Ron Gardenhire’s son won the game in the bottom of the ninth when Chris Basak booted his grounder up the middle with the winning run on second base.

Lineup:

S – Melky Cabrera (LF)
L – Robinson Cano (2B)
L – Bobby Abreu (RF)
S – Jorge Posada (C)
R – Josh Phelps (DH)
R – Andy Phillips (1B)
R – Chris Basak (SS)
L – Kevin Reese (CF)
R – Miguel Cairo (3B)

Pitchers: Carl Pavano, Colter Bean, Mike Myers, Scott Proctor, Chris Britton

Subs: Ramiro Peña (SS), Todd Pratt (C), Kevin Thompson (RF), Brett Gardner (CF)

Opposition: Most of the Twins starters, but no Joe Mauer.

Big Hits: Solo homers by Bobby Abreu (2 for 2, BB) and Josh Phelps (2 for 4). Phelps is now tied with Giambi and Rodriguez for the camp lead in homers despite having roughly 20 fewer plate appearances than the other two. Abreu, meanwhile, has two homers in just 18 PA. Robinson Cano (2 for 5) picked up his ninth double of the spring.

Who Pitched Well?: Carl Pavano didn’t strike anybody out, but he turned in a quality start allowing just six hits and a walk in six innings and getting 14 of his eighteen outs on the ground thanks to four double plays. He needed just 86 pitches to get through those six innings. Mike Myers threw just two pitches and retired his designated batter, Jason Kubel.

Who Didn’t?: In to face a series of subs in the ninth, Chris Britton issued a four-pitch walk to Luis Rodriguez with one out. After pinch-runner Jason Tyner stole second with two outs, Britton gave up a game-tying single up the middle to Matt Tolbert, a player on loan from the Twins’ minor league camp who wasn’t even invited to major league camp this spring. Tolbert moved to second when Kevin Reese’s throw from center tailed away from cutoff man Andy Phillips, and came around with the winning run when Toby Gardenhire—I kid you not, the manager’s son, Toby, who also was never officially invited to minor league camp—hit another ball up the middle that Chris Basak booted. Tolbert and Toby wore numbers in the 90s and didn’t even have names on the backs of their jerseys. Embarrassing doesn’t cover it.

Oopsies: Chris Basak, playing shortstop, flubbed a grounder to his right on the Yankees’ first defensive play of the game. Playing second base, he then flubbed a grounder to his right on the Yankees’ final defensive play of the game. Basak has made four errors this spring.

Ouchies: Chien-Ming Wang played catch with Ron Guidry from 60 and 90 feet away, making 45 throws. He hopes to beat the Yankees projected return date. Andy Pettitte reported no ill effects from his bullpen on Monday. Jeff Karstens is wearing a protective sleeve on his pitching arm and taking anti-inflammatories. He could start throwing again tomorrow, but will be careful not to rush back to quickly. Ron Villone was hit in the shin by a comebacker in his minor league outing on Monday, but escaped with just a bruise. Humberto Sanchez (elbow) will start the season in extended spring training.

Battles:: Josh Phelps hit a solo home run in the second and singled in the go-ahead run in the ninth, though he did strike out and hit into a double play in his other two at-bats. Phelps is tied with Robinson Cano for the camp lead in RBIs despite having barely more than half as many plate appearances as Cano. Andy Phillips followed Phelps’s home run with a strikeout, then followed that with three more Ks, though he did make some smooth plays in the field. Todd Pratt struck out in his only at-bat. Colter Bean walked the first two men he faced in the seventh, but rallied to post another scoreless inning.

Notes: Twins starter Boof Bonser (who, despite allowing a pair of solo homers, allowed just two other hits and struck out seven in his six innings of work) looks and moves like a right-handed David Wells. Meanwhile, Carl Pavano’s gait on his walk from the mound to the dugout is beginning to resemble Joe Torre’s in the other direction. Despite Pavano’s solid outing, he still hasn’t officially been named the Opening Day starter, though he seems like a lock at this point.