Rupp Carries Phillies Over Twins
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Cameron Rupp homered in his first two at-bats, leading a split squad of Philadelphia Phillies over the Minnesota Twins 4-2 Wednesday.
Rupp connected on the first pitch he saw in the third inning. He homered on the second pitch in the fifth off Casey Fien.
"Got two fastballs and I put two aggressive swings on them," Rupp said. "It felt good. It made this 2 1/2-hour drive worth it."
Joe Mauer, who has been experimenting with wearing sunglasses while batting to counter vision problems he's dealt with over the last few seasons, went 1 for 2. Minnesota newcomer Byung Ho Park had two hits.
STARTING TIME
Phillies right-hander Zach Eflin allowed one run and four hits in three innings.
"I thought it went well," Eflin said. "I was able to command the zone, which is the biggest goal going in, to throw strikes."
Twins left-hander Tommy Milone gave up one run and one hit in three innings with three strikeouts, allowing Rupp's first homer.
"I thought Tommy threw the ball well," manager Paul Molitor said. "His changeup was good, and a couple of nice curveballs. He tried to get a fastball in on the big boy, and that one got out pretty fast."
It was the second start for Milone, vying for a spot in the Twins rotation.
"Fastball command was good," he said. "I think that's what started it all off, moving the ball in and out. And then changeup, those were the two pitches that made the difference today."
PROSPECTING
The Phillies featured some of their top pitching prospects. Eflin, a first-round pick by San Diego in 2012, was followed by right-hander Jake Thompson, a second-round pick of Detroit in 2012, and Mark Appel, the first overall pick by Houston in 2013. They combined to give up two runs and 10 hits in eight innings with no walks with six strikeouts.
"It was nice to see. Everybody threw strikes," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "You have to like both of those first two guys. And Appel, we're trying to build up his confidence. He could have gone back out there, but we wanted to make sure he came out on a positive note. He needs it. We didn't want anything to go wrong for him there."
TRAINER'S ROOM
Phillies: Aaron Altherr, projected to be among the Phillies' opening-day outfielders, was scheduled for surgery on Wednesday in Philadelphia to repair a torn tendon sheath in his left wrist. He will be out four-to-six months.
Twins: Catcher Stuart Turner, who had been sidelined by a sore back, entered as a defensive substitution for Juan Centeno in the seventh inning.
UP NEXT
Phillies: RHP Aaron Nola is scheduled to start for the Phillies against Detroit on Thursday.
Twins: RHP Ervin Santana is slated to face Boston in his second start.
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