Off to a wobbly start, but Twins get it together

By La Velle E. Neal III, Star Tribune

Last update: March 10, 2007 - 5:22 PM

FORT MYERS, FLA. - Luis Rodriguez laced a single to center in the 11th inning to drive in the winning run as the Twins beat Tampa Bay 4-3 on Saturday.

Tampa Bay took a 1-0 lead in the fourth in controversial manner. With two outs, righthander Ramon Ortiz appeared to have struck out Ben Zobrist to end the inning. But home plate umpire Tim Tschida -- who's from St. Paul -- ruled that the ball hit the ground before catcher Mike Redmond snagged it.

The Twins began to run off the field, certain it was the third out. Zobrist ran to first and was ruled safe. Two seeing-eye hits later, Zobrist scored. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said he wanted to argue the call, but he already had been out on the field once to argue a play at second.

The Twins led 3-1 in the ninth, but righthander Oswaldo Sosa gave up two runs.

Michael Cuddyer was 2-for-3 and is batting .368.

La Velle E. Neal III • lneal@startribune.com

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