Fresh off their second win of the spring, the Phillies traveled to Hammond Stadium today in Fort Myers to play the Twins in front of a record crowd of 8,764. Taking the mound for the Phillies was Jeff Manship, who has a chance to land a spot in the rotation with Cole Hamels out for longer than anticipated and Miguel Gonzalez struggling mightily.
The Game: The scoring opened up in the first inning, with the Twins getting the first run after the Phillies led off the game by going down in order against Mike Pelfrey. Jeff Manship started the inning by walking Darin Mastroianni. A Kurt Suzuki groundout moved the runner to second. Up next was Joe Mauer and he laced a single to left, allowing Mastroianni to score. Mauer was thrown out trying for two bases on the play. 1-0 Twins.
It took until the sixth inning for the Phillies to get their first hit, courtesy of Tony Gwynn Jr. They had opportunities though, as they drew walks in the second, third and fourth inning. Ronny Cedeno erased the Phils first hit by grounding out into a double-play, leaving the team scoreless for another frame.
Fast forward to the top of the eighth inning. John Mayberry hit a ground ball to third and was awarded second base by the first base umpire after the ball supposedly went into the stands. After the review, the ball was ruled out of play and John Mayberry was safe at second. Tony Gwynn Jr. bunted Mayberry over to third and then Ronny Cedeno hit a grounder to short with the infield in. Mayberry was running on contact from third and was ruled safe on a close play at the plate. The play was reviewed by the umpires and upheld, with Mayberry scoring succesfully from third. Ben Revere singled to right to put runners on first and third with two out, but Cesar Hernandez flew out to left to end the threat. Phillies and Twins tied 1-1.
The Twins put a runner on first in the ninth, but he was caught stealing second on a spectacular throw by Phillies catching prospect, Tommy Joseph. Tony Gwynn Jr. also made a nice sliding play in foul territory in the ninth. The game ended in a 1-1 tie after nine innings of play.
Pitching was strong today for the Phillies. Starter Jeff Manship went three innings and gave up just one run on two hits. BJ Rosenberg threw two scoress frames while Jeremy Horst and Phillippe Aumont hurled an inning each without allowing a run. Brad Lincoln finished off the game for the Phillies, throwing two scoreless.
Notable offensive performances:
Ben Revere: 1-4
Tony Gwynn Jr.: 1-1, BB
Darin Ruf: 0-3, BB, K
Maikel Franco: 0-2, K
Impact: Another game, another offensive struggle for the Phillies, who managed to go without a hit until the sixth inning. Tony Gwynn Jr. was impressive both at the plate and in the field, drawing a walk, tallying a hit and making a great defensive play in the ninth. Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins did not play in today's game. Meanwhile, on the pitching side of things, Jeff Manship made a case for a spot in the rotation while Jeremy Horst and Phillippe Aumont both looked good in their scoreless innings of work.
Up next: Tomorrow at 1:05PM, the Phillies host the Braves at Bright House Field. These two NL East rivals played each other last Wednesday and tied 2-2. Brandon Beachy will take the mound for Atlanta, while the Phillies will counter with Cliff Lee.
Brandon Apter is a writer for Philliedelphia. Follow him on Twitter @ApterShock
