The Phillies meant to give the Dominican Republic a proper tuneup on Tuesday, going so far as to start likely ace Cole Hamels. This one was quickly a rout, though, as the Dominican club collected a whopping 28 hits and steamrolled the Phillies 15-2.
Jose Reyes, Robinson Cano and Hanley Ramirez all homered for the D.R. Ramirez and Miguel Tejada both had four hits apiece. Edwin Encarnacion went 3-for-5 from the cleanup spot.
The Dominican squad boasts a powerful lineup despite lacking Albert Pujols, Jose Bautista, David Ortiz, Adrian Beltre and Aramis Ramirez. Bautista is the player the team misses most; while the country has produced plenty of good infielders, it’s very short on outfielders at the moment. Alongside Nelson Cruz in right today were Alejandro De Aza in center and Ricardo Nanita in left. Moises Sierra is the other candidate to start in left.
Hamels ended up surrendering eight runs and 12 hits in 2 2/3 innings in his start. Maybe it was for the best that he decided against pitching for Team USA this year.