DUNEDIN, FLA. -- Mike Pelfrey allowed three runs in his spring debut Tuesday, but the Twins rallied behind home runs from Joe Benson and Eddie Rosario and won their second straight Grapefruit League game, 8-4 over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Pelfrey, pitching to big-league hitters for the first time since undergoing ligament-replacement surgery in his pitching elbow last May, gave up five hits to the 10 hitters he faced, but pronounced himself satisfied with the outing. He struck out two Jays hitters on called strikes, but gave up a two-run home run to Adam Lind on a curveball that hung over the middle of the plate.
Ryan Pressly, Michael Tonkin and Luis Perdomo all pitched an inning or more without allowing a hit.
The Twins started all three of the leading candidates for the center field job, and each contributed to the victory. Benson's long home run over the left-field wall in the second inning off Toronto starter Ricky Romero drove in two runs. Two innings later, Aaron Hicks doubled off the right-field wall, and Darin Mastroianni brought him home with a single to center.
Justin Morneau had two hits, including a third-inning double that drove home a run. And Trevor Plouffe, bothered for a week by a calf injury, made his first appearance of the spring, going 1-for-2 with an RBI single that scored Morneau, who slid around the tag at home plate.
Rosario took advantage of his opportunity to play with the major league team -- he's only in camp because he will play for the Dominican Republic team in the World Baseball Classic and miss the first week of minor-league camp -- by blasting a home run over the right-field wall off Toronto reliever David Bush.
The Twins return to Fort Myers on Wednesday to take on the Philadelphia Phillies in Hammond Stadium. Kevin Correia is scheduled to make his second start, then depart for San Diego to be present at the birth of his first child.
