Springer Knuckled Down After Early-Inning Trouble

Dennis Springer didn’t pitch his best game Thursday--remember, he once shut out the Baltimore Orioles in Camden Yards in 1996--but the knuckleballer certainly pitched well enough to remain in the rotation while Mark Gubicza recovers from a shoulder injury.

The Twins scored in the first inning on Chuck Knoblauch’s walk, Greg Colbrunn’s single and Ron Coomer’s RBI single, and they added two more in the fourth on Denny Hocking’s two-run double. But Springer retired the side in order in the second and fifth innings, and he didn’t give up a homer.

“I got the rhythm of the knuckler after the first inning and changed speeds with it,” Springer said. “The first inning is always tough, but if I can get by that and get in a groove, I’m usually OK.”

The Angels scored against starter Brad Radke in the fourth, when Darin Erstad and Jack Howell singled and Erstad came home on Gary DiSarcina’s sacrifice fly.

They added two in the sixth, when Erstad and Howell again singled, Erstad scoring on Knoblauch’s error and Howell on Orlando Palmeiro’s sacrifice fly. But reliever Greg Swindell gave up no runs and two hits over the final 4 1/3 innings for the victory.

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There were runners on second and third when left-handed batting Hocking, the Twins’ No. 9 hitter, stepped in to face reliever Mike James in the bottom of the 10th inning.

But Manager Terry Collins never considered intentionally walking Hocking to have the right-handed James face Knoblauch, Minnesota’s right-handed leadoff batter.

“I don’t want to face [Knoblauch] with the bases loaded,” Collins said. “He can walk, get hit by a pitch. . . . There are a lot of reasons why he’s their leadoff guy.”

Hocking worked the count to 2-and-2 against James before reaching out and poking an outside pitch into left field for the game-winning RBI.

“I put that ball right where I wanted it, and he hit it where it was pitched,” James said. “I didn’t even know Knoblauch was on deck, so that was no factor in how I pitched to Hocking.”

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Left fielder Marty Cordova is on the disabled list because of a foot injury, shortstop Pat Meares sat out Thursday’s game because of a sprained ankle and catcher Terry Steinbach was given the day off. . . . Angel designated hitter Eddie Murray was a late scratch because of a sore left knee. He was replaced by Palmeiro. . . . Twin center fielder Rich Becker had gone 0 for 20 before his ninth-inning single.