CLEARWATER, Fla. — A couple of extra notes from a rather by-the-numbers Twins' loss — only Oswaldo Arcia, among the Twins' projected starting lineup, made the trip, so getting shut out was hardly a surprise — before hitting the highway from home:

— As he watched Blaine Boyer, Paul Molitor said after the game, "I was just saying, 'Don't get hurt, don't get hurt.' " No, not while Boyer was pitching — that part went just as smoothly as it has all spring. Boyer faced seven batters and retired them all, giving him a streak of 13 straight hitters without a baserunner. Hey, almost halfway to a perfect game.

"I don't know what his numbers are," Molitor said of Boyer, who has five scoreless outings in six appearances this spring, "but I'd have to say they're pretty good."

So good, it's a foregone conclusion now that the non-roster invitee, who spent last season with San Diego, has captured a bullpen spot. Boyer has an out clause he can exercise next Monday if the Twins tell him he won't make the 25-man roster, but he's made that moot with the way he's pitched.

But after Boyer relieved Mike Pelfrey in the fifth and quickly ended a second-and-third-with-two-outs threat, then pitched a 1-2-3 sixth, Molitor decided to send him out for the seventh inning, too. Only problem: Boyer's spot was due up third in the top of the inning.

"Normally, I'd pinch-hit for him, but I kind of prioritized getting him that extra inning," Molitor said. So he sent Boyer to the plate with a bat in his hands, something the 33-year-old righthander had not done since June 23, 2010. On the Phillies' telecast, they flashed his lifetime hitting stats — 0 for 8 — on the screen.

Boyer fouled off Justin De Fratus' first pitch, took a strike, and then made contact, sending a weak grounder to shortstop Andres Blanco.

Molitor was relieved. He could imagine, he said, "pulling a rib cage [muscle] on your first swing or something."

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Molitor shuffled his Eduardos on Monday, starting Eduardo Escobar at third base and Eduardo Nunez at shortstop, the opposite of the utilitymen's usual alignment. And in the fifth inning, he moved Escobar to left field, something he plans to ask Nunez to do on Tuesday, too.

"They've got to start getting at least a little experience out there," Molitor said. "They have to have a chance to adapt to [the outfield], get a better feel for positioning, throwing to the right base. The more you do those things, the better."

It's part of Molitor's effort to give himself more options, just like playing third baseman Trevor Plouffe at first base on Sunday.

So will both Eduardos be on the roster come April?

"There's a chance they both will be here, like they were last year," Molitor said. "There are obviously scenarios where they both could be on the 25-man two weeks from today."