The Twins played an all-around excellent game today in a runaway win over the Phillies 11-2. Kevin Slowey had a solid outing as did all of the other pitchers after him. With both Denard Span and Carlos Gomez in the lineup today, the centerfield race took the front stage.

** Kevin Slowey pitched decently last time out, but today pitched even better. In four innings of work, Slowey allowed just a solo homerun to Ryan Howard. His final line was four innings, two hits, one run and five strikeouts. The outing should allow him to control his own destiny from here on out.

** After Slowey’s four solid innings, Glen Perkins received two innings of work. Perkins was decent in his outing, allowing three hits, a walk and a run. After Perkins, Denny Reyes, Pat Neshek and Casey Daigle each pitched one inning apiece. None of the three allowed a hit, and for that matter, none of the three allowed a base runner.

** With the great pitching, it wouldn’t have taken much offense to pickup the win. The Twins still unloaded on the Phillies pitching collecting eighteen hits and eleven runs.

** Centerfield watch: Denard Span received the start in center, and had a pretty good day. Span went 2-5 with a run and an RBI. Carlos Gomez was also in the starting lineup and played in right. He had an even better day, going 3-4 with a walk, a two-run homerun, two singles, three runs scored, two RBI and two stolen bases. Gomez really showed off his speed with two steals, but also scored from second on a ball fielded in right field by the second basemen.

** Three other Twins collected multiple hits on the day. Delmon Young went 2-4 with an RBI, Jason Kubel went 2-3 with a homerun and one RBI and Nick Punto went 2-4 with two RBI.

** Other players two collect one hit on the day were: Jon Knott, Jason Pridie, Mike Redmond, Eli Whiteside (HR), Mike Lamb, Tommy Watkins and Adam Everett.

With the win, the Twins are now 10-7 on the spring.

The Twins made 19 total cuts this past week to begin the trimming of the roster. The camp roster as of this posting stands at 42 players which means that the team still has a long way to go before they get to the maximum of 25.

With not only the cuts, but also comments made by manager Ron Gardenhire, we’ve gotten a better sense of what the team might look like when March 31 rolls around in a few weeks.

I thought it might be helpful to look at what exactly went down this week and how it will all affect the roster.

This week, both Kevin Slowey and Philip Humber had good outings. Slowey has had his share of ups and downs this spring, but he could still control his own destiny with the most major league experience. Humber on the other hand has made just one major league start, but pitched three hitless innings on Friday and has still not allowed a run.

Other candidates that are very much in the race are Glen Perkins and Nick Blackburn. It looks to be a four-man race heading into the final turn with Slowey and Humber leading the way.

With a few weeks left however, things could change at any moment. This is definitely a race to keep your eye on.

Manager Ron Gardenhire heated up the competition when he made a comment about Jason Pridie earlier this week. Gardenhire said that he sees it being either Span or Gomez in center and added that he sees Pridie as a ‘role player’.

The race looks to be between Denard Span and Carlos Gomez after that comment, and the race is very tight. Gomez has more speed and a better glove, but Span has hit better and been more patient at the plate. This race will likely come down to the final days.

If neither Span or Gomez finish well, there is a chance that the Opening Day starter is instead Craig Monroe.

The bullpen is the one race that we don’t really know much about. Gardenhire has said that the best twelve pitchers will go north, and assuming Nathan, Neshek, Reyes, Rincon, Crain and Guerrier are locks, that leaves one spot.

Glen Perkins in the current favorite. He pitched there last season, and would give the team another lefty out of the ‘pen. Veterans Casey Daigle and Randy Keisler can be thrown into the mix, but neither has pitched well thus far.

Others to keep an eye on are Nick Blackburn, Philip Humber and Carmen Cali.

The bench spot has many candidates in the running. The general thought is that the Twins will be brining an infielder north as the twenty-fifth guy. If they decide otherwise, Jason Pridie would be the likely candidate.

Assuming they don’t all of a sudden change their minds, Brian Buscher, Garrett Jones and Randy Ruiz are the favorites. Buscher may be the current leader in the race since he can play first, third and coming soon second. Ruiz has been impressive at the plate, but its hard to tell how much the Twins like him. Garrett Jones will be given a little extra thought because if he isn’t on the team, he’ll likely be with a new organization.

Another guy to keep an eye on is Matt Tolbert. He is the lone middle-infielder remaining after both Matt Macri and Alexi Casilla were cut, and the Twins really like him. If he doesn’t make the team, you can bet that you’ll see him sometime in 2008.

Click ‘Read More’ for the roster breakdown.

After a small string of loses this past week, the Twins finally came out on the winning side today beating the Pirates 4-1. Boof Bonser turned in another outstanding outing, and Carlos Gomez finally ended his long lasting hitless streak.

** Boof Bonser has pitched well thus far, and today turned it up to four innings. In his outing, Bonser allowed just three hits and a walk. He allowed no runs over the course of the four innings, and collected three strikeouts. Through the win, Bonser has a solid 3.00 ERA (then again, Ramon Ortiz did lead the spring league last year).

** Matt Guerrier received another inning today and after a poor outing last time out, Guerrier was decent. In one inning, Guerrier allowed two hits and a run. Joe Nathan also received an inning of work, and looked solid. In his outing, Nathan allowed no runs and struck out two. By the way, the Twins will meet with his agent next week!

** Philip Humber finished off the game with three very solid innings of work. In his three inning outing, Humber allowed no hits or runs and allowed just one base runner (via walk). Humber has still not allowed a run this spring (anybody else think this fifth starter thing is heating up).

** Offensively, the Twins collected nine total hits and turned those hits into four runs which was good enough for the victory with the stellar pitching.

** Centerfield watch: Carlos Gomez received the start, and finally broke his hitless streak. Gomez went 2-5 on the day with a double, a triple, a run scored and an RBI. The outing should give him a nice boost in the centerfield race. Jason Pridie, although he isn’t being considered for the job, did start in left and went 2-4 with a run scored.

** Michael Cuddyer, along with Pridie and Gomez, also had a big day at the plate. Cuddyer went 3-4 on the day and is hitting .357 this spring.

** The other two hits in the game came from Justin Morneau and Matt Tolbert.

The Twins made seven roster moves today to trim down the roster. Four players were optioned to AAA Rochester, and they include right-handed pitchers Julio DePaula and Bobby Korecky and infielders Alexi Casilla and Matt Macri.

Mariano Gomez and infielders Chris Basak and Howie Clark were all assigned to Minor League Camp.

I can only say that I’m surprised to see two of these players cut -- Alexi Casilla and Julio DePaula.

Matt Macri hasn’t played bad, but with so many infielders vying for spots, it was likely that he was going to start the season at AAA. As for Korecky, he was bound to be cut eventually with so many other guys ahead of him in the bullpen race.

I was surprised that the Twins cut DePaula so early. He had pitched pretty well, and I thought he had a decent chance to be that twelfth man out of the ‘pen. The cut that surprised me the most however was that of Alexi Casilla. Casilla had played very well and shown off his speed. He was supposedly in the race for the second base job, and now that he is gone, it looks like Brendan Harris will be the starting second basemen on March 31 barring injury.

With the seven cuts, the Twins now have 42 players remaining in camp.

After a nice winning streak, the Twins are now going the other direction in the last few days. That tumble continued today with a low-scoring 3-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles. The pitching was good, but the offense couldn’t make their hits account for anything.

** Nick Blackburn received the start after Scott Baker was scratched due to a little bit of back pain. He allowed runs for the first time this spring in his three inning outing. In his three innings of work, Blackburn allowed two walks, three hits and three runs. Overall this spring, Blackburn has pitched pretty well and has a 3.86 ERA through the conclusion of the game.

**Brian Bass pitched two scoreless innings after that, and allowed just one hit total. Bass now has a 2.16 ERA so far this spring. Randy Keisler, Juan Rincon and Carmen Cali each pitched an inning apiece after Bass, and none of the three allowed a hit or run.

** On the offensive side, the Twins were outscored three to one, but it wasn’t for the lack of hits. In fact, the Twins out-hit the Orioles eight to three.

** Craig Monroe accounted for two of the teams hits, and was the only player to collected multiple hits in the game. He went 2-3 on the day and scored the team’s lone run.

** Centerfield watch: Denard Span started in center, and played the entire game there. He lowered his average to .227 after going 0-4 with two strikeouts. Jason Pridie again received just a pinch-hit at-bat, and Carlos Gomez didn’t enter the game.

** Other players to collect hits were: Nick Punto, Delmon Young, Jason Kubel, Mike Redmond, Tommy Watkins and Matt Tolbert.

The Twins lost the Mayor’s Cup for the 2008 spring season today with a 12-7 loss to the Boston Red Sox in Fort Myers. Francisco Liriano didn’t pitch well at all, and Carlos Gomez continued to struggle at the plate.

** Francisco Liriano pitched well in his first outing, and today he struggled in two innings of work. In his outing, Liriano threw 53 pitches and allowed two walks, four hits and three runs. Afterwards, he said his arm feels good and that he isn’t concerned with results.

** Ricky Barrett pitched a scoreless inning after that allowing just two walks. Then Kevin Mulvey entered the game for two innings of work and didn’t look very sharp. In his two innings, Mulvey allowed four hits and three runs.

** Dennys Reyes pitched a scoreless sixth inning, and then Guerrier relieved him for the seventh. Guerrier has struggled all spring, and that continued today. In his one inning of work, Guerrier allowed two walks, three hits, and five runs (three earned). His ERA is now 7.20 thus far. The eighth went to Neshek for a quick inning and then Casey Daigle allowed one run in the ninth.

** The Twins didn’t do a horrible job at the plate, they collected nine hits and scored seven runs overall.

** Joe Mauer continued to hit well, he went 2-3 with a homerun, two runs and an RBI. Brendan Harris was the only other Twin to collect multiple hits, he also went 2-3 with a homerun and three RBI.

** Centerfield watch: With the race between just Span and Gomez, things are very tight. Carlos Gomez has the upper hand with his speed and glove, but today hit horribly yet again. Gomez went 0-3 and is now hitting .148 this spring. Jason Pridie went 0-1 with a walk in two plate appearances.

** Other Twins to collect hits were: Justin Morneau, Garrett Jones, Michael Cuddyer, Randy Ruiz and Matt Tolbert.

Since the Twins played their first game on February 29, the centerfield competition has been dubbed a three-man race. But some of the comments that Gardenhire made yesterday on the Twins official site tell us differently:

"I look at one of them to be our center fielder," Gardenhire said in reference to Gomez and Span. "I could send them both down, but I don't know what good that's going to do me. They need to play center field, and they both need to play."

And he said this of Pridie:

"I look at him as more of a role guy."

This assumption could have been made by looking at the amount of playing time Span and Gomez have received in comparison to Pridie. Pridie has made just one start in center this spring, and a good amount of his at-bats have come when he has subbed into the game for Span or Gomez.

So overall the news isn’t all that surprising, but it’s weird to me that the team would come right out and say this. In addition, for all of those people that want Pridie to be the guy on March 31, you may be out of luck.

I’ll have a game recap later tonight as Liriano takes on the Red Sox in the game that will decide the winner of the Mayor’s Cup. I just thought this was interesting and wanted to start a little discussion for everybody here.

As Klew1987 pointed out in the forum, manager Ron Gardenhire has come out and said the thing most fans don’t want to hear:

“We’re kind of trying to go with Hernandez, but we’ll see how everything goes. He should be the guy. I was kind of leaning that way, but wait and see what happens as we go along here.”

I, like a lot of other fans, like the signing of Hernandez. It adds some depth in the rotation, and gives guys like Humber, Blackburn and Mulvey more time to work on things in the minors. But making Hernandez the Opening Day starter in a mistake.

Scott Baker deserves the spot, and taking that away from him is ridiculous. Being a veteran shouldn’t automatically make you the team’s Opening Day guy, and that role should go to your ace.

What do you think? Discuss it here or in the thread linked to above.

The Twins lost to the Rays today 7-1, and are now 8-5 overall on the spring. Livan Hernandez pitched decent, but was nothing special. The offense struggled yet again, scoring just one run on seven total hits.

** Livan Hernandez pitched very well his first time out, absolutely terrible the second time and today pitched decent over four innings. In his outing, Hernandez allowed three hits, a walk and two runs. He also struck out one.

** After Hernandez, Perkins had a poor outing. Instead of gaining ground in the bullpen and rotation races, Perkins stayed even. In two innings, Perkins allowed four hits and two runs.

** After Perkins, Nathan pitched a scoreless inning picking up one strikeout and Juan Rincon pitched a pretty good inning allowing just a solo shot to Longoria. Mariano Gomez pitched the ninth inning and showed again why he should have been cut on Sunday. In his lone inning, Gomez allowed two hits and a two-run bomb.

** Centerfield watch: Denard Span received the start in canter today and went 1-3 with a double. He is now hitting .278 this spring. Jason Pridie came in for one at-bat and singled. Pridie is hitting .304, but with less at-bats than both Span and Gomez.

** The only regulars to play were Delmon Young, Jason Kubel and Justin Morneau. None of the three players picked up hits. Craig Monroe started and went 2-3.

** Other players to collect were Chris Basak and Adam Everett (two).

The Twins will host the Red Sox tomorrow at 12:05 sending out Francisco Liriano for another start. The winner of the contest will take home the Mayor’s Cup. Go Francisco!

This is the second week of the Making the Team series for the hitters, and a lot of changes have been made. Players have been taken off, added and had their ratings changed. Plus, every player has a new comment.

The players removed this week are Jose Morales, Darnell McDonald and Alejandro Machado. The reason -- all of these players were included in the team’s first set of cuts. Two players were added this week, Jon Knott and Randy Ruiz. Both players have been hitting well and have worked their way into the mix for the final bench spot.

Name	Chance	Note
Carlos Gomez		Carlos Gomez has been up and down at the plate so far, but his speed and defense have impressed coaches. He can currently be considered the favorite for the centerfield job.
Jason Pridie		Pridie may have the best batting average, but he hasn’t received a lot of at-bats, and other than a few games hasn’t been really stellar. He is probably third in the race since the others offer better defense and a lot more speed.
Denard Span		Span’s chance went from even to up mainly because he has done a few good things at the plate. If he doesn’t make the team, don’t be surprised if this is his last spring with the Twins.
Brendan Harris		Harris is not competing with Punto as much for the second base job as he is Alexi Casilla. He has been good at the plate lately, and would probably need to really drop to lose his job.
Nick Punto		It doesn’t seem like Punto has played very much, and when he has, he hasn’t stood out. Look for him to make the team, but as a utility player.
Alexi Casilla		Alexi Casilla has used his bat and speed to impress the coaches. Casilla has overtaken Punto in the second base race, and can also be considered for a bench spot.
Garrett Jones		Jones has no options remaining, which could help his chances of making the team. He has hit pretty well so far.
Matt Tolbert		Matt Tolbert has made an impression on coaches so far, but it’ll still be hard to break camp with the team with so many other infielders.
Matt Macri		Macri is in the same boat as Tolbert. He has helped his chances of being a call-up down the road.
Brian Buscher		Brian Buscher has hit the ball well, and has learned how to play first base. He and Jones are currently the two players going hard for the final bench spot.
Howie Clark		Clark’s chances of making the team are very small. It’ll be interesting to see if he goes to Rochester or free agency.
Tommy Watkins		Tommy Watkins hasn't hit very well, but is still in camp because this is really his last option.
Randy Ruiz		Randy Ruiz has hit the ball very well so far, and has shown power as well. He can now be considered an option for the bench spot.
Jon Knott		Knott has hit the ball well, but with so many outfielders, it’s hard to imagine him heading north.

It’ll be interesting to see if Alexi Casilla can take the second base job, and the centerfield position is still wide open. With a couple weeks remaining and less players in camp, look for the competitions to start heating up with players getting more innings of work.