Phillies down Pirates in exhibition
PHILADELPHIA — With a new-look lineup, the Philadelphia Phillies showed they can play small ball.
Jimmy Rollins drove in two runs, Freddy Galvis hit a tiebreaking triple in the seventh inning and the Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3 Monday night in their first of two exhibition games back home.
Minus injured sluggers Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, the Phillies have tried different ways to replace their Nos. 3-4 hitters this spring. Rollins, batting third instead of leadoff, hit a sacrifice fly in the first inning and lined an RBI double in the third. New leadoff hitter Juan Pierre scored two runs.
Andrew McCutchen hit a solo homer for the Pirates, who used seven pitchers. All-Star closer Joel Hanrahan was the only one not to allow a hit. He tossed a perfect fourth, striking out Hunter Pence.
“We are going to take what we feel are the seven best pitchers for our bullpen,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “And that’s part of the evaluation process. You don’t want to make it all about spring training. But you want to get guys who are sharp on the back end of spring training to start the season for you.
“We want the best seven, but we’re still having the conversation of what we want to do. That’s the edge we’re on right now. We still have to decide if we want the extra bat or the extra reliever.”
