Phillies baseball is back in Philadelphia. Unfortunately, not much has changed from Phillies baseball in Florida. If you thought the cold weather would make a difference with the Phillies offense, you'd be incorrect. For the third straight game, the Phillies bats struggled to do much of anything. That is, of course, except for Chase Utley.
The Game: Like usual this spring, the game went scoreless for a while. Let's skip to the fourth. With runners on first and second, Travis Ishikawa hit a single to left. Russell Martin rounded third but was hosed down at the plate and a great throw from Domonic Brown to save a run.
Scoring didn't happen until the sixth inning. After Kyle Kendrick pitched five shutout innings, the Phillies brought in Phillippe Aumont. He led off the inning with a walk to Travis Snider. Andrew McCutchen followed with a force out, eliminating Snider from reaching scoring position. After a wild pitch moved McCutchen to second, Aumont gave up a run-scoring double to Russell Martin, giving the Pirates a 1-0 lead. That wasn't all. Aumont exited and Antonio Bastardo took over. He immediately gave up a single to Neil Walker, scoring Martin. 2-0 Pirates.
The Phillies threatened in the seventh. Chase Utley hit a one-out double and moved to third on a Ryan Howard groundout, but Marlon Byrd struck out to end the inning.
With Jake Diekman on the hill for the Phillies in the eighth, Gaby Sanchez hit a double. A Jordy Mercer groundout moved Sanchez to third. Up next was Clint Barmes. He smacked an RBI single to right, scoring Sanchez. 3-0 Pirates. That is how it would end.
Instant replay erased a Cesar Hernandez infield hit in the ninth.
Kyle Kendrick, who will pitch the third game of the Phillies opening series in Texas, pitched five innings. He gave up three hits, walked two and struck out two. Phillippe Aumont gave up two runs in 1/3 innings. Anotonio Bastardo pitched 2/3 scoreless while BJ Rosenberg contributed with a scoreless inning. Mario Hollands pitched 1/3 scoreless, Jake Diekman gave up a run in 2/3 of an inning and Jonathan Papelbon struck out the side in a scoreless ninth.
Notable Offensive Performances:
Chase Utley: 3-3, 2 2B
Rollins, Howard, Brown, Ruiz, Byrd: Combined 0-for-15, 2 K's
Impact: Obviously, you have to be concerned about this offense. The last three games make you wonder if the bats will ever show up in a consistent matter, if at all. That being said, Chase Utley had a great night after struggling for the majority of spring training. He was responsible for all three of the Phillies hits. As you can see above, the rest of the lineup was not able to produce a thing. On the pitching end, Kyle Kendrick registered a solid outing while Jonathan Papelbon's pitches had plenty of break to them, despite lacking some speed, in the ninth. Domonic Brown showed off his arm in the fourth, gunning down Russell Martin at the plate.
Up Next: The Phillies and Pirates play another one tomorrow as part of the On Deck Series. Roberto Hernandez (1-1, 5.29) will take the hill for Philadelphia. The Pirates have yet to announce their starter.
Brandon Apter is a writer for Philliedelphia. Follow him on Twitter @ApterShock
