On his last day at big league camp, Phillies top prospect Dom Brown showed that he can compete at a very high level. His impressive day at the plate along with another strong outing by Cole Hamels, gave the Phillies a 6-1 win over the Tigers yesterday afternoon at Bright House Field in front of a crowd of 9,833.
Pitching...Cole Hamels continued to work on his new pitches he added to his arsenal this offseason in another stellar spring outing. Hamels pitched five innings and threw 54 pitches...10 cutters, six for strikes and nine curveballs...five for strikes. Cole only threw his changeup eight times.
"I was really focused on throwing curveballs," Hamels said. "I threw a couple for first-pitch strikes. I threw a couple back-to-back to hitters. It's just knowing I can get myself in a situation when I can throw it. That's what really allows me to execute. Throwing the cutter, I thought I threw some pretty good ones to hitters." (Phillies.com)
Hamels finished his five innings of work and gave up only two hits, one unearned run and he struck out four to lower his spring ERA to 1.69. Danys Baez, BJ Rosenberg, Antonio Bastardo and Ryan Madson pitched the final four...one inning each and combined to give up only one hit while striking out four. A very solid day for Phillies pitching.
Hitting...Phillies top prospect Dom Brown looked to have cooled down in his recent appearances but I guess he was just building up for yesterday. Brown pounded a solo homer onto the highway off of Justin Verlander to give the Phils a 1-0 lead in 2nd. Two innings later, Brown jacked a two-run bomb to right center which followed a Ryan Howard two-run homer two at-bats sooner. The Phils top prospect also made a spectacular catch in right field to top his great day. He finished 3-for-3 with two runs scored and four RBI's. He also managed to get walked once. Howard was 1-for-2 with two RBI's, a run scored, a walk and a strikeout. Jimmy Rollins and Raul Ibanez both had doubles and runs scored. Backup catcher Brian Schneider got two hits in his three plate appearances as well. After the game, Brown was sent down to minor league camp but said that he really enjoyed how the players took him under their wing.
In the field...Ryan Howard tallied his 2nd error of the spring on a pick-off attempt that got away from him.
BOX
So a great showing from Dom Brown this spring...he ended up hitting .417 in 24 at-bats with two homers, three walks and eight RBI's. Cole Hamels continued to sharpen his new pitches and just an all around solid day from the bullpen as well. The Phils are now 7-4-1 in spring training.
Up Next...The Phils send Joe Blanton to the mound for his third spring start against the Yankees today at 1:05. Jose Contreras, Sergio Escalona, Chad Durbin and David Herndon are scheduled to pitch.
Injury Update...Placido Polanco is day-to-day with a right knee sprain...he hopes to return as early as Friday.
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