Phillies 7, Orioles 6: Jake Cave continues hot spring; Edmundo Sosa hits two homers
The lefty-hitting outfielder, who is batting .474, is competing for one of the final bench spots.
CLEARWATER, Fla. — When the Phillies claimed 30-year-old outfielder Jake Cave off waivers in December, the transaction was announced with little fanfare. But since arriving in Clearwater, Cave has quickly made a lasting impression.
After hitting a single and a triple in Thursday’s 7-6 Grapefruit League win against the Orioles, Cave is now hitting .474/.500/1.053 through seven spring training games.
As if going 2-for-3 wasn’t enough, Cave also made a nice sliding grab in the fourth inning to rob Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman of a hit. Cave played with the Minnesota Twins from 2018-2022, before he was claimed off waivers by Baltimore in October.
Who stood out: The home runs were plentiful on Thursday. Bryson Stott hit his first home run of the spring in the first, a 404-foot lead-off bomb to right-center field that came off his bat at 104.1 mph. The home run came off of a high fastball, a pitch that Stott struggled against last season.
Three days after a stray pitch hit Edmundo Sosa’s right arm and caused him to exit the game, the utility man hit his third home run of the spring, a shot to left-center field that scored Alec Bohm in the fourth.
Three at-bats after Sosa, catcher Aramís Garcia hit his first home run of the spring, a 384-foot shot that nearly landed in the same spot as Sosa’s home run.
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Sosa capped that off with another home run in the sixth. It landed in left field, and came off his bat at 105.3 mph.
On the mound: Right-handed pitcher Aaron Nola made his third start of the spring. He allowed four runs (three earned) on five hits with two walks and one strikeout in three innings. Nola threw 57 pitches, 38 of them strikes.
Quotable: “Yeah, just about getting more pitches, getting the up and down,” Nola said of his outing. “I threw 50-something pitches, so I felt good about that. Also trying to command all of my pitches, keep them sharp. Trying to get my curveball a little sharper — it’s been hanging. So I want to tighten that up a little bit. And still get repetition with the pitch clock.
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“I was glad I had an outing like this today, so I can figure out a strategy to slow the game down. Because these are the times when you’re giving up hits, and running around the field, backing up the bases. You’ve got to slow it down. That’s what we’ve done our whole life. So I’ve got to figure out a way to slow it down.”
On deck: The Phillies’ Zack Wheeler will take the mound against Pirates right-hander J.T. Brubaker on at 1:05 p.m. Friday at BayCare Ballpark. The game will be televised on NBC Sports Philadelphia.