Joe Blanton feels no pressure to muscle his way into the discussion when it comes to Philadelphia's bevy of aces: Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels.
“If anything, there's less (pressure). With those guys, I don't have to do anything,” said a grinning Blanton after following a two-run first with three shutout innings Tuesday to help the Phillies to a 13-7 victory over Toronto.
“Just because you're the fifth guy, doesn't mean you're a No. 5 guy” Blanton said. “You look at different rotations, guys get thrown in different spots because of the other guys in that rotation. I mean, look at Cole. He's our No. 4 guy but he's not a No. 4 guy, if that makes any sense. If you learn one thing from each guy, that's four pretty good things.”
They're not really competitive, at least not with each other, Blanton said.
“From my point of view, if I was to go out and throw seven innings (giving up) one run, two runs, whatever, I hope everybody does better than me. You just want to keep up your end. If everybody else is throwing well, it feels good to throw well.”
Rajai Davis tagged Blanton for his third leadoff home run of the spring in a two-run bottom of the first.
“He's put a lot of good swings on some baseballs. It's very encouraging to see,” Blue Jays manager John Farrell said.
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The Phillies went ahead on Raul Ibanez's two-run single in the third off Blue Jays starter Jesse Litsch, who gave up nine hits and five runs in 3 1/3 innings.
The Phillies scored two more runs in the fourth on catcher J.P. Arencibia's wild pickoff throw to third, and Ben Francisco added a solo homer in the fifth.
Lefty J.C. Romero gave up two runs in his only inning of work but still got the win. Anthony Gose hit a two-run triple in the seventh to finish a comeback that put Toronto ahead 7-6.
But the Phillies erupted for five runs in the eighth, three on Wilson Valdez's double down the left-field line, and Michael Martinez doubled for their final two runs in the ninth.
The Phillies got the win but they didn’t leave the game unscathed. Third baseman Placido Polanco left the game in the second inning with a hyperextended elbow that he called “day-to-day.”
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