Red Sox 5, Phillies 1: Jerad Eickhoff hit hard, but spot safe

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FORT MYERS, Fla. — Jerad Eickhoff was hit hard by the Boston Red Sox on Sunday, but his spot in the Phillies’ season-opening rotation is assured, manager Pete Mackanin said.

“He’s rusty,” said Mackanin, attributing that to Eickhoff getting a slow start in camp because of a fractured right thumb.

“He made a lot of real good pitches with his curveball, but he didn’t locate his fastball real well.”

Eickhoff, who threw 88 pitches, could pitch twice more before his first start of the season. That will give him time to knock off some rust.

He gave up 11 hits and five runs in five innings against Boston’s mostly major-league lineup. He walked none and struck out three.

Five of the hits Eickhoff allowed were for extra bases — three doubles and two homers.

“He’s fine,” Mackanin said. “He made good pitches when he had to. He just made some mistakes with his fastball.”

The game
The Phillies lost, 5-1. They were 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position. Knuckleballer Steven Wright allowed just one run in 5 2/3 innings for Boston.

The Phils are 0-4-1 in their last five games.

Odubel Herrera is back in the groove after missing almost two weeks with a sore left middle finger. He had three hits and is 5 for 8 in his last two games.

“He’s a freak,” Mackanin said. “This guy can hit. He’s just a real different kind of hitter. He’s got such great hand-eye coordination, it doesn’t take him long to get on track.”

Ryan Howard stayed back in Clearwater to get at-bats in a minor-league intrasquad game. He went 1 for 5 with four strikeouts against prospect Jake Thompson.

Bullpen battle
Bubble candidate Hector Neris did not hurt his chances with two scoreless innings and two strikeouts against the Red Sox.

Non-roster bullpen candidate Andrew Bailey, who had given up four runs in his previous two outings, pitched the eighth and got two fly balls and a ground-ball out.

Less than two weeks ago, Mackanin was describing Bailey as “probably the frontrunner” to be the team’s closer. Now, there’s a vibe that Bailey might not make the team. Mackanin voiced concerns with Bailey’s velocity and command after the pitcher’s last two outings. Mackanin was only lukewarm on Bailey again after Sunday’s outing.

“He looked OK,” Mackanin said. “I’d like to see more from him.”

When pressed, Mackanin said, “I need to see more from him. Let’s leave it at that.”

Bailey is on a minor-league contract. He has an out in the contract on May 1 if he is in the minors.

Mackanin said the final bullpen decisions would go down to the wire. Some jobs are already sewn up (see story).

Up next
The race for the final spot in the Phillies’ starting pitching rotation is apparently over (see story). Nonetheless, Vince Velasquez is scheduled to start Monday’s game against the Blue Jays in Dunedin.

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