Alfaro leads Phillies past Orioles at Spectrum Field

By: Matt Alberston, Sports Talk Philly staff

Final: Phillies 9, Orioles 6

Clearwater, Fla. — The Phillies won their first game of the Grapefruit League schedule today with a 9-6 victory over the visiting Baltimore Orioles at Spectrum Field. Zach Eflin started the game for the Phillies and was able to get ahead of hitters with a good fastball clocked around 95mph and good breaking balls, but subsequently fell behind hitters. He was pulled in the second inning.

Jorge Alfaro supplied the majority of the offense for the Phillies today, as he went 2-2 with a walk and a grand slam home run in the 2nd inning. His home run paced the day until the Orioles closed the gap to within one run in the late innings, at which time the Phillies' offense rose to the occasion and scored three runs in the bottom of the 8th inning to stay ahead for good.

Today's early spring contest should be viewed exactly as that, a spring training contest, where pitchers will work on location. A few dazzling plays were made by both teams in the field today, such as the Orioles' Cedric Mullins' diving catch in centerfield to end the inning and Nick Rickles' quick stab at first base to keep a run from scoring in the late innings.

Manager Gabe Kapler experimented with the lineup today, leading off with recently signed free agent Carlos Santana followed by 2017 rookie sensation Rhys Hoskins. The pair combined to go 0-5 with a strikeout, walk, and run scored. It will be interesting to see if Kapler continues to test this lineup possibility and figure out who can hit in the five hole.

WP: Tyler Viza (1-0) ❖ LP: Dylan Bundy (0-1) ❖ SV: N/A

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
BAL	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	6	0
PHI	0	5	0	0	1	0	0	0	X	9	11	0

The scoring started in the second inning, with the Orioles tallying the first run of the ball game on a double by Luis Sardinas. The Phillies answered back in the bottom of the frame. J.P. Crawford singled and took second base on a passed ball. After a Tommy Joseph walk, Ryan Flaherty grounded into a force out, leaving runners at the corners with one out. Outfielder Roman Quinn singled on a dribbler to Orioles first baseman Chris Davis, who mentally erred and allowed all runners to be safe as Crawford scored. After a Carlos Santana popup, Rhys Hoskins walked to load the bases for Jorge Alfaro who hit a grand slam to left center field.

The Orioles responded in the top of the 3rd. Jake Thompson gave up a leadoff walk to Cedric Mullins while Anthony Santander reached base safely thanks to catcher interference. After two strikeouts, Thompson uncorked a wild pitch which allowed Mullins to score and narrow the margin to three runs. The Phillies threatened in the bottom of the

The Phillies increased their edge in the 5th after Will Middlebrooks singled to right field, scoring Adam Rosales from third.

With Zac Curtis on the mound in the top of the 7th, Cedric Mullins walked to start the frame and advanced to second base on a Chris Davis single. Curtis uncorked a wild pitch, allowing the runners to advance. Audry Perez hit a comebacker that deflected off of Curtis' glove. Mullins scored and closed the gap to three runs.

The Orioles continued their assault in the 8th inning. D.J. Stewart reached base safely after Andrew Pullin and Will Middlebrooks collided while converging on a ball in shallow left field. Luis Sardinas grounded into a force out. With Luis Sardinas on second base due to a throwing error, T.J. Nichting doubled high off the right field wall, scoring Mason McCoy (replaced Sardinas). Nichting advanced to 3rd on a Drew Dosch groundout and scored on an Anthony Santander single.

With their lead down to one run, the Phillies offense woke up when they were needed most. Mitch Walding led off with a hit by pitch and Jesmuel Valentin singled to left. Collin Cowgill singled to center and scored Walding. With runners on first and second, Nick Rickles singled to center and scored Valentin. Andrew Pullin kept the iron hot and grounded into a force out which scored Cowgill.

The Orioles' last gasp occurred in the top of the 9th inning when Audry Perez homered to center off of Pedro Beato.

The win was the first of the Grapefruit League campaign for the Phillies.

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