By: Brandon Apter, contributor 
Final: Rays 6, Phillies 1 ❖ Attendance: 11,222
CLEARWATER, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays hit four home runs and tacked on another run with an RBI-double in the ninth to defeat the Philadelphia Phillies today, 6-1, at Bright House Field. Vincent Velasquez got the start for Philadelphia and dazzled, allowing just one run on three hits while striking out seven over five innings. Rays starter Matt Moore also had a strong outing, striking out eight with no walks in 4.2 innings.
The Phillies offense went 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position, but Ryan Howard, David Lough and Emmanuel Burriss all notched multi-hit games.
The Phillies will look to get back on track on Friday against the Pirates at 1:05pm in Clearwater.
Hub: Game Summary ❖ Starting Pitchers ❖ At the Plate ❖ Bullpen ❖ What's Next
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| TB | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 1 |
| PHI |
0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 |
Tampa Bay got on the board right out of the gates as Logan Forsythe belted a solo home run to left field to lead off the first inning, making it a 1-0 game. The Phillies scored their only run in the bottom of the fourth courtesy of a home run by Ryan Howard, his first of the spring.
The Rays used the long ball to power them through this game. In the sixth, Steve Pearce went yard off of Phillies reliever Edward Mujica while both Richie Shaffer and Mikie Mahtook hit homers off of left-hander Elvis Araujo. Mahtook's home run was a two-run shot. In the top of the ninth, Tampa Bay tacked on a sixth run thanks to an RBI-double off the bat of Mayo Acosta with Colton Murray on the mound.
Philadelphia had plenty of opportunities to score, but failed to capitalize with runners in scoring position. They loaded the bases in the eighth with two down and also left two on in the third.
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vincent Velasquez | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 3.21 |
| Matt Moore | 4.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 1.74 |
Phillies
- Ryan Howard: 2-4, 2B, HR, RBI, K, .200 AVG
- David Lough: 2-4, .304 AVG
- Emmanuel Burriss: 2-4, 2B, .346 AVG
Rays
- Mikie Mahtook: 1-1, HR, 2 RBI, R, .250 AVG
- Nick Franklin: 2-3, 2B, K, .348 AVG
- Richie Shaffer: 1-3, HR, RBI, R, .136 AVG
Phillies
- Edward Mujica (6th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 1 HR, 1.80 ERA
- Jeanmar Gomez (7th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR, 2.25 ERA
- Elvis Araujo (8th): 0.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO, 2 HR, 9.64 ERA
- Colton Murray (8th, 9th): 1.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR, 1.69 ERA
Orioles
- Kyle McPherson (5th, 6th): 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR, 1.69 ERA
- Parker Markel (7th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA
- Mark Sappington (8th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA
- Tyler Sturdevant (9th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 3.86 ERA
- Friday, March 18th: vs. Pittsburgh Pirates, 1:05 p.m.
- Clearwater, FL – Bright House Field
- TBD vs. RHP Charlie Morton (0-0, 3.86 ERA)
- TV: TCN, MLB.TV Radio 94 WIP
