DUNEDIN, Fla. — Jose Bautista continued his impressive spring with a three-run homer, and the Toronto Blue Jays settled for an 8-8 tie with the Philadelphia Phillies in Grapefruit League baseball pre-season action Thursday.
Bautista went 2-for-2 in the game to increase his spring batting average to .500. His homer was the first of the pre-season.
Down 8-5 in the bottom of the ninth, Dwight Smith Jr., Mike Ohlman and Rowdy Tellez hit RBI singles to salvage the tie.
Anthony Alford also homered for Toronto.
Brock Stassi had three hits for the Phillies, increasing his average to .636, and drove in a run. Freddy Galvis, Tommy Joseph and Jesmuel Valentin each drove in two runs.
Left-hander JA Happ opened with two scoreless innings for Toronto, striking out two while allowing one hit.
Phillies starter Aaron Nola gave up one hit and struck out one over two scoreless innings.
The Canadian Press
