Phillies Powered by Home Run to 7-5 Victory Over Baltimore

The Phillies launched four home runs as they picked up a 7-5 victory over the Orioles, improving their spring record to 3-2.

Power and pitching was abundant for the Phillies in their third victory of the early spring.

Odubel Herrera was originally set to be in the starting lineup, but he was scratched in order to fill out paperwork to play in the World Baseball Classic. Aaron Altherr took Herrera’s place in center field, batting eighth, and hit a solo home run late in the victory.

Clay Buchholz made his first appearance of the spring, tossing two innings as he allowed two hits and a walk but gave up no runs. Buchholz was not giving his max effort as reported by Meghan Montemurro, and his fastball velocity sat around 89 miles per hour.

The scoring started in the bottom of the second when Michael Saunders reached base and Tommy Joseph launched his first home run of the spring, a deep shot off the tiki bar in left field at Spectrum Field. The home run gave Philadelphia a 2-0 lead over Baltimore.

Jeanmar Gomez pitched the third inning and the righty gave up a solo home run, allowing the Orioles to cut the lead to one. Nick Pivetta followed him up with a scoreless fourth but gave up two runs in the fifth before throwing a scoreless sixth.

Scott Kingery, who isn’t known for his power, picked up his first home run of the spring as well in the bottom of the fifth. Kingery had quite the day, finishing a triple shy of the cycle and making some impressive plays in the field.

Brock Stassi continued his push onto the 25-man roster by hitting yet another home run in the victory. Stassi stands to earn the left-handed power bat role off the bench in Philadelphia come April.

Next: Cameron Rupp Season Preview

On Wednesday the Phillies will head on the road to face the Tampa Bay Rays. Vincent Velasquez will make his first start of the spring and his first since being shut down in September to protect his arm.

George Stockburger contributed to this report