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In preparation for its World Baseball Classic tournament play, which officially kicks off tomorrow against Team USA, Colombia came to Hammond Stadium for an exhibition against the Twins. Ervin Santana took his perfect spring record (2-0, 0.00 ERA) to the hill for Minnesota. How did he fare?* In the context of his previous work, Santana’s final line – 4 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 K, 1 BB – looks awful! But he was satisfied with his outing, which set the stage for a 10-7 Twins victory, and for good reason. Obviously, the results didn’t matter. And while Santana gave up a few hard hits, he threw strikes, got grounders and worked efficiently. The righty made it through four frames while needing a dozen fewer pitches than his allotment of 65. The loudest knock of the day was an opposite field blast to right by Phillies catcher Jorge Alfaro in the fourth inning. Though the homer came on an 0-2 count, Santana didn’t regret his offering. “That was the right pitch, fastball away,” he said. "He got a good swing on it." * Drew Stubbs, who signed a minor-league deal during the offseason, got the start and batted leadoff as he makes his case for a bench spot. Stubbs hasn’t hit much in the past couple of seasons, which is why he couldn’t land a guaranteed contract, but he recognizes his appeal to a team like Minnesota. "I’m a natural center fielder and those are kind of hard to come by when you’re looking for a guy who can fill in,” the 32-year-old said. As I wrote last month when discussing some camp sleepers for the Twins, he veteran’s defensive play this month will likely prove more critical than anything he does with the bat. He didn’t get any real chances to flash the leather in center today but I suspect he’ll get plenty more opportunities to show what he can do out there this month. Paul Molitor said he wants to see more of what Stubbs can do against left-handed pitching, and plans to get him some more exposure over the next couple of days with southpaws on the probable docket. * Another day, another Danny Santana gaffe. After committing several blunders at shortstop on Wednesday night, Santana got the start in left. In the third inning, after reaching on a fielder’s choice, he left early on a steal attempt with one out and got picked off. On the very next pitch, Brian Dozier smashed a double off the wall in left center that would have likely scored Santana from first. Instead, Miguel Sano followed the Dozier double with a strikeout and the Twins came away empty-handed in the inning. It was another base running flub from a player who went just 12-for-21 on steals last year despite his speed. To his credit, Santana did deliver an RBI infield single a few innings later that put the Twins on the board. * Two contenders for the backup catcher job appeared in today’s game, with Chris Gimenez starting behind the plate before being replaced by Mitch Garver in the sixth inning. Gimenez went 1-for-2 with a single while Garver finished 0-for-1 with a walk and an RBI groundout. It was a somewhat rare chance this spring for Garver, who ranks as our 11th-best Twins prospect. When chatting before the game, he didn’t make it sound like he’d be too crushed if he loses out to more experienced options like Gimenez or John Ryan Murphy, and in fact seemed almost resigned to it. "If they want me to help the team and be a backup that’d be awesome,” he said. “If I’ve gotta be in Triple-A for the year that’s fine with me. I just want to improve my game and be ready when I get there." * Sano struck out in two of his three plate appearances and walked in the other. He’s now batting .167 this spring with 10 strikeouts in 18 at-bats. The base on balls was his first in Grapefruit League play, so clearly the slugger hasn’t brought a very good approach the plate thus far. Is Molitor concerned? Not too much, yet. “It’s funny, when it’s the start of the season or whatever else, and things don’t go well, it kind of jumps out at you … We’ll keep him in a regular rotation and hopefully start seeing better results.” Molitor’s point about small samples, good or bad, sticking out more when they are the only sample is a fair one. But Sano’s 36 percent K-rate last year was three points higher than the qualified leader (Chris Davis) and in fact he would’ve set the all-time record for if he made seven more plate appearances to reach the 502 threshold. So, it’s a little tough not to be distraught by the early contact issues from a player the Twins desperately need to start moving in the other direction. * One player who has caught Molitor’s eye: Benji Gonzalez, a non-roster invite who most recently played in the Mariners organization. The versatile infielder made the most of his four innings after taking over at the hot corner in the sixth. He walked and scored in his first at-bat, singled in the go-ahead run on a hit-and-run in his second, and then launched a towering oppo bomb in his third. Later, his nifty backhand pick and throw on a tough grounder down the third base line mercifully ended a ninth frame that had dragged on with Michael Tonkin and Ryan O’Rourke laboring. “He’s done really well,” the manager said. “We’ve had a chance to have some different people in camp here in that kind of role and – not that these other guys haven’t done some things – but he’s been a pleasant surprise." Click here to view the article