Phillies vs. Tigers Recap

                The Phillies visited the Detroit Tigers on Sunday at Joker Marchant Stadium in their second game of the Spring.  The game featured a premier pitching match up between Roy Halladay and Justin Verlander, albeit for only two innings.
 Halladay and Verlander each surrendered 1 run in two innings of work while striking out 2 a piece.  The game ended in a 5-5 draw but the Phillies showed a few bright spots in the game.  Ryan Howard showed improvement after an injury marred 2012, smacking 2 doubles in three at-bats.  The Big Piece has been moving much smoother so far in Spring Training after having an off-season to recover, and while he was never a speed demon, appears much quicker than in 2012.  Kevin Frandsen also had a 2 for 3 day collecting a home run off of Kyle Lobstein in the 4th inning, not exactly the best name for a pitcher.  Perhaps the most impressive performance at the plate came from Dominic Brown who continues to fight for an Opening Day job.  Brown pinch-hit for Darin Ruf in the 8th inning and came up big with a home run.  He will need to have a strong spring if he hopes to find himself in a starting role on Opening Day, though his chances are helped by the fact that Delmon Young will most likely start the season on the DL.  The Phillies had their ups and downs on the mound in Sunday's contest.
                  Halladay looked strong in the first inning but was tagged for a home run by Victor Martinez with 1 out in the 2nd inning.  After Halladay's exit, Antonio Bastardo came on to pitch one scoreless inning but was followed by J.C. Ramirez who was tagged for 3 runs in just one inning.  Jake Diekman was next in and allowed 1 run in a single inning.  After Diekman's exit, three pitchers combined to pitch scoreless ball the rest of the way.  Joe Savery pitched a scoreless inning that was followed by three shutout innings from Rodrigo Lopez.  Finally Justin Friend pitched a scoreless 10th inning in a game that ended tied 5-5.   While the pitching had mixed success today, the fielding was much cleaner as the team committed no errors after a four error game against the Astros yesterday.  The Phillies continue to show some positive signs as they hope for a bounce back year in 2013.  The Phillies will return to action again tomorrow at Bright House Field as they again face the Tigers and Cliff Lee takes the mound in his first Grapefruit League start of 2013.  Until next time, Go Phils!