Humber has rough debut

By JOE CHRISTENSEN, Star Tribune

Last update: February 26, 2008 - 11:40 PM

FORT MYERS, FLA. - Philip Humber dominated collegiate hitters when he was at Rice four years ago, but Tuesday those aluminum-bat-wielding sluggers got to him.

The righthander gave up four runs in an inning of relief against Concordia (St. Paul), an NCAA Division II team, and the Twins had to rally for a 7-5 victory in the six-inning scrimmage.

Eight Twins pitchers took the mound, and manager Ron Gardenhire said: "They were all pretty much around the plate. Juanie [Juan Rincon] was kind of all over. Humber was kind of all over ... the fence."

Humber, at 25 the oldest of three pitchers acquired from the Mets this offseason for Johan Santana, gave up a two-run homer to Golden Bears junior catcher Chris Herbert and a two-run double to senior third baseman Jake Waldman.

"Today, I wasn't really worried about the results anyway, though it would have been nice to punch out the side," Humber said. "I feel like I made progress, and that's the main thing."

The two other pitchers acquired for Santana -- Kevin Mulvey, 22, and Deolis Guerra, 18 -- fared better.

Mulvey started for the Twins and overcame a leadoff walk in the first, pitching two scoreless innings. Guerra added a scoreless inning of relief.

Randy Ruiz and Tommy Watkins each homered for the Twins, with Ruiz's shot coming off Twins lefthander Carmen Cali.

Buscher turning heads

Gardenhire and other Twins personnel were raving about third baseman Brian Buscher even before Tuesday, when he impressed them again by smashing two doubles vs. Concordia.

"He was killing the ball over there," Gardenhire said. "He was locked and loaded. Good swings. Buscher was right on the ball. Everything.

"It was nice to see. He was really into it. That's what we were expecting of him and hoping. He's pretty good."

Buscher, 26, made his major league debut with the Twins last July and hit .244 in 33 games. On Monday, Gardenhire said he thought Buscher looked stronger than last year.

Buscher said he's not stronger, just more rested.

"A lot of it's the excitement of spring training," Buscher said. "It carries you through the day."

Etc.

• The Twins plan to review fundamentals today before opening the 31-game Grapefruit League schedule Thursday against the Cincinnati Reds in Sarasota.

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