Clearwater, Fla. – Circumstances called for the Twins to let righthander Nick Tepesch stretch out Thursday, face more hitters and see if he can help them as a long reliever.
Tepesch survived to have a respectable outing during the Twins' 4-2 Grapefruit League victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. Odubel Herrera tagged him for a two-run homer in the first inning, but Tepesch managed to pitch into the fourth without giving up any more runs. He threw 56 pitches, including 37 strikes.
"Just trying to make an adjustment the whole game," said Tepesch, a nonroster invite to camp. "I finally felt like I got a little more consistent there at the end and felt like it was coming out well at the end."
Tepesch escaped a bases loaded, one-out jam in the second when Howie Kendrick lined out to right fielder Tommy Field. Field saw Andrew Knapp too far off second base and threw there to complete a double play.
"I was screaming, 'Home!' " Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "He threw it to second. I was wrong. I didn't see that guy, peripherally, drift off that much."
With Ryan Vogelsong asking for his release earlier this week — in reaction to being pulled from consideration for a rotation spot — Tepesch, who has 43 big-league appearances, including 40 starts, with the Texas Rangers — could emerge an option as a long reliever in the bullpen. But the 28-year-old did sign with the Twins understanding that he could begin the season at Class AAA Rochester.
"I'm not thinking about that, honestly," said Tepesch, whose fastball topped out at 90 miles an hour. "Just taking the ball every time I go out there and compete and try to get outs."
In 3⅔ innings, Tepesch gave up two runs on six hits and two walks and two strikeouts.
The Twins took a 3-2 lead in the third on a two-run home run by Field and an RBI single by ByungHo Park. The single was comical; Kendrick, a longtime infielder playing left field for the Phillies, called off shortstop Freddy Galvis to catch Park's fly ball then missed it, enabling a run to score. Ehire Adrianza added an RBI single in the sixth.
