O's overcome Twins' slam, rally in ninth
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Jorge Polanco hit a grand slam and Byron Buxton crushed a leadoff homer for the Twins, but the Orioles had three homers of their own and scored three times in the ninth in an 8-6 win on Sunday at Hammond Stadium.
The Twins entered the ninth with a one-run lead, but Joey Rickard tied the game with a one-out RBI single off Drew Rucinski before Francisco Pena hit a go-ahead two-run double off Aaron Slegers.
The game featured plenty of power, as Baltimore's Trey Mancini hit a solo homer in the second, Craig Gentry added a two-run shot in the third and Anthony Santander laced a solo blast in the fifth. All three homers came against Twins right-hander Phil Hughes, who gave up four runs on six hits and a walk over five innings.
"I accomplished what I wanted to and that was to throw a bunch of changeups again," Hughes said. "It was good. I threw a ton of them. Got some ground balls and swings and misses. Overall, I was pleased, but obviously people are going to look at results and see the three home runs, which isn't great. But they came on two changeups and a cutter."
Orioles right-hander Dylan Bundy struggled, allowing five runs on five hits, including the homers from Buxton and Polanco, in two innings. The former top prospect has been working on incorporating a cutter this spring.
"Just too much of the plate, I guess," Bundy said. "It seemed like everything I threw up there today they were swinging at. Real comfortable in the box. Fastball command was just off, didn't have the curveball for strikes. Those two pitches are pretty big for me. So not being able to get those over the plate exactly where I want them makes it tough to pitch."
Buxton smacked his first homer of the spring with his leadoff blast to deep left to open the bottom of the first. Polanco's grand slam in the second was his second this spring. Robbie Grossman also brought home a run with a sacrifice fly in the third.
The Orioles made it a one-run game in the sixth on an RBI double from Chance Sisco off reliever Brandon Kintzler, who is expected to be Minnesota's closer to open the year.
Orioles up next: The Orioles host the Phillies on Monday at 1:05 p.m. ET. Right-hander Kevin Gausman is scheduled to make his second Grapefruit League start for Baltimore.
Twins up next: With Trevor May not making his scheduled start after being diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament, right-hander Justin Haley will make his first start of the spring on Monday against the Rays at 12:05 p.m. CT on MLB.TV. Haley, a Rule 5 Draft pick, is competing for the fifth spot in the rotation, but could also make the club as a reliever.
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