Spring Training Game 28 - Thursday Afternoon, March 24th
One Sentence Summary: Cole Hamels struggled for the third straight outing, as the Twins defeated the Phils, 7-3.
What It Means: Hamels allowed six runs on nine hits in his 6 2/3 innings of work, but he did strike out seven. His spring ERA is now up to 6.75. Continuing with the bad news, Brad Lidge allowed a run on two hits and a walk in his 2/3 of an inning, raising his ERA to 9.53.
Top Hitters: Ross Gload and Carlos Ruiz each had multi-hit games, with Gload now sporting a .353 average. Dane Sardinha hit a two-run double in the eighth.
Top Pitchers: Mike Zagurski inherited a bases loaded situation from Lidge with two outs in the ninth, but he managed to strike out the final batter to escape further damage.
Featured Card: Twins DH Jim Thome went one for three this afternoon against the Phillies. This past January, Thome signed a one-year deal to return to the Twins and he's just eleven home runs away from the 600-home run club. Thome was a fan favorite during his short stay in Philly, and I'd love to see him reach this milestone and guarantee his spot in Cooperstown. This card is from 2004 - the year Thome hit home run number 400 while with the Phillies. Thome was featured on a ton of insert cards in 2004, and this one, an homage to the old Topps Stand-Up cards, is one of my favorites.
Other Stuff: The damage against Hamels may have been minimized if third baseman Michael Martinez had been wearing his sunglasses instead of having them resting on the brim of his hat in the fourth. Martinez lost a pop up in the sun which opened the door to a three-run inning from the Twins . . . Luis Castillo is now 0 for 8 in his two games with the Phillies.
2 comments:
Joe Nathan should have a great season, provided he doesn't pitch against the Phillies.
It seems as if the Phillies have figured something out about Nathan. Could he be somehow tipping his pitches?
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