Sandberg not pleased with early spring struggles

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- The Phillies dropped to 1-6 in Grapefruit League play with Tuesday's 5-3 loss to the Blue Jays at Bright House Field.

Do the early losses bother Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg? It is just one week of Spring Training, after all.

"Absolutely," he said. "I don't like losses. You like to win games. It seems like in some of these games it's been a one-inning type of thing. A crooked number in one inning. But our offense hasn't come alive to overcome a crooked number by the other team. Six hits tonight, the two-run homer by [Marlon] Byrd and then we're quiet after the third inning. So a lot of zeros up there on the offensive side."

The Phillies finished the night hitting just .194, which is the worst mark in baseball this spring.

But it is just one week of games. Countless players have had poor springs and played well during the regular season, so not much can be read into it.

"It seems to me like we get the bases loaded every game and don't get anything out of it," Sandberg said. "We get two guys on and we don't get anything out of it. It's about getting a big hit in an early Spring Training game like this. It seems like we haven't had too much offense later in the games. It's something we have to work on. With more at-bats, usually the guys start swinging the bat better."