Berrios makes final start before Opening Day as Twins meet Orioles

Ehire Adrianza, hitting .400 in Grapefruit League play, is in the lineup for Jorge Polanco.

March 23, 2019 at 9:15PM
Jose Berrios will be the 10th Twins pitcher in the past 12 seasons to take the ball for Opening Day and the youngest since Brad Radke, then 23, pitched the 1996 opener.
Jose Berrios will be the 10th Twins pitcher in the past 12 seasons to take the ball for Opening Day and the youngest since Brad Radke, then 23, pitched the 1996 opener. (Brian Wicker — Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

SARASOTA, Fla. — Jose Berrios will make his final start of the spring tonight at Ed Smith Stadium, and it's clear he would like to fine-tune a few things. Berrios doesn't have a scoreless start among his five tune-ups in Florida, and though he hasn't pitched badly — batters are hitting just .224 against the Twins' No. 1 starter — he hasn't displayed his All-Star stuff yet, either.

Berrios' ERA stands at 4.60 for the spring, with 11 strikeouts and seven walks in 15 2/3 innings. The walks are the most concerning thing, of course, and the righthander will try to avoid adding to that total tonight.

He'll have a mostly complete starting lineup behind him, with only Jorge Polanco sitting out tonight's game, with Ehire Adrianza — who has had an impressive camp, batting .400 with eight extra-base hits in 35 at-bats — handling shortstop.

This is the Twins' final road game of the spring. They return to Hammond Stadium on Sunday to face the Yankees, then play an intrasquad game with their Class AAA Rochester team on Monday and close Grapefruit League play on Tuesday against the Rockies.

Here are the lineups for tonight's game against Baltimore and Orioles righthander Alex Cobb:

TWINS

Kepler RF

Adrianza SS

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Cruz DH

Rosario LF

Cron 1B

Gonzalez 3B

Schoop 2B

Castro C

Buxton CF

Berrios RHP

ORIOLES

Smith RF

Mancini LF

Davis 1B

Ruiz 3B

Nunez DH

Sisco C

Jackson SS

Peterson 2B

Diaz CF

Cobb RHP

about the writer

about the writer

Phil Miller

Reporter

Phil Miller has covered the Twins for the Minnesota Star Tribune since 2013. Previously, he covered the University of Minnesota football team, and from 2007-09, he covered the Twins for the Pioneer Press.

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