By: Rebecca Serad, Sports Talk Philly Staff 
Final: Minnesota Twins 4, Philadelphia Phillies 2 ❖ Attendance: 6,621
Clearwater, FLA — Today's game between the Philadelphia Phillies (10-14) and the Minnesota Twins (14-10) took a backseat to the news of the passing of Dallas Green. Prior to the game, there was a moment of silence for Green. Throughout the telecast, there were interviews with Larry Bowa, David Montgomery, Pat Gillick, Dickie Noles, Charlie Manuel and Mike Schmidt about Green's career in baseball and his character. All had wonderful things to say about the manager of the Phils 1980 World Champion team and shared personal anecdotes about their time with Green.
In today's contest, Phillies starter Aaron Nola had a solid outing, allowing four runs over 5 and 2/3 innings. His one big mistake was a misplaced curveball to Twins right fielder Tommy Field, which was hit over the wall to give the Twins two runs. The other two runs weren't necessarily the righty's fault. The third run scored by the Twins was due to a lack of communication in the field, and the fourth run was the result of a reliever allowing a base runner of Nola's to score. Nola struck out six and seemed to have good command of his pitches.
The only runs that the Phillies offense were able to muster were the result of a two-run homer by Odubel Herrera. Outside of that, they struggled, despite having plenty of opportunities to score in the game. In a few innings, the Phils had multiple runners on base and were unable to score. There were base-running mistakes and a lack of clutch hitting with runners in scoring position. Despite having hits in the double-digits, the hitters ultimately didn't do their part to knock around the Twins' pitchers.
WP: Nick Tepesch (1-0, 5.84 ERA) ❖ LP: Aaron Nola (0-2, 6.62 ERA) ❖ SV: Buddy Boshers (2)
Hub: Game Summary ❖ Starting Pitchers ❖ At the Plate ❖ Bullpen ❖ What's Next
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| MIN | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 0 |
| PHI |
2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 0 |
The Phillies got off to a good start in the bottom of the first. With one out, Howie Kendrick doubled to left field. It would have been a single, but Kendrick's hustle got him into scoring position. That didn't matter, however, as Odubel Herrera slammed a home-run over the left field wall to give the Phils an early lead. One out later, Michael Saunders singled, but Tommy Joseph was retired for the final out. It was a good sign for the Phillies that the offense got to work right away.
In the second, the Phillies continued knocking around Twins starter Nick Tepesch, who was making his first start of the Spring. Catcher Cameron Rupp led off the inning with a four pitch walk. He moved up to third on a double by Andrew Knapp to put runners on second and third with no outs for Freddy Galvis. He popped out and was unable to score the runner from third. Cesar Hernandez walked to load the bases for Kendrick. He flew out to right field, which normally would have scored the runner from third. However, Knapp was doubled off of second and the run didn't count. This was a huge opportunity for the Phils to extend their lead and it was squandered.
The Twins fought back in the top of the third. With one out, John Ryan Murphy singled to left. Right fielder Tommy Field followed with a shot to left to tie the game at 2. J.B. Shuck singled to left to continue the Twins' string of hits. Phillies starter Aaron Nola got second baseman Benji Gonzalez to ground out to second, but the only play was at first. This put a runner at second for Max Kepler. He walked, bringing ByungHo Park to the plate. Park singled on a defensive miscue by the Phils, allowing Shuck to score and give the Twins the lead. The ball dropped between Galvis and Kendrick, and the lack of communication allowed the Twins to take advantage. Nola got the final out of the inning to prevent further damage.
In the top of the sixth, the Twins added to their lead. With one out, Jorge Polanco singled right field. He stole second on a strike-out by Matt Hague. The Phillies made a pitching change, removing Nola from the game and bringing in Sean Burnett. He promptly let up a single to Ehire Adrianza, scoring Polanco from third. Burnett got the final out of the inning, but the fourth run of the game was still charged to Nola's line.
The Phillies had their fair share of scoring opportunities, but were unable to capitalize on them. They had runners doubled off of bases twice, grounded into double plays, and lacked clutch hits. The lack of offense ultimately led to today's loss to the Twins.
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Tepesch | 3.2 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5.84 |
| Aaron Nola | 5.2 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 6.62 |
Twins
- Tommy Field: 1-3, R, HR, 2 RBI, .146 AVG
- Ehire Adrianza: 2-3, 2B, RBI, .323 AVG
- ByungHo Park: 1-3, RBI, .359 AVG
Phillies
- Odubel Herrera: 2-3, R, HR, 2 RBI, .364 AVG
- Howie Kendrick: 1-3, R, 2B, .182 AVG
- Andrew Knapp: 1-2, 2B, .138 AVG
Twins
- Nick Burdi (4th): 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA
- Justin Haley (5th, 6th, 7th): 2.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 6.39 ERA
- John Curtiss (7th): 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA
- Ryan Pressly (8th): 1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 1.13 ERA
- Buddy Boshers (9th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 7.56 ERA
Phillies
- Sean Burnett (6th, 7th): 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 2.00 ERA
- Edubray Ramos (8th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 1.23 ERA
- Hector Neris (9th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 4.50 ERA
- Friday, March 24, 2017: at New York Yankees, 1:05 p.m.
- Tampa – George M. Steinbrenner Field
- RHP Jeremy Hellickson (0-2, 7.50 ERA) vs. LHP C.C. Sabathia (0-1, 9.45 ERA)
- TV: MLBN; Radio: N/A
