Twins, Braves play to scoreless tie in spring training pitchers' duel

11 pitchers combined for 18 half-innings of scoreless baseball in Florida on Tuesday.

Mar 4, 2025; North Port, Florida, USA; Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Randy Dobnak (68) throws a pitch in the first inning against the Atlanta Braves during spring training at CoolToday Park. | Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images

Not a single run was scored in Tuesday afternoon's spring training game between the Minnesota Twins and the Atlanta Braves in North Port, Florida. 11 pitchers combined for 18 scoreless half-innings of work in an exhibition contest that ended in a 0-0 tie.

2024 NL Cy Young winner Chris Sale got the start for Atlanta and threw four no-hit innings, striking out four batters. A Matt Wallner hit-by-pitch and a Harrison Bader walk were the only blemishes on Sale's outing, though it's worth noting that the Twins' lineup did not feature Byron Buxton, Carlos Correa, or Royce Lewis.

Opposing Sale for the Twins was Randy Dobnak, who famously started a playoff game at Yankee Stadium in 2019 and then last season made his first Twins appearances in three years. Dobnak, now 30 years old, is a longshot to make Minnesota's roster in the final year of his contract, but he pitched well against the Braves. The soft-tossing veteran picked up five strikeouts in three scoreless innings against a lineup filled with Atlanta's big-league regulars. He allowed three hits and two walks.

After Dobnak departed, Danny Coulombe and Louis Varland threw scoreless innings for Minnesota. Standout prospect Andrew Morris then went two innings before minor-leaguers Alex Speas and Aaron Rozek finished it out with one frame apiece.

The Braves used MLB pitchers Jake Diekman and Bryce Elder out of the bullpen, as well as minor-leaguers Rob Griswold and Shay Schanaman.

Both teams had a few opportunities to scrape a run across. The Braves left multiple runners on base against Dobnak in the first and second innings and against Morris in the sixth. The Twins had their best threat in the seventh, but Brooks Lee flew out with runners on the corners and one out and Wallner flew out with the bases loaded and two outs.

Jose Miranda had two of the Twins' four hits in the game. The others belonged to Willi Castro and Jeferson Morales. All four were singles.

This was the second consecutive draw for the Twins in Grapefruit League play, following a 5-5 tie against the Rays on Sunday. They'll be back in action on Wednesday against the Orioles, while their next televised contest will come on Thursday against the Yankees.

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