CLEARWATER, Fla. - It was a spring training game that will be long forgotten very soon and maybe this one should be.
The Orioles allowed 18 hits and made three early errors as a Baltimore split-squad lost 11-4 to the Philadelphia Phillies in front of a sellout crowd of 8,349 at Spectrum Field in Clearwater.
The Orioles are 0-5-1 over their last six games. The rest of their squad played in Sarasota today and tied 1-1 with the Pirates. After both games this afternoon, the O's record is 12-16-3 with just one spring game remaining on Monday afternoon verus the New York Mets at Ed Smith Stadium.
Renato Núñez, Carlos Pérez and Preston Palmeiro hit solo homers for the Orioles. Ryan Mountcastle went 2-for-3 with a walk and Drew Jackson was 2-for-3 with an RBI single.
Left-hander Paul Fry, who has made 10 starts in the minors in his pro career, got today's start. He allowed two very soft runs in 1 2/3 innings. The Orioles made two errors behind him and three of the four hits he allowed were infield hits.
In the Phillies first, Fry needed 25 pitches to record three outs but two infield hits and an error hurt his cause as he allowed Maikel Franco's RBI single to tie it 1-1. The Orioles went ahead 1-0 in their half when Cedric Mullins walked, went to third on Mountcastle's single and scored on Jackson's single to center.
In the Philadelphia second, Fry allowed another infield single, this to Aaron Altherr, who stole second. He scored on an error by third baseman Rio Ruiz for a 2-1 lead. Jean Segura hit the ball hard to third but it went through the legs of Ruiz for the E-5.
Fry's final line showed 1 2/3 innings, four hits, two unearned runs with no walks and two strikeouts. He wrapped up a strong spring today. Over 10 innings, he yielded eight hits and two unearned runs for an ERA of 0.00. He was not scored on in 8 1/3 coming into this outing.
Scott Kingery's RBI triple in the third off lefty Luis Gonzalez gave Philly a 3-1 lead. In the fourth a two-run single by Odúbel Herrera off righty Gabriel Ynoa made it 5-1.
When Núñez homered for the second time in two games, the O's were down 5-2. He hit a 2-2 liner to left-center in the fifth off Philadelphia's David Robertson for his fourth spring home run. Núñez, dealing with a sore right biceps, started at first base today. Pérez hit his third spring homer in the sixth. Palmeiro hit the first pitch of the ninth out to right field for his first spring hit in six plate appearances.
In the last of the sixth, Philadelphia added four runs off Ynoa and Josh Lucas to lead 10-3. Ynoa, who began today with a 1.13 ERA over eight spring innings, allowed nine hits, six runs and two homers in 2 1/3 as that ERA rose to 6.10. Lucas was charged with one run in 2/3 of an inning. Josh Rogers gave up one run pitching the final two innings.
O's right fielder Ryan McKenna picked up an outfield assist with a strong throw right to the second base bag during Philadelphia's big rally in the sixth. The Phillies went 7-for-22 with runners in scoring position. Bryce Harper batted third in right field and struck out three times with a walk.
On Monday afternoon in the spring finale, Dylan Bundy pitches against Zack Wheeler when the Orioles host the Mets at 1:05 p.m. at Ed Smith Stadium.