Phillies' relievers struggle in loss to Rays

By: Rebecca Serad, Sports Talk Philly Staff

Final: Tampa Bay Rays 7, Philadelphia Phillies 2 ❖ Attendance: 4,440

Clearwater, FLA — It seemed clear early on that the pitchers coming out of the bullpen of the Philadelphia Phillies (2-2) weren't going to have a good day against the Tampa Bay Rays (3-1). After Jerad Eickhoff threw two solid innings in his spring debut, the relievers allowed six runs over the next four innings. The Rays hit two 2-run homers, which played a big role in the loss.

The Phillies' bats were practically silent. They may have accumulated six hits in today's game, but the only player to put runs on the board was third baseman Maikel Franco, who hit his third home-run of the spring. He's on a tear so far, and it will be interesting to see if he will be able to continue his early success and carry it over to the regular season.

WP: Blake Snell (1-0, 4.50 ERA) ❖ LP: Luis Garcia (0-1, 22.50 ERA)

Hub: Game Summary ❖ Starting Pitchers ❖ At the Plate ❖ Bullpen ❖ What's Next

Game Summary

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
TB	1	0	2	0	2	2	0	0	0	7	10	0
PHI	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	7	2

Phillies starter Jerad Eickhoff got off to a bit of a rocky start, walking lead-off hitter Corey Dickerson on four pitches. Dickerson moved up to third on a single by Nick Franklin. First baseman Casey Gillaspie grounded into a 3-6 double play, which allowed Dickerson to score. Eickhoff got Jake Bauers to ground out for the final out of the inning.

The Phillies fought back in the bottom of the first. With one out, Odubel Herrera doubled into the left-center field gap. However, he was caught in a rundown after opposing pitcher Blake Snell knocked down a line drive by Howie Kendrick that would have been a single up the middle. Kendrick reached on the play. Offseason acquisition Michael Saunders followed with a single to right. This put runners on first and second with two outs for third baseman Maikel Franco. He fought off an inside pitch for a single to right field, scoring Kendrick and tying the game. Rhys Hoskins lined out to end the inning.

The top of the third inning brought some more offense for the Rays. With one out, Dayron Varona singled to right field. After Dickerson struck out for the second out of the inning, Franklin walked to put runners on first and second. Gillaspie once again added runs to the board for the Rays, this time on a double to left-center field. A groundout ended the threat, but it was too late, as the Rays had taken the lead.

The Phillies led off the bottom of the fourth with a bang. Franco smacked his third homer of the spring to right field. Unfortunately, the next three batters were retired in order and they weren't able to tack on any more runs.

In the top of the fifth, the Rays extended their lead over the Phils. Shane Peterson led off the inning with a double to right field. One out later, Dickerson homered to right to make the score 5-2. Franklin followed with a double, and it looked like Phillies reliever Drew Anderson would fall apart in his second inning of work. However, he struck out the next two batters to get out of the inning.

The sixth inning led to more scoring for the Rays. Michael McKenry doubled to right field. Two outs later, Phillies reliever Miguel Nunez threw a wild pitch, which allowed McKenry to advance to third. However, that didn't matter, as Peterson homered to right field to score two more runs. Varona was retired for the final out, but those two runs that scored on Peterson's bomb put the game out of reach.

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