SB Nation Minnesota - Minnesota Twins Spring Training: Mauer And Morneau In Lineup For Twinshttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/48959/mn-fave.png2011-03-16T15:14:24-05:00http://minnesota.sbnation.com/rss/stream/17610782011-03-16T15:14:24-05:002011-03-16T15:14:24-05:00Mauer And Morneau Both In Lineup As Twins Take On Mets
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<p>For the first time since July 7, 2010, Ron Gardenhire was able to pencil both <span>Joe Mauer</span> and <span>Justin Morneau</span> into his lineup card for the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.twinkietown.com/">Minnesota Twins</a>, as Mauer played the designated hitter role in the Twins' game this afternoon against the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.amazinavenue.com/">New York Mets</a>.</p>
<p>Mauer is also scheduled to catch a minor league game tomorrow, and has no doubts that he will be ready for Opening Day in Toronto on April 1.</p>
<p>The lineup that Ron Gardenhire put out onto the field today looks a lot like what we can probably expect for that Opening Day lineup as well, with the obvious exception of Mauer being penciled in behind the plate and someone else taking on the DH role. Here's what the Twins went with for their lineup today.</p>
<p><span>Denard Span</span>, center field<br><span>Tsuyoshi Nishioka</span>, second base<br>Joe Mauer, designated hitter<br>Justin Morneay, first base<br><span>Delmon Young</span>, left field<br><span>Danny Valencia</span>, third base<br><span>Jason Kubel</span>, right field<br><span>Steve Holm</span>, catcher<br><span>Alexi Casilla</span>, shortstop</p>
<p>My guess is that by Opening Day, we'll see <span>Michael Cuddyer</span> in right, Mauer behind the plate, and Kubel or <span>Jim Thome</span> in that designated hitter spot.</p>
<p>In any event, it's very good to see the hometown boy back in the lineup again. Opening Day can't possibly get here soon enough.</p>
https://minnesota.sbnation.com/minnesota-twins/2011/3/16/2054705/mauer-and-morneau-both-in-lineup-as-twins-take-on-metsChristopher Gates2011-03-08T14:37:23-06:002011-03-08T14:37:23-06:00Morneau Goes 1-2 With three Run Double in Debut
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<p><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.twinkietown.com/">Twins</a> first baseman <span>Justin Morneau</span> went 1-2 with a three run double and a run scored in his first live baseball action since last July.</p>
<p>“It feels good,” Morneau said. “It felt good for a while. You can only take batting practice for so long before you find out how it’s going to react in a game.”</p>
<p>It’s one more step on the road back for the Twins slugger, who are taking a cautious approach in his return to action.</p>
https://minnesota.sbnation.com/minnesota-twins/2011/3/8/2038216/morneau-goes-1-2-with-three-run-double-in-debutTed Glover2011-03-08T14:06:12-06:002011-03-08T14:06:12-06:00Morneau Starts Twins "B" Game Against Pirates
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<p>They're the words that Twins fans have been waiting to hear since last July 7.</p>
<p><span>Justin Morneau</span> was in the starting lineup today, batting fourth, just like we've become accustomed to.</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://content.usatoday.com/communities/dailypitch/post/2011/03/twins-justin-morneau-doubles-in-first-game-since-july/1">According to Seth Livingston of USA Today</a>, Morneau was in the lineup and playing first base today as the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.twinkietown.com/">Minnesota Twins</a> took on the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bucsdugout.com/">Pittsburgh Pirates</a> today in Fort Myers, Florida. It wasn't in the main game, but rather against the Pirates' "B team" on a back field at the Lee County Sports Complex.</p>
<p>In his second at-bat of the day, Morneau laced a bases-clearing double. He also didn't have any difficulties in the field, from all accounts.</p>
<p>Morneau was hitting .345 with 18 home runs for the Twins in 2010 when he took a knee to the head in Toronto and didn't play the rest of the season.</p>
<p>Our friends at <a target="_blank" href="http://www.twinkietown.com">Twinkie Town</a> will obviously have more about the return of the 2006 American League MVP.</p>
<p>In the meantime, let me just say. . ."Welcome back, Justin!"</p>
https://minnesota.sbnation.com/minnesota-twins/2011/3/8/2038133/morneau-starts-twins-b-game-against-piratesChristopher Gates2011-03-06T20:05:01-06:002011-03-06T20:05:01-06:00Twins Shut Out Orioles, 3-0
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<p><span>Brian Duensing</span> looked sharp in his three innings of work this afternoon, allowing just two hits, as he and five other Minnesota pitchers combined to shut out the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.camdenchat.com/">Baltimore Orioles</a>, 3-0.</p>
<p>The Orioles didn't register a hit after the fifth inning of play today.</p>
<p>Minnesota got another solid performance from <span>Tsuyoshi Nishioka</span>, who went 2-for-3 on the afternoon, and got his first triple of the spring. Nishioka drove in two of the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.twinkietown.com/">Twins</a>' three runs on the day, with <span>Luke Hughes</span> driving in the other run. Hughes got the Twins started in the first with a single that scored <span>Danny Valencia</span>. Nishioka's RBI came in the third, when singled to right to score <span>Alexi Casilla</span>, and in the fifth, when his triple brought <span>Denard Span</span> home.</p>
<p>After Duensing's three innings of work, <span>Scott Diamond</span> entered the game and pitched two shutout innings, allowing only two hits. After Diamond, <span>Dusty Hughes</span>, <span>Jim Hoey</span>, <span>Chuck James</span>, and <span>Anthony Swarzak</span> pitched one hitless inning each, in that order.</p>
<p>Minnesota is now 6-2 on the spring, while the Orioles are now 4-2.</p>
https://minnesota.sbnation.com/minnesota-twins/2011/3/6/2034016/twins-shut-out-orioles-3-0Christopher Gates2011-03-05T15:37:34-06:002011-03-05T15:37:34-06:00Blackburn Sharp In Twins Victory Over Rays
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<p>Ron Gardenhire said today that <span>Nick Blackburn</span> would be a part of the starting rotation this season, and he looked sharp today in the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.twinkietown.com/">Twins</a>' 6-1 victory over the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.draysbay.com/">Tampa Bay Rays</a>.</p>
<p>Blackburn didn't give up a hit in three innings while striking out two, and retired five of the seven hitters he didn't strike out on ground ball outs. He was followed up by <span>Matt Capps</span> and <span>Pat Neshek</span>, each of whom threw one hitless inning of relief. The only Twins pitcher to give up a run on the day was <span>Jeff Manship</span>, who allowed a sixth-inning sacrifice fly to Rays catcher <span>John Jaso</span>.</p>
<p>The Twins got on the board early, scoring five runs in the first three innings, including a huge solo blast from first baseman Chris Parmalee in the third inning. Unfortunately, Parmalee also took home the golden sombrero for the afternoon, as his other four at-bats all ended in strikeouts.</p>
<p>The Twins' record for the spring thus far moves to 5-2 with their win today, while the Rays drop to 1-6.</p>
<p>In other news, <span>Delmon Young</span> has suffered a setback to his turf toe injury, and is now out indefinitely. Hopefully this setback will be a temporary one, and Delmon will be in the lineup again before the Twins head to Toronto for the season opener.</p>
https://minnesota.sbnation.com/minnesota-twins/2011/3/5/2032101/blackburn-sharp-in-twins-victory-over-raysChristopher Gates2011-03-05T01:05:36-06:002011-03-05T01:05:36-06:00Twins Defeat Rays, 5-4, In Spring Training Action
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<p>Minnesota got some impressive pitching early and held on late to defeat the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.draysbay.com/">Tampa Bay Rays</a> in Spring Training action today by a score of 5-4.</p>
<p>Minnesota opened the scoring in the bottom of the third inning when <span>Tsuyoshi Nishioka</span> singled off of <span>Mike Ekstrom</span>, stole second, and came around to score on <span>Jason Kubel</span>'s single. Kubel racked up two more RBI in the fifth with a double off of <span>Dane De La Rosa</span>, scoring <span>Brian Dozier</span> (who was running for Nishioka) and <span>Denard Span</span>.</p>
<p>Tampa Bay lit up the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.twinkietown.com/">Twins</a>' <span>Eric Hacker</span> in the top of the sixth, touching him up for three runs after Hacker gave up three consecutive singles to start the frame. By the time the sixth was over, the Rays had tied the game at three, and they took the lead in the top of the seventh when <span>Justin Ruggiano</span> led off the inning with a triple off of <span>Kyle Gibson</span>, and scored on Chris Carter's fielders choice.</p>
<p>Minnesota came back, however, getting two runs in the bottom of the eighth courtesy of a single by <span>Ben Revere</span> and a sacrifice fly by <span>Chase Lambin</span> to provide the final score of 5-4. <span>Carlos Gutierrez</span> pitched a hitless ninth to pick up the save.</p>
<p>As I mentioned, the Twins' early pitching was impressive, as <span>Kevin Slowey</span> (three innings), <span>Jose Mijares</span> (one inning) and <span>Joe Nathan</span> (one inning) combined to allow just one hit over five innings, that being a first inning double that Slowey surrendered to <span>Manny Ramirez</span>.</p>
<p>The Twins and the Rays will face off again tomorrow.</p>
https://minnesota.sbnation.com/minnesota-twins/2011/3/5/2031262/twins-defeat-rays-5-4-in-spring-training-actionChristopher Gates2011-03-04T10:07:02-06:002011-03-04T10:07:02-06:00Minnesota Twins Spring Training: Questions The Twins Must Answer This Season
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<p>Rob Neyer is the new Baseball editor at SB Nation, and he is right in the middle of a 30 part series where he asks important questions about every team in Major League Baseball. Today, he got to the Minnesota Twins, and he had two big questions. But unfortunately, he didn't have very much in the way of answers.</p>
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<p>1. Will <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="../../../mlb/players/649/justin-morneau">Justin Morneau</a> recover from his concussion in time for Opening Day?</p>
<p>and</p>
<p>2. Are the Twins really serious about trading <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="../../../mlb/players/1197/francisco-liriano">Francisco Liriano</a>, their best pitcher?</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the answer to both questions is <i>Reply hazy, try again later</i>.</p>
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<p>Not definite answers,but he does try his best to get into it. He also tries to figure out who will be lining up in the middle of the infield for the Twins, now that J.J. hardy and Orlando Hudson have moved on. But he reaches this conclusion.</p>
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<p>Again, if Morneau and Liriano are doing their things for six months, maybe it won't matter who's turning the double plays. But if one of those fellows hits a snag, it might matter quite a lot. And the Twins, who usually seem to know what they're doing, are taking a fairly big gamble with the most important chunk of the diamond.</p>
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<p>The double-play combo is important, because a team always needs to be strong up the middle. But Neyer is right, the Twins will be successful if they can get good production out of Morneau and Liriano. Assuming, that is, they both are part of the organization (and physically able to play) this year.</p>
https://minnesota.sbnation.com/minnesota-twins/2011/3/4/2029702/minnesota-twins-spring-training-questions-the-twins-must-answer-thisJordan Ruby2011-03-03T20:24:01-06:002011-03-03T20:24:01-06:00Pavano Pitches Three Scoreless Innings In Twins' 2-0 Win Over Baltimore
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<p>The Twins' pitching staff put together a solid performance this afternoon, to say the least. Led by Carl Pavano's three scoreless innings, the Twins allowed only five hits as they shut out the Orioles by a score of 2-0.</p>
<p>Pavano needed only 27 pitches to retire the Orioles, allowing only one hit in those three innings.</p>
<p>Glen Perkins came in to relieve Pavano, and allowed only two hits in two innings of work. Chuck James allowed a hit in his one inning, Jim Hoey (who wound up getting the win) allowed one hit in two innings, and Anthony Swarzak picked up the save by pitching a hitless ninth inning.</p>
<p>All of Minnesota's scoring happened in the seventh inning, thanks to a sacrifice fly by Brian Dozier and a single by Luke Hughes.</p>
<p>Also, thankfully, rumors that the famed "Pavstache" was a thing of the past appear to be unfounded, as you can see by the picture that accompanies this story.</p>
https://minnesota.sbnation.com/minnesota-twins/2011/3/3/2028753/pavano-pitches-three-scoreless-innings-in-twins-2-0-win-over-baltimoreChristopher Gates