him didn't allow a single run. Elvis Araujo was particularly impressive in the fifth inning, as he allowed zero hits and struck out one.
The Phillies' bats kept the game from staying close after Mujica's rough inning, as they would tack on three runs in the bottom of the third, including a two-run single from Angelys Nina, which made it a 7-3 ball-game. Ryan Jackson would single home Emmanuel Burrriss, who tripled to reached base, in the fifth inning, giving the Phillies their final run of the game.
From there, the team's pitching silenced the University of Tampa's bats, as the Phillies were able to pick up a win in their first exhibition of 2016.
Starting Pitcher Report:
Jeremy Hellickson, as planned, only pitched the first inning. Hellickson made short work of the college lineup, allowing zero hits and zero runs.
Out of the 'Pen:
- Aaron Nola (2nd): 1.0 IP, zero hits, one strikeout, zero earned runs
- Edward Mujica (3rd): 1.0 IP, three hits, three earned runs
- Ernesto Frieri (4th): 1.0 IP, one hit, one strikeout, zero earned runs
- Elvis Araujo (5th): 1.0 IP, zero hits, one strikeout, zero earned runs
- Chris Leroux (6th): 1.0 IP, one hit, one strikeout, zero earned runs
- Daniel Stumpf (7th): 1.0 IP, one hit, one strikeout, zero earned runs
- Greg Burke (8th): 1.0 IP, zero hits, one strikeout, zero earned runs
- Colton Murray (9th): 1.0 IP, zero hits, two strikeouts, zero earned runs
At the Plate:
- Odubel Herrera: 2-2, RBI
- Emmanuel Burriss: 1-2, triple
- J.P. Crawford: 0-0, BB
Up Next:
The Phillies will welcome the Toronto Blue Jays to Bright House Field on Tuesday. The game will start at 1:05 p.m. EST and be broadcast on both CSN Philly and MLB Network.
Tim Kelly (@TimKellySports) is the Managing Editor of Philliedelphia.com, focusing on news and features.
