PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — There’s just something about walking into a big-league ballpark.
The games still don’t count — not even in the Grapefruit League standings for criminy’s sake! — but being in a major-league stadium gives one the feeling that we’re not just in spring training anymore.
Of course, then the game happened and that feeling was made even stronger. It was a pure, unadulterated thing of beauty. Brilliantly-pitched, quick-moving and well-played, the tone set early on by lefties Mark Buehrle and Cliff Lee, both of whom pitched as though they had 8:30 p.m. dinner reservations.
Buehrle pitched five innings and Lee went four, and the first four innings of the game — during which they were both involved — took only 50 minutes to play and featured just three baserunners combined. Buehrle allowed an infield single and then a shot that got through Edwin Encarnacion at first base back to back in the bottom of the first, then retired the next 13 Phillies he faced with ruthless efficiency.
In his five innings of two-hit shutout ball, Buehrle allowed just two balls to be hit out of the infield — and in the second inning he struck out the side in order, each one swinging, each one on an 80 m.p.h. change-up.
Buehrle only needed 57 pitches to get through his five innings of work, and his next start will be for real. He gets the finale of the season’s opening series, April 4 against the Cleveland Indians.
The veteran lefty and his teammates got all the support they would need from J.P. Arencibia. He continued his phenomenal spring by taking Gatineau’s Phillipe Aumont deep to left field leading off the fifth inning — his fifth home run of the spring tied Jose Bautista for the club lead.
Arencibia has been on fire with the bat since returning from his sortie to the World Baseball Classic with Team U.S.A. In 26 plate appearances since coming back from Miami, Arencibia has hit .480/.500/1.080 with three doubles, four home runs and 11 RBIs. He can have streaks as hot as anybody; here’s hoping he carries it through to the regular season for a while. We all know how much J.P. loves to hit on opening day.
It was a brilliant night for the Blue Jays’ bullpen as well, as Brett Cecil, Aaron Loup, Steve Delabar and Juan Perez combined for four innings of a two-hit shutout behind Buehrle — and one of the hits was a ground ball by Jimmy Rollins up the middle (off Cecil) that Emilio Bonifacio actually overran at second base.
Delabar gave up the other hit — and the only hit the Phillies got all night that actually left the infield. It was a rocket double to left-centre by former Blue Jays farmhand Erik Kratz. Delabar, though, had an incredible back-foot slider working to a couple of left-handed hitters and once again showed just how tantalizing his stuff is. That’s a pretty strong fourth option in the bullpen.
Spring training wraps up on Saturday afternoon, and we’ll be on the air across the Blue Jays Radio Network with a full pre-game show starting at 12:30 p.m. ET. It’ll be a battle of righties — Josh Johnson against Kyle Kendrick. The Jays’ regulars will likely start, get two at-bats, and hit the showers to get ready for Tuesday’s opening day. Make sure you join us!