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The Phils topped Atlanta 7-6 today, getting a walkoff homer from Darin Ruf with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. After jumping out to a 4-0 lead, the bullpen, and especially Chad Durbin, stumbled in the middle innings, but the Phils scored two in the eighth to tie the game at six and Ruf won it in the ninth.

The Phillies optioned Ruf to Triple-A after the game.

Ruf was 2-for-4 with a walk and won the game with a solo homer off of lefty Daniel Rodriguez. Rodriguez was trying to retire the righty Ruf to get his ninth out of the game in relief for Atlanta.

Kratz was 3-for-4 with two doubles, a home run and three RBI.

Mitchell started in center and went 0-for-4 to drop his average to .269.

Howard 2-for-4 with a double. Brown 1-for-5. Betancourt had two more hits, going 2-for-5 with two RBI to drop his average to .435. This says that Betancourt will ask for his release if not added to the roster this weekend.

Morgan started the game for the Phillies and allowed a run on four hits and three walks over 4 2/3 innings. He surrendered a solo home run in the fifth to Evan Gattis to account for the lone run charged to him.

Fantastic spring for Morgan, who has thrown to a 1.93 ERA.

Durbin followed Morgan and didn’t fare as well. He got the final out in the fifth, then returned to pitch the sixth and allowed three runs on two singles, a double and a home run (also hit by Gattis).

Durbin’s spring ERA rises to 6.10 with the outing.

Valdes pitched the seventh, allowing a run on a solo home run by BJ Upton. It was the fifth home run that Valdes has allowed so far, which leads the team.

Miner allowed a run on three hits in the eighth and Papelbon threw a 1-2-3 ninth.

Former Phil Shane Victorino delivered the big blow last night, a three-run triple off of Michael Stutes in the bottom of the seventh, as Boston topped the Phils 6-1.

Stutes was charged with five runs in 2/3 of an inning in the game, upping his spring ERA to 9.35. He has allowed seven walks in 8 2/3 innings. It all makes it pretty tough for me to see the Phils giving him a spot in the pen to start the year, but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

With Revere and Rollins both in the starting lineup for the Phils, Revere led off with Rollins hitting third. The one run the Phillies scored in the game came in the top of the first. Pete Orr singled with one out, stole second, moved to third on popup that went for an unfielded double by Rollins and scored on a Michale Young ground out.

Rollins was 1-for-3 with an unlikely double. He’s 4-for-15 (.267) with two doubles.

Revere 0-for-3 to drop his line to 313/343/391.

Ruf 1-for-2 with a double in what I assume is a too-little-too-late effort. 226/305/396 with hide-your-eyes ugly defense in left. Ruf and Mayberry have both been terrible this spring.

Mayberry started at first and went 0-for-4 to drop his line to 218/283/309. If Mayberry could have played himself out of his roster spot this spring I think he did. I don’t think it’s likely he could have, though, given the combination of how thin the Phillies are in the outfield and the degree to which Ruf has looked unusable out there.

Galvis started at second and went 2-for-3 with a triple. 288/311/559. He has a team-high ten extra-base hits — six doubles, two triples and two home runs, in 62 official plate appearances. Not quite as much power as Brown and Howard have shown this spring, but a whole lot closer than most would have guessed. Brown’s isolated power this spring is .317, Howard’s .316 and Galvis’s .271. Galvis’s isolated power in 2,179 plate appearances in the minor leagues is .075.

Nix 1-for-2 with a double to up his line to 250/283/364. He’s had a better spring than that, but some of his success has come in games that don’t count as official spring action.

Young 0-for-3 with an RBI to drop his line to 262/292/361. He started real slow, got real hot and now has cooled again.

Mitchell and Iciarte both went 0-for-1 in the game. Incirate’s line is at 238/360/286 in 21 at-bats. Mitchell is hitting 318/375/682 in 22 at-bats.

Carlos Ruiz left the game in the ninth inning with a bruised hand after being hit by a pitch.

Hamels started the game for the Phillies and allowed a run on four hits and two walks over six innings. The run came in the bottom of the second when a leadoff double by Will Middlebrooks was followed by a single that moved Middlebrooks up to third. He scored on a sac fly.

In the sixth inning, Hamels struck Victorino out looking at a beautiful 0-2 curve ball. Still think Victorino takes the day overall, though, what with winning the game for the Red Sox and whatnot.

Hamels has a 1.13 ERA and an 0.81 ratio in official spring action. Opponents are hitting .182 against him and he hasn’t allowed a home run in 16 innings. He got hammered in a start against the Dominican Republic WBC team in an unofficial game.

Stutes started the seventh, got hit real hard, and didn’t finish the frame. He was charged with five runs over 2/3 of an inning on one hit and three walks. He got the first two batters he faced in the inning, then walked three of the next four before Victorino hit a three-run triple. Stutes was replaced by righty Mike Nesseth, who threw to a 2.95 ERA in 76 1/3 innings between Lakewood and Clearwater last year, with two outs and a man on third. Nesseth allowed a double to Dustin Pedroia, scoring Victorino with the run charged to Stutes.

Stutes’s ERA is up to 9.35 after being charged with five runs in 2/3 of an inning.

Horst pitched the eighth. He allowed a one-out single, which was followed by an inning-ending double-play.

Horst drops his ERA to 6.35 and his ratio to 1.32. He’s pitched well after a very ugly start and seems to me to be a lock for the pen.

Adam Morgan is expected to pitch this afternoon when the Phils face the Braves.

Halladay will start in a minor league game tomorrow. The linked article also says that Delmon Young worked out in the outfield and is still likely to miss at least the first month of the season.

Rodrigo Lopez started yesterday’s game against the Braves and probably wishes he hadn’t after surrendering eight runs over two ugly innings. Lopez came into the game having thrown seven shutout innings in official spring action, but leaves with a 7.00 ERA and a 1.89 ratio.

The Phils made three errors in the game and lost 17-10.

Brown hit a two-run homer in the contest, his fifth of the spring. 3-for-4 on the day ups his line to 400/471/683. He leads the team in home runs and runs scored. He’s scored 20 run this spring, which leads all players across both leagues by a wide margin. San Diego’s Kyle Blanks is second and he has scored 14 runs.

Betancourt was 4-for-5 with a double and two RBI. 450/455/525. If you had asked me what Yuniesky Betancourt was going to hit in spring training, I would have said under .450.

Howard was 2-for-4 with a pair of singles to up his spring average to .321.

Revere also 2-for-4 with two RBI. 328/359/410.

Ruf continues to hit after a super slow start. 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles and a pair of strikeouts. He’s up to 224/309/388. He continues to struggle in left. In the second inning, Freddie Freeman hit a ball deep to left. Ruf almost picked the ball off to take the home run away, but it went off his glove and cleared the fence. It’s been that kind of a spring for him.

Quintero, Revere and Howard made errors for the Phillies in the game.

Lopez started the game for the Phillies and allowed eight runs over two innings on eight hits, including two home runs, and two walks. Only seven of the runs were earned. Justin Upton hit a two-run homer off of him in the first and Freddie Freeman hit a two-run shot in the second.

Lopez’s ERA goes from 0.00 for the spring to 7.00 with the outing. He came into the start having allowed six hits and a walk over seven shutout innings and leaves it with a 1.89 ratio.

Stutes pitched the fourth inning for the Phils, allowing a solo home run to Juan Francisco and a single.

4.50 ERA and a 1.50 ratio for Stutes over eight innings. He had not allowed a home run coming into yesterday’s outing. He’s walked four over his eight innings.

Bastardo followed Stutes and allowed the first three men he faced to reach on a walk and two singles on his way to allowing two earned runs in the frame.

Bastardo’s ERA is up to 5.40. Three of the seven runs that he’s allowed in official spring action are unearned.

Cook followed Bastardo and threw the last three innings of the game, allowing three runs, two of which were earned, on four hits and a walk. He set the Braves down in order in the sixth. In the seventh he allowed a run on a walk, a passed ball and a single. In the eighth the Braves scored two runs on two singles and a triple.

Cook is tied for Lannan for the team lead in official spring innings pitched at 14. 3.21 ERA with a 1.36 ratio. Just four strikeouts in 14 innings.

Colt Murray also pitched for the Phils and allowed three runs in an inning.

Kyle Kendrick is expected to pitch this afternoon as the Phillies play the Yankees.

Cliff Lee was fantastic pitching in a minor league game yesterday, striking out nine in six shutout innings. He threw 80 pitches and allowed four hits and no walks.

This suggests that Galvis, Betancourt and Frandsen are still battling for two spots on the bench. All three of them have hit very well this spring — between the three they are 47-for-142 (.331) with five walks, 13 doubles, two triples and four home runs. Betancourt has clearly been the best of the three with the bat after a huge day yesterday. Galvis is on-basing .298 and Frandsen .327. Not sure it’s going to matter.

It’s not clear when Halladay will pitch in a game again. Could be Friday or Saturday. Could be a lot of days, actually, but Friday or Saturday are some of them.

Rollins is back with the team after hitting .321 in the World Baseball Classic, but may not be in the lineup until Friday.

Lopez has been reassigned to minor league camp.

Another miserable game for the Phillies last night as they made five errors on their way to a 6-2 loss to the Yankees. Cliff Lee allowed five runs over 2 2/3 innings — only two of the runs were earned as the Phillies made four errors in the less than three innings he was in the game.

For the spring, Halladay and Lee have now combined to make eight starts in which they’ve thrown to 6.45 ERA and a 1.66 ratio and allowed six home runs in 22 1/3 innings.

The bullpen pitched well in the game as Stutes, De Fratus and Durbin combined to toss four scoreless frames.

Darin Ruf hit his first spring homer, a solo shot off of righty David Aardsma in the sixth. 1-for-3 on the day ups his line to 200/317/371.

Mayberry was 2-for-3 with two singles. He’s hitting 261/320/370.

Brown 1-for-3 with an RBI to drop his average to .395.

Revere 0-for-4. He’s hitting 340/367/426. Frandsen 0-for-4 to drop him to 324/359/649.

Quintero is hitting .231 after going 0-for-3.

Inciarte 0-for-1 with a strikeout. 4-for-14 with three walks and four singles has him at 286/444/286. Jermaine Mitchell walked in his only plate appearance and stole a base. 5-for-10 with two walks, three extra-base hits, three stolen bases and a 500/583/1.000 line.

Five errors in the game for the Phils. Josh Fields started at third and made one. Quintero, Utley, Lee and Stutes had the others.

Lee started the game for the Phillies and went 2 2/3 innings, allowing five runs on six hits and two walks. Only two of the runs were earned.

Kevin Youklils doubled off of Lee with two outs in the first. The inning should have been over when the next batter, Juan Rivera, hit a ball to third, but an error by Josh Fields kept the frame alive for Ben Francisco to deliver a two-run double. Lee walked back-to-back hitters with two outs in the second before Ichiro singled home the third run (which was earned). Lee allowed a run on three singles in the third and another run scored on an error by Utley on a throw from Quintero that Utley didn’t handle. Lee left with two outs and runners on first and third. Miner took over and struck Jeter out looking to keep things from getting worse.

Lee has made four starts in which he’s thrown to a 5.56 ERA and a 1.68 ratio over 11 1/3 innings. Opponents have hit .294 against him.

Miner followed Lee, allowing a run over 1 1/3 innings to drop his ERA to 10.13.

Stutes was next and pitched well, tossing two shutout innings. He allowed a two-out single in the fifth and then threw a pickoff throw away for the fifth error of the game for the Phils, but got a fly ball to center for the third out to leave the runner stranded. He allowed a leadoff walk in the sixth, but got out of the frame with the help of a double-play.

4.50 ERA with a 1.50 ratio for Stutes. He’s walked four in six innings, but has not allowed a home run.

De Fratus threw a 1-2-3 seventh. His results are getting less terrible. He has his ERA down to 6.43 and his ratio at 1.43. He hasn’t allowed a home run, but has struck out just two in his seven innings.

Durbin struck out two in a 1-2-3 eighth, dropping his ERA to 7.20. Opponents are hitting .368 against him in five innings.

Aaron Cook is expected to pitch against the Pirates this afternoon.

Delmon Young continues to rehab and hopes are he will be with the Phillies by the start of May.

Rich Dubee says that Halladay is fine physically. If that’s the case it sure seems like his non-physical problems are significant.

The Phillies have played two games since Friday, beating the Astros 7-1 behind dominating pitching yesterday after a 15-7 loss to the Rays on Saturday.

The Phils one-hit Houston yesterday. Hamels allowed a run on one hit and one walk over five innings and was followed by four shutout innings from the pen in which the relievers didn’t allow a hit, walked one and struck out six.

Nix homered for the Phils in the game. He second home run of the spring and first in an official spring game. He continued his recent surge with a 2-for-3 day that upped his line to 231/286/346.

Michael Young is also hot and also had two hits. 2-for-3 with a double puts him at 371/405/514.

Freddy Galvis 3-for-4 with a double. 308/325/564. Seven extra-base hits and 11 strikeouts in 39 at-bats. Tied with Fields for second on the team in strikeouts behind Howard. Tied with Frandsen and Howard for the team lead in extra-base hits.

Kratz 1-for-3 with a walk and two RBI. He’s hitting .222.

Frandsen 1-for-5 and hitting 355/375/742. Revere 0-for-3. Mayberry 0-for-2 to drop his line to 225/279/350. Utley is at 167/333/208 after going 0-for-3. Howard was 0-for-3 and struck out twice, dropping his line to 333/357/718.

Ruf left the game after being hit by a pitch, but is, apparently, okay. He’s hitting .188 this spring with a .281 slugging percentage in 32 at-bats despite recent signs of life.

The pitching was fantastic. Hamels allowed a double to the first batter he faced in the bottom of the first, Tyler Greene, and Greene came around to score on a pair of ground outs. That’s the only run or hit Hamels would allow in five innings. He walked just one, dropping his ERA on the day to 0.90 after three starts and ten innings. The start against the Dominican Republic in which he got hammered wasn’t an unofficial outing, so his official numbers are great — 0.90 ERA with an 0.70 ratio and seven strikeouts and one walk in ten frames.

Cloyd, Miner, Horst and De Fratus all threw a scoreless inning after Hamels left. They combined to allow one walk, which Miner issued in the seventh.

Cloyd has been awful this spring, but drops his ERA to 10.80 with the scoreless inning.

Miner has also struggled and also has a 10.80 ERA.

Horst’s ERA drops to 12.00. Ten hits, including four home runs, and three walks over six innings gives him a 2.17 ratio. After striking out two in his frame yesterday he’s struck out four in six innings.

De Fratus drops his ERA to 7.50 after six innings. Seven hits and three walks over six innings gives him a 1.67 ratio. Unlike some of the other relievers who gave up a ton of home runs early (Horst and Valdes especially), De Fratus has yet to allow a home run.

Saturday was a different story as the Rays pounded out 15 runs against Phillie pitching. Lannan, Rosenberg and Bastardo combined to allow 13 runs in five innings. Rosenberg and Bastardo were charged with nine runs and got just three outs between them.

Howard homered, his fourth of the spring.

Brown went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles. He’s hitting 432/523/730. If he strikes out in every one of his next 20 plate appearances, he’ll be hitting .281 and slugging .474.

Revere was 3-for-4 with a double in the game. After going 0-for-3 yesterday, he’s at 325/357/375.

Humberto Quintero had three hits. 3-for-4 with three singles and three RBI has him at 300/333/300 (3-for-10 with three singles and a walk).

Lannan started the game. He threw a 1-2-3 first and a 1-2-3 second. Brown made his first error of the spring in the fourth as the Rays scored four times — all four runs were earned despite the error as the Rays got three singles and a two-run homer in the frame. Lannan allowed a leadoff double in the fourth, but got the next three hitters to keep Tampa Bay off the board.

Overall, Lannan went four innings in the game, allowing four runs on five hits without walking anyone. After three starts and five innings he’s thrown to a 9.00 ERA with a 1.44 ratio. The two-run homer that Sean Rodriguez hit off of him in the four-run third is the only home run he’s allowed, but opponents are hitting .286 against him.

Papelbon and Diekman both threw scoreless innings in the game, which is especially welcomed in Papelbon’s case. Papelbon drops his ERA to 27.00 in his first spring appearance that’s been non-terrible. Diekman has struck out ten in six innings while throwing to a 3.00 ERA.

Durbin pitched the sixth and allowed a run on two hits and a walk. He has a 9.00 ERA and a 2.00 ratio after four innings. Opponents are hitting .438 against him.

Bastardo started the seventh. He faced eight hitters and was charged with four runs, only one of which was earned, on three singles and a walk. He hit a batter and another reached on a Mayberry error at first while getting two outs. JC Ramirez took over with two outs and men on first and second and got the final out on a fly ball to left.

Bastardo’s ERA rises to 3.86 after five appearances.

Rosenberg started the eighth. He faced six batters, getting one out, which came on a bunt, and allowed five runs, only four of which were earned due to an error by Martinez at second to start the inning. After the error to start the frame, Rosenberg allowed two singles, a double and a two-run homer. He ends the ugly outing with a 24.30 ERA and a 4.50 ratio. Opponents have hit .571 in his 3 1/3 official spring innings.

Kyle Simon took over for Rosenberg and got the last two outs in the eighth. He faced five batters and was charged with one run, allowing two walks and a single, which upped his spring ERA to 6.00.

The Phillies do not play today.

This article suggests that Aumont, De Fratus, Stutes, Diekman, Horst and Valdes are at the front of a competition for three spots in the pen.

Many transactions. The Phillies released Joe Mather. Mather was 1-for-11 with a walk for the Phils this spring.

Adam Morgan reassigned to Minor League camp, as were JC Ramirez, Kyle Simon, Tommy Joseph, Cody Asche and Michael Martinez.

I appreciate the effort from the Phils, but for me it’s still too little, too late on Martinez.

This article says: “Four players who are on the 40-man roster were optioned to the minors: Pitcher Joe Savery, pitcher Ethan Martin, pitcher Jonathan Pettibone, outfielder Zach Collier. Savery’s option was immediate. The options of Martin, Pettibone and Collier won’t take effect until Monday.”

Aaron Hicks homered off of three different Phillie pitchers yesterday as the Twins topped the Phils 10-6. The Phils led 6-1 after three innings but couldn’t hold on. Valdes and Minor were charged with seven runs between them in the seventh and eighth innings combined.

Ruf hit a two-run double for the Phillies in the bottom of the second. A much needed 2-for-4 on the day with three RBI ups his line to 185/313/259 with just two walks and two extra-base hits, both doubles, in 32 plate appearances.

Galvis started at short and had the only other extra-base hit for the Phils, a triple. He was 1-for-5 in the game. Slugging .519 this spring.

Young and Mayberry both 2-for-3. Mayberry also drew a walk to raise his line to 281/343/438 after a slow start. Young’s continued hot hitting has his average up to .310.

Brown and Kratz 2-for-4. Kratz is hitting .200 without a walk in 15 at-bats. Brown is at 400/514/767. Leads the team in walks and runs scored and is tied for Howard with the home run lead at three. Brown has scored 13 runs this spring while no other Phillie has scored more than seven.

This article talks about nice defensive plays made by Young, Brown and Utley in the game.

Lee started the game for the Phillies. He gave up a leadoff homer to the first batter he faced before retiring the next three to end the first. He allowed two hits and a walk in a scoreless second and threw a 1-2-3 third. He started the fourth, allowing another solo home run, this time with one out. He got the second out and was replaced by Horst.

Overall, Lee went 3 2/3 innings in the game, allowing two runs on four hits and a walk while striking out five. Both of the runs scored on solo homers. 5.19 ERA with a 1.27 ratio over three starts. Ten strikeouts in 8 2/3 innings.

Horst allowed a walk before getting the final out of the fourth. He came back to pitch the fifth and allowed a run on a solo homer.

Again Horst doesn’t pitch well. The spring started out well for him and has fallen apart a little over his last couple outings. His numbers at this point are ugly — 14.40 ERA with a 2.60 ratio. In five innings he’s allowed four home runs.

Valdes allowed a single single before striking out the side in the sixth. He returned for the seventh and gave up a leadoff walk, which was followed by yet another homer by Aaron Hicks (his third of the day — Lee, Horst and Valdes). Valdes struck the next hitter out for the first out of the frame and was replaced by Kyle Simon.

Valdes’s numbers are better than Horst, but they’re still really bad. 7.36 ERA with a 1.23 ratio. Like Horst, he’s allowed four home runs. He’s struck out a team-high 11 in 7 1/3 innings.

Simon got the last two outs in the seventh. He has now allowed a run in 2 1/3 innings over four appearances.

Miner started the eighth and faced six batters, getting one out, walking two and allowing four singles before getting pulled. He wound up charged with five runs on three hits and two walks over a third of an inning. Fields made an error at first after Miner left that meant that one of his five runs was unearned.

Miner has a 12.71 ERA for the spring and opponents have hit .370 against him.

Savery got the last two outs in the eighth, allowing one runner to reach on Fields’s error. He came back and allowed two singles in a scoreless ninth.

Savery hasn’t been charged with a run in his three appearances, allowing four hits and a walk over 4 1/3 innings while striking out four (0.00 ERA and a 1.15 ratio).

Kendrick is expected to start against the Rays this afternoon. Papelbon will not pitch as scheduled and may pitch Saturday.

USA plays Mexico today in the World Baseball Classic.