FORT MYERS, FLA. — Welcome back to the American League, Jamey Carroll.
In his first plate appearance wearing a Twins uniform, during Saturday's exhibition opener, Carroll worked the count full before Rays lefthander David Price threw a fastball that knocked off his helmet.
It was a scary moment, but Carroll took his base and stayed in the game. The ball hit the helmet's left ear flap.
"I think I turned enough, and the way it hit me, the impact knocked the helmet off more than it impacted my head," he said. "I think it scared me more than anything. ... Goal is to get on base, right?"
Price apologized on the field. "He's a classy guy and didn't mean to, obviously," Carroll said.
Span has a scare on a deep fly ball to center Denard Span fell backward near the center field wall in the third inning, catching a fly ball from Desmond Jennings that had sailed in the wind. An inning later, Span crumpled to the ground again, catching another fly ball in the sun.
"It was everything," said Span, who went 2-for-3 at the plate. "You had a high sky. It was a cloudy day. You've got fans behind the backstop wearing white. You've got the sun. You've got the wind. We had everything. Definitely a good tester for Game 1."
Asked whether he hit his head against the wall on his first circus catch, Span said, "Uh, I don't think so. I'm not going to give you guys anything to start."
