Eickhoff's struggles lead to Phils loss

By: Rebecca Serad, Sports Talk Philly Staff

Final: Toronto Blue Jays 6, Philadelphia Phillies 4 ❖ Attendance: 7,184

Clearwater, FLA — Early on, it was obvious that the offense of the Toronto Blue Jays (3-8-1) would not be silenced by the pitching of the Philadelphia Phillies (6-6-2). Phils starter Jerad Eickhoff struggled mightily, allowing seven hits, two walks and four runs in three innings of work. Those four runs ended up playing a big role in the loss. Without them, the Phillies could have pulled out a win, but instead, they're back to a .500 record for the spring.

The offense struggled as well, not getting a hit until the fifth inning. They scored three runs in that frame, including two knocked in by the struggling Howie Kendrick. The Phillies' bats were mostly silent, only getting five hits, but they made the most of those hits. Regardless, the offense needs to improve if the team is going to be successful during the regular season.

WP: Francisco Liriano (1-0, 0.00 ERA) ❖ LP: Jerad Eickhoff (0-1, 7.88 ERA) ❖ SV: Chris Smith (1)

Hub: Game Summary ❖ Starting Pitchers ❖ At the Plate ❖ Bullpen ❖ What's Next

Game Summary

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
TOR	0	2	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	6	14	0
PHI	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	1	4	5	1

The Blue Jays offense struck first in today's game. Jarrod Saltalamacchia led off the second inning with a single to right. Phillies starter Jerad Eickhoff was able to strike out the next two batters, but that third out wasn't so easy to get. Third baseman Darwin Barney singled to put runners on first and second for Ryan Goins. He followed with a triple into the right-center field gap, scoring both Saltalamacchia and Barney to give the Blue Jays an early lead. Eickhoff struggled to regroup, walking the next two batters to load the bases. Phillies shortstop Freddy Galvis bailed Eickhoff out with an excellent play on a grounder up the middle to get the runner out at first. They were able to prevent the game from getting out of hand, but the Blue Jays still had gotten on the board first.

The third inning brought more runs for the Blue Jays. With one out, Saltalamacchia homered to right-center field. Melvin Upton Jr. followed with a hard-hit single to left. He moved up to third on a single by Ezequiel Carrera to put runners on first and third with one out for Barney. He hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Upton, which allowed the Blue Jays to tack on another run, but also gave the struggling Eickhoff a second out in the inning. A weak ground out by Goins ended the inning.

Alec Asher entered the game for the Phillies and there was hope of a new pitcher being able to shut down the Blue Jays hot offense. That was ultimately not the case. Kevin Pillar led off the inning with a double. Kendrys Morales followed with a double of his own to knock in Pillar and add to the Blue Jays' lead. Pearce followed with a walk to put runners on first and second with no outs for Troy Tulowitzki. He grounded into a 5-3 double-play to give Asher a chance to get out of the inning. Saltalamacchia came to the plate with two outs and a runner at third. He lined a ball off of Phillies first baseman Andrew Knapp for an infield single that allowed Pearce to move up to third. Center fielder Aaron Altherr recorded the final out to prevent any more damage from being done.

The Phillies finally got their first hit in the bottom of the fifth with two outs off the bat of Galvis. Catcher Logan Moore followed with a single of his own to put runners on first and second with two outs. Altherr followed with a walk to load the bases for Cesar Hernandez. Hernandez walked to score the Phillies' first run of the day. After a pitching change, Howie Kendrick came to the plate. He came up clutch with a single to right, scoring two runs and moving Hernandez up to third base. Unfortunately, Maikel Franco struck out for the final out, but the Phillies were finally on the board.

The Blue Jays' bats perked up again in the top of the ninth. Rowdy Tellez reached base on an error by third baseman Taylor Featherston. One out later, the Phillies made a pitching change and brought in righty Michael Mariot. He struck out Reese McGuire for the second out of the inning and it seemed like the Phillies would be able to get out of the inning. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. had other plans. He doubled to center, scoring an unearned run for the Jays. Mariot got the final out of the inning to end the threat.

The Phillies fought back in the bottom of the ninth. Tommy Joseph led off the inning with a homer to left field to get the run back that the Blue Jays scored in the top of the frame. One out later, Pedro Florimon and Andres Blanco walked back-to-back to bring the winning run to the plate with runners on first and second. However, Altherr struck out and Jose Valentin flew out to center to squander the Phils' chances. Ultimately, it was a case of too little offense, too late.

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