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Hernandez sharp in 5th start

3 min read

It’s an unpleasant scenario for Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, or in his words, “a nightmare,” when the time comes to confront players who either have been reassigned or released.

That process already has begun and with only one week remaining in Spring Training the decisions are about to become even more difficult.

“Now you get to the guys that are close,” Gardenhire said. “It’s tough when you have guys that have gone out there each day and worked hard.”

The Twins have eight Grapefruit League games remaining after Friday’s 3-2 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies at Hammond Stadium. The crowd of 8,207 is the 11th sellout in 12 games and the largest this spring.

Livan Hernandez, making his fifth spring start, went five strong innings and struck out six. Michael Cuddyer went 3-for-3 and drove in two runs.

Cuddyer, an eight-year veteran, said the Twins are on the right track for the start of the regular season March 31, but noted the importance of each player on the roster.

“One thing we rely on heavily is camaraderie,” Cuddyer said. “The Twins do a great job bringing in good people. The more good people they bring in the better the cohesiveness of the team is.”

The Twins (12-20) have had their share of success under Gardenhire, winning four division titles in six seasons, but they’re looking to improve on last year’s 79-83 mark. It was the first season they finished below .500 since Gardenhire took over in 2002.

The Twins also are dealing with the loss of key players, most notably two-time Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana and Gold-Glove center fielder Torii Hunter.

Trying to replace Hunter, who signed with the Los Angeles Angels, has created the most significant position battle — and it’s been a good one.

Carlos Gomez, Jason Pridie and Denard Span continue to compete for the center field job, and each has held his own.

Gomez, 22, was one of the New York Mets’ top prospects when he was acquired by the Twins in the 4-for-1 trade that sent Santana to the Mets. He is batting .267 (12-for-45) and has a team-high 11 runs scored, and nine stolen bases.

Pridie, 24, is batting .282 (11-for-39) with one double, four RBI, and seven runs scored. Span, 24, is batting .290 (9-for-31) with four doubles, six runs scored and three stolen bases.

Span started Friday against the Phillies and went 1-for-3.

“They all bring something different to the table,” Gardenhire said. “We’re just letting them play and watching them, and it’s been fun. They’ve all come in very motivated, they know what’s at stake.”

In addition to the battle in center, Gardenhire said there remains issues with the pitching staff.

They got a promising start from Hernandez Friday. He had been shaky in four previous starts, surrendering 24 hits and 14 earned runs in 13 innings.

This time, Hernandez was able to get ahead of hitters and work the corners. He retired the first eight batters, including five strikeouts.

The Phillies (10-13) did score twice off Hernandez, though. After Ray Olmedo walked with two outs in the third, Shane Victorino smacked an RBI triple into the right-field corner, and So Taguchi added a two-out RBI single in the fourth.

In the sixth, the Twins put two runners on, and Cuddyer doubled off J.C. Romero to tie the score.

The Phillies went ahead in the top of the ninth on a sacrifice fly by Carlos Ruiz.

Philadelphia 001 100 001 — 3 6 1

Minnesota 000 002 000 — 2 8 0

W — Ryan Madson. L — Casey Daigle.

2B — Greg Dobbs (P), Wes Helms (P), Michael Cuddyer (M). 3B — Shane Victorino (P).