In a pair of split squad games on Wednesday, the Phillies relied on double flashes of power to notch two wins as Cameron Rupp and Darin Ruf each slugged two home runs in winning efforts
The 27-year-old righty-batting catcher showed solid power, helping his team win on the road 4-2 over Minnesota. He slammed his first big fly of the day against Tommy Milone to tie the game at 1 in the top of the 3rd inning. He followed that up with a deep shot to center field in the 5th to put the Phils ahead 2-1.
Rupp is now batting .500 through five spring contests.
On the mound, righty Zach Eflin allowed an earned run while striking out two in three innings. Right-hander Jake Thompson tossed three scoreless frames. Mark Appel was touched with an unearned run in two innings while striking out three. Righty Reinier Roibal earned the save with a scoreless inning.
In the contest against the Twins, outfield prospect Roman Quinn was 2-for-4 with a steal. He has a .313 average in eight games.
Ruf took Baltimore deep twice, helping his team win 8-4 at home. The 29-year-old first baseman took Yovani Gallardo and former Phillie Vance Worley to task with a homer against each, collecting three RBI on the day.
In the victory over the Orioles, top prospect J.P. Crawford went 0-for-3, dropping his pre-season batting average to .118. Catcher J.P. Arencibia was 2-for-4 in the contest, taking his average to .385 in six games.
Right-hander Alec Asher was credited with the win over Baltimore, as he allowed two earned runs and struck out five in three innings of work.
Righty Severino Gonzalez tossed three scoreless innings while striking out two. Right-hander Greg Burke allowed two earned runs in 1 1/3 innings. Righty Hector Neris earned a save with 1 2/3 scoreless innings of work.
The two wins takes the Phils to 7-3 in the Grapefruit League season. The Twins fell to 4-4, while the Orioles are yet to win and have a 0-9 record.
On Thursday the Phillies return to action at home as they host the Tigers at 1:05 PM.
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