Baseball games should never end in a tie, although I think we can make an exception for spring training games. Yesterday's contest saw the Twins and Pirates each score a run in the early going, but after the top of the second inning the pitchers took the game over.
Here are your highlights, once you've perused the photos above.
- Ricky Nolasco struck out three in two innings of work, but back-to-back doubles by Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker gave Pittsburgh their run in the bottom of the first.
- Alex Meyer made his spring debut, throwing 1.2 innings of scoreless baseball in what can generously be described as a mixed bad. In the bottom of the third he allowed a leadoff double to Gerrit Cole before a wild pitch saw Cole move up to third. Josh Harrison was walked to put runners on the corners with nobody out, and Meyer fought back to get Gregory Polanco on a pop fly to short and McCutchen on a liner to third. Meyer plunked Walker to load the bases before striking out Starling Marte to get out of the frame. Meyer came out for the fourth and got the first two outs before walking Diaz, and that's when Molitor pulled him for Adrian Salcedo.
- Diaz took off on Salcedo and Kurt Suzuki connected with Brian Dozier to gun him down.
- Blaine Boyer, Logan Darnell, and Aaron Thompson combined for five scoreless innings.
- Danny Santana was 1-for-3 with a steal.
- Aaron Hicks was also 1-for-3 but was picked off second base and eventually thrown out at third.
- Jordan Schafer, too, was 1-for-3. He was thrown out in a straight steal of second base.
- Miguel Sano launched a home run over the left-center field fence that looked (from the angle of the broadcast) like a pop-up. But it just kept going...and going...and going. You can check out the video here.