3:38 p.m.: Iglesias with a nice over the shoulder catch in foul territory. Defense certainly isn't a question with this kid and he keeps making plays.
Mid 7th, Twins 6-5: Dan Butler blasts a solo home run, cutting the deficit to one run. The Red Sox catchers are showing the lumber.
Mid 6th: Alex Wilson takes the hill for the Red Sox. For more info on him, check out my story on him from back in January. He could be a sleeper to sneak into the Red Sox bullpen discussion and the right-hander doesn't lack confidence whatsoever.
3:06 p.m., Twins 6-4: Nate Spears with a two-run triple to slash the deficit to two runs. Obviously, it's a "B" game, but the local guy is still doing his thing to try and impress.
2:55 p.m.: Jose Iglesias nearly plunked by a pitch. Right after, he shows some speed by stealing 2nd base. Not a bad outing by the 22-year-old. Bobby Valentine called him "intriguing" early in camp and he's living up to the description.
Top 6th, Twins 6-2: We also caught up with Ryan Lavarnway, who slammed the solo homer. It was a strong start for the catcher in his first at-bat of the spring and he joked that he hoped it wouldn't go "downhill from there."
Top 5th, Twins 4-1: Jesse Carlson's line – IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 K. Minnesota's Aaron Bates hit a two-run homer. While that was going on, we spoke to Daniel Bard who said he experimented with his changeup a bit more on Thursday. He threw it Brian Dozier, who clubbed a leadoff double in the 2nd inning.
2 p.m.: Hey, the umpires finally showed up.
End of 2nd, Twins 2-1: Line for Bard – IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 K (25 pitches, 15 strikes).
1:48 p.m., Twins 2-1: Bard surrendered an RBI single to J.R. Towles.
Mid 2nd, Red Sox 1-1:Daniel Bard with a nice start, fanning Aaron Bates, the first hitter he sees.
1:35 p.m., Red Sox are tied 1-1: Considering Bobby Valentine has all pitchers slated to throw just one inning, Aceves' final line will be IP, 1 R, 3 H, 1 K, 26 pitches, 17 strikes.
1:30 p.m., Red Sox are tied 1-1: After allowing two hits, Aceves has surrendered a run. But on Joe Benson's dribbler, Red Sox 3B Will Middlebrooks threw a pinpoint strike to second base to get Minnesota's Rene Tosoni — who was straying from second base — out.
1:14 p.m, Red Sox lead 1-0: Ryan Lavarnway got off to a strong start, belting a solo shot off Scott Baker to left field in his first at-bat of the spring.
1:12 p.m.: Because the umpires didn't show up, Twins third-base coach Steve Liddle will be the ump.
1:10 p.m.: Iglesias starts it off with a leadoff single.
12:37 p.m.:The lineup is out and here's who going for the Red Sox:
SS Jose Iglesias
RF Che-Hsuan Lin
C Ryan Lavarnway
DH Josh Kroeger
3B Will Middlebrooks
1B Lars Anderson
CF Jason Repko
2B Oscar Tejeda
LF Alex Hassan
And Alfredo Aceves will take the mound first.
As for the Twins:
LF Ben Revere
3B Ray Chang
RF Rene Tosoni
CF Joe Benson
DH Brian Dinkelman
1B Aaron Bates
SS Brian Dozier
C J.R. Towles
2B Pedro Florimon
And Scott Baker will take the mound for Minnesota
9 a.m. ET: The Red Sox will take on the Minnesota Twins at Hammond Stadium Thursday at 1 p.m. in a spring training "B" game. It was a late addition to the schedule, but one that Bobby Valentine wanted to add to have more innings to evaluate all his pitchers.
Among the notable position players that Valentine plans to use are Ryan Lavarnway, Will Middlebrooks, Lars Anderson, Jose Iglesias, Luis Exposito and Juan Carlos Linares. The pitchers he plans to use are headlined by Alfredo Aceves, Daniel Bard, Alex Wilson, Clayton Mortensen, Jesse Carlson and Tony Pena Jr.
Each will throw one inning.
