Improved pitching, offense paces Detroit Tigers in 4-1 win over Phillies

LAKELAND, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-1, on Wednesday at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium, improving to 10-11 in Grapefruit League play.

What happened

First baseman Miguel Cabrera captured the hearts of the crowd in the second inning, when he fielded a ground ball from Darick Hall and immediately charged toward the third-base line. He caught Andrew Knapp between third base and home plate and tagged him out. Then, he nearly made a double play as Odubel Herrera advanced to third base. Walking back to first base, Cabrera removed his hat and waved to acknowledge the cheering fans. Offensively, Cabrera went 2-for-3 with one RBI.

Robbie Grossman crushed a 1-0 changeup from Ivan Nova beyond the right-center fence for a solo home run, giving the Tigers a 2-1 lead in the third inning. His second homer this spring went 432 feet with a 107.9 mph exit velocity. Jeimer Candelario and Cabrera had multi-hit performances.

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Starting off

Right-hander Jose Urena started and pitched into the fifth inning. He got two outs and reached 65 pitches (43 strikes) before manager AJ Hinch brought in Bryan Garcia from the bullpen with the bases empty. Urena finished with one run allowed on five hits and one walk. He didn't record any strikeouts, only generating four swings-and-misses and three called strikes. Urena's fastball averaged 93.7 mph. He is lined up to make one more start — March 29 in Tampa — before the regular season begins. A day after issuing 11 walks, the Tigers only walked two and struck out seven.

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At the plate

The Tigers picked up 12 hits to help them plate four runs. More importantly, the team only struck out five times. Willi Castro opened the scoring with an RBI single in the first inning, scoring Candelario. Grossman added his homer in the third inning, followed by a Cabrera RBI single — a generous single, which should have been an error on the third baseman — to take a 3-1 lead. Wilson Ramos punished a JoJo Romero fastball to the left-field corner in the sixth inning for a double to drive in the Tigers' fourth run. Niko Goodrum struck out in two of his three at-bats. Both fighting for a roster spot, Renato Nunez struck out in his lone plate appearance, and Isaac Paredes grounded out.

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On the mound

After struggling Tuesday, Garcia struck out Scott Kingery — the only batter he faced — with a 94.7 mph sinker to end the fifth inning. Left-hander Derek Holland pitched a perfect sixth inning, logging two strikeouts. This spring, Holland has thrown eight scoreless innings with 13 strikeouts and one walk. Left-hander Daniel Norris reached 94.4 mph with his fastball (averaged 93.3 mph) and used it to generate three strikes swinging in the seventh inning. He got two strikeouts; his only blemish was a two-strike single. Righty Buck Farmer tossed a scoreless inning. Left-hander Tyler Alexander registered two strikeouts in the ninth inning to complete the victory.

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Three stars

1. Urena, 2. Holland, 3. Grossman.

Next up

Thursday (6:37 p.m.) against Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin.

Evan Petzold is a sports reporter at the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Improved pitching, offense paces Detroit Tigers in win over Phillies