Grapefruit roundup Tribe/Bucs

Indians 9, Phillies 5

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — Fausto Carmona pitched three shutout innings and Ryan Garko connected for a three-run homer to lead Cleveland. Gusting winds led to several mistakes that had fans laughing and players frustrated. Carmona was all business, however, allowing two hits and striking out three in his second spring start since a poor performance in the 2007 AL championship series against Boston. “I felt good and was to keep the ball down,” said Carmona, who used a sharp sinker to go 19-8 with a 3.06 ERA in 2007. After the sharp spring outing, Carmona went to phone his good friend Juan Lara, an Indians minor leaguer who is in Cleveland doing daily rehab work after a near-fatal car crash in November. Lara suffered a broken arm and vertebra along with severe brain trauma when his SUV was hit by a speeding motorcycle while stopped at a traffic light in the Dominican Republic. “I miss him a lot, but talk to him every day,” Carmona said through interpreter Dennis Malave, a Cleveland coach. “Life and family comes before everything. I was worried for his life. Now, I hope someday he can pitch again. He thinks he can.” Andy Gonzalez’s two-run homer in Cleveland’s three-run second gave even the Phillies a few laughs as right fielder Greg Dobbs lost his glove over the fence while trying to catch the wind-blown fly. After a few minutes watching Dobbs sheepishly peer through openings in the padded structure and calling for help, fans cheered when the glove came flying back, courtesy of a stadium worker. “You’re in this game long enough, you’ll see it all,” Manuel said. “But wind or no wind, you’ve got to go after the ball and make a play.”

Twins 8, Pirates 4

BRADENTON, Fla. — Maybe they can’t afford to re-sign all their stars, and the Minnesota Twins must always worry about having to trade a Johan Santana at the peak of his career or losing a Torii Hunter to free agency. For all they lost during an offseason that might have gutted some less-fortunate teams, the Twins never seem to run out of arms. Scott Baker started and pitched two shutout innings to lead the Twins. The right-hander is one of the numerous promising pitchers looking to make up the void created by the departures of two-time Cy Young Award winner Santana and 13-game winner Carlos Silva. On a sunny, windy day in which any ball hit toward right field had a chance of going out, Craig Monroe and Jason Kubel homered on consecutive pitches thrown by Pittsburgh’s Matt Morris during a four-run third. Justin Morneau drove in three runs with a sacrifice fly and a two-run double off Paul Maholm in the fourth as the Twins had seven extra-base hits in winning their seventh in a row. Morris didn’t like his outing — six runs, four hits in three innings — though the homers were aided by the wind. “The third, I just wasn’t as sharp,” Morris said. “But I feel great physically and the ball’s coming out good.”

Associated Press