Byron Buxton had three hits in as many at-bats, Trevor Larnach homered, and the Twins’ offense came to life in spring training action against the Orioles on Friday.
Coming into this game, the Twins had scored a total of 14 runs in five completed games thus far in Grapefruit League play. You should never read too much into spring results — especially when the games are mostly turned over to minor leaguers in the middle and late innings — but it was good to see Minnesota’s starters do some damage in this one.
Buxton singled in the first inning and stole second base, which is an encouraging sign that he’s 100 percent healthy. He added an infield single in the third inning and ripped a double to left field in the fourth, which brought an end to his day.
Larnach, hitting in the cleanup spot, blasted a 395-foot home run to right field in the third and hit an RBI single the other way in the fourth. Edouard Julien and Brooks Lee, who are among those competing for the Twins’ second base job, also had multi-hit games. Ryan Jeffers and Jose Miranda drove in runs. Carlos Correa went 0 for 3, but his 112 MPH lineout was the hardest-hit ball of the day by either team. Royce Lewis walked and stole a base.
The game wasn’t televised, so there are no highlights, but it was a strong day for the Twins’ offense. Their big-leaguers scored six runs in five innings against Baltimore’s Zach Eflin and Albert Suarez before turning things over to mostly minor leaguers.
On the pitching side, Zebby Matthews had another strong start, striking out five and allowing two hits over three scoreless innings. He generated six whiffs on 40 pitches and peaked at 97.5 MPH with his fastball. It was the second quality performance of the spring for Matthews, who is competing with David Festa and Simeon Woods Richardson for the Twins’ final rotation spot.
Things didn’t go as smoothly for Michael Tonkin or Eiberson Castellano, who are among those hoping to earn spots in the Twins’ bullpen. Tonkin allowed a run on two hits and a walk over 0.2 innings, while Castellano gave up a two-run homer to Jackson Holliday.
Minnesota led 6-3 after five innings. Then, in classic spring training fashion, things got funky with the minor-league guys on the field. The Twins led 10-5 going into the top of the ninth … and proceeded to allow eight runs in that inning. John Stankiewicz, who spent most of last season with Double-A Wichita, was charged with six earned runs allowed in 0.2 innings. He was replaced by High-A Cedar Rapids pitcher Gabriel Yanez, who gave up back-to-back home runs.
The Twins lost 13-10, but the final score is never what matters about these spring games.
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