Spring Training Report: Game Twenty-Nine

Egad . . . the Twins have lost the Mayor's Cup. This is a truly tragic day in Twins fandom. Nevertheless, the show must go on, so here are today's notes:

1.) Santana wasn't too sharp today, giving up 4 ER's on 8 hits and 2 walks. At least he picked up 6 K's, and the change-up looked to be in midseason form. Really, this performance shouldn't worry anybody overly much -- he'll be fine once the season gets going.

2.) The bullpen was pretty solid tonight, with the only run allowed being given up by a minor leaguer (Zach Ward) who was up for the night. Dennys Reyes was spectacular, striking out the side in his inning of work, and Matt Guerrier and Joe Nathan were both solid as well. Of course, nobody should be worrying about the bullpen when there are perfectly legitimate concerns over the starting rotation.

3.) After getting hit in the head earlier this spring, Torii Hunter promised that he would never again start in a night game in Ft. Myers because the lighting is so horrible. He lived up to that promise tonight by staying out of the game.

4.) Felix Molina, Doug Deeds, Brock Peterson, Garrett Guzman, Trevor Plouffe, and Zach Ward all got into the game today while visiting from the minor league camp. Peterson went 2-for-2 with 2 RBI's and a run score (and a TRIPLE!) to have, without a doubt, the best performance of the night amongst the minor leaguers.

5.) Chris Heintz went 1-for-1 and is now hitting .333 this spring. Josh Rabe, his main competition for the 25th roster spot, went 0-for-2 with a K and 2 left on base. It makes more and more sense to keep Heintz on the roster when the Twins break camp, and that decision could come as early as tonight or tomorrow morning.

Today's Big Winner: Brock Peterson (Not bad for a one day call-up)
Runner-Up: Dennys Reyes (3 batters, 3 strikeouts)

Today's Big Loser: Josh Rabe (Didn't help his cause tonight)
Runner-Up: Johan Santana (Sorry guys, but it's true -- he struggled a bit tonight)