This afternoon, the Phillies (1-3-1) were looking to snap a two-game losing streak against the Blue Jays (3-2). Jerome Williams took the hill for the second time this spring while veteran starter Mark Buehrle was making his debut.
Williams looked good in his start, surrendering one run on two hits in three innings. Most notably today, Jonathan Papelbon made his first appearance of spring training and tossed a scoreless sixth inning, striking out two hitters in the process. David Buchanan pitched in relief of Williams and gave up one run in two innings. Jesse Biddle took the hill for his first action of the spring and struggled in his lone inning of relief, allowing two runs on three hits. Meanwhile, Mario Hollands and Jeanmar Gomez both pitched scoreless innings.
Offensively, the Phillies were held scoreless until the ninth. Carlos Ruiz knocked in a run with an RBI-groundout while Brian Bogusevic drove in Jordan Danks with an RBI-double to cut the Blue Jays lead in half in the final frame. Ben Revere, Freddy Galvis and Darin Ruf all went 1-for-3 at the plate while Ryan Howard, Domonic Brown and Maikel Franco went a combined 0-for-8. The Phillies went 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
The Blue Jays got on the board in the second, thanks to an RBI-single from Kevin Pillar. Josh Donaldson hit a solo blast in the fourth and then Toronto added on two more runs in the seventh against Jesse Biddle, eventually leading to a 4-2 victory over the Phillies.
Former Phillies top prospect, Kyle Drabek, tossed a scoreless inning in relief during today's game as well. Since being dealt to Toronto in the Roy Halladay trade, Drabek has posted a 5.27 ERA in 172.1 innings at the Major League level.
Up Next: Tomorrow at 1:05pm, the Phillies visit the Rays at Charlotte Sports Park. Joely Rodriguez, acquired by the Phillies in the Antonio Bastardo trade, will start for Philadelphia while Tampa Bay will counter with Chris Archer.
