March 28, 2022

Carlos Correa fine in debut, Twins bench even better

A real-deal Twins lineup took the field on Sunday against the Boston Red Sox, including shortstop Carlos Correa, who made a fine spring debut with a nice play at short and a single at the plate.

The other starters were just as good: Miguel Sano singled, Gary Sanchez earned two free passes and Gio Urshela walked and singled. But it was the bench and a five-run eighth inning that did the real damage in the Twins’ 6-3 win over Boston.

Most of these names you won’t recognize: Curtis Terry doubled, Jose Godoy singled, Matt Wallner walked and finally Oregon State man Trevor Larnach crushed a three-run home run off Boston pitcher Hirokazu Sawamura, formerly of Japan’s Chiba Lotte Marines.

Sawamura had a long afternoon. He allowed five runs, all earned, in just two-thirds of an inning to blow up his spring ERA to 27.00.

Twins pitching was much better. Speaking of the real deal, starter Joe Ryan cruised through three innings with a walk and five strikeouts, one of six pitchers who limited the Red Sox to two earned runs on five hits. The third run was unearned after Derek Fisher replaced Byron Buxton in the outfield and promptly dropped a ball. Buxton’s job is safe, folks.

Although Ryan pitched well, the game was scoreless until the fourth inning, so the win ultimately went to left-handed reliever Devin Smeltzer, who struck out two over two innings with a hit.

Extra innings…

-The Twins are off Monday, then face Tampa on Tuesday.

-And then there was this…

COMMENTS

Hi, I’m Rolf Boone, Twins fan.

I became a fan of the Minnesota Twins after a friendly wager in the early 1980s. I survived Ron Davis, the meltdown in Cleveland, Phil Bradley at the Kingdome and then marveled at a rising generation of stars and two World Series wins in 1987 and 1991. Brad Radke made the 1990s bearable, while Kirby Puckett’s eye injury, exit from the game and eventual death made it almost too much to bear. The new century ushered in more talent — Joe Mauer, Johan Santana, Joe Nathan, Torii Hunter, Justin Morneau — and consecutive seasons of playoff baseball, followed by consecutive seasons of losing baseball. A winning season returned in 2015. So here we are. Go Twins.