Aaron Harang called it a little fine tuning before his first start of the 2015 season. We’ll take his word for it.
The Phillies’ big righty — and No. 2 starter — tossed 4 2/3 innings and allowed four runs on nine hits, three walks and three extra-base hits against Pittsburgh Friday to open the On-Deck Series. One of those hits was a solo homer in the second inning to tie the game at 3 after the offense staked Harang to a three-spot in the first.
The Phillies tacked on another three-spot in the bottom of the ninth, highlighted by a two-run, walk-off homer from Ben Revere to rally for a 7-5 victory.
Yes, a walk-off piece from that Ben Revere.
But spring training is all about the work, not the result. In that case, Harang declared Friday’s outing a success.
“Arm-wise I feel great. Everything is good,” he said. “This was kind of the final tune up and everything was working. The off-speed pitches were working well tonight. I was just missing and pitching behind in the count tonight. I was missing the location a little bit with the fastball.”
MLB
The next time we see Harang will be Wednesday night when he takes the mound against the Red Sox in the second game of the season. Harang says he’ll be strong. In his last outing he threw 99 pitches over 5 1/3 innings against the Tigers when he gave up two more homers.
After spending the last four seasons pitching for San Diego, Los Angeles, the Mets and Braves in pitcher-friendly parks, the long ball could be an issue for Harang in Citizens Bank Park this season.
Though he allowed four homers this spring, three came in his last two outings. Plus, Harang was prone to give up some walks, too. In his 15 innings, the righty allowed 19 hits and seven walks and he had just seven strikeouts with six coming in the last two games.
“Harang just kind of hung in there,” manager Ryne Sandberg said. “That wasn’t the crisp command we saw in the spring. But he seemed to hang in there and missed some pitches up. He was up in the zone a little bit and it resulted in a lot of hits.
“Overall he left some base runners out there and made some pitches when he had to. But that wasn’t his best command.”
But it’s now or never for Harang and the Phillies.
“I’m good to go,” Harang said. “I’m excited. I think we all are, come Monday. We’re all ready to get going for the regular season.”
Small ball
Until Revere’s homer in the ninth, the Phillies put together five runs with just one ball leaving the infield. They got three in the first on two groundouts and a throwing error and one in the fourth on a single.
The Phillies tied the game in the ninth on a bunt and throwing error to set the stage for Revere’s homer.
“I like the way the guys battled back after getting down at the end,” Sandberg said. “They got some big hits and hung in there and battled back.”
Revere’s walk off
Heading into last season, Revere went 1,465 at-bats until he hit his first career homer. He ended up with two homers last season to break through on the long-ball column.
In other words, don’t expect Revere to be the late-inning home run threat for the Phillies this season.
Right?
“He has the ability to drive the ball right there,” Sandberg said. “He played a big part — he played a big-guy’s game and he has that ability in the count. He shows it in batting practice every day and he really drives the ball. That was a great time for that swing.”
Final cuts
Aside from a bullpen and bench spot or two, the Phillies’ roster is pretty much spoken for.
But that doesn’t mean all the battles for jobs are over.
Non-roster invitee Jeff Francoeur went 3 for 4 with a double against the Pirates on Friday night, raising his spring average from .175 to .227. In 15 games with the Phillies, the veteran right-handed hitter is 10 for 44 with three doubles and 11 strikeouts.
However, Francoeur’s defense and his right-handedness could be an asset. The Phillies are lacking in righties on the bench and Francoeur’s defense is nothing to sneeze at. The big game at the plate definitely helped his cause, according to Sandberg.
“Frenchy swung the bat. That was the best game he had in putting together hits and it was good to see it against left-handed pitching,” the manager said. “We need right-handed help. He’s still a candidate.”
Up next
The Phillies wrap up the spring schedule Sunday afternoon against the Pirates with right-handers David Buchanan (2-0, 1.69) taking on Charlie Morton (1-1, 6.46) in the finale.