Notes from Tampa

The curse has ended.

The Twins smoked the Yankees on Sunday in a game that will likely propel them to greatness against New York for years to come.

O.K. just kidding.

But it was strange to watch Derek Jeter drop a routine pop up and to see Twins pitchers do well against Yankees hitters - and the Yanks started many of their regulars.

It was also hard to believe that Freddy Garcia had thrown five scoreless innings heading into Sunday. He was AWFUL.

Some observations:

Denard Span and Tsuyoshi Nishioka, according to Span, are building a good relationship. Nishioka asked him after the first inning if he did the right thing by bunting Span over instead of letting Span steal. Span liked that, and said there will be time when the opposing pitcher will be quick to home plate and bunting will be a better way to get him to second.

It was also Nishioka's best game this spring. He played well in the field, pulled a pitch for a double and took third when Garcia didn't pay attention to him.

Luke Hughes was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a RBI. If he keeps it up he'll give manager Ron Gardenhire something to think about when it's time to finalize the Opening Day roster.

Deolis Guerra entered the game in the seventh and promptly gave up singles to A-Rod and Robinson Cano. But he settled down to get Jorge Posada, Curtis Granderson and Andruw Jones out.

An AL East scout had Guerra at 88-89 mph and touching 91. Far from the 95 he reportedly threw as an 18-year old. The scout said Guerra did OK, showing a nice 12-6 curve and even flashed a change up.

The same scout said David Bromberg struggled with his release point and just wasn't sharp. Bromberg pitched the eighth and gave up a run on a hit and three walks. Pitching coach Rick Anderson had to go to the mound to settle him down.