FORT MYERS, Fla. — Nelson Cruz enjoys announcing his arrival.
Nelson Cruz arrives with home run, but Twins fall to Red Sox in Grapefruit League game
Bobby Dalbec homered twice for Boston in the matinee at Hammond Stadium.
March 4, 2021 at 12:05AM
For the second straight spring and fifth time in eight seasons, Cruz punctuated his spring debut with a home run on Wednesday, blasting a three-run shot to deep left-center. But Red Sox first baseman Bobby Dalbec homered twice and Boston pounded seven doubles en route to a 14-6 victory over the Twins at Hammond Stadium.
José Berríos pitched two scoreless innings, hitting 95 mph and striking out three hitters in his first outing of the spring.
"I didn't see any [mph] numbers, but that's how I feel. I feel strong," Berríos said. "I was happy about that. I've been working hard to be in this position."
Bullpen candidates Cody Stashak and Ian Hamilton each whiffed two of the three hitters they faced.
But Alex Colomé's first inning as a Twins pitcher included five hits and four runs, and Boston racked up eight runs in the fourth off righthanders Glenn Sparkman and Chandler Shepherd before an out was made. They recorded only one, in fact; since both pitchers had thrown 20 or more pitches, the inning was declared over without a second or third out.
In addition to Cruz's rocket, the Twins got home runs from Mitch Garver and outfield candidate Kyle Garlick, his second of the spring.
The speculation surrounding shortstop Carlos Correa’s availability in a trade was overblown this week, Twins officials indicated at the winter meetings in Dallas.
