1:22Kyle Gibson looked sharp, giving up only four hits in 4⅔ innings Friday. Unfortunately, two of them were home runs to Pittsburgh catcher Francisco Cervelli, and they were enough to carry the Pirates to a 4-2 exhibition victory over the Twins, their fourth loss in three days, at Hammond Stadium.
Gibson struck out four but walked three, including one free pass to Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole, misfires that disappointed him more than Cervelli's home runs.
"Without the walks, I think I'm pretty satisfied," said Gibson, whose spring ERA jumped to 3.29. "Kurt [Suzuki, his catcher] made a good point: I'll live with one-run innings all day long."
Cervelli blasted a changeup onto the left-field berm in the third inning, then rifled a sinker onto the center field deck in the fifth. "That's the danger of a changeup to righties — it ends up being a [batting-practice] fastball," Gibson said. "He was ready for the inside pitch both times and hit it well."
The Twins were limited to two runs by Cole and four relievers. Shane Robinson drove in one run with a third-inning double, and an inning later, Eduardo Escobar followed a Suzuki triple with an RBI single.
Who's at first?
Tom Kelly's first-base academy added an interesting new undergraduate this week: the Twins third baseman.
At manager Paul Molitor's request, Trevor Plouffe has spent the past two days taking ground balls, and instruction, across the diamond from his normal position. It's part of Molitor's determination to have flexibility with his roster.
"We talked about a few different scenarios that might come up during the year, rare as they might be. [Molitor] said, 'Look, this could happen, how would you feel about this?' " Plouffe said. "I told him, 'I'm a baseball player, man. Whatever you want me to do, I'm fine with it.' "
