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The Phillies are having a lot of trouble scoring runs these days. They did again last night, plating just two, but it wasn’t why they lost. Pettibone endured an ugly first inning and the bullpen coughed up five runs in four innings after he left as the Red Sox topped the Phils 9-2.

The Phillies have scored three runs or less in nine of their last 12 games. Last night was their third failed try in their last seven games to get back to .500 for the year.

Jacoby Ellsbury stole five bases in the game for Boston, a feat this article suggests has been accomplished in a major league game just 20 times since 1916.

The Phillies are 26-28 on the year after losing 9-2 to the Boston Red Sox last night. The teams split the four-game set two games apiece with Boston outscoring the Phils 22-12.

Pettibone got the start for the Phillies and went five innings, allowing four runs on six hits and four walks. One of the hits went for extra-bases, a double. He struck out five.

Pettibone has been unexpectedly solid for the Phils this year. Last night was his only start of his eight in which he allowed more than three runs. His numbers against lefties are a little alarming — they’ve hit 320/400/460 against him this season.

He allowed four runs in the top of the first, allowing three singles, a walk and a two-run double hit by Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

Pettibone pitched well after getting hammered in the first, but was really pounded in that inning and needed to throw 28 pitches to get through it. Jacoby Ellsbury and Daniel Nava got things started with back-to-back singles and both came around to score. With one out and Nava on second, Pettibone looked liked he pitched around the lefty David Ortiz. Ortiz walked and came around to score on the Saltalamacchia double.

Ellsbury scored the first run of the game and killed the Phillies over the four game set, going 9-for-18 with three doubles, a triple and six stolen bases.

The lead had been cut to 4-2 when Pettibone started the second. He walked Ellsbury with one out and Ellsbury stole second with two down, then moved to third on an infield single by Dustin Pedroia. Pettibone got Ortiz on a fly ball to center to leave both runners stranded.

He walked Stephen Drew with one out in the third, but got the next two hitters to leave him at first.

Ellsbury singled to center with one out in the fourth. He stole second, but Nava flew to center for the second out and Pedroia flew to right to end the frame.

Ortiz drew a walk to start the fifth, but Pettibone retired Mike Carp on a fly ball to center and Drew grounded into a double-play to set Boston down.

Horst started the sixth and struck Salty out for the first out before Jose Iglesias popped a ball into short right. Delmon Young and Hernandez both pursued, but the ball dropped for a hit. Iglesias went for second, but Young got to the ball and made an accurate throw to get him there for the second out. Righty Johnny Gomes hit for the pitcher Franklin Morales and hit a 2-2 pitch out to left-center, extending the lead to 5-2. Ellsbury was next and Horst drilled him in the back with his first pitch. Ellsbury stole second and third before Nava walked. Pedroia flew to center to leave runners at the corners.

Gomes admired his home run a little more than usual, so I’m not sure how much of the Ellsbury plunking was related to that and how much was related to the fact the Phillies can’t get Ellsbury out. Both teams were warned after Horst hit Ellsbury, which was a little odd given that the only thing that had happened so far was Horst hitting Ellsbury.

Horst was back for the seventh. Ortiz led off with a home run, extending the lead to 6-2. Horst got the next three.

Two home runs in two innings allowed by Horst. The righty Gomes gets him in the sixth and the lefty Ortiz in the seventh.

Horst goes two innings in the game, allowing two runs on three hits, including two home runs, and a walk. That’s the first time in Horst’s career that he’s allowed more than one in an appearance. In 2012, he allowed one home run in 31 1/3 innings. He came into last night’s game having thrown 6 1/3 scoreless innings over his last ten outings, but having allowed five walks over those frames.

Stutes pitched the eighth. He got the first two before Ellsbury singled softly to left. Ellsbury stole second and took third on a throwing error by Kratz. Stutes hit Nava with a 1-2 pitch, putting runners on the corners for Pedroia. Pedroia flew to right to set Boston down.

Stolen base number five for Ellsbury in the game.

Stutes goes one scoreless inning, allowing a single and striking out one. He’s made three appearances on the year so far, allowing two runs, one earned, over 5 1/3 innings. Opponents are hitting .250 against him and he hasn’t allowed a walk or a home run.

Durbin started the ninth and allowed three runs that extended the Boston lead to 9-2. Jackie Bradley and Mike Napoli led off with back-to-back singles. Both would come around to score as Saltalamacchia and Iglesias added doubles later in the frame. Bradley’s single to start the frame was softly hit, but Salty really crushed his ball off the wall in right, not missing a homer by much.

Durbin goes one inning, allowing three runs on two singles and two doubles. He has a 9.00 ERA for the year. Over his last eight appearances, he’s allowed 14 runs in 8 1/3 innings, throwing to a 14.04 ERA with a 2.40 ratio. He’s walked just two in those eight appearances, but opponents have hit .414 against him. Opponents are hitting .357 against him for the season and slugging .643.

Overall the pen threw four innings in the game, allowing five runs on eight hits and a walk. Horst threw 37 pitches and Durbin 32.

The Phillie lineup against lefty Franklin Morales went (1) Revere (2) Hernandez (3) Rollins (4) Delmon Young (5) Brown (6) Frandsen (7) Kratz (8) Galvis. Golly that’s a bad team. Revere leads off against the lefty. Delmon Young hits cleanup with Howard on the bench. Cesar Hernandez makes career start number one, playing second base. Frandsen at first, Galvis at third and Kratz catching. Mayberry on the bench against a left-handed pitcher.

The Phils were down 4-0 when they hit in the bottom of the first. Hernandez delivered career hit number one with one out, a single lined to left. Rollins flew out behind him before Delmon Young pounded a 1-1 pitch out to right center, cutting the lead to 4-2. Brown followed with a single to right, but was caught stealing with Frandsen at the plate to set the Phillies down.

First caught stealing of the year for Brown. He’s stolen three bases.

Young hits his fourth home run of the year and his first off of a lefty. He’s hitting 278/364/500 against lefties (5-for-18 with a double, a home run and three walks).

The Phillies went in order in the second and again in the third.

Rollins walked to start the fourth and moved to second when Brown singled with one out. Frandsen followed with a walk that loaded the bases for Kratz, but Kratz grounded into a double-play to end the inning.

Kratz continues to edge ever closer to Michael Young for the GIDP title. Kratz is at 5.6% (7 in 124 PA) and Young 5.9% (12 in 202).

Brown 2-for-2 against the lefty in his first two at-bats.

The Phillies went in order in the fifth. Martinez hit for Pettibone lined to third for the second out.

First PA of the year for Martinez. Martinez pinch-hitting on a day when the Phillies start Hernandez, Galvis, Frandsen, Revere and Kratz is more than fans should be asked to endure.

The Phillies were down 5-2 when lefty Craig Breslow set them down in order in the sixth.

Righty Clayton Mortensen hit Kratz with a pitch with two outs in the seventh and the score 6-2. Galvis grounded hard to first to set the Phillies down.

With righty Junichi Tazawa on the mound for the Red Sox, Nix hit for Stutes and struck out to start the eighth. Revere struck out behind him before Hernadez singled to left. Rollins grounded out to end the inning.

Righty Andrew Bailey started the ninth with a 9-2 lead. Frandsen doubled with two outs, but Kratz struck out to end the game.

Revere 0-for-4 with a strikeout in the game. 5-for-17 in the four games played between the Red Sox and Phils, two of which were in Boston and two of which were in Philly. 256/295/287 for the year. 324/367/365 in May. 344/364/469 against left-handed pitching for the year and 235/279/242 against righties.

Hernandez 2-for-4 with a pair of singles. 2-for-6 on the year.

Rollins 0-for-3 with a walk. 2-for-12 with five walks in the series. 0-for-his-last-8. 251/308/377 on the year.

Delmon Young 1-for-4 with a two-run homer. 4-for-12 with a walk and a home run in the series. 224/292/412 on the year. 273/314/576 over his last 35 plate appearances. 209/270/388 against right-handed pitching after hitting 247/279/370 against righties in 2012.

Brown 2-for-4 with two singles and two strikeouts. 6-for-16 with four home runs in the series. 267/302/518 for the year. Still doesn’t have a walk in May. 333/340/667 against lefties for the year and 247/290/473 against righties.

Frandsen was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk. 2-for-6 with a double and two walks in the series. 244/380/463 for the season.

Kratz 0-for-3 with a strikeout and a hit-by-pitch. Grounded into a double-play with one out and the bases loaded in the fourth. Ellsbury stole five bases with him behind the plate. So it wasn’t a great day. He started all four games in the series and went 4-for-12 with three walks and two home runs. 227/298/409 for the year. 10-for-his-last-33 (.303) with four home runs and six walks.

Galvis 0-for-3. He also started all four games of the series and went 0-for-13 with a walk. 223/277/351 for the season. 4-for-his-last-37 (.108) with four singles.

Cole Hamels (1-8, 4.43) faces righty Yovani Gallardo (3-5, 4.79) tonight as the Phils play the Brewers. The Phillies are 1-10 in games started by Hamels this year and he’s been charged with 12 runs in 17 1/3 innings over his last three starts. Righties are hitting 318/375/455 against Gallardo for the season.

Some fans have surely been hoping that the additions of Carlos Ruiz and Delmon Young to the lineup may be enough to save the Phillies. It still might, but it wasn’t last night. The Phillies played their first game with both Young and Ruiz in the lineup and got pounded 14-2 by the Indians.

Roy Halladay was terrible in the game and so was the bullpen. Halladay allowed eight runs in 3 2/3 innings and the pen gave up six more over 4 1/3 after he left. Again, a big part of the problem is Halladay, but another big part of the problem is that the Phillies bolstered their pen this off-season by fixing the back of it. It’s the middle that’s awful. Horst, Valdes and Durbin all have an ERA of 5.91 or worse for the year and have combined to throw to a 7.08 ERA in their 26 appearances.

The Indians hit more home runs before the end of the fifth inning last night than the Phillies had hits in the game. They hit six in the first five innings and the Phils had five hits for the game.

The Phillies are 12-15 on the year after losing 14-2 to the Cleveland Indians last night. The loss snaps a three-game winning streak for the Phils.

Halladay got the start for the Phillies and went 3 2/3 innings, allowing eight runs on nine hits and two walks. Three of the hits went for extra-bases, all home runs. He struck out three.

The Phillies are 2-4 in the games Halladay has started. In three of his six starts he’s gone four innings or less. Opponents are hitting just .240 against him, but he’s allowed eight home runs and 13 walks over 32 innings. In 2011, Halladay pitched 233 2/3 innings for the Phils and allowed ten home runs and 35 walks for the season.

Jason Kipnis singled with one out in the first and stole second before moving up to third on a ground out by Asdrubal Cabrera. It put a man on third with two outs for Carlos Santana and Santana hit a 2-1 pitch out to right, putting the Indians up 2-0. Jason Giambi followed with a walk before Mark Reynolds homered to right-center, extending the lead to 4-0. Lonnie Chisenhall went down on a ground out to Utley to set Cleveland down.

Two home runs off of Halladay in the inning. Cleveland scores four after having two outs and a man on third with no runs in.

It was 4-1 when Halladay set the Indians down in order in the second.

Kipnis singled to start the third, but was caught stealing for the second out after Cabrera popped out for the first. Santana drew a two-out walk, but was left at first when Halladay struck Giambi out swinging 2-2.

Reynolds singled to right to start the fourth and scored when Chisenhall followed with a home run to right. 6-1. Ryan Raburn and Drew Stubbs followed with back-to-back singles, putting runners on first and second. Raburn moved up to first when Michael Brantley flew to center for the first out. Stubbs stole second before Kipnis grounded to first for the second out with the runners holding second and third. Cabrera was next, though, and he delivered a two-run single into right. 8-1. Durbin took over for Halladay and struck Santana out looking to end the inning.

Durbin pitched the fifth, allowing four more runs on four hits, a single, a double and two home runs. 12-1. Both of the home runs were two-run shots, one by the righty Raburn and the other by the lefty Brantley.

Durbin went 1 1/3 innings in the game, allowing four runs on four hits, two of which were home runs. He came into the game having not been charged with a run over his last six appearances, but his ERA for the year is up to 7.00 with the outing. Walks didn’t hurt him last night, but he has a 2.00 ratio for the year, in large part due to the seven walks he’s allowed in nine innings.

Coming into last night’s game, Durbin had not allowed a home run since August 13, 2012, when Chase Headley hit one off of him while he was pitching for Atlanta. He had faced 105 batters since that game. Last night in the sixth he allowed two home runs in a three-batter span.

Valdes pitched the sixth with the lead cut to 12-2. He walked Santana with one out, but got Giambi to hit into a double-play behind him.

Valdes struck out the first two men he faced in the seventh before Raburn and Stubbs, both righties, homered back-to-back. 14-2. Brantly struck out swinging for the third out.

Valdes strikes out four in two innings, but allows two runs on two hits and a walk as both of the hits are solo homers. He has 18 strikeouts in 14 2/3 innings, but a 7.98 ERA and a 1.57 ratio. Opponents are hitting .310 against him.

The only other time in his career in which Valdes has allowed two home runs in a game was June 30, 2010. He was pitching for the Mets and Miguel Montero and Kelly Johnson got him in a four-batter span in the sixth.

Aumont pitched the ninth and allowed two singles and a walk, but managed to keep the Indians off the board when Yan Gomes hit into a double-play with the bases loaded to end the inning.

Aumont has a 3.52 ERA for the year thanks to a whole lot of good fortune. Opponents are hitting .281 against him and he’s walked seven in 7 2/3 innings. Righties have hit just .176 against him, but lefties are hitting .400. He hasn’t allowed a home run, which is the way to go if you’re going to walk more than eight runners per nine innings and have a 3.52 ERA. In 27 appearances with the Phillies over two years, Aumont has walked 16 in 22 1/3 innings. There’s close to no chance he can be successful over a large number of innings if he walks batters at that rate.

Overall the pen went 4 1/3 innings in the game, allowing six runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out five. They gave up four home runs.

Valdes threw 38 pitches in the game and Durbin 26. Aumont 17. Nobody has thrown more than one day in a row thanks to the off-day Monday, but Valdes seems unlikely to be available tonight and probably Durbin as well.

The Phillie lineup against righty Zach McAllister went (1) Rollins (2) Michael Young (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Delmon Young (6) Brown (7) Ruiz (8) Mayberry (9) Revere. Delmon Young debuts with the Phils at DH. Mayberry in right against the righty.

The Phillies went in order in the bottom of the first.

They were down 4-0 when they hit in the second. Howard struck out swinging for the first out before Delmon Young hit a 1-1 pitch out to right-center. 1-1. Brown and Ruiz went down behind Young.

Nice first at-bat of the year for Young.

The Phillies went in order in the third and again in the fourth.

Delmon Young led off the fifth and was drilled in the back by a 1-2 pitch. Brown followed with a walk and the runners moved up to second and third on a ground out by Ruiz. Mayberry was next and grounded back to the mound with the runners holding. Revere grounded to short to leave them stranded.

No run for the Phils after putting runners on first and second with nobody out. No RBI for Mayberry with one out and runners on second and third.

Delmon Young gets drilled after homering in his first at-bat.

The Phillies trailed 12-1 when they hit in the sixth. Utley hit a 3-1 pitch out to right-center with two outs to make it 12-2. Howard followed with a double and Delmon Young moved him up to third with a single, but both runners were left stranded when Brown flew to center.

Mayberry singled with one out in the seventh, but Revere grounded into a double-play behind him.

They were down 14-2 when lefty Nick Hagadone started the eighth for Cleveland. Galvis and Michael Young walked back-to-back to start the frame, but the Phillies were turned away when Frandsen grounded into a double-play and Howard grounded to short.

Righty Matt Albers set Delmon Young, Brown and Ruiz down in the ninth.

Rollins was 0-for-3 in the game. He’s hitting 240/305/373 against right-handed pitching for the year.

Michael Young 0-for-3 with a walk to drop his line on the year to 341/412/418. He came into the game 7-for-his-last-11. He’s 19-for-his-last-59 (.322) with 19 singles.

Utley 1-for-3 with his fifth home run. 27 games divides nicely in 162 — multiply everything by six to get his on-pace numbers. He’s on pace to hit 30 home runs with 114 RBI.

Howard 1-for-4 with a double. He came into the game 5-for-his-last-14 with nine RBI. He’s walked three times this season and is on pace to walk 18 times in 606 plate appearances for the season with 18 home runs and 96 RBI. It didn’t matter last night, but he’s hitting 160/192/360 against left-handed pitching. Given the addition of two right-handed bats in Delmon Young and Ruiz, it will be interesting to see how long Howard plays first base against left-handed pitching. Pretty sure the answer is a long, long time. Think 2016.

Delmon Young 2-for-3 with a home run and a hit-by-pitch. Didn’t cost the Phils a thing defensively, but he can’t DH forever.

Brown 0-for-3 with a walk. He came into the game hitting 286/364/464 over his last eight games. 224/316/343 against right-handed pitching for the season. That there’s a problem if you want to be a bad defensive corner outfielder who’s primary contribution is being able to hit right-handed pitching.

Ruiz 0-for-4 with a strikeout. 1-for-8 with a double since his return.

Mayberry 1-for-3. He was hitting 316/409/553 for the year before going 4-for-his-last-28. Now he’s hitting 242/324/470. He’s actually been good against righties, 255/340/447, but has gone just 4-for-19 (211/286/526) against lefties. Will be interesting what the Phillies do in both left and right against lefties with Delmon Young back. I think what they will do is play Delmon Young in right and Brown in left. Offensively at least, I think you could argue that it leaves their best hitting option against left-handed pitching on the bench in Mayberry. Also, Brown and Young are bad defensive players. Young is definitely terrible and Brown is at least bad and maybe terrible.

Revere 0-for-3 and hit into a double-play, dropping his average on the year to .200. He’s 6-for-his-last-40 (.150) with a triple and no walks (.150 on-base percentage). Among 218 players across both leagues with 70 plate appearances for the season, his wOBA of .206 is 214th. The Phillies really have no other choices in center. Mayberry can’t handle it defensively, despite starting three straight games there against the Mets. It’s not a good option, but I think the Phillies might start to play Mayberry in center against lefties regularly with Revere struggling so badly, assuming Young is going to play nearly every day.

Lee (2-1, 3.03) faces righty Trevor Bauer (0-1, 5.40) tonight in game two of the set. Lee has allowed 17 hits in 12 innings over his last two starts and the Phils have dropped each of his last three outings. The 22-year-old Bauer was the third pick of the 2011 draft. He’s made one start this season, walking seven Rays in five innings while being charged with three runs. He has a 2.50 ERA and a 1.17 ratio in three starts at Triple-A in the International League with 24 strikeouts over 18 innings.

Roy Halladay’s final spring start was neither a disaster or a resounding success. For those of us looking for signs of the old Halladay, though, it looked a little closer to a disaster. Halladay allowed two runs over 4 1/3 innings, but surrendered eight hits, walked two and got three outs on the bases as the Phils topped Toronto 7-2.

Five of the seven runs that the Phillies scored came on home runs. Utley hit a two-run shot in the sixth and Nix hit a three-run homer in the eighth.

Utley was 1-for-3 on the day with his fifth homer. Nix 1-for-4 with his second. 273/368/545 for Utley and 200/250/333 for Nix.

Revere had two more hits. 2-for-4 with his tenth stolen base. 337/382/398.

Rollins 0-for-3 to drop his average to .258. 258/395/355. Three extra-base hits, all doubles, in 31 at-bats has his isolated power under .100.

Brown 1-for-2. 376/430/671.

Kratz 1-for-3 to up his line to 273/293/550.

Galvis started at third and went 0-for-4, dropping his line to 269/288/526.

Inciarte 0-for-1 and hitting 276/364/310. Orr 0-for-2 and at 250/250/500.

Halladay got the start for the Phillies and went 4 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on eight hits and two walks. He retired the first four men he faced before Adam Lind doubled to left with one out in the second. Halladay walked the next two hitters on eight pitches, but struck Maicer Izturis and Emilio Bonifacio out back-to-back to leave them loaded. He allowed two runs in the third on four more hits, then gave up one single in a scoreless fourth. Two of the three batters he faced in the fifth singled before righty Hector Neris took over for the Phils.

Three of the 13 outs that Halladay got came on the bases. Two caught stealings and another runner was retired on a single.

6.06 ERA and a 1.84 ratio for Halladay. Opponents hit .323 against him. He walked nine in 16 1/3 innings, which is about 4.96 per nine and higher than his career walk rate of 1.86. Three home runs in 16 1/3 innings is about 1.65, which is also higher than his career rate of 0.75. Not a lot went well.

Through three starts, in the third of which he threw behind Washington’s Tyler Moore, Halladay had a 2.16 ERA and an 0.96 ratio and had pitched 8 1/3 innings. Since then he’s made three starts in which he’s thrown eight innings with a 10.12 ERA and 2.87 ratio.

Neris got the last two outs in the fifth and Cesar Jimenez struck out the side in the sixth.

Aumont threw a 1-2-3 seventh. 2.45 ERA and an 0.82 ratio in 7 1/3 innings. Opponents are hitting .120 against him without a home run.

Adams threw a 1-2-3 eighth. 1.13 ERA and an 0.63 ratio in eight innings. Opponents are hitting .143 against him with one walk and no home runs.

Papelbon set the Blue Jays down in order in the ninth. He’s been very good since a rocky start. Numbers are still ugly, though. 8.64 ERA with a 1.32 ratio.

The Phils play the Blue Jays tonight in Philadelphia with Lee expected to pitch. It’s the Blue Jays again on Saturday in another tuneup, then off on Sunday and the Braves for real in Atlanta Monday night.

This article from the Phillies web site has a projected Opening Day lineup against righty Tim Hudson. It has Brown in right hitting sixth and Nix in left hitting seventh. Three lefties two through four in Revere, Utley and Howard. I would guess we will not regularly see Revere, Utley and Howard hitting all in a row often during the regular season. If Domonic Brown continues to OPS 1.101 during the regular season, you won’t see him hitting sixth for very long.

This suggests the Phillies would rather play Brown in left field than right. That seems like a very good idea to me.

This suggests that when Delmon Young arrives, hopefully in early May, Young will play right with Brown in left. I’m going to be surprised if we see Young play much in right this year. If he does, I’m going to be even more surprised if he’s not terrible there.

Yesterday’s game between the Phils and Nationals will be most remembered for the one pitch that Roy Halladay threw behind Tyler Moore in the third inning. The other 55 were pretty impressive, though, as Doc delivered his best outing of spring training, throwing four shutout innings in which he held Washington to two hits and a walk.

Stephen Strasburg hit Utley in the shin with the first pitch of Utley’s at-bat in the bottom of the third. With two outs and nobody on in the fourth, Halladay delivered a fastball behind Washington’s Tyler Moore.

After the game, Halladay said it wouldn’t have been the worst thing if the ball had hit Moore.

The Phils finished third in the NL East last year, 17 games behind Washington.

Tommy Joseph started at catcher for the Phillies and went 3-for-4 with a double, including 2-for-2 with a pair of singles off of Strasburg. 6-for-13 with two doubles and a home run in official spring action.

Also notable is that Halladay pitched extremely well throwing to Joseph.

Josh Fields hit his first home run, a solo shot in the seventh off of Cole Kimball. He was 1-for-2 in the game. Hitting .188 without a walk in 16 at-bats.

Domonic Brown had two more hits. 2-for-3 with a double. He was also impressive on the bases. With two outs, he dumped a ball into center and hustled it into a double, which allowed him to score when Nix followed with a single. 385/515/808 in 26 at-bats.

Nix hit a two-run single in the fifth. 1-for-3 with two RBI a day after homering against the Dominican Republic. Just 2-for-18 in official action, but looking a lot better than that in the past two days.

Howard and Betancourt 1-for-3. Betancourt 400/455/450 in 20 at-bats. Revere and Mayberry both 0-for-3. Mayberry’s official line drops to 241/290/414.

Michael Young 1-for-3 with an RBI. Second on the team in RBI with eight. Howard leads with 11.

Galvis played four defensive innings at third base and was 0-for-1 with a walk at the plate. 273/304/500. Tied for the team lead in strikeouts with eight.

Jermaine Mitchell walked in his only chance. 3-for-6 with two triples and a 1.738 OPS. There’s a lot of talk these days about the possibility Ender Inciarte will start the year with the Phils. I think I’d rather see the team carry Mitchell, even if it means losing Inciarte, although I’d guess the chances of that happening are close to zero. Mitchell seems like the better fit — not based on the 19 combined plate appearances the two have been given this spring but the more than 5,000 combined plate appearances the two have been given in the minors.

Halladay started the game for the Phillies and went four shutout innings, allowing two hits and a walk. He struck out two.

That’s the best of three starts for Halladay. 2.16 ERA with an 0.96 ratio in 8 1/3 innings.

Stutes was next and he threw a scoreless fifth, allowing a double and a walk. He seems like a real long shot to make the pen at this point. 9.00 ERA with a 2.33 ratio over three appearances. Opponents have hit .308 against him and he’s walked three in three innings.

Durbin started the sixth with a 4-0 lead and allowed three runs in the frame. Anthony Rendon hit a solo homer with one out. Durbin got the second out and then allowed single, RBI-double and RBI-single before setting the Nats down.

Durbin had been really good in his first two outings before getting hit hard yesterday. His ERA jumps to 9.00 thanks to a rough outing. He had thrown two scoreless frames on the spring coming into the game.

Bastardo struck out two in a 1-2-3 seventh. He’s allowed one run in four innings over four appearances. 2.25 ERA with an 0.50 ratio and opponents are hitting .133 against him.

De Fratus pitched the eighth. He allowed a leadoff single before getting the next three hitters in order.

Step in the right direction for De Fratus, who still has ugly spring numbers. 9.00 ERA with a 2.00 ratio in five innings over four appearances. Always nice to see him not walking people.

Diekman got two strikeouts in a scoreless ninth, allowing a single.

Nice outing for Diekman, whose numbers are getting better. 3.60 ERA with a 1.20 ratio. He’s struck out nine in five innings over four appearances. Nine strikeouts leads the team. Ten pitchers have thrown as many or more innings as he has and 12 have faced as many or more batters.

Amaro seems to suggest that Aumont has a step up on other bullpen candidates in this article. He also says he has confidence in Horst and that Valdes took a step up his last time out. Cause of not letting everyone homer, you see.

I don’t really even know what to say about this article on Delmon Young. Just read it, but brace yourself. I guess I should try to point out some of the highlights. Here goes: 1) Young is not anxious to play in games 2) Amaro is of the opinion that Young is a bad left fielder, which is hard to argue 3) Amaro seems to be of the opinion that Young could be a good right fielder, which would surprise me a great deal 4) Young will only play right field when he plays for the Phillies (that would surprise me) 5) Brown may move from left to right once Young returns and 6) Amaro hopes that Young will be playing for the Phils sometime between mid-April and May.

It’s a little tough to find an article that someone has written about Young that makes him seem likeable. I’m not saying it can’t be done. Just saying it’s a little tough.

Todd Zolecki writes about Yuniesky Betancourt’s unusual contract here, saying the Phillies must tell Betancourt by March 24 if he has made the 25-man roster. If he has not, Betancourt can asked to be released.

I don’t really understand why the Phillies thought acquiring Betancourt was the way to go in the first place. Given that they did, it’s a little tough for me to see them being unimpressed by his hitting .400 so far. Consider me worried.

Cliff Lee is expected to start this afternoon against the Twins.

Good pitching and bad pitching were on display yesterday as the Phils squared off with the Pirates. The Phillies came out on the right side, though, winning 5-0 as John Lannan, Mike Adams, Adam Morgan and Raul Valdes held the Pirates to one hit and four walks over nine shutout innings. The Pirates, on the other hand, walked three different Phillies (Quintero, Revere and Utley) with the bases loaded in the second inning.

The Phillies had nine hits in the game, all singles.

Michael Young was 2-for-4 with two RBI, Betancourt 2-for-3 with a walk and Revere 2-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base.

Betancourt is hitting .412. Revere has a 346/393/385 line with three stolen bases. Young is 5-for-his-last-13 with a double and a homer after starting the spring 1-for-9.

Might seem like Revere isn’t hitting for a lot of power, but that’s just the way it’s going to be. His isolated power of .039 so far this spring is pretty similar to his career mark of .045.

Brown 1-for-3, Mayberry 1-for-4. Ruf 0-for-2 with a walk, dropping his spring average to .130. He has one extra-base hit, a double.

Mayberry started 1-for-10 and is 6-for-his-last-16 (.375) with a double and a home run.

Lannan started the game for the Phillies and was fantastic, going three shutout innings in which he allowed just one hit, a first-inning double to Travis Snider, and walking two.

Lannan drops his spring ERA to 1.80, but he has a 1.60 ratio to go with it. He’s walked three in five innings and opponents are hitting .278 against him.

Adam Morgan also three shutout innings in the game for the Phils. He walked two and struck out two without allowing a hit.

Morgan has a 1.93 ERA and has struck out six in 4 2/3 innings, but again with a high ratio of 1.50. Three of the fours runs he’s been charged with are unearned.

Mike Adams threw a 1-2-3 fourth. He’s now thrown two scoreless innings in which he’s allowed one hit without walking a batter.

Valdes was great in the game, too. After being awful in his first two appearances, Valdes faced six batters and retired all six, dropping his ERA to 6.00. He’s struck out seven in six innings, but allowed three home runs. Yesterday was the only one of Valdes’s three outings in which he did not give up a home run.

The Phillies will play the Dominican Republic team this afternoon.

Jonathan Papelbon was scheduled to pitch today, but has a cold and will not do so.

BJ Rosenberg has some tenderness in his elbow, which kept him from pitching on Sunday.

Delmon Young will have his ankle looked at by a doctor in California today.

This article takes a guess at the opening day roster for the Phillies, giving two of the three unknown bullpen slots to Horst and Valdes and leaving the other one open. It also has Ruf off the roster and Inciarte on.

I think if the Phillies are truly thinking about giving Inciarte a spot on the roster we’ll see him getting a whole lot more at-bats soon. So far he has seven. It definitely seems possible.

The Phillies won their first spring training game in four tries yesterday, topping the Yankees 4-3.

No Phillie had more than one hit in the game. Down 1-0 in the sixth, Rollins walked with one out and scored on a double by Frandsen to tie the game at 1-1. The Phils trailed 3-1 when they hit in the seventh. Brown hit a solo homer to cut the lead to 3-2. Cody Asche doubled with two outs and Tommy Joseph followed that with a two-run homer to left that put the Phils up to stay.

Brown’s homer was pretty and went real far. Look. Now if we can just get Zach Nuding to start 35 games or so for the Nats or Braves we should be all set.

Howard was 1-for-2 with a walk. Michael Young remains hitless after an 0-for-3, he’s 0-for-8 so far. Revere is 1-for-6 with an error on the spring after an 0-for-3 with a strikeout. Mayberry 0-for-7 with three strikeouts in the early going after going 0-for-1 with a strikeout yesterday.

Kendrick started the game for the Phils allowed a first-inning run on a double and a single. He threw a scoreless second and was followed by Aaron Cook, who tossed two scoreless frames.

Durbin, Cesar Jimenez and Horst all threw a scoreless inning. Horst started the ninth with a one-run lead and got the save. He gave up back-to-back hits with two outs and nobody on, putting runners on first and third, but got someone named Cito Culver, who is 20-years-old and slugged .283 at Single-A in 2012, on a fly ball to right to end the game. Culver was a first-round pick in 2010 draft, taken by the Yankees in that round ahead of some people you may have heard more about, like Taijuan Walker, Nick Castellanos, Chance Ruffin and Mike Olt.

Look for the Phillies to take Culver in the 2019 Rule V draft and give him 587 plate appearances as their starting shortstop. You heard it here first.

After Kendrick’s run in the first inning, the only other Phillie pitcher who was scored on in the game was Zach Miner. Miner threw a scoreless sixth. He returned for the seventh with the game tied at 1-1 and yielded a pair of runs on a one-out single that was followed by a home run.

Not a great day for Zachs. Miner and Nuding combined to go three innings in the game, allowing five earned runs on six hits, three of which were home runs.

Second official appearance for Miner. He’s allowed four runs, three of which are earned, on six hits over three innings.

Chase Utley was scratched from yesterday’s lineup due to wet weather conditions.

Delmon Young suggests that his ankle problems significantly impacted his performance during the last two season. That’s discussed in this blog post.

This suggests that Mike Adams could pitch tomorrow, which would be earlier than expected.

Lannan is expected to pitch this afternoon as the Phils face the Twins.