FORT MYERS, FLA. – Twins righthander Jose Berrios needed 20 pitches to get out of the first inning Sunday. He lasted only one inning in his Grapefruit League debut Tuesday, throwing a whopping 32 pitches against Boston. Sunday's outing in a 9-3 loss to Pittsburgh was not as shaky, but it was far from smooth as Berrios needs to fine tune his command. And that is what spring training is for.
"Better than the first outing," manager Paul Molitor said. "Not where I think he wants it to be, but saw enough. Rather than overthrow the fastball I think he was trying to locate it.
"I was pleased with the second outing overall."
Berrios ended up with 2⅓ scoreless innings, giving up three hits while striking out two. He needed only 11 pitches to retire the side in order in the second. He was pulled in the third after throwing 14 more pitches.
"I tried to be more aggressive with the hitters," he said.
Garver shows off his strong arm
Catcher Mitch Garver, out since Wednesday because of a minor knee injury, was back in the lineup Sunday and showed off his arm in the fifth inning when he threw out base-stealer Adam Frazier.
Garver cut the infield in half with his throw, making it easy for second baseman Brian Dozier to catch the ball and make the tag.
Garver has thrown out 32 percent of baserunners attempting to steal in the minors, a good rate.