Hughes continues stingy ways, but errors hurt

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Jake Peavy tossed three-plus solid innings in his Grapefruit League debut, and Dustin Pedroia provided a two-run double to help lead the Red Sox to a 4-3 win over the Twins on Thursday afternoon at Hammond Stadium.

Peavy, who suffered a cut to his left hand from a fishing knife in early March, was charged with one run on two hits, walked two and struck out two in his first start of the spring. He threw 53 pitches, with 31 going for strikes.

The lone run he allowed came in the fourth inning, when he issued a leadoff walk to Josh Willingham and was removed from the game in favor of left-hander Andrew Miller. Miller promptly gave up a double to Oswaldo Arcia before throwing a wild pitch to allow Willingham to score from third. Kurt Suzuki added an RBI single off Miller as part of a three-run inning.

Right-hander Phil Hughes made his third start of the spring for the Twins, giving up two unearned runs on four hits, with two strikeouts. He lowered his ERA to 1.04.

"It was good -- it seemed like they brought their 'A' lineup over here," said Hughes, who threw 65 pitches. "I thought overall it was pretty good. I ran into some trouble in the third inning with some things, but it's good to get those innings where you have to throw a bunch of pitches and get through it and get your arm strength going."

Boston scored twice in the third, keyed by a pair of errors from third baseman Trevor Plouffe and first baseman Joe Mauer. Plouffe couldn't handle a grounder hit by Xander Bogaerts, who eventually scored from third on a pickoff throw to first base that was dropped by Mauer. Shane Victorino also added an RBI single for the second run of the inning with two outs.

The Red Sox took the lead with two runs in the fifth against left-hander Matt Hoffman thanks to more shoddy defense from the Twins. Daniel Nava reached on a fielding error from shortstop Danny Santana before Victorino reached on a bunt single. Pedroia made Santana pay for his two-out miscue with a two-run double.

Right-hander Samuel Deduno, who is the favorite to claim the final spot in Minnesota's rotation, also tossed three scoreless frames in relief. He walked one and didn't allow a hit, with two strikeouts.

Up next: The Twins have split-squad action on Friday, when they host the Orioles at Hammond Stadium and travel to Tampa, Fla., to play the Yankees. Both games can be watched live on MLB.TV at 12:05 p.m. CT. Right-hander Mike Pelfrey will make the start against Baltimore, while right-hander Kyle Gibson will start against New York.