Twins day at camp: Gibson OK, save for walks

Kyle Gibson looked sharp, giving up only four hits in 4⅔ innings Friday. Unfortunately, two of them were home runs to Pittsburgh catcher Francisco Cervelli, and they were enough to carry the Pirates to a 4-2 exhibition victory over the Twins, their fourth loss in three days, at Hammond Stadium.

Gibson struck out four but walked three, including one free pass to Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole, misfires that disappointed him more than Cervelli's home runs.

"Without the walks, I think I'm pretty satisfied," said Gibson, whose spring ERA jumped to 3.29. "Kurt [Suzuki, his catcher] made a good point: I'll live with one-run innings all day long."

Cervelli blasted a changeup onto the left-field berm in the third inning, then rifled a sinker onto the center field deck in the fifth. "That's the danger of a changeup to righties — it ends up being a [batting-practice] fastball," Gibson said. "He was ready for the inside pitch both times and hit it well."

The Twins were limited to two runs by Cole and four relievers. Shane Robinson drove in one run with a third-inning double, and an inning later, Eduardo Escobar followed a Suzuki triple with an RBI single.

Who's at first?

Tom Kelly's first-base academy added an interesting new undergraduate this week: the Twins third baseman.

At manager Paul Molitor's request, Trevor Plouffe has spent the past two days taking ground balls, and instruction, across the diamond from his normal position. It's part of Molitor's determination to have flexibility with his roster.

"We talked about a few different scenarios that might come up during the year, rare as they might be. [Molitor] said, 'Look, this could happen, how would you feel about this?' " Plouffe said. "I told him, 'I'm a baseball player, man. Whatever you want me to do, I'm fine with it.' "

Turns out, he's a natural, too. Plouffe had seven games of professional experience at first base, back in 2011 in the minors, but "he could certainly go over there and he'd be fine," said Kelly, the former Twins manager who works on first base defense every spring. "I wouldn't worry about it at all."

Plouffe expects to play first base in a couple of spring games and knows Kelly will be watching. "He wants your undivided attention, and he wants things perfect," Plouffe said. "I like that."

Not concerned

Joe Mauer went 0-for-3 with a strikeout in Friday's loss, dropping his spring batting average to .158. But his manager called the former MVP a good example of why spring statistics don't mean much. Mauer has appeared in only half of the Twins' games.

"I've been protecting him and Torii [Hunter] a little bit here, but we'll start seeing him a little more frequently," Molitor said. "He's been fine at first base. His at-bats are OK. He's not getting a lot of results right now, but he's seeing the ball fine."

On deck

The Twins' split-squad day sends half the team to Port Charlotte to face the Rays, with Trevor May getting the start, while the other half remains in Hammond Stadium to take on the Orioles with Tommy Milone on the mound.

Phil Miller