You should never take one game in the spring and use it as a predictor for what will happen the rest of the month, or the season. But it was encouraging to see Ryan Howard get off to a nice start in his spring training debut Tuesday afternoon in Clearwater. Howard, hitting fourth in Ryne Sandberg‘s line-up, went two-for-two in his two plate appearances, with his first hit of the spring going to left field. He also played some nice defense as well.
“He did a lot of good things on the field,” Sandberg said after the game [per Todd Zolecki of MLB.com]. “He showed some good movement on the field, some range on some plays. He did a good job on a high throw over there at first base. He really moved around really well on the field, and he had some at-bats [in which] he squared some balls up. I liked him going to left field, opening up the field.”
The Phillies blew a four-run lead late in the game to see a 5-1 lead result in a 5-5 tie against the New York Yankees.
Some other notes and observations from Tuesday’s Grapefruit League opener:
I shared some bad information yesterday, thinking Cliff Lee was pitching on Tuesday. Lee will be scheduled to pitch on Thursday against Houston. Jerome Williams was scheduled to start Tuesday but David Buchanan ended up starting while Williams came into the game in the third inning. Buchanan gave up five hits and a run but seemed to brush off a rough first inning and avoided getting into major trouble. Williams fared well in his two innings of work too while allowing one hit and striking out one with his signature pink glove.
Mario Hollands had the roughest performance in the Grapefruit League opener. Hollands lasted just two-thirds of an inning and it was a spectacular mess. Hollands was charged for four runs on five hits in the ninth inning. With Hollands on the mound, the Yankees battled back from a 5-1 deficit to tie the game at 5-5, which turned out to be the final score after nine innings. The dagger came when Yankees right fielder prospect Aaron Judge lifted one just over the wall in left field for a three-run home run to tie the game.
Ben Revere, expected to lead off this season, was ineffective at the top of the order Tuesday. Revere went 0-for-3 and stranded one base runner before Odrubel Herrera got a chance to enter the game. Grady Sizemore and Freddy Galvis each went 1-for-3 in the starting line-up. Carlos Ruiz left three runners on base while going 0-for-3.
Chase Utley did not play, and he is not expected to play all week. That will give Cesar Hernandez a chance to get some good playing time at second base. Hernandez went 1-for-3 and struck out once while getting the start.
Joely Rodriguez was acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for reliever Antonio Bastardo in the offseason. On Tuesday, he showed some good stuff on the mound with two clean innings. He walked one batter and struck out another but did not allow a hit and got credit for a hold.
Next Up: The Phillies head over to Tampa to take on the Yankees for a second straight day. Kevin Slowey is scheduled to start on the mound for the Phillies after Aaron Harang was scratched from his scheduled start. Wednesday’s game is scheduled for a first pitch at 1:10 p.m. and can be watched on MLB.tv.
Photo credit: Ryan Lawrence
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