Philadelphia Phillies defeat Tampa Bay Rays 2-1 in 2012 Spring Training - MLB Update
Starter Cole Hamels strikes-out seven as Philadelphia Phillies go past Tampa Bay Rays 2-1 at Bright House Networks in Clearwater, Florida on March 29, 2012 in their Grapefruit League encounter.
A low scoring match saw rare hits coming from both sides, with Rays managing just four and Phillies ten in the whole game. Not just the Phillies’ pitchers handicapped batters for runs, Rays
were equally good.
Rays’ starter Jeremy Hellickson spent six innings on the mound and only if the homer he was hammered was taken out of equation, he did a fairly great job. Walking twice and conceding one run,
he struck-out three.
Phillies' catcher Brian Schneider hit twice on four at-bats and while he completed one run he contributed one RBI along the way. Pinch hitter Hector Luna appeared on the plate for once and
as he connected one hit he brought one RBI along.
The most encouraging aspect for Phillies surfacing in the game was their starter Hamels, who went on to reinforce the confidence the club is going to give in him during the season. As he ran
through Rays’ line-up cheaply, he gave up just three hits. In little more than five innings he pitched, he allowed three hits.
With the talent he has and the kind of performance he is going to exhibit in the season, reports emerged that he is fancying huge returns in winter from free agency options. In an attempt to
rebuff all such speculations, Hamels re-iterated that he is focusing more on the season at hand.
"I haven't been thinking about it at all," He said. "It's going to be one of those things that's going to linger until something happens. But fortunately, with the way I go out every single
day and the approach I take is just to go out and get in good shape and get my workouts in and do everything I could possibly do right on the field and then just things will take care of itself."
Despite victory, the Phillies cannot afford complacency on any front, especially under the fact that their hitters have yet to prove their preparations for the season. As they play their remaining
Spring Training games, they will look forward to remove hitting flaws they showed today.
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