The Red Sox (or some of them, at least) made the long journey up the Gulf Coast to Clearwater to take on the Phillies. Both teams sent an ace to the mound for the last Friday Spring Training game in Florida. Cliff Lee took the hill for the Phillies and Jon Lester for the Red Sox.
The Game:
Todays' game featured strong performances by both Lee and Lester. Lee went six innings and allowed just two runs, both coming in the sixth inning. Lee gave up three hits and one walk while striking out six. Lester allowed no runs in five and two-thirds innings, giving up four hits and a walk while striking out five Phillies batters.
The Red Sox runs off of Cliff Lee came in the sixth when with two outs Lee walked Jonny Gomes. Gomes moved to second base on a single by third baseman Will Middlebrooks. Then, catcher A.J. Pierzynski doubled over the head of John Mayberry to give the Red Sox a 2-0 lead.
The Phillies would finally score in the bottom of the eighth inning. With one out, Tony Gwynn hit a home run to right field to put the Phillies on the board and make the score 2-1 Red Sox. Jimmy Rollins singled up the middle before Chase Utley flew out. The Phillies caught a break when a sharply hit ball off the bat of Kevin Frandsen took an odd bounce to get past Red Sox shortstop Jonathan Herrara, and Scott Cousins then booted the ball in left field. Herrara would misjudge a pop up by Clete Thomas that landed in the infield, which would allow Rollins to score to tie the game at two.
A scoreless ninth inning sent the game to extra inning(s). But, as is often the case, the Phillies and Red Sox decided to let the game end in a tie.
Impact:
Ronny Cedeño started at third base and played all nine innings. With Freddy Galvis on the shelf for at least the start of the season, Cedeño may be the one to take his place on the roster. Though originally signed to be the shortstop at AAA Lehigh Valley, Kevin Frandsen has not played the position at all for the Phillies since joining the big club in 2012. At third base, Cedeño made a nice diving play.
The Phillies bullpen had a nice day. Jonathan Papelbon, Antonio Bastardo, and Jake Diekman each had a scoreless inning. Over from minor league camp, Mike Nesseth contributed a scoreless frame of his own as well.
