Phillies Mauled by Tigers

               The Phillies were thoroughly mauled by the Detroit Tigers in this afternoons contest at Bright House Field in Clearwater.  The Phillies were able to collect only 5 hits in a blowout 10-1 loss to the Tigers, that saw few bright spots.
 It all began to fall apart when Jonathan Papelbon entered the game in the 5th inning with a 1 run lead.  Papelbon, fresh off his controversial comments about the Phillies lack of leadership, was tagged for 6 runs on 5 hits and surrendered 2 home runs in just 2/3 of an inning.  Papelbon's comments would probably not receive as much attention if he had not gotten shelled today, but he clearly did not lead by example and now has an 81.00 ERA to kick of Spring Training.  Aside from Papelbon, the Phillies received sub-par pitching performances from Michael Stutes who is trying to make the club after an injury ravaged 2012 and Raul Valdes.  Stutes surrendered 2 runs on 1 hit and walked 2 in just one inning of work.  Valdes did not pitch any better, allowing 2 runs in two innings and 1 home run.  The hitting was not much better against the Tigers, as the Phillies only collected 5 hits throughout the game, all singles.  While the overall performance on the field for the Phillies today was pretty bad, there were a few silver linings during the game (A tip of the cap to Philadelphia product Bradley Cooper).
                Cliff Lee started the game on the mound for the Phillies and pitched two stellar innings of no-hit ball, with two strikeouts.  After Lee exited the game, Tyler Cloyd took over and also contributed two hit less innings of work.  While the Phillies had a no-hitter through 4, the game would soon get ugly after Papelbon took the mound in the 5th.  Phillippe Aumont also turned in a scoreless inning while collecting 1 strikeout.  The big Canadian will need to continue pitching well before he leaves to pitch for his country in the World Baseball Classic if he wishes to find himself in the Opening Day bullpen.  While those three players provided the only bright spots on the mound in a blowout loss, Ryan Howard provided the only positive signs at the plate.  Howard continued to look strong at the plate, with a 2 for 2 performance, both singles, and a deep sacrifice fly to plate the Phillies only run.  While this may not seem overwhelmingly impressive, both hits and the sacrifice fly came against left-handers, which is a promising sign for a slugger who has struggled against same-side pitching.  So while the Phillies have started Grapefruit League play 0-2-1, we will just continue to look at the positive signs in the games that don't count, such as the strong starting pitching performances and good at-bats from Ryan Howard.  For now we will just continue to look for the silver linings until Opening Day, here's to you Bradley Cooper.  Go Phils!