Liriano continues spring mastery on mound

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Francisco Liriano hasn't lost his mojo since he joined the Blue Jays in August.
He allowed one walk and struck out five in three scoreless innings Thursday afternoon in a 6-4 victory over the Phillies in a Grapefruit League game at Spectrum Field. Liriano hasn't allowed a run in five innings this spring. He went 2-2 with a 2.92 ERA in 10 appearances (eight starts) last season with Toronto, following a trade with the Pirates.
"Physically I feel great," said the left-hander, who didn't allow a ball to leave the infield. "I'm just trying to take it one pitch at a time, one hitter at a time. I'm not trying to overthrow or be too [fine]. And getting ahead in the count. That's the big thing for me now."
The Blue Jays hit the ball hard against Phillies right-hander Jerad Eickhoff. Ryan Goins tripled to right-center field to score Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Darwin Barney in the second inning to make it 2-0. Saltalamacchia then homered to right-center field in the third. It was his second homer of the spring. Barney's sacrifice fly to right in the third scored Melvin Upton Jr. to make it 4-0 lead.

Eickhoff (0-1, 7.88 ERA) is scheduled to start the Phillies' second game of the season on April 5 in Cincinnati. He allowed seven hits, four runs, two walks and struck out three in just three innings. He has allowed eight runs (seven earned) in eight innings this spring.
"He didn't locate his fastball very well," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "I don't know if he was working on trying to locate it, but he didn't mix his pitches enough, which got him into trouble. He didn't throw his curveball and changeup that much."
The Phillies broke up Toronto's no-hitter with two outs in the fifth, when Freddy Galvis singled to right. Joe Smith loaded the bases and walked César Hernández to score the Phillies' first run. Howie Kendrick followed with a single to right against Tim Mayza to score two runs to make it 5-3.
Toronto manager John Gibbons was upbeat after the Blue Jays snapped a four-game losing streak.
"I don't think Liriano can look any better," he said. "That ball's ducking and darting every which way. The offense came to life. And it was good to see [reliever] Jason Grilli out there for the first time this spring. A lot of good things happened out there."
Blue Jays Up Next: With Marcus Stroman playing in the World Baseball Classic, right-hander Mike Bolsinger will step into that spot in the rotation Friday when the Blue Jays travel to Lakeland to play the Tigers at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. Bolsinger was acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers last Aug. 1 for Jesse Chavez. Also scheduled to throw for Toronto: Ryan Tepera, Bo Schultz, Casey Lawrence and T.J. House.
Phillies Up Next: The Phillies host the Yankees in a Grapefruit League game at 1:05 p.m. ET on Friday at Spectrum Field. Right-hander Clay Buchholz (0-0, 7.20 ERA) makes his third start of the spring. He obviously knows the Yankees well, spending the first 10 years of his big league career with the Red Sox. The game can be seen on MLB.TV.
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