Over the last few games the Phillies bats appeared to be back, including Ryan Howard’s first homer of the Grapefruit League yesterday. The Phillies traveled south tonight to face the Red Sox in Fort Myers, FL. Cliff Lee took the ball tonight for the fourth time this spring. Lee has pitched very well so far, as he looks to start Opening Day. The Red Sox had Jon Lester take the hill for his third start of the spring. Lester was 1-0 with 0.00 ERA going into the game.
The Game: To lead off the game, Ben Revere got things going with a single to left field. Jimmy Rollins would fly out to bring up Marlon Byrd. With Byrd batting, Revere took second with his second stolen base of the spring. Byrd then followed with a double down the left field line to score Revere. In the bottom of the inning, Lee escaped the two singles by Red Sox to retire the side. 1-0 Phillies
The game wouldn’t see another run until the fifth inning, after Lester put together 3 scoreless innings together and was pulled for Burke Badenhop. With one out, Cesar Hernandez would hit an infield single. Wil Nieves would follow with a single through the hole between first and second. Ben Revere would then hit an awkward high ball that fell in and bounced into the seats to score Hernandez. Rollins then hit an RBI ground out to plate Nieves. Marlon Byrd followed with a single to center to score Revere. Cliff Lee in the bottom would get a 123 inning to finish off his night. 4-0 Phillies
The Red Sox won’t get on the board until the seventh inning. Phillippe Aumont in his second inning of work allowed a deep homerun to Jonny Gomes. Aumont would escape the inning only giving up the one run in two innings. 4-1 Phillies
Other Phillies pitchers making appearances in the game were Brad Lincoln and Shawn Camp, who both pitched clean innings.
Some notable offensive performances:
Ben Revere 2-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB
Marlon Byrd 2-4, 2 RBI, 1 SB
Jimmy Rollins 0-3, 1 BB, 1 RBI
Impact: The Phillies bats appear to be back over the last four games. Cliff Lee looks ready to for the regular season who pitched five scoreless innings giving up three hits and striking out three. Defense played very well, expect Revere’s fumble in center on a double by Dustin Pedroia. But they did have, two double plays. Shawn Camp continued his excellent spring and is a “dark” horse to make the club.
Up Next: The Phillies return home tomorrow as they send Sean O’Sullivan to hill. O’Sullivan is in the mix to start the season as the fifth starter with Manship, Buchanan, and Pettibone (outside chance). The Pirates will send Adam Wilk to the hill. Wilk is having a good spring with a 1.29 ERA with four strike outs in seven innings.
Andrew Shipotofsky is a writer for Philliedephia. Follow him on Twitter @Ashipotofsky
