Nightmare Seventh Inning Seals Phillies' Fate in Loss to Tigers

The Philadelphia Phillies fell to the Detroit Tigers in spring training action on Saturday.

Zach Eflin started the game for the Phillies in his first appearance since July 2021. He pitched two scoreless innings, picking up a walk and strikeout.

The Phillies jumped out on top first, thanks to a triple off the bat of Matt Vierling to score Johan Camargo in the second inning. Vierling's looked promising so far this spring.

Your 2022 starting CF 👀 https://t.co/isrKuWDpjj
— Inside the Phillies (@InsidePhilsFN) March 26, 2022

Next up was Mickey Moniak who took Tigers starter Matt Manning to dead center to make it a 3-0 ballgame. It was Moniak's second home run of the spring—he's certainly made things interesting in the last few games.

👀 https://t.co/m9BEuxCzrC
— Inside the Phillies (@InsidePhilsFN) March 26, 2022

In the third, Rhys Hoskins went deep, hitting a solo shot to center to put the Phillies up 4-0. He's put together a solid spring training, batting .333 with a 1.232 OPS thus far.

#1 Phillies boy https://t.co/qUDK6gz5S0
— Inside the Phillies (@InsidePhilsFN) March 26, 2022

In the bottom half of the inning, the Tigers gained a run back thanks to a Robbie Grossman sacrifice fly that scored Riley Greene.

As the innings went on, Detroit kept chipping away at the Phils' lead, making it a two-run game in the fourth on a Greene RBI double.

However, Didi tacked onto the Phillies' lead in the fifth with Philadelphia's third home run of the day.

Didi makes it 6-2 on a two-run bomb to right field! Third homer of the day for the Phils. https://t.co/zkYYzSoaZJ
— Inside the Phillies (@InsidePhilsFN) March 26, 2022

However, three long balls wouldn't be enough. Javier Baez's RBI double in the bottom of the fifth made it a 6-4 ballgame, Derek Hill's solo shot brought Detroit within one, and Willi Castro's double tied the game in the sixth.

Things would only grow worse in Detroit's half of the seventh. Much, much worse. Jeff Singer began the inning for the Phils. First, Harold Castro's RBI single put the Tigers ahead 7-6. Singer was then pulled due to a possible injury, and Andrew Schultz took over. Schultz allowed his inherited runners to score on a two-run single to pinch hitter Ryan Lavarnway. It was now 9-6, Tigers.

Detroit then broke the game open on a three-run home run off the bat of Eric Haase to extend their lead to six. But the inning wasn't over there, as Trei Cruz doubled to make it 14-6, this time off of Phils' pitcher Andrew Brown.

As the nightmare seventh inning came to a close, the Phils were able to gain two back in their half of the eighth to come within six. The Tigers won this one though, 14-8.

This is a good time to remind you that it's just spring training, these games don't matter, and most of these pitchers will not be on the roster come the regular season!

The Phillies will be away on Sunday, taking on the Toronto Blue Jays at 1:07pm EST. Nick Castellanos is expected to make his spring debut, so be sure to tune in!

More From SI's Inside The Phillies:

Make sure to follow Inside the Phillies on Facebook and Twitter!