Twins win Lee spring finale
The Minnesota Twins said good-bye to their spring training home in Lee County Monday with a 4-3 come-from-behind win over the Pittsburgh Pirates at Hammond Stadium.
After the celebration subsided, the Twins (19-11) headed to Atlanta to play exhibition games against the Braves Tuesday and Wednesday before starting the regular season in Toronto on Friday. They play three games with the Blue Jays, then visit the Yankees in New York for four games before their home opener April 8 against Oakland.
Monday’s single-game attendance record crowd of 8,347 fans helped the Twins set a franchise record for single-season 16-game schedule attendance mark of 129,453.
The only time the Twins drew more fans was in the spring of 2007, when they drew 129,543 fans for 17 games.
Even though he had an abbreviated spring training while working his way back from a concussion, Twins slugger Justin Morneau thinks he will be ready to go in the opener in Toronto.
Morneau capped his spring with one hit against the Pirates.
The 2006 AL MVP missed the final three months of last season with the concussion and only played in eight of 29 spring games. He hit .192 (5-for-26) with one RBI, but still hasn’t officially been announced for the first game.
“I feel pretty good,” Morneau said. “I’m starting to feel a lot more comfortable. I kept progressing through spring training. I feel like I got enough at-bats to feel comfortable at the plate.
“I get to leave with the team. So obviously I’m pretty happy. I’ll go to Atlanta and see how it goes. I’ll still continue the process. If everything goes the way it has gone, I’ll be out there for opening day. That’s the plan.”
Jeff Karstens allowed five hits and one unearned run in 4 2/3 innings for the Pirates. He’s hoping to give the team flexibility as either a reliever or a fifth starter.
Steven Pearce had a double and an RBI and Jose Tabata added a double with a run scored for the Pirates.
Twins manager Ron Gardenhire was pleased with Morneau’s progression.
“He’s put some good swings on the ball,” Gardenhire said. “He’s gotten some hits. He’ll probably tell you, it’s not the perfect situation for him right now because most of the time he likes to get more at-bats, but he got as many as he could under the circumstances. He’s as good as he can be right now.”
Former Fort Myers Miracle catcher (2008-09) Danny Lehmann knocked in the game-winning run with an infield single off the pitcher’s leg.
Francisco Liriano, Minnesota’s No. 2 starter, gave up three runs and four hits and struck out four in six innings. The lefty irked Twins management by not doing his shoulder strengthening exercises in the offseason, and finished a spotty spring with a 4.82 ERA.
“He was good,” Gardenhire said. “I thought he was under control, which was really good. This is what we’ve been waiting for. He wasn’t flying all over the place.”
Red Sox 3, Blue Jays 2: Toronto manager John Farrell likes Kyle Drabek’s ability to “reach back and get a strikeout when he needs it.”
Drabek struck out five and allowed five hits over five innings against Boston in a matchup of sons of former All-Stars. He left with a one-run lead before Jeremy Hazelbaker’s two-run homer in the seventh gave the Red Sox the victory in a game shortened to 7 1/2 innings by rain.
Drabek is the son of 1990 NL Cy Young winner Doug Drabek.
Tony Pena Jr., son of the former major league catcher and current Yankees bench coach, started for Boston in place of John Lackey, who remained in Fort Myers because of the threat of rain. Pena gave up one run and two doubles to Aaron Hill over three innings.
The Red Sox scored in the third on Peter Hissey’s single, Christian Vazquez’s double to right and Mike Cameron’s single to deep shortstop. Hazelbaker’s one-out home run to right on the first pitch to him by Carlos Villanueva followed Nate Spears’ infield single.
“He’s getting stronger,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona said of Hazelbaker, a rookie right fielder. “To see that swing, I’ll take that bus ride any day. That ball came off his bat good.”
Play was stopped for 21 minutes after the fifth inning, and the game was called after the Red Sox batted in the top of the eighth.
Marlins 4, Cardinals 1: Ricky Nolasco, making his fourth appearance, gave up two hits in six strong innings and Florida used a four-run third inning to beat St. Louis in Jupiter.
Nolasco retired 15 consecutive batters during one stretch before Ryan Theriot’s single in the sixth.
“For the majority of the time I feel good (with) what I’m doing and I have a good feel for my pitches right now,” Nolasco said. “My fastball command was a lot better today than my last start, so I made progress and I’m ready to go.”
Nolasco gave up only two singles and no walks while striking out three.
After battling a sprained thumb early in the season and allowing 11 earned runs in his first two appearances, Nolasco gave up only three runs over his final two outings.
“Ricky Nolasco, he’s ready for the season,” Florida manager Edwin Rodriguez said.
Cardinals starter Jake Westbrook retired the first two batters of the third, then allowed the next six to reach base – five on consecutive hits.
John Buck had the big hit, a two-run double that one-hopped the center-field wall. Buck then scored the final run of the inning on Westbrook’s wild pitch.
The Cardinals avoided the shutout when pinch-hitter Tyler Henly singled home Nick Stavinoha in the ninth.