The Phillies said goodbye to Clearwater Monday but not before beating the Astros in a rainy 7-6 Grapefruit League finale.
Minor leaguer Nate Bump spread out eight hits, a walk and a run while striking out one in five innings.
Bump got plenty of offense thanks to a three-run homer off the bat of Ben Francisco, two RBI hits by Shane Victorino, and RBI double by Raul Ibanez and two runs from Luis Castillo.
Francisco wrapped up the spring with a .385 average, four home runs and 13 RBIs in 26 games.
"He had a good spring," manager Charlie Manuel said.
Placido Polanco went 0-for-2 with a walk and a run in his second game back after injuring his surgically repaired elbow earlier this month.
Major league relievers Danys Baez and Jose Contreras combined for 1 1/3 scoreless innings before giving way to the minor leaguers. Lefty Derrick Loop gave up two runs (one earned) in 2/3 innings, righty Michael Cisco pitched a scoreless inning and Ebelin Lugo gave up three runs but held on to close out the game.
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The win put the Phillies at 20-13 in Grapefruit League play -- good for second place.
The Phillies packed up shop Monday afternoon and headed back to Philly to face the Pirates Tuesday and Wednesday in the On-Deck Series at Citizens Bank Park.
So are the Phillies ready to make another World Series run?
"We're ready," Manuel said about his veteran squad. "We've been ready for a while."
