Blanco homers as Phillies blank Orioles, 1-0

The Phillies hung on to beat the Orioles, 1-0 at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota. Ryan Howard went 2-for-3 with a pair of singles and Andres Blanco supplied the only run with a solo shot in the fifth. Phillies starter Aaron Harang went two innings, giving up three hits, no runs, and two walks, and the rets of the bullpen combined to allow no runs, four hits, three walks, and one strikeout over seven innings. Cody Asche left the game after being hit in the left arm with a pitch in the sixth inning and was reported to have suffered a contusion.

Game log:

Ninth Inning

Jeff Francoeur kept things moving with an immediate ground out, and Russ Canzler was victimized at the plate by new Orioles hurler and side-armer Darren O'Day. Andres Blanco, the owner of the game's sole run, grounded out weakly to short.

Luis Garcia came on to finish off the O's. He recorded a ground out of Caleb Joseph and K'd Chris Parmelee. Andres Blanco ended the game witha  pretty barehanded play on a bouncer to short.

Eighth Inning

Odubel Herrera led off for the Phillies, showing bunt, but grounded out to first. Cesar Hernandez does actually bunt, it was easily recovered by Caleb Joseph, who threw to first for the second out. Maikel Franco followed and punched a two out single up the middle. Chris McGuiness' ground to short put an end to things for the Phillies offense.

Chris McGuiness made a sharp play on a Matt Wieters grounder to first to lead off the inning. Clemens, still pitching, got Christian Walker on a ground ball to third for the second out and Jayson Nix continued the inning's trend of grounding out, giving Clemens a 1-2-3 frame.

Seventh Inning

New Baltimore pitcher Tyler Wilson got Andres Blanco to ground out and Jordan Danks strikes out swinging. Koyie Hill didn't improve matters by grounding out on the first pitch he saw for a quick, ineffective inning.

Orioles catcher Caleb Joseph singled off new Phillies pitcher Paul Clemens and considered taking second as Odubel Herrera juggled the ball in center field, but stayed put. Everth Cabrera worked a walk to put two runners on and no out. Clemens managed to recover and strike out the next batter, Jimmy Paredes, and got David Lough to fly out to Herrera in center, who made a nice over-the-shoulder catch. Clemens got Chris Davis to a 2-2 count, but then hit him with a pitch to load the bases. Matt Tuiasosopo then fouled out to McGuiness, playing first, to suppress the threat.

Sixth Inning

Cody Asche was plunked by new Orioles pitcher Zach Britton and was replaced on first base by Maikel Franco. Franco moved to second on Ryan Howard's single, his second hit of the day. Chris McGuiness took over on first for Howard (who left to a generous round of applause) as Jeff Francoeur stood in. Francoeur immediately grounded into a double play with a high-hopper to short, leaving Franco on third with two outs. Russ Canzler pinch hit for Xavier Paul and followed Francoeur in grounding out to short in quick fashion.

Justin De Fratus assumed pitching duties for the Phillies, getting Matt Wieters to ground out on three pitches, and maintained that efficiency in retiring the other two batters he faced in short order.

Fifth Inning

Andres Blanco did his best impression of an Oriole and cranked a solo shot to left field, making it 1-0. Odubel Herrera also singled, reaching base for the second time this afternoon, and stole second base in the inning, but the Phillies failed to score again.

In the bottom of the inning, Adam Morgan gave up a one-out double to the Orioles, but escaped unscathed. Morgan's day would be over, ending with 2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, and 0 K.

Fourth Inning

Matusz struck out the side (Cody Asche, Ryan Howard, Xavier Paul) while allowing a Jeff Francouer double to squeak through with two outs. Adam Morgan replaced Phillippe Aumont on the mound for the Phillies, and induced a ground out, pop out, and line out for a relatively clean inning, minus the Manny Machado single.

Third Inning

Brian Matusz took over for Orioles starter Chris Tillman and threw a clean inning against the top of the Phillies' order. The Orioles had a similarly uneventful half inning, with an uncharacteristically quiet inning for Phillippe Aumont, who gave up only one harmless double to Adam Jones.

Second inning 

1-2-3 for the Phillies. Harang loaded the bases with a four-pitch walk and back-to-back singles but got out of the two-out jam.

First inning

Odubel Herrera led off with a walk and advanced to second on a two-out single by Ryan Howard but the Phillies did not score.

Aaron Harang has pitched a scoreless inning so far, although his command was a bit rusty in his first trip to the mound of the spring. Harang's debut was pushed back a few days as he continued to work off some rust from the offseason. He also dealt with a sore back.

He is facing the following Orioles lineup:

Alejandro De Aza LF

Steve Pearce 1B

Chris Davis RF

Adam Jones CF

Matt Wieters DH

J.J. Hardy SS

Manny Machado C

Steve Clevenger C

Everth Cabrera SS

The Phillies are facing Chris Tillman with the following lineup:

Odubel Herrera CF

Cesar Hernandez 2B

Cody Asche 3B

Ryan Howard 1B

Jeff Francoeur RF

Xavier Paul DH

Gregor Blanco SS

Jordan Danks LF

Koyie Hill C