Final (8 innings), Red Sox 4-1: Ah, you guys didn't forget Daniel Nava, did you? The one who clubbed a grand slam on the first pitch of his first major league at-bat with the Red Sox in 2010.
He drove in an RBI in the eighth inning to seal the deal. As a result, Albers gets the win — although I believe this doesn't count toward the Mayor's Cup. Yes, because it's a "B" game, they were allowed to end in eight innings.
When possible, I'll try to send in updates from the team's game in Dunedin against the Blue Jays.
Bottom 7th, Red Sox 3-1: Justin Morneau finally got the Twins on the board, doubling in a run. It's a big step in the right direction for the first baseman.
Over the past couple years, he's been battling concussion issues and he hasn't been quite the same since suffering a concussion in July 2010.
So far this spring, it hasn't been an issue.
Bottom 6th, Red Sox 3-0: Reliever Scott Atchison has been reliable once again, twirling a scoreless inning in relief of Matt Albers.
Mid 5th, Red Sox 3-0: The deadlock is over. Jose Iglesias knocked in a run with a single and Will Middlebrooks added to the party with a double, bringing in two runs.
It all started with Mauro Gomez' leadoff single. He made good contact and as much as Joe Benson tried to dive and snag it, he ultimately couldn't.
Will Middlebrooks doubled to right center to score Inglesias.
Bottom 4th: Matt Albers made quick work of the Twins order.
Also of note, Jon Lester went to the bullpen to keep throwing after his outing. Looks like he didn't reach his pitch count, so he went to strech it out a little more.
Mid 4th: It was another quick inning as the Red Sox offense continued to sputter. Jarrod Saltalamacchia struck out.
Coming in for Lester is Matt Albers. As we mentioned before, he lost weight and is looking to erase memories of last year's late-season struggles after a promising summer performance.
Bottom 3rd: We just got a look at why Jose Iglesias is so gifted defensively.
Minnesota's Jamey Carroll belted a line drive and Iglesias leaped up and caught it, then doubled off the runner at second for the double play.
Lester continued to pitch in the third inning and while he wasn't sharp, he got the job done. But he's getting back into the swing of things as he gets stretched into the third.
Mid 3rd: Jose Iglesias struck out swinging, Nate Spears flew out to right field. The Twins' pitchers have posting a solid outing so far.
Bottom 2nd: Well, this when you get the the unofficial part of "B" games. Since Jon Lester had reached his pitch count maximum for the inning and the second inning still wasn't over — there were two outs and a man on second — the Red Sox had the umpires shortened the inning.
Everyone walked off the field. It was an odd sight, but that's the point of "B" games, to just get innings in for guys.
Mid 2nd: Nick Blackburn continued to dazzle, racking up a fourth strikeout when he went up against Alex Hassan.
Jason Repko managed to collect the game's first hit — a double — because Twins left fielder Trevor Plouffe missed a diving catch.
We also got a look at Mauro Gomez, who made his spring training debut at the plate. He grounded into a 6-3, but keep an eye on him for you Pawtucket fans.
Bottom 1st: Pedro Ciriaco had a small hiccup at second base when he tried to throw out Jamey Caroll at first. He wound up pulling Mauro Gomez off the bag and was charged with an error.He rebounded on the next at-bat and threw Joe Mauer out.
As for Lester, he's still showing off those PFP skills. Leadoff Alexi Casilla hit a grounder to him and Lester effortlessly fielded and fired to first. Of course, Daniel Bard was leading the PFP Olympics last we checked with Bobby Valentine.
Mid 1st: Nick Blackburn was dealing for the Twins. After he surrendered a leadoff single to Jose Iglesias, he struck out Nate Spears, Will Middlebrooks and Josh Kroeger in consecutive at-bats.
Even though it isn't the Red Sox' top bats, Blackburn looked good.
8:50 a.m.: Here are the lineups for the "B" game.
Red Sox
Jose Iglesias, SS
Nate Spears, DH
Will Middlebrooks, 3B
Josh Kroeger, RF
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Alex Hassan, LF
Jason Repko, CF
Mauro Gomez, 1B
Pedro Ciriaco, 2B
Jon Lester, P
Twins
Alexi Casillas, 2B
Jamie Carroll, SS
Joe Mauer, 1B
Justin Morneau, DH
Mike Hollimon, 3B
Trevor Plouffe, LF
Wilkin Ramirez, RF
Rene Rivera, C
Joe Benson, CF
Nick Blackburn, P
8 a.m. ET: Wednesday marks the Red Sox' first split-squad day.
At 10 a.m., Jon Lester will take the mound for Boston as it squares off against Minnesota at Hammond Stadium for the first matchup. His last start was against Northeastern on Saturday.
The next game will take place at 1:05 p.m., when the Red Sox travel to Dunedin to take on the Blue Jays. Carlos Silva was initially scheduled to start against Toronto, but he's likely out of the starting mix after another bout with shoulder inflammation. Justin Germano will toe the rubber in his place.
I'll be checking in from Hammond Stadium to give you guys updates on Lester's second outing of spring training. Any information that I gather from the other game, I'll gladly update in the blog.
Here's some more coverage to read up on before game time.
Carl Crawford Admits to Pushing Himself Too Hard
Daniel Bard's still trying to find a pregame routing before starting
Clayton Mortensen is out to prove he's more than just financial flexibility
