Four more scoreless innings for Halladay yesterday, which gives him 11 scoreless frames over four starts for the spring. The five guys in the starting rotation, Halladay, Lee, Oswalt, Hamels and Blanton, have now combined to throw to a 2.49 ERA and an 0.95 ratio. In 43 1/3 innings they’ve allowed just 28 hits and struck out 32.
Twenty-eight hits in 43 1/3 innings is about 5.81 hits per nine innings. In 2010, San Francisco’s Jonathan Sanchez led all pitchers in both leagues in hits allowed per nine innings. He allowed 6.61. Each of the five guys in the group has allowed less than a hit per inning with the exception of Oswalt, who has allowed six in 4 2/3. Lee and Hamels have combined to allow six hits in 16 innings.
The walk rate for the group has been higher. They’ve walked 2.7 hitters per nine innings, with Blanton, Hamels and Halladay combining to walk 11 in 32 2/3 innings (about 3.03 per nine). In 2010, Phillie starters walked about 2.07 hitters per nine and relievers about 3.81 per nine.
The Phils are 8-6 on the spring after beating the Yankees 7-0 yesterday.
Halladay got the start for the Phils and was fantastic, allowing four singles over six shutout innings. New York didn’t have a hit off of him until they got a pair of singles in the fourth. He struck out two and didn’t walk a batter.
After Halladay, Michael Stutes, JC Ramirez and Michael Schwimer combined to throw three perfect innings.
Stutes continues to be impressive. He has now allowed one run over six innings in four appearances, throwing to an 0.50 ratio while striking out eight. Ramirez and Schwimer have both been hit harder. Ramirez has allowed four runs over six innings while Schwimer has been charged with four runs, only three of which were earned, over three.
The game was scoreless when Barfield led off the bottom of the sixth with a triple. He came in to score on a sac fly by Victorino before Polanco plated Rollins, who had walked, with a double. Mayberry hit a two-run homer to make it 4-0 before the inning ended.
In the eighth, Ben Francisco doubled in Wilson Valdez, who had walked, to make it 5-0. Later in the inning, Erik Kratz reached on an error by Justin Maxwell that plated Francisco and Matt Rizzotti to extend the lead to 7-0.
Francisco was 2-for-4 with a double. Mayberry played first and went 1-for-3 with his third homer. Barfield 2-for-3 with a triple, he’s 7-for-13 (.538) on the spring.
Martinez 0-for-1. He’s 4-for-24 with no walks. Orr 0-for-1 to drop his average to .200 (3-for-15). Delwyn Young went 0-for-3 and is hitting .290 (9-for-31), but slugging just .323. He has eight singles, a double and one walk.
Lee is scheduled to start today’s game against Baltimore.
Domonic Brown says he’s going to stop messing around with trying to reposition his hands on the bat when he returns.


March 11th, 2011 on 11:10 am
Brown better grow a second pair of arms and get a second bat then. Swinging at 7 ft high may work in the minors, but major league pitching will eat him up.
March 11th, 2011 on 1:06 pm
I really think Brown is going to be fine. Better than fine. I just don’t feel sure it’s going to be in 2011 or even 2012.
March 11th, 2011 on 2:47 pm
That may be case. But I’d bet dollars to donuts Brown starts in Left in 2012 anyway.
March 11th, 2011 on 3:07 pm
I agree. I don’t know whether it’s right or left, but I think Brown will start at one of the corner OF positions for the Phils in 2012. Unless he has a miserable 2011 where he doesn’t hit anywhere. If he doesn’t hit in the majors I still think he starts there in 2012. If he spends most of the year in the minors and doesn’t hit there, then I think the Phils would look elsewhere for 2012. That doesn’t seem really like, though, given what he did last year.
March 11th, 2011 on 7:17 pm
But Raul is in left this year. Pray God he is everything he wants to be and we need him to be. Frankly, Dom Brown be danged. He is not ready. At his age, that means to me tha the is not as good as advertised. he is a disappointment.
March 12th, 2011 on 2:48 pm
I think Brown’s going to be worth waiting for. Let’s see how long we have to wait. The year the Roy Halladay was 23, for example, he made 19 appearances for the Blue Jays (13 starts) and threw to a 10.64 ERA with a 2.20 ratio. He walked 42 in 67 2/3 innings and opponents hit .357 against him. In this article linked below, Joe Sheehan suggests it’s the worst season in baseball history for a pitcher who threw at least 50 innings.
http://m.si.com/news/2648200
March 12th, 2011 on 3:13 pm
DAWG, Madsen is DEALING. WOW. Six outs. The breeze you felt was not the latest lousy weather. It was the Rays’ bats whiffing.
March 14th, 2011 on 11:19 am
Late to the party…but Valdez walked?? I missed the news break-in.
March 14th, 2011 on 11:47 am
I know. And Rollins. Things are really coming around.