By: Rebecca Serad, Sports Talk Philly Staff 
Final: Philadelphia Phillies 2, Boston Red Sox 1 ❖ Attendance: 7,883
Clearwater, FLA — The Philadelphia Phillies (5-8) pulled out a win against the Boston Red Sox (8-5) today for their third straight spring victory. Aaron Nola was excellent over four innings, striking out five, allowing one hit and not walking any batters. The pitchers that relieved him were also solid, striking out seven and only allowing one run over five innings.
The Phillies only mustered three hits, all of them singles. However, the offense was able to take advantage of the opportunities that they were given. It was a combination of walks, wild pitches, passed balls, and fielding errors that handed the Phils the 'W'. In fact, both of the runs they scored were unearned. They need to continue capitalizing on opponents' mistakes if they want to be successful.
WP: Drew Hutchison (1-0, 2.25 ERA) ❖ LP: Kyle Martin (0-1, 3.86 ERA) ❖ SV: Hoby Milner (1)
Hub: Game Summary ❖ Starting Pitchers ❖ At the Plate ❖ Bullpen ❖ What's Next
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| BOS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 |
| PHI |
0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | X | 2 | 3 | 0 |
The bats were quiet for both teams until the Phillies' half of the fourth. With one out, Rhys Hoskins walked. One out later, Odubel Herrera singled to center. Red Sox center fielder Rusney Castillo misplayed the ball when fielding it, and that allowed Hoskins to advance to third. This ended up being a costly error, as Hoskins scored on a wild pitch during the at-bat of Maikel Franco to give the Phils a 1-0 lead. Franco walked to put runners on first and second with two outs for Nick Williams. Unfortunately, he struck out for the third out and the runners were left stranded.
The Red Sox tied it up in the sixth. Phils pitcher Drew Hutchison began his outing by hitting Dan Butler with a pitch. He was replaced on first base by Castillo, who grounded into a force out. Castillo was replaced by pinch-runner Cole Sturgeon, who advanced to second on a wild pitch during the at-bat of Andrew Benintendi. Sturgeon scored on a single by Benintendi to tie the game. Benintendi was replaced by a pinch-runner as well, but Kyri Washington was quickly replaced at first base by Rafael Devers, who grounded into a force out. Sam Travis struck out for the final out and the Phils were able to avoid any more damage.
The Phils took back the lead in the seventh. With two outs, Williams was hit by a pitch. During the at-bat of J.P. Crawford, Williams was picked off and caught stealing second. However, a throwing error by first baseman Pedro Castellanos allowed him to be safe at second instead of the final out. Crawford hit a high pop-up near the mound that none of the Red Sox fielders attempted to catch. Because there were two outs, Williams was running hard on the play and scored from second base. Crawford ended up on first base. An error was charged to pitcher Kyle Martin. Crawford was caught stealing to end the inning. The one-run lead was all that the Phillies pitchers needed to secure the victory.
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Justin Haley | 3.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.57 |
| Aaron Nola | 4.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5.00 |
Red Sox
- Andrew Benintendi: 1-3, RBI, .450 AVG
- Cole Sturgeon: 1-1, R, .667 AVG
- Jeremy Barfield: 1-3, 2B, .176 AVG
Phillies
- Carlos Santana: 1-3, .211 AVG
- Maikel Franco: 1-2, .150 AVG
- Odubel Herrera: 1-3, .059 AVG
Red Sox
- Marcus Walden (4th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA
- Bobby Poyner (5th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 1.80 ERA
- Kyle Martin (6th, 7th): 2.0 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 3.86 ERA
- Kyle Hart (8th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA
Phillies
- Pat Neshek (5th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR, 9.00 ERA
- Drew Hutchison (6th, 7th, 8th): 3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO, 0 HR, 2.25 ERA
- Luis Garcia (9th): 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 7.36 ERA
- Hoby Milner (9th): 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA
- Thursday, March 8, 2018: at New York Yankees, 1:05 p.m.
- Tampa – George M. Steinbrenner Field
- TBA vs. RHP Luis Severino (2017: 14-6, 2.98 ERA)
- TV: N/A; Radio: N/A
