CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) _ Kris Benson, slated to start Pittsburgh's second game of the season, pitched like an opening-day starter Thursday as the Pirates beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-2.

Benson hurled six shutout innings, allowing three hits and striking out two. He ran his spring record to 3-0 and lowered his ERA to 2.16.

His final spring start followed Jason Schmidt's outing Wednesday that lowered his ERA to 1.16, best in the Grapefruit League.

Phillies starter Andy Ashby, who will pitch on opening day, will enter the regular season without having had a single outing like Benson or Schmidt. Ashby started for the Phillies on Thursday and allowed six hits and four runs, three earned, in six innings. His Florida ERA settled at 7.47.

While fans may prefer springs like the ones put together by Schmidt and Benson, Ashby feels he's ready for the season to start.

``I feel like if I throw the way I've thrown the last couple times, we should be in pretty good shape,'' he said.

Ashby didn't help his own cause when he fumbled a bunt by Benson in the third inning, leading to an unearned run.

Chad Hermanson was 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Pirates. Scott Sauerbeck pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his first spring save. Aramis Ramirez, Brian Giles, Jason Kendall and Mike Benjamin also drove in runs for Pittsburgh.

Kevin Jordan and Tomas Perez had RBIs for the Phillies.

The Pirates finished with a 3-1 spring record against the Phillies, just as they did last year.

Pittsburgh plays two games in Jupiter against the Montreal Expos before starting the season at home against Houston on Monday.

The Phillies left immediately after the game to fly to Las Vegas, where they will play the Colorado Rockies Thursday and the Chicago White Sox on Saturday afternoon. They play a final exhibition in Seattle on Sunday before opening in Phoenix against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday.