By La Velle Neal III, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) –
FORT MYERS, Fla. — Spring training isn’t quite over, but the Grapefruit League season is.
The Twins lost, 6-2, to Tampa Bay on Tuesday at Hammond Stadium. That leaves one game remaining on their spring schedule, an exhibition against the Class A Fort Myers Miracle.
Statistics from that game will not count in the official spring training totals.
So based on the league’s stats, Justin Morneau — who was 1-for-3 with a double on Tuesday — finished with a nine-game hitting streak, although he could play on Wednesday.
Morneau’s double came during a run of doubles in the fourth inning that accounted for all the Twins’ scoring.
Joe Mauer hammered a double to the right-center field wall, followed by a check-swing double by Morneau that landed near the foul line, scoring Mauer. Josh Willingham followed with a double to right, allowing Morneau to score. Mauer, by the way, has at a least one hit in nine of his past 10 games. Willingham went 2-for-3 to raise his average to .271.
Righthander Liam Hendriks held the Rays to one run over five innings before the Rays struck for three runs in the sixth.
The Twins went 18-15 in Grapefruit League games.