Play Ball!

Finally, they're playing ball down in the Florida Grapefruit League, and today's the Twins first spring training game against the Cincinnati Reds. Just for the fun of it, lets follow along for the first inning, and see if we can find any signs or portents for the coming year.

Carlos Gomez leads off, playing center field for the Twins. Grounds out to first.

Brendan Harris, second base, bats second. Flies out to right. Gardenhire is evidently working the new guys right into the lineup.

Joe Mauer, catcher, batting third. Takes two strikes, as he is prone to do, then works a full count. Singles to center. First Twins hit of the year!

Cuddyer, right field, then pops up to first on one pitch.

Scott Baker pitching for the Twins.

Hopper, the center fielder leads off for the Reds. First pitch is a strike. Hopper then flies out to right field.

Baker's first pitch to the second hitter, Ryan Freel is also a strike. He works the count full. base hit to center.

Talk between batters is that the Reds are looking to move from their spring training camp in Sarasota.

Brandon Phillips grounds to third. Freel out at second, no double play.

Baker continues to throw first pitch strikes. Encarnacion strikes out. First strike out of Spring Training.

There you have it, the first taste of baseball for Minnesota Twins fans. Not a lot of action, but it was good to see Scott Baker continually get the first pitch over for a strike. That's something the Twins coaching staff emphasizes,  and it sure would be nice to see that be a trend for baker and the entire pitching staff. First pitch strikes keep the game moving along, help keep pitching counts down, and keep the fielders on their toes.

i was going to quit after one inning, but the Twins have started the second inning with back-to-back hits, let's see if they can score.

Lamb lines out. Next hitter grounds into a double play. Inning over, a result way to typical for the Twins last season. Let's not have that be a trend this year.