Livan Hernandez lit up.

This entry will be short for a change, as I am only commenting of what I read about his performance.

So, former Expos pitcher, ace when he was at his best, was lit up, yet the Twins still went on to win the game against Baltimore by a score of 8-7 in front of a crowd of 7779. Livan allowed 6 runs over three innings, 5 earned. His counterpart didn't fare that well either, Daniel Cabrera allowed 5 runs, however only 2 earned in the bottom of the first. Daniel Cabrera faced 12 batters while Livan Hernandez faced 20.

Elsewhere in spring training, the Dodgers beat the Red Sox with a 3 run rally to tie the game, and a grand slam by Jason Repko off of Lee Gronkiewicz was the insurance. I saw the video of the grand slam featured on the main page of mlb.com.

Both games interestingly enough that I wrote about were played in Fort Myers, Florida. The Boston game just a little ways north of the Twins Bill Hammond Stadium, at City of Palms Park. What better time than to throw a plug in for my MLB Spring Training Google map!

Twins at Yankees March 5th 2008.

I had the chance to see the Twins at Yankees spring training game on television from the third inning or so on. Anyway, I don't get the chance to see many Spring Training games, as I have to see them when they are televised. I had subscribed to mlb.tv towards the end of the 2004 season to be able to see the Expos games I wouldn't normally see, and the subscription went to the end of 2005 Spring Training. Point being it is nice to catch spring training games, as we are able to see the players we all already know well, but also to see the upcoming talent that we may or may not be familiar with, or that may or may not have major league baseball experience.

So for both Minnesota, and New York, it was their 6th spring training game, 3rd away for Minnesota, and 3rd home game for New York. Minnesota had one rained out game, the day before this game.

So I'll write about the game, and what I remember.

I tuned in, and the Yankees were ahead 4-1. One thing I was thinking was wondering exactly how much teams compete in spring training. Seems they actually do compete, while getting many different players in the game, I am sure there's also the aspect of playing well in order to get as much playing time on the major league club. Minnesota scored first, but once down 4-1, they managed to tie the game up, and then take the lead and keep it to earn their third spring training victory, and third straight. Their record is now 3-3, while the Yankees fell to 3-1, as their first game was an exhibition game against the University of South Florida, and they tied one game too, neither of which show up in the standings.

So, the two run fifth was thanks to a home run hit by Garrett Jones, he managed to hit it well out of the park, not quite literally out of Legend's Field, but very close! It was hit off of Joba Chamberlain, who will definitely be seeing playing time with the big club as the announcers said.

Pat Neshek pitched for Minnesota in the seventh, and he has a crazy side arm delivery! He worked a fast and efficient perfect inning, he got former Blue Jay Chris Woodward to ground out, Jason Lane popped out, and Gregory Porter, in for Arod, struck out. Neshak later was credited with the win for Minnesota.

Both Jason Lane, and Morgan Esnsberg, former teammates in Houston, are most likely both trying to get the final spot on the 25 man roster, the announcers said (Gary Thorne, and Rick Sutcliffe). Both are signed by the Yankees to minor league contracts, and are listed as non-roster invitees.

The Twins scored three in the top of the eighth, the runs the Yankees never got back, save for one. Shelley Duncan looked promising hitting a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth. He made his mlb debut last July 20th, and appeared in 34 games, totaling 74 at bats. He hit .295 in 91 games last year for the AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, and 25 homers. Also as it says on the mlb game wrapup/box score that brings his spring training rbi total to nine, which is tied for the spring training lead with Jolbert Cabrera of Cincinnati. Jolbert, who is the older brother of former Expos shortstop, now with the White Sox, Orlando. Jolbert hasn't played in the big leagues since 2004 with Seattle. He is currently signed to a minor league contract, and is at spring training as a non-roster invitee.

Alright, so I guess that is about it. Here is the press release for spring training games ESPN will be televising.