The Twins outplayed the Red Sox all game, but gave up the lead late in the game, and were never able to recover. Thankfully, Spring Training isn’t about wins. You can go the entire month without a win and still make improvement. There were more good things to take away from the game as we got a look at more pitchers and position players:

** Randy Keisler for some reason got the start, and put the Twins in a hole early on. He wasn’t even able to go two full innings, giving up three runs on two hits in just 1.1 innings of work.

** Nick Blackburn finished up the second inning for Keisler, and went on to pitch a solid third. His final line was 1.2 innings, one hit and no runs allowed. A pretty solid way to start his spring. Rincon was up next for the fourth inning, he pitched a solid inning of work allowing no hits or runs while picking up a strikeout.

** After Rincon, Brian Duensing came into the game. He pitched better than the stats show. His final line was 1.1 innings, three hits and two runs. He took a liner off his leg and left the game. Carmen Cali entered and walked the first two batters, giving up runs that were then charged to Duensing. Cali just finished the inning and had no runs charged to him, but it wasn’t a very good outing.

** The last two pitchers were products of the New York Mets, Kevin Mulvey and Deolis Guerra. Mulvey went two innings and had his ups and downs. He did allow five hits and a homerun, but only one run was charged, and it wasn’t bad for his first time out. Guerra pitched the ninth giving up two hits but no runs for a pretty nice outing.

** Offensively the Twins played much better, scoring six runs off eight total team hits.

** Carlos Gomez got the start in the much coveted centerfield, and continued to impress. He singled in his first at-bat, and then stole second on the next pitch which eventually put the Twins on the board. He also picked up his first RBI with a sacrifice fly. Jason Pridie (Pry-Dee) relieved him later in the game and went 1-2. Span meanwhile got the day off.

** Joe Mauer showed off his plate discipline, going 1-1 on the day along with two walks. Mike Lamb doubled and has hit pretty well thus far. Alexi Casilla also went 1-2 on the day with an RBI and a run scored.

** The Twins outfield has the potential to be one of the better defensive outfields if Gomez makes the team. We’ve already talked about Gomez’s defense yesterday, and today Young nailed a runner at second base. Put that with Cuddyer (last year’s assist leader) and you have some strong arms. Along with his fielding, Young also picked up his first RBI.

** Other notable hitters on the day were Matt Tolbert, who collected his first hit and Garrett Jones who also collected his first hit.

The Twins got a loss, but they finally showed good discipline receiving a total of nine walks as a team. The Twins will play Boston yet again tomorrow.