Time for baseball. #PhilliesST pic.twitter.com/jd9s9rDbND
— Phillies (@Phillies) March 5, 2015
The Phillies headed to Kissimmee, FL to face the Astros at Osceola County Stadium. Cliff Lee started the game for the Phillies. Lee had not pitched since July 31st, 2014 against the Washington Nationals. Lee pitched two strong innings to open the game only allowing two hits.
Robbie Grossman got the Astros on the board first in the third off of Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez driving in Max Stassi. In the top of the fourth, Mark Appel allowed doubles to Domonic Brown and Cody Asche to tie the game at one. The lead didn’t last long with Gonzalez on the hill allowing a homerun to Luis Valbuena.
In the fifth, Phillippe Aumont added to slow start to the spring allowing back to home runs to Robbie Grossman and Marwin Gonzalez to give the Astros a three run lead. Southpaws Elvis Araujo and Cesear Jimenez, followed Aumont. Araujo, who not pitched above Double-A, continued to impress by going 123 in the inning with two strikeouts.
In the eighth, the Astros added to their lead. Alex Presley singled off Sean O’Sullivan to score Andrew Aplin. Former Phillies prospect Jon Singleton would later score Presley with a double to give the Astros a five run lead heading into the ninth.
Attempting to make a come back the Phillies loaded the bases in the ninth with two singles and a fielder’s choice. Chris Nelson would drive in Chris McGuiness with a sacrifice fly. Domonic Brown followed with a single off the pitcher to score Andres Blanco. The game would end there with Darin Mastroianni grounding out. 6-3 Final Astros
Offensively, the Phillies had good showing from Cameron Rupp, Cody Asche, and Domonic Brown. Combined they went 6-10 with three doubles and a walk. All three will be important players this season. Jeff Francoeur also got his first hit of the spring being a double. Francoeur ended the game 1-4.
Pitching, Lee was outstanding his first game back. With Lee proving his is healthy, he could draw some trade interest. Elvis Araujo is proving that he belongs in the big leagues with back to back perfect one-inning outings with four strikeouts on the spring.
Up Next: Tomorrow the Phillies will return to Bright House Field to face the New York Yankees for the third time this spring. The Yankees will send Bryan Mitchell (2014 2.45 ERA 0-1) to the hill. Mitchell pitched in three games for Yankees last season, one game starting. The Phillies haven’t announced who is started, but it is believed to be Phillies ace Cole Hamels.
Andrew Shipotofsky is a writer for Philliedelphia
