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."

1-2-3 for Maloney in lefty's pitching debut Matt Maloney, a lefthander who is out of minor league options, needs to make a big impression this spring, and he couldn't have asked for a better first outing, striking out the side in the eighth inning. Granted, the hitters were Brandon Guyer, Brad Coon and Jake Salazar.

"He used all of his pitches," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "He used that changeup -- nice little pitch. We're just getting to see these guys. But he threw it over, which is very impressive."

Remaining players sign one-year deals The Twins announced that they'd signed one-year deals with the 24 remaining unsigned players on their 40-man roster. All of those players, including lefthander Brian Duensing and third baseman Danny Valencia, have less than three years of major league experience. Players with between three and six years of service time are eligible for arbitration.

On deck The Twins have split-squad away games Sunday. Francisco Liriano will pitch opposite Red Sox righthander Josh Beckett at Boston's new spring-training complex in Fort Myers. And Rule 5 draftee Terry Doyle will pitch opposite Rays righthander Jeremy Hellickson in Port Charlotte, Fla. Four Twins position players won't play in either game: Span, Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Josh Willingham. All are expected to be in the lineup Monday night, when the Twins play the Red Sox at Hammond Stadium.