Twins get to Benson in exhibition win over Pirates
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) – Jacque Jones went 3-for-3 with a homer and Michael Cuddyer and Luis Rivas had three hits apiece as the Minnesota Twins beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 13-7 Wednesday. Brad Radke scattered four hits over five innings and allowed one run in his final start of the spring for Minnesota. He struck out three.
Pirates starter Kris Benson (1-3) gave up seven runs and 10 hits in five innings, including home runs by Jones and Matthew LeCroy.
“We banged the ball around all day and it was a fun day,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “Everybody got involved in the hitting and Radke threw fine out there.”
Left-hander Johan Santana saw his first action in relief since being struck near his left thumb by a foul ball on Sunday. He lasted two-thirds of an inning in the sixth, giving up four runs and four hits before being relieved by J.C. Romero.
Gardenhire said Santana was trying to get a feel for the ball and that the thumb was fine.
Jones led off the bottom of the first with a triple to right field and scored on Cuddyer’s single to left. LeCroy’s two-run homer gave the Twins to a 3-0 lead.
After Rivas singled with one out in the second, Jones hit a two-run homer to left and added an RBI single in the fourth inning before coming out of the game.
Cuddyer homered with Torii Hunter on base in the seventh, after Pittsburgh had closed the gap to 7-5, and Minnesota added four unearned runs in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Jason Kendall was 3-for-3 with a run scored for the Pirates, and Aramis Ramirez drove in two runs. Brian Giles went 2-for-2.