Stanton keeps up hot bat; Arcia homers twice

March 24th, 2016

JUPITER, Fla. -- Giancarlo Stanton cleared the wall and the Marlins' office building, and the ball landed on the patio near the batting cages. But the two-run blast that left the crowd speechless wasn't the most significant shot of the afternoon.
Oswaldo Arcia, who is competing for a roster spot, blasted two home runs that powered the Twins to an 8-4 win over the Marlins.
Arcia's two-run homer off Brad Hand in the eighth highlighted a four-run inning. Byung Ho Park added an RBI double in the inning, and another run scored on a wild pitch.
The Twins added three more in the ninth on Juan Centeno's RBI bunt single and Danny Santana's two-run triple.
Tommy Milone worked six innings for the Twins, allowing two runs.
The big blast came from the Marlins' biggest threat. Stanton, who homered for the first time this spring on Wednesday, has been heating up. In his first at-bat against Milone, the slugger singled. Perhaps even a harder-hit ball by Stanton was a lineout to center, for which Santana had to jump to make the play.

"I obviously know how big and strong he is," Milone said of Stanton. "But to actually see it in person, it's pretty impressive. It's not ideal to be the pitcher that gives it up, but at that point, you just got to sit and watch it and kind of admire the kind of strength that he has."
Both starters were effective.
Marlins lefty Adam Conley impressed again in his five innings, allowing one run on two hits with four strikeouts.
"For me, the biggest thing today is I got through five," Conley said. "My pitch count was up there after four, so to get through five at 80 pitches, to have some innings that were a grind, that's all valuable stuff. That's all stuff that I need to happen, that I need to go through before I'm pitching in games that really matter."
Trailing by a run, Conley was lifted after 80 pitches with 52 for strikes.
Conley has been one of the most impressive Marlins in Spring Training. In his last start, two innings against the Tigers, the lefty fanned all six batters he faced. However, the statistics didn't count because the game was rained out after two innings.
In the first inning on Thursday, Conley picked up where he left off, striking out two of the first three he faced. But in the second inning, the Twins grabbed the lead on Arcia's opposite-field home run.
Up next for the Marlins: For the first time in Spring Training, the Marlins will be playing under the lights. At 7:05 p.m. ET, Miami takes on the Nationals at Roger Dean Stadium. David Phelps, who likely will open the season in the bullpen, will get the start. The Marlins' regulars are expected to play, with Jeff Mathis catching. Fans can listen to an exclusive free webcast on marlins.com.
Up next for the Twins: The Twins will play their second of four Grapefruit League road games in a five-game stretch on Friday when they visit Port Charlotte, Fla., to take on the Rays. Right-hander Ervin Santana, who will be the Opening Day starter , will make his fourth start this spring for the Twins. Right-handers Kevin Jepsen and Trevor May and lefty Dan Runzler will follow out of the bullpen.