Maikel Franco, image- Jay Floyd
In a contest that ended in a 6-6 tie on Thursday, third baseman Maikel Franco continued his hot spring for the Phillies with a pair of home runs and four RBI against the Tigers in Clearwater.
Franco got the scoring started in the bottom of the 1st inning when he launched a two-run blast off of starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann. With Zimmermann still on the mound in the 4th, the 23-year-old did more damage with another two-run big fly.
A 2-for-2 day put Franco’s pre-season batting average at .350 through eight games while the two dingers gives him four in the young exhibition season.
Starting pitcher Aaron Nola wasn’t very sharp as he gave up two earned runs on four hits in 2 2/3 innings of work. He notched four strike outs and issued one walk.
Ernesto Frieri pitched the 9th inning for the Phillies, but blew a 5-4 lead, surrendering two earned runs in his lone inning of work.
With the Phillies trailing 6-5 in the bottom of the 9th 2nd baseman Ryan Jackson homered to tie the game, preventing the Phils from taking the loss. The exhibition was called a tie after nine innings.
Former Phillies outfielder John Mayberry Jr. went 1-for-3 with a RBI in the game for Detroit.
The Phillies (7-3-2) are back in action on Friday on the road against the Braves. They’ll face former Phillies right-hander Kyle Kendrick in the 1:05 PM affair.
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