Postgame, Twins 3-2: As the squad up north tries to put the finishing touches on a 9-3 win over Houston, the half that stayed home packs up for the quick bus ride back to City of Palms Park with a solid, if not winning, afternoon.
The only negative was the outing for Jonathan Papelbon, who gave up three runs on three walks, a hit and a hit batter in just 1/3 inning. Bench coach DeMarlo Hale commented:
“He struggled with command up in the zone. Still thought he had some life and thought he threw some splits that had some good action, but he was just up in the zone. I think it’s something he can look back on and say, ‘OK, I had some bite to my split,’ [just make] a little adjustment back in the zone with his fastball.”
One interesting tidbit offered up by Hale had to do with Jacoby Ellsbury. With two more hits this afternoon Ellsbury is batting .364. But it is his play in center field that has caught the attention of the coaching staff.
“One thing I’m pleased with is some leadership qualities that he’s showing out in the outfield,” Hale said. “Moving guys around based on the situation. That’s good to see because that’s a comfort. I think he’s taken that role as a center fielder that I’m going to be the leader of the outfield and that’s good to see.
“He has shown it [before], but when you play next to J.D. drew, who’s been around a long time, there was Jason Bay over there. Sometimes you get a sense that they know what they’re doing but as a center fielder there are situations that take place in the game where you still have to be a leader out there. He’s seeing the ball a little better than them going to the plate because he’s in the middle of the diamond.”
Hale continued:
“We talked about some of those things. He’s getting more and more comfortable and the leadership qualities are coming out as a center fielder. I know when he broke in there was Manny over in left field as well, when he was sharing time with Coco. It takes young players to get a bit comfortable when they’re first breaking in at that position in center field as the leader of the outfield.”
Look for more on Jon Lester in another story on the site. Thanks for following along and be sure to do so Saturday when the Red Sox host the Marlins at City of Palms Park. That game will also be televised live on NESN.
Final, Twins 3-2: Kyle Waldrop strikes out the side in the ninth and the Mayor’s Cup is all tied up at two games apiece.
Off to hear from DeMarlo Hale (Terry Francona is in Kissimmee, where at last glance the Red Sox were winning 7-3 in the eighth.) Back in 10-20.
End 8th, Twins 3-2: Tim Wakefield needed about two pitches to get through the eighth.
Yes, I know that’s not possible, but it was so fast that was about all I caught.
By the way, Jonathan Papelbon threw just 13 of 30 pitches for strikes. Did not speak with reporters.
Mid 8th, Twins 3-2: Che-Hsuan Lin was out on a 2-6-3-1-6 caught stealing to end the top of the eighth, easily the most exciting event of the frame. Tim Wakefield is pitching his second inning of the game, and working to Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
Salty has shown he can handle the knuckler just fine so far. Something to keep an eye on, but we know Jason Varitek will catch Wake from time to time this year.
End 7th, Twins 3-2: An interesting inning for Tim Wakefield.
Wake pounced off the mound to pick up a dribbler near the third-base line and fired to first to get the first out. He looked 24, not 44, on that one. (I’m exaggerating)
Two pitches later, Wakefield hit a batter and then the Twins got runners on the corners when the next hitter got one up into the wild winds and second baseman Oscar Tejeda couldn’t track it down.
A fly to right and a pop to third got Wakefield out of trouble.
Mid 7th, Twins 3-2: Get up and stretch!
The Mayor’s Cup drama just continues to build as the Red Sox are now six outs from seeing the series tied 2-2.
Tim Wakefield is out there to try and keep it close.
End 6th, 3-2: We walked back into the dugout in time to see Hideki Okajima strand two runners in scoring position.
Okajima had given up a bunt single and a walk and a Drew Sutton error allowed both men to move up.
Just heard from Jon Lester. He deflected any inquiries into being the Opening Day starter (should be lined up to go April 1 based on how the schedule breaks) and felt pretty good about things today. We’ll get you more of his comments in a bit.
End 5th, Twins 3-2: All three runs are charged to Jonathan Papelbon. Good thing it’s spring training or otherwise we would have to clean up the comments section of the live blog right now.
Off to hear from Jon Lester.
2:47 p.m.: The first bad outing of the spring for Jonathan Papelbon ends after he gets just one out.
Papelbon gave up a leadoff double to Jason Kubel and then hit Steve Holm with a pitch. A walk, sacrifice fly and two more walks followed, ending the day for the Red Sox closer.
Jason Rice is on in relief. Bases loaded, one out, game tied 2-2.
Mid 5th, Red Sox 2-0: Bad day for Carl Crawford. Two strikeouts, a foul pop to the catcher and a dropped fly ball. Might as well get them out of the way now.
Jon Lester’s day is indeed done after four pretty good innings. He had a few three-ball counts and did give up four singles, but got the ball on the ground when he needed to and showed a really nice curveball.
Jonathan Papelbon is the pitcher. Juan Carlos Linares has taken over for Crawford.
Tsuyoshi Nishioka made a remarkable diving stop in the fifth and got to his feet to throw out Jacoby Ellsbury. I said it earlier but I’ll just reiterate — he looks like a really good all-around player.
End 4th, Red Sox 2-0: Another reason why spring training results should often be taken with a grain of salt. The elements this time of year in Floriday can just destroy fly balls.
Now, Carl Crawford should’ve had the lazy fly hit to him by Justin Morneau in the fourth. The error was legit. No excuses. But the combo of sun and crazy winds today didn’t make it any easier. Crawford battled it all the way and it hit off his glove.
Anyway, the error put runners at first and second with nobody out. Morneau had a really good battle with Jon Lester during that at-bat. Jim Thome followed by hitting into a double play and Lester got Danny Valencia looking on another off-speed pitch.
I believe all five of Lester’s Ks have come on off-speed pitches.
Mid 4th, Red Sox 2-0: Nothing doin’ for Boston in the fourth. Jon Lester jogs out for his fourth, and perhaps final, inning.
Most pitchers are getting up to about 55 pitches at this stage. Lester is near 40.
Jonathan Papelbon is warming in the pen.
End 3rd, Red Sox 2-0: A 1-2-3 third inning by Jon Lester features more of the same. He just keeps pulling the string and keeps getting outs.
Lester struck out Denard Span on some 70 mph junk in the first and gets him on a 73 mph curve in the third. Four strikeouts, no walks for Lester so far.
He has five scoreless innings in his two Grapefruit League outings.
Matt Capps is on in relief for the Twins.
Mid 3rd, Red Sox 2-0: It’s early, but Sox fans should be excited about what we are seeing from Jacoby Ellsbury at this stage of the spring.
He had three hits in a game last weekend, plus a steal, and is 2-for-2 in this one after crushing a single to right. Ellsbury is now batting .381 (8-for-21).
His hit was one of four in the inning. It began when Drew Sutton, who hit a solo shot in his final at-bat yesterday, doubled to left to open the inning. Yamaico Navarro then lined a single to center to score the first run.
Ellsbury’s hit put runners at the corners with one out. David Ortiz then drove in a run with a base hit to right.
End 2nd, 0-0: Continuing to throw a ton of off-speed stuff, Jon Lester gets Jim Thome swinging to start the second but then gives up back-to-back singles.
Just get a ball on the ground to Kevin Youkilis and you can get out such a mess. That’s what Lester did. Youkilis started a 5-4-3 double play, and a lot of credit should go to Nate Spears for hanging in there at second base despite a very aggressive slide.
Spears has played plenty this spring and has looked pretty good. Not a household name, but a pretty steady player who can play multiple positions and has some pop.
Mid 2nd, 0-0: Brian Duensing is not a household name by any stretch of the imagination, but he figures to be in the Twins rotation this season and what he is doing in camp won’t hurt him any.
Duensing is 2-0 and has yet to allow a run in seven innings after flying through the bottom of the second inning. He struck out Nate Spears for the final out.
End 1st, 0-0: Jon Lester threw a 70 mph curve for a third strike to Denard Span and later got Justin Morneau looking on something that wasn’t much faster. The off-speed stuff working well early.
In between, Tsuyoshi Nishioka singled and Delmon Young popped to center. Nishioka has looked great each time we’ve seen him this spring. Really nice player the Twins picked up.
Morneau was given a healthy ovation when he stepped to the plate.
Mid 1st, 0-0: The Red Sox just want Jacoby Ellsbury to reach and the rest should take care of itself. He does in the first with a leadoff single, but Carl Crawford, David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis go in order.
Brian Duensing struck out Youkilis on a nice pitch on the inside corner to end it.
Jon Lester time.
1:00 p.m.: A reminder. The Mayor’s Cup is on the line in this one! With a win, the Red Sox would clinch the best-of-five series, and can finally relax and prepare for the regular season.
The Twins know the stakes. That’s why one of their players scripted “WIN!” in the dirt in front of their dugout.
12:21 p.m.: It is not often that teams get ovations when they finish infield practice, but that was the case here as the Twins finished up moments ago.
The reason being is obvious. It has been since July 7 since Minnesota fans have seen Justin Morneau perform such an act before actually playing a game. The Twins will be a good team once again, but the return of Morneau, and later Joe Mauer, this spring will give them a boost before Opening Day.
It would seem a pretty tough test to stick Morneau out for his first major league game in eight months and have him stand in against Jon Lester. However, Morneau is 5-for-16 (.313) with a home run, a double and a walk against the Red Sox lefty. In fact, Morneau always loves to face Boston. He owns a .347 career mark in 39 games vs. the Sox.
This guy is a tremendous hitter who was having a career year when he got hurt last season.
12:02 p.m.: It is another sunny day at Hammond Stadium, but the wind os blowing rather strongly from time to time. It’s pretty open around here so the breezes can play with things at this park.
While I follow things here, the great Michael Hurley will carry you through the other game against Houston up in Kissimmee. Follow his live blog right here.
11:17 a.m.: The Twins lineup was posted a little while ago and Justin Morneau is indeed back in there.
It was July 7 of last year when Morneau suffered a concussion that kept him out of action for the remainder of the season. He has been working his way back slowly in camp, all the while wearing sunglasses to cut down on the glare.
Morneau, the 2006 AL MVP, played in a “B” game earlier in the week. Nice to see him back in action for Minnesota, which continues to wait for All-Star catcher Joe Mauer (knee) to return.
Here is the Twins batting order against Jon Lester:
Denard Span, CF
Tsuyoshi Nishioka, 2B
Delmon Young, LF
Justin Morneau, 1B
Jim Thome, DH
Danny Valencia, 3B
Jason Kubel, RF
Steve Holm, C
Alexi Casilla, SS
8:42 a.m.: It is the third split-squad day for the Red Sox in a week. This has been a pretty busy stretch for them. Once things calm down we will get our first set of cuts, perhaps as soon as Saturday.
For now, we forge ahead with games at Minnesota and Houston today. I will be following along at the Twins game, where Jon Lester toes the rubber, supported by the following lineup:
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Carl Crawford, LF
David Ortiz, DH
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
J.D. Drew, RF
Jason Varitek, C
Nate Spears, 2B
Drew Sutton, 1B
Yamaico Navarro, SS
The lineup for the Houston game is as follows:
Marco Scutaro, SS
Jed Lowrie, 1B
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Ryan Kalish, CF
Darnell McDonald, LF
Daniel Nava, DH
Josh Reddick, RF
Will Middlebrooks, 3B
Mark Wagner, C
8 a.m.: Jon Lester returns to the mound for the first time since March 1 when he throws against the Minnesota Twins on Friday afternoon at Hammond Stadium.
Lester missed a scheduled start Sunday due to the flu. He was able to get in a three-inning simulated game earlier this week and came through it just fine. Coincidentally, his only appearance this spring also came at Hammond Stadium, during which he tossed two scoreless innings.
Tim Wakefield and Hideki Okajima are scheduled to follow from the bullpen. Both Jason Varitek and Jarrod Saltalamacchia will catch.
The contest is one half of a split-squad day. The rest of the team will be up in Kissimmee to meet Houston.
First pitch in both contests is 1:05 p.m.
