Yesterday, the Phillies suffered their first Grapefruit League contest against the Astros. Cliff Lee made a successful debut, tossing two shutout innings in front of 22 scouts. Today, Cole Hamels made his spring training debut in front of 29 scouts. The Phillies ace has drawn plenty of interest from other teams this offseason, so his spring performance could go a long way in seeing if he is dealt before Opening Day.
Cole Hamels showed that the trade rumors that have been swirling haven't gotten to his head, as the Phillies ace tossed two scoreless frames, surrendering one hit and striking out two. He spoke with Ryan Lawrence of The Daily News after his outing:
"I’ve been in a lot of springs and I know what I’m supposed to do with a certain pitch count and the first game and trying to build up. I’m not trying to go out there and blow by everybody. I’m just trying to hit my spots. I wasn't able to do it as much. But if you’re able to throw strikes, then I think that works. I had a general area that I needed to throw it in and I think I was able to do so."
Jake Diekman made his spring debut, pitching a scoreless inning while Ken Giles tossed two innings in his first action this spring. He allowed one run on three hits. Giles had some issues getting behind in the count, walking three Yankees. He struck out three as well. Mike Nesseth, who was just recently added to the spring roster, got hit around in the fourth, giving up three runs on four hits while walking two and striking out two. Nefi Ogando and Luis Garcia both threw scoreless frames.
Meanwhile, the Yankees got their runs in the third. Greg Bird hit an RBI-double, Ramon Flores followed with an RBI-single and then Didi Gregorius added on another RBI-double to give New York a 3-0 advantage. Nick Noonan drove in Slade Heathcott with a double in the sixth against Giles to make it a 4-0 game.
Non-roster invitee, Xavier Paul got the Phillies on the board in the seventh with a solo home run, cutting the Yankees lead to three, 4-1. Odubel Herrera, Freddy Galvis and Darin Ruf all went 1-for-3 at the plate for the Phils. They had runners on first and second in the ninth, but couldn't stage a late-inning rally.
Up Next: The Phillies host the Blue Jays tomorrow at 1:05pm in Clearwater. Jerome Williams will take the mound for his second start of the spring. Toronto will oppose with veteran left-hander, Mark Buehrle.
