Phillies hold on to beat Astros, 7-6

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The Phillies beat the Astros 7-6 on Monday at Bright House Field, working through a steady rain in their Florida farewell.

It was to have been 34-year-old minor leaguer Nate Bump on the mound followed by a stream of bullpen arms in the Grapefruit League finale. But after Danys Baez relieved Bump and pitched a scoreless sixth inning, that plan got derailed when prospective closer Jose Contreras threw one pitch, and was lifted because of a heavy downpour at the time and patchy conditions on the mound in the seventh.

J.C. Romero, Antonio Bastardo and David Herndon also were scheduled to follow, but the Phillies completed the game with minor leaguers.

Ben Francisco hit a three-run home run off of Houston starter Bud Norris, and Shane Victorino had two hits.

Recently acquired second baseman Luis Castillo had a double and a walk, scored two runs and generally succeeded in extending at-bats. He also turned two double plays and just missed a third on the speedy Michael Bourn.

But the main focus for the Phillies seemed to be escaping the soggy game without further injury problems.

The Phillies finished spring play with a 20-13 record, tied with Detroit for the most wins in the Grapefruit League. The team announced a total spring attendance of 157,201 - a record for Bright House Field.

The Phils play the Pirates Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. in an exhibition game at Citizens Bank Park. Roy Oswalt gets his final spring tune-up, which also is his return to the mound after getting tagged by a Manny Ramirez liner his last time out.