Spring Training Report: Game Twelve

Another extra inning game, this time with a nice ending. Rather remarkable that this thing went 11 innings - I can't remember a spring game going beyond 10 innings (then again, this is the first year that I've paid quite this much attention). Here are the notable happenings from today's game:

1.) Another nice start for Ramon Ortiz. It would have been nice to see him get a bit more than 3 innings, but he still has plenty of time to stretch out his arm, and I'm sure the Twins know what's best as far as getting work for pitchers. Ortiz also struck out 4 batters, and didn't walk anybody. The one run that he gave up wasn't of any particular concern, and 3 hits is an acceptable total for three innings. I don't know - I'm starting to think that this was actually a pretty good signing.

2.) J.D. Durbin continued the Twins 2007 spring training tradition of starting off poorly, and then bouncing back with a nice outing. He went just one inning, but he struck out 2 batters and faced the minimum of 3. Very nice bounce back performance for Durbin, and now we can legitimately say that the battle between Venafro and Durbin for the possible 7th bullpen spot is officially joined.

3.) Michael Cuddyer hit his 4th double of the spring, going 2-3 today as he continued to pound the ball. He seems ready to go, and he's got 22 days to go before things start to count. Justin Morneau, on the other hand, is not quite ready to go - his 0-3 performance has him hitting just .167. Plenty to time to get back on track.

4.) Luis Castillo's nonchalant attitude resulted in Ben Zobrist reaching base today on a fairly routine ground ball that should have been an out. Castillo made a nice play ranging to his left, but then just tossed the ball to first. Unfortunately, the throw didn't beat the runner. I betcha that Ron Gardenhire, who has expressed some displeasure in the past with Castillo's low level of effort, wasn't too happy when he saw that happen . . .

5.) Glen Perkins and Matt Garza are both scheduled to get some action tomorrow. With Ponson's poor performance yesterday, these outing will be very important - if Garza comes out on fire, he would appear to be in position to win the job. Of course, there's still a lot of spring left.

Today's Big Winner: Ramon Ortiz (shutting down the criticism rather effectively)
Runner-Up: J.D. Durbin (Nice performance eases concerns about his first effort)

Today's Big Loser: Oswaldo Sosa (gave up the game tying runs)
Runner-Up: Jason Tyner (0-2 day has him hitting just .125)