Spring Game Two: Twins 10, Reds 4

Two games, two wins. Thus far, the Minnesota Twins pitchers and hitters have shown up, and each time, there has been no doubt about victory. That won't matter a month from now, but nonetheless, the wins are nice to see.

Game notes...

** Nick Blackburn took the mound for his first spring training start, and out-did Perkins' performance from a day ago. In two innings of work, Blackburn walked none, and allowed no hits or runs. He seems to, so far at least, be fine after offseason surgery.

** Brian Buscher was the offensive star for the Twins. A day after going two-for-two to start off his critical spring, Buscher launched a two-run homer off of pitcher Francisco Cordero. Buscher collected two hits overall, and after two early games the lefty has an .800 average.

His former platoon partner, Brendan Harris, also collected two hits, and the two have proven thus far that they could be solid backup options to the newly acquired Joe Crede.

** Many of the regulars received the trip off a day after playing their first game. Denard Span and Carlos Gomez each made the trip and appeared in their first games of the preseason. Span collected one hit in three chances while Gomez went 0-3 on the day.

** The one other hitter who stood out on the day was the powerful first base prospect, Brock Peterson. Peterson launched a grand slam over the fence in the eighth inning.

** After Blackburn's two solid innings, Matt Guerrier entered the game and did much of the same. Guerrier also pitched a perfect inning in his first trip to the mound. Craig Breslow followed with another perfect inning, and Joe Mijares allowed one hit while striking out two in a solid fifth inning.

** While Mijares made a solid first impression, Philip Humber, a guy that is out of options, was bad to say the least. Humber allowed four hits and four runs to Cincinatti's backups in the seventh.