Twins display offensive power
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) -- Matt Lawton and Cristian Guzman led another strong offensive showing at the Minnesota Twins routed the Boston Red Sox 11-6 at Hammond Stadium.
Lawton went 2-for-3 with a two-run homer and an RBI double Sunday, and Guzman stroked two triples as Minnesota collected 14 hits. All but two of the Twins' starting nine players got base hits.
Through five exhibition games, the Twins are batting .324 (59-182), with 12 doubles, three triples, six homers and 34 RBIs.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Red Sox pitcher Tomokazu Ohka gave up five runs on six consecutive hits after striking out the first batter he faced. Ohka was pulled in favor of pitcher Gary Roth after giving up a two-run single to Twins leftfielder Torii Hunter with one out that made it an 8-2 ballgame.
First baseman David Ortiz, the ninth batter of the inning, greeted Roth with a two-run homer over the right field wall before Roth got Denny Hocking to fly out to center and end the inning.
In two innings, Minnesota starting pitcher Joe Mays allowed one run on a solo homer by Boston's Trot Nixon in the second while striking out two. Nixon's blast came on a 3-0 pitch with two outs, but Mays came right back to strike out shortstop Manny Alexander swinging.
''I felt great out there,'' Mays said. ''I was basically trying to get ahead (on batters) early. Last year I led the team in walks, so this year I vowed to myself that I would try to cut the walks down to 40 or less this year. Today I was basically trying to get the fastball over the plate and trying to keep it down and get some early outs.''
Nixon had the best day at the plate of any Red Sox hitter, going 3-for-3 with a run-scoring triple and a run-scoring single to go along with his home run.
NOTES: The Twins were to host the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at 1:05 p.m. today, with Brad Radke (1-0) getting his second start of the spring against Devil Rays right-hander Steve Trachsel. ... The Twins have all players on their 40-man spring roster signed; left-handed pitcher Eric Milton renewed his contract Thursday night. ...
Twins left-handed pitcher J.C. Romero is still listed as day to day with a pulled muscle in his left shoulder. Romero first felt pain in the shoulder during Wednesday's practice. Twins manager Tom Kelly said he is still unable to throw. ...
Right-hander Ricky Greene nicked his middle finger on his throwing hand in the last inning of Saturday's game, but he said he's fine. He gave up two runs on four hits in one inning.