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WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- Some "B" game.

Phillies right-hander Adam Eaton thought he'd be tuning up against Blue Jays Minor Leaguers on Thursday, but instead he faced the varsity. With leader Vernon Wells volunteering for the trip to Fort Myers, Toronto sent most of its regular lineup against Eaton, who was making his second spring outing.

"When I saw their whole squad out here stretching and taking [batting practice], I said, 'What's up with this?'" Eaton said. "I was looking for Vernon Wells, but he wasn't here."

It didn't affect Eaton, who tossed 53 pitches and allowed one run on five hits in four innings. He walked one and struck out four.

After the game, Eaton was content with his performance.

"Even the first inning, when I gave up three hits, two were broken-bat hits," Eaton said. "One was on a check swing. [Matt] Stairs said to the catcher that I looked like I was in midseason form. That's good to hear."

Fix the plumbing: Brian Mazone laughed at the irony.

Mazone became a picture of disappointment on Sept. 5, 2006, when his Major League debut got rained out, and he didn't get another opportunity.

So on Thursday, when the Indians' Michael Aubrey sliced Mazone's 2-2 pitch foul and broke a pipe at Chain of Lakes Park, delaying the game for five minutes while water doused hitting coach Milt Thompson, Mazone could only roll his eyes.

"Before the game, I said to Pat [Burrell] that I don't think it's supposed to rain today," Mazone said. "Sure enough, the geyser breaks out. Nothing can go smoothly."

"That's a new one," said manager Charlie Manuel, who's seen plenty in his nearly 47 years in baseball. Ditto for Chris Coste, who recalled an assortment of freak incidents in his memory from his days in the independent leagues.

"Anybody can just go to a baseball game and there will be 27 outs on each side, but how often do you get a rain delay when it's 80 degrees and not a cloud in the sky?" Coste said. "I've seen a guy in the dizzy bat race puncture a lung and delay the game for 40 minutes. I've seen guys get stuck in the bathroom, which delayed the game for 20 minutes. Chalk it up to a little Spring Training humor."

Little secret: From two years of watching Ryan Howard punish National League opponents, Indians reliever Aaron Fultz knows how to get him out.

Hope he misses first base.

That's the way it happened in 2004, with Fultz at Triple-A Rochester and Howard at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. In that game, Howard doubled "off the left-field wall" and steamed into second. His wide turn around first caused him to miss the base.

"We caught him," said Fultz. "I remind him about it every now and then. You take what you can get."

Rule 5 Draft updates: Jim Ed Warden and Alfredo Simon are off to unimpressive starts.

Warden saw his ERA balloon to 27.00 in taking the loss on Thursday against Cleveland. He allowed two hits and two walks in one-third of an inning. Simon did his damage earlier, allowing two runs on four hits and a walk in 1 1/3 innings. His ERA is 18.00.

Both have to make the Phillies' 25-man roster out of Spring Training or be offered back to their original teams -- Cleveland (Warden) and Texas (Simon), respectively.

"We're looking for people to get people out," Manuel said. "We'll just run them out and see what they've got."

Remembering Vuk: The Phillies have set up an e-mail account where fans may write in their memories of John Vukovich, the former Phillies player, coach and interim manager who lost his battle with cancer on Thursday at age 59. Fans are invited to e-mail their thoughts to: mailto:remembervuk@phillies.com. Phillies broadcasters will read some of the letters during upcoming broadcasts.

Philling in: Before Thursday's game against the Indians in Winter Haven, the Phillies held a moment of silence for Vukovich. The Phils will have another moment of silence before Friday's home game against the Red Sox. ... Howard hit his second homer of the spring, a shot to left-center field. Both of his homers have come against the Indians. ... In the "B" game, Ryan Madson and Antonio Alfonseca each tossed a scoreless inning, while Greg Dobbs pounded a three-run homer.

Coming up: Lefty Cole Hamels is scheduled to make his second Grapefruit League outing against Boston's Kason Gabbard on Friday at 1:05 p.m. ET at Bright House Networks Field. Red Sox stars Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz are expected to make the 2 1/2-hour trip from Fort Myers to Clearwater.