Skip to main content

Phils walk-off in dramatic fashion with Hunter blast

On Friday in Clearwater, the Phillies blew a sizable lead, walking six batters in the 8th and 9th innings combined, but did not quit and held on to lock down a shocking win over the Braves by a score of 12-11.

Early on, third baseman Maikel Franco was the top offensive performer for the Phils, as he went 2-for-3 with a home run and four RBI. The strong effort takes Franco's spring average to .364.
Flame thrower Luis Garcia struggled, as he was charged with four earned runs on five hits and two walks in one inning pitched. Hector Neris loaded the bases in the ninth and walked in a run before the team called on youngster Edubray Ramos to close out the game, clinging to a 9-8 lead. Ramos would walk home the tying run and then a Darnell Sweeney throwing error, his second miscue of the day, allowed two more runs to score, putting the Braves ahead 11-9 in a game they trailed by a score of 9-3 after seven innings.

In the bottom of the 9th, shortstop J.P. Crawford and first baseman Brock Stassi each singled to set up outfielder Cedric Hunter for the dramatic walk-off. With a 1-2 count and two outs, Hunter sent a big fly over the grass berm in right field to put the Phillies at 2-2 on the young exhibition season.


Hunter was signed to a minor league deal with an invite to spring training in January. The 27-year-old played at the Triple-A level for the Braves last season.

Catcher Cameron Rupp and infielder Ryan Jackson each notched a pair of hits as well. First baseman Ryan Howard was 0-for-2 on the day.

Outfielder Aaron Altherr left the contest with a wrist injury he suffered on a diving catch attempt in the opening frame.

Starting pitcher Jeremy Hellickson struck out five batters, walking none while allowing an earned run in two innings of work.

Out of the bullpen, veteran righty Andrew Bailey threw a scoreless frame. Right-hander Gregory Infante allowed two earned runs in two innings. Chris Leroux looked good, with two scoreless innings.

The Phils are set to return to action on Saturday, when they visit the Blue Jays in nearby Dunedin at 1:07 PM.

This post originally appeared on Phillies Nation.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

PhoulBallz Q&A with Mike Stutes

Mike Stutes completes "The Reading Phils Mike Tri-fecta" over three days, here on PhoulBallz.com. Stutes, a 22 year old, was an 11th round selection by the Phillies in the 2008 amateur draft. Stutes, a right handed starting pitcher, helped lead Oregon State to the College World Series championship in both 2006 and 2007. Stutes and teammate Vance Worley are the first players to begin a season at Reading the year after being drafted since Pat Burrell did it in 1999. Stutes was the Phils' minor league pitcher of the month in August '08, when he went 4-1 with a 1.72 ERA in 6 starts. Check out my Q&A with the third Mike below. Can I get you to talk about the coaching staff and how they help you deal with ups and downs? They've been real positive with me. I started out good and then I hit a rough patch. They've stuck with me through it all. I haven't heard any negative words from them. Every day they try to come out, work with me, try to get me turned around...

Jason Knapp Q&A

PhoulBallz .com was fortunate enough to meet with Phillies prospect Jason Knapp just one day after he caught the attention of the baseball world with his 7 shut out innings, 14 strike out performance against the Indians' Lake County team. - I asked Jason, the Lakewood BlueClaw , for some thoughts about his big game... I had pretty good command of three pitches (fastball, curve, change up). I was on the same page with my catcher, D'Arnaud , and I ended up, ya know, I felt pretty good. - In a great performance like that, how much credit goes to Travis D'Arnaud , the catcher? More than you might expect, definitely. I didn't shake him off once. He told me what to throw and I do what I'm told. And if it works out, a lot of the credit goes to the catcher. - Does the lack of run support (Lakewood has scored 3 total runs in his 3 starts), in your few starts, increase your stress level, or enhance your focus? No, I just try to go out and do my job every outing. Ya know, we...

Yankees Fans Misled By Pepsi Promotion

**** Today, New York Yankees fans attended a Pepsi promotion in Times Square hoping for chances to win opening day tickets to the new stadium, but the tickets, which were difficult to track down due to poor organization on Pepsi's part, were actually for a game in June. Furthermore, the 250 pairs that were promised were actually only 100 pairs. The fans, who were made to sprint through traffic over multiple city blocks when locations for the promotion changed, quickly turned against the soda brand by pooring out their beverages and chanting anti-Pepsi phrases. Yankees fans are even threatening a boycott of Pepsi. An appearance by Yankee great Goose Gossage could not even settle the angry mob, as he had to be whisked away, as a precaution, according to the Daily News . Ooo , I'd hate to see what "the worst fans in sports" (Philadelphia fans) would have done to their free Pepsi cans and beloved reliever in that situation. Because this happened in a non-Philly city, th...