Philadelphia Phillies: Offense Overcomes Slow Start in 6-1 Exhibition Win

Hector Luna‘s two-run home run in the seventh inning helped the Phillies pull away from Florida State in Wednesday’s spring exhibition in Clearwater. The Phillies defeated one the NCAA’s top baseball teams by the score of 6-1 after being held scoreless by the Seminoles’ pitching through five innings.

Tyson Gillies scored the first run of the game when Scott Podsednik‘s infield single in the sixth inning gave the Phillies a 1-0 lead. The lead would be short-lived when J.C. Ramirez ran in to some trouble in the top of the seventh inning and Florida State scored their first run. Some poor control, including a wild pitch, was the story of the inning for Ramirez, but one run was all he allowed. Pete Orr, who bobbled a grounder to allow Florida State to make some noise, scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the seventh inning to make amends. The Phillies continued to tack on some runs, benefiting from a balk against Florida State to force in a run before Luna’s blast over the wall.

 

Other Notes From Exhibition Win

Starting pitcher Austin Hyatt pitched two innings and did not allow a base runner. Hyatt started the game with a pair of strikeouts, and never appeared to struggle too much with command in two effective innings.

Ty Wigginton grounded in to a double play in his first at-bat of the spring, after Hunter Pence had walked on four pitches.

Domonic Brown was hit by a pitch in his first plate appearance, and he followed by stealing second base.

First hit of the spring for the Phillies went to catcher Tuffy Gosewisch. His one-out double off the wall in the third inning was followed by a walk by Jimmy Rollins. The Phillies were unable to capitalize, though, with Juan Pierre popping up and Shane Victorino flying out to left to end the inning.

Despite already having the game in the bag, the Phillies opted to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning, giving Florida State pitcher Brandon Johnson a chance to pitch as well.

A total of 4,399 were reported in the attendance.

 

Next Up

The Phillies will open their Grapefruit League schedule this weekend with a three-game series against the New York Yankees. Cole Hamels will get the first start of the season Saturday afternoon. Dave Bush, Jonathan Papelbon, Dontrelle Willis, Raul Valdes, Chad Qualls and Mike Stutes are scheduled to pitch after Hamels gets in a couple of innings of work.

Roy Halladay will make his spring debut on Sunday when the Phillies make the short trip to play the Yankees. Joel Pineiro, David Purcey, Antonio Bastardo and Phillippe Aumont are scheduled to pitch in the game.

Both games are scheduled for 1:05 p.m. first pitches.

 

Kevin McGuire is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, like him on Facebook and add him to your Google+ circle. This article was originally published and appears on Macho Row.

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