The Grapefruit League so far has proven to be pretty stagnant for the Phillies offense as they struggled to score runs, at least until today. The offense burst into life against Joe Nathan, scoring not one..not two..not even three..but six fifth-inning runs on their way to a 6-5 win over the Tigers earlier today.
Things seemed promising for the Tigers before Joe Nathan took to the plate. Philadelphia’s first three hitters — Jeff Francoeur, Cody Asche and Freddy Galvis — all hit line-drive singles to the left hand side of the field before Blanco ripped a triple to kick things off properly and get the ball rolling.
Nathan responded positively for the Tigers with back-to-back groundouts, but after Herrera beat Nathan the inning began to crumble with a Domonic Brown walk.
By the end of the inning, the Phillies had scored more runs than they had combined in their last three outings.
Philly’s breakout was more than enough to withstand a seventh-inning barrage that included an RBI single from Ben Verlander.
The team will be hoping to carry this momentum into their Friday fixture against the Rays where a few of the Phillies Prospects will be eager to get their chance to shine. Left-hander Joely Rodriguez who moved in December from Pittsburgh will start against Tampa Bay. Jesse Biddle, once considered the Phillies’ top pitching prospect, will be the second pitcher of the afternoon.
