Some notes and tidbits following the Twins 6-5 win over Toronto


Nolasco strong: Ricky Nolasco struck out six over five innings on Tuesday in an encouraging outing for the Twins. He had his curveball working, using it to strike out Jose Bautista in the third inning, ``The curveball was going pretty good," Nolasco said. ``Just trying to throw strikes. It's definitely not a lineup you want to pitch behind." Nolasco has lost some weight and his stuff looks a little better this spring. Let's see if he can channel that into wins. He has a 3.95 ERA over 13.2 innings.

Dozier, wow: The first pitch Brian Dozier saw after signing a four-year, $20 million contract on Tuesday was knocked over the left field wall for a home run. It's always interesting to see how a player responds to a big deal, but Dozier seems to be a guy who won't add pressure or coast. ``We're elated to have one of our best players in the fold for four years," manager Paul Molitor said, ``and I think we the Twins will see plenty of dividends in their investment."

Duensing smoked: Lefthander Brian Duensing was struck in the left quadriceps by a liner off the bat of Devon Travis. The ball deflected off of Duensing, who scrambled to retrieve the ball but had no play at first then bent over at the waist. The Twins took little time to remove Duesning from the game. He will be re-evaluated tomorrow.

That opened the door for J.R. Graham to come in with one out. He hit 96 with one pitch to Dayan Viciedo then struck him out with an 84 mile an hour slider. ``I loved that," Molitor said. ``That kind of got my blood going in the right direction." Graham is a Rule 5 pick and has to remain on the major league roster all season, but he's earning a spot on this roster. He's fun to watch pitch, as he's all of 5-foot-10 and leans forward at the start of his delivery.

Hunter homers: Torii Hunter, who coined the phrase, ``A hanging breaking ball is like a gift from God, got one in the seventh inning and hit it over the left field wall for three run home run, his first homer of spring training. Molitor said he's spaced out at-bats for Hunter and Joe Mauer but they will start to play some back-to-back games as the final days of spring training are close.

Roster moves: None of the cuts today were big ones - A.J. Achter, Eric Farris, James Beresford, Tyler Grimes Danny Ortiz and Jose Martinez were extreme long shots to make the roster. But camp is now down to 35 bodies and 10 must be moved before Opening Day. The next ones won't be easy.

Mark Hamburger was no helper on Tuesday as Toronto scored twice off of him, one unearned because of his throwing error. That didn't help his chances, as the Twins want to see how relievers here handle those situations.

Molitor decided to go for the win in the ninth and put the bunt on when Eduardo Nunez beat out an infield hit to open the ninth. Eric Fryer dropped a nice bunt to the first base side of the mound to move Nunez to second, then Eddie Rosario flicked a single to left to drive home the winning run.