Phillies tie Marlins, both teams have fun

Your Philadelphia Phillies played the Marlins to a draw in Clearwater on Friday, 6-6.

Another group of Phils lost to the Tigers on the road in split squad action, 4-2. Ranger Suarez took the trip and pitched well (3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K). But most of the Phillies veterans played in the Marlins match-up, so we’ll focus our attention on that one.

Here’s a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly from the game:

The Good

• Spencer Turnbull threw two innings and didn’t allow a baserunner. He struck out four. “All the stuff was working that I mixed in,” said Turnbull afterwards. “Threw all my pitches at least once or twice. I was very pleased with execution, especially for the first time feeling genuine adrenaline. I had the gameday jitters again. It was nice to feel that. I was able to settle it down and execute pitches.” Turnbull has a shot to make the Phils’ Opening Day roster in a long relief/spot start role.
• Highly-regarded prospect Griff McGarry struck out the side in his one inning of work. You can read more about McGarry here, from the PHLY Down on the Farm series of articles, or watch Renee and Jamie discuss the 24-year-old RHP here.
• Orion Kerkering looked sharp, pitching a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
• Scott Kingery continued to make his case for the spring training Hall of Fame with a walk, a single, and a two-run home run in his three plate appearances. Kingery has four hits, including two home runs, in nine at-bats this spring. He’s sporting a gaudy 1.694 OPS. And in his spring training career, Scotty Jetpax has an .880 OPS in 104 games.
• Whit Merrifield smacked a third-inning triple. He’s batting .364 this spring (four hits in 11 at-bats) with a 1.364 OPS.
• Catcher Cam Gallagher collected two hits, including a two-run home run in the eighth.
• In the ninth inning, left-handed hitting outfielder David Dahl hit his second home run of the spring to secure the tie. If the Phils sour on Jake Cave but are committed to carrying a lefty bench bat on the roster, former All-Star Dahl just might get a shot.
• Cristian Pache made this catch.

The Bad

• Starting pitcher Aaron Nola served up seven hits and four runs in three innings of work. But, like many veteran pitchers in spring games, Nola was more focused on particular pitches than the result of his outing. “He went out and the plan was to not use his curveball as much,” said manager Rob Thomson. “He wanted to work on his fastball command, he wanted to work on his cutter and his change-up, and the stuff was actually not bad for me. . . . But they were hacking and he was throwing a lot of strikes. And he wasn’t using his curveball.”
• Kyle Schwarber went hitless in the game and is 1/8 to start the spring.
• Nick Castellanos went hitless in the game and is 1/8 to start the spring.

The Ugly

• Dylan Covey threw 13 pitches in his appearance but just one strike. His line for the day: 0 IP, 0 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 0 K. If, like Nola, he was working on something… well, he’ll need to work on it more.

The Phillies host the Twins on Saturday at 1:05 p.m.