SARASOTA, Fla. -- Buoyed by some solid pitching, the Twins edged the Orioles, 3-0, on Monday afternoon at Ed Smith Stadium. Baltimore (0-7-1) is winless in eight Grapefruit League games.
Minnesota got on the board courtesy of John Hicks' RBI single off O's reliever and No. 1 prospectHunter Harvey in the fifth. Trevor Plouffe pushed it to two with an RBI double off Mychal Givens in the sixth, and Juan Centeno added an RBI double off Chris Jones in the eighth.
Ubaldo Jimenez turned in a smooth second spring start, allowing just one hit over three scoreless innings. Jimenez, who gave up six earned runs and recorded just one out in his debut, retired the Twins on 10 pitches in the third. He struck out three in the 46-pitch outing.
"It feels way better than when you start giving up so many runs," Jimenez said of Monday's outing. "The first thing I'm looking for is the things that I'm working on, but when you are able to get out of a situation like that, you feel good. You know that even though you're working on things, you have a better result when you have a good command of the fastball."
Twins starter Phil Hughes also cruised, facing just 10 batters and allowing one hit over three scoreless innings. Hughes has not allowed a run in five Grapefruit League innings.
"They were swinging early and I was getting some outs, so I'll take it," Hughes said. "Any time you can finish up with pitches in the 'pen, it's a good thing. The first two, that's been the case, so I'll take that."
Trevor May followed Hughes with three strikeouts in 2 1/3 scoreless innings.
New Orioles outfielder Hyun Soo Kim went 0-for-2 and is hitless in 18 spring at-bats.
Up Next for the Twins: The Twins have split-squad action on Tuesday, as right-hander Ricky Nolasco will start at home against the Cardinals and right-hander Tyler Duffey will get the nod against the Blue Jays in Dunedin. Nolasco is competing for the fifth spot in the rotation, while Duffey's spot is secure. Twins manager Paul Molitor will be on the trip to Dunedin, while Joe Vavra will act as manager in Fort Myers.
Up Next for the Orioles: The Orioles will remain at home and take on the Boston Red Sox for the second time in three days. Baltimore will send Miguel Gonzalez to the mound opposite Red Sox lefty Roenis Elias for the 1:05 p.m. ET matchup on MLB.TV.