By Max Goldsmith
Early home runs by Danny Santana and Tommy Field and a pivotal two-run single by Zack Granite in the seventh lifted the Twins to a 4-3 Grapefruit League victory over the Phillies yesterday in Clearwater.
The Twins took the lead with their second homer of the game, a one-out shot to left by Field off reliever Mark Appel in the fourth. Phillies starter Jeremy Hellickson gave up a two-out homer to Santana in the second.
Hellickson pitched out of a first-and-third, nobody-out jam in the first after Robbie Grossman led off with a double and Eddie Rosario blooped a single to right. The veteran right-hander said his focus was on stranding the runner in scoring position.
“I was trying to keep him at third base. I don’t want anybody to score, ever,” Hellickson said with a laugh. “It felt really good, especially since I felt like I made some good pitches [striking out Miguel Sano and getting Ben Paulsen to pop up].”
Hellickson gave up one run and struck out four in his three innings.
Twins starter Trevor May, a onetime Phillies prospect, gave up one run on one hit in 2 1/3 innings.
“I felt good again,” May said. “I felt like all the spins and everything with the feel out of my hand is all there. Now, it’s all about making some different adjustments to keep that shorter stride and some of those mechanical things.”
The Phillies scored their run in the first without getting a hit. May hit leadoff man Cesar Hernandez with a pitch. Hernandez stole second, went to third on a grounder to the right side by Howie Kendrick and scored on Odubel Herrera’s sacrifice fly.
Twins reliever Jose Berrios pitched out of trouble in the bottom of the fourth. The Phillies had runners on second and third with one out after a double by Michael Saunders, a walk to Cameron Rupp and a wild pitch. But Berrios struck out Andres Blanco and, after walking Rhys Hoskins to load the bases, got Freddy Galvis to fly out to end the inning.
Alberto Tirado came in to pitch for the Phillies in the seventh. He hit Chris Gimenez with a pitch, Santana doubled and then Granite singled up the middle to drive both of them home to pad Minnesota’s lead.
The extra runs turned out to be crucial when Scott Kingery belted a two-run homer off Buddy Boshers in the bottom of the seventh after Galvis reached second on a double that center fielder J.B. Shuck lost in the sun.
