Julien, Miranda lead Twins to 15-3 rout of Pirates in spring training

Edouard Julien and Jose Miranda combined for six hits and seven RBI, Bailey Ober threw five scoreless innings, and the Twins demolished the Pirates 15-3 in Grapefruit League action on Thursday afternoon.

There was no scoring in this game until the bottom of the fifth inning, when the Twins put up five runs on seven hits, including a two-run single by Miranda. They followed that up with an even wilder sixth inning where they brought home nine runs on six hits, benefiting from a couple walks and Pirates errors as well. Julien doubled twice in that frame, driving in three, and Miranda and DaShawn Keirsey Jr. also added two-run doubles. Minnesota scored 14 runs in a two-inning span without hitting a single homer.

None of the nine players who started on Wednesday evening — in what sure looked like a potential Opening Day lineup — played in Thursday's game for the Twins. That meant prominent opportunities for relatively young players like Julien, Miranda, and Brooks Lee. All three are potential X-factors in Minnesota's lineup this year whose roles will depend on their production and the health of the players who might be in front of them on the depth chart.

Julien is hoping to have a bounce-back year in his third MLB season. He had a 130 OPS+ as a rookie, but that number fell to 74 last season (100 is the league average) as he hit .199 and watched far too many third strikes go by him. He spent much of last season with Triple-A St. Paul, but his MLB upside remains tantalizing, and that was on display against the Pirates. Julien hit four balls with an exit velocity of at least 99 miles per hour: a single, two doubles, and a 384-foot flyout. He's up to a .300 average and .849 OPS in spring training after a slow start.

Miranda, like Julien, had a promising rookie season and a major sophomore slump. He bounced back with a solid third season last year, but finished the year rather cold after peaking with an MLB-record-tying streak of hits in 12 consecutive at bats in early July. Miranda homered on Tuesday, went 3 for 4 in this game, and is having a nice spring.

Bailey Ober got the start on the mound for Minnesota and threw five scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks while striking out two. With the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the fifth, he ended his day on a high note by getting Bryan Reynolds to ground out. Ober generated eight swings and misses on 61 pitches and now has a 2.25 ERA this spring.

Griffin Jax struck out two in a scoreless sixth inning. The Pirates didn't score until putting up three runs in the ninth.

In addition to Julien and Miranda, the Twins got multi-hit games from Keirsey and Jeferson Morales.

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