Box Score and recap from MLB.com
Making his final start of the spring Boof Bonser made an emphatic final statement for his qualifications for making this rotation. While Twins manager Ron Gardenhire has officially refused to announce his rotation for 2007, it has been widely considered by those in the know that, barring some monumentally bad performances, and a couple outstanding ones, the Twins starters for this final week of spring training would most likely be those who would break season with the big club. Well its this writers opinion that Mr. Bonser can start packing his bags and heading up to the cities. In six quality innings against a strong group of what will be the Yankee's regular starting lineup Bonser gave up just four hits and two walks, all while striking out seven. The only real doubt that should be left for Twins fans is why the Twins seem to view him as their fifth starter. It's well known that last year the Twins trusted him enough to hand him the ball in the second of the game of the playoffs and were rewarded with a strong performance. Why Bonser has ended up at the bottom of the Twins rotation is unclear, but I think Twins fans can assume that if he continues pitching the way he has this spring, he won't remain there long. The one negative that can be taken away from Bonser's performance today is that he did give up two solo homers, one to Bobby Abreu, his second of the season, and another to former Blue jays prospect Josh Phelps, his third of the spring.
As an aside, I think fantasy owners would be well advised to take note of what a nice spring Phelps is having with the Yankee's.
Checking out the box score today it was interesting to see a familiar name in a not so familiar place, as a Gardenhire made an appearance today, just not the one you'd expect. This time it was Twins manager Ron Gardenhire's son, Toby, a shortstop taken in the 41st round of the 2005 draft who is currently in the Twins minor league system with Low A Beloit. Certainly it was a good moment for the Gardenhire family. You can read more in a 2005 column by Bob Sansevere here.
In other game news, Twins relievers Pat Neshek, Dennys Reyes, and Juan Rincon all pitched a frame, giving up a total of 5 hits, 1 walk, 1 earned run while striking out 5.
The Twins pounded out 8 hits, all singles, which they paired with four walks and stolen bases by both Jason Tyner (2) and Luis Castillo (1), and parlayed into four runs. Castillo had a two RBI single to center and shortstop Matt Tolbert, who Will Young has backing up Alexi Casilla at shortstop on his Twins Bigboard for Double A New Britian, tied the game on a two out single in the bottom of the ninth.
On the other side of the diamond, I'm impressed by the game Carl Pavano tossed. Even though he didn't strike anyone out, he registered 6 innings, allowing just six singles and a walk. While the Yankee's may never "get their monies worth" out of Pavano, hopefully they can at least start to get something from him.
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