(Eric Lohse is expected to start the season in the
Rock Cats bullpen.)

La Velle E. Neal III
Star Tribune

FORT MYERS, FLA. -- Little brothers usually get the
hand-me-downs. Not in the Lohse family.

Kyle Lohse didn't like the sink on his sinker, so he
has copied the one thrown by his younger brother Eric,
who is a Twins minor leaguer. He used the pitch, which
moves down and in on righthanded hitters, in the
Twins' 5-4 victory over Los Angeles on Saturday.

Kyle Lohse became the first Twin to pitch four
innings. He gave up one earned run on three hits while
striking out three. He has a 2.00 ERA this spring.

"I've been working on a little different pitch," he
said. "It's working pretty good. I'm getting a lot of
ground balls with it."

Lohse moved from Fort Myers to Scottsdale, Ariz.,
during the offseason. Eric now lives in Arizona, too.

"He's got a pretty good one," Kyle Lohse said of his
brother's pitch. "We were able to work out together
this offseason for the first time."

Eric, a reliever, began last season at Class A Quad
City, going 6-5 with a 3.32 ERA. He was promoted to
Class A Fort Myers, where he was 0-2, 4.05.

• With the minor league camp beginning full-squad
workouts on Monday, the first cuts of the major league
camp probably will be made later in the week.

• Jesse Crain pitched a scoreless inning on Saturday
but gave up a hit and walked a batter. "Too many 3-2
counts," Gardenhire said.

• Look for Nick Punto to play in center field sometime
this week. It will be an important audition because
the Twins need to know who can spell Torii Hunter.
Gardenhire mentioned Jacque Jones as a possibility,
too.


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