J.T. Realmuto, Alec Bohm hit homers in their spring debuts in Phillies’ tie with Braves
The Phillies scored three runs on four hits with a walk in two innings against the Braves' AJ Smith-Shawver.
CLEARWATER, Fla. — The Phillies made a statement early Wednesday afternoon in their 7-7 tie against the Braves. In his first game of the spring, catcher J.T. Realmuto worked an eight-pitch at-bat against Braves pitcher AJ Smith-Shawver and hit a slider 379 feet to left-center field. A few at-bats later, Alec Bohm — who was also making his spring debut — hit the first pitch he saw to almost the exact same spot. His two-run home run traveled 418 feet.
Smith-Shawver wasn’t making it easy on them. He fed the Phillies a steady diet of 98-99 mph fastballs. Despite that, the Phillies managed to score three runs on four hits with a walk (and three strikeouts) in two innings against the young right-hander.
Who stood out: Reliever Seranthony Domínguez, who did not look like himself for much of last season, had another good spring outing. In two innings this spring, he has not allowed a hit, a run or a walk, with one strikeout. His pitches were moving well and he hit 97 mph a few times. He needed just seven pitches to get out of the fifth inning.
Bohm hit a line-drive double that almost went out in the fifth. It came off his bat at 102.5 mph. He finished his day 2-for-3.
On the mound: Right-hander Tyler Phillips — a Bishop Eustace grad — made the start for the Phillies. He allowed two earned runs on three hits with one home run. Twenty of his 23 pitches were strikes.
Nick Nelson followed Phillips and had another tough outing. Nelson allowed a 432-foot home run to Michael Harris II that came off the bat at 110.8 mph. He has now allowed four earned runs and two walks in four Grapefruit League innings.
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Quotable: “Mechanics look good, he looks like he’s under control on the mound, he’s throwing strikes,” manager Rob Thomson said of Domínguez. “The guys that got ahead today pitched well. The guys that got behind in the count, they gave up some walks and hard contact. So that’s what we need to do, we need to get ahead in the counts and start attacking.”
On deck: The Phillies will play the Toronto Blue Jays at TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Fla., on Thursday at 1:07 p.m. The game will be televised on MLB Network and streamed on the radio on MLB.com.