Twins' Trevor May reminded of a simple baseball rule in spring training

FORT MYERS, FLA. – Trevor May's otherwise impressive inning of work Friday came with a good springtime reminder: Cover the plate.

May tried to get Jose Martinez to chase a slider, but it glanced off Mitch Garver's glove and bounced to the backstop. Tampa Bay rookie Randy Arozarena, who had singled and stolen second base, scooted to third base and rounded the bag. Seeing May still standing on the mound, he kept going, sliding safely home before Garver could reach him.

"My fault. To be honest, it's pretty rare that both of us would be caught off guard like that," May said. "That's not a mistake I make, so that's annoying. At least I made it here."

"He was just a little frustrated, it looked like," said coach Bill Evers, who filled in as Twins manager Friday with Rocco Baldelli leading the group that traveled to the Dominican Republic for Saturday's game vs. Detroit. "Give their guy credit, he took advantage."

It did feel like a midcamp play, the kind that, Garver said, won't happen during the regular season. "[Arozarena is] fast and he's trying to make the team. He's hustling," said the Twins' catcher, who was charged with a passed ball on the play. "I had the ball. I could have run to home plate and dove to get him. It crossed my mind. And then I thought … nah."

May was the only projected member of the Twins bullpen to give up a hit Friday. Tyler Clippard struck out two of the three hitters he faced in an easy inning of work, while Zack Littell struck out one, though he also walked two batters before stranding them. And Sergio Romo struck out all three Rays he faced, finishing up by catching ex-Twins teammate Ryan LaMarre looking at strike three.

Starter Jhoulys Chacin wasn't as sharp, giving up two runs on three hits, including a solo home run by Joey Wendle.

"Pretty happy with my changeup today, that's what I was working on. Got a couple of swings and misses with it," Chacin said. "I know I have to get better results, I'm battling for a spot on the team. But at the same time, I was just working on stuff today."

The next World Baseball Classic is a year away, but a couple of Twins prospects will head to Arizona next week to try to help their home countries qualify for it.

Class A outfielder Gabriel Maciel will play for Brazil in the WBC qualifying tournament March 13-18 in Tucson, Ariz. In addition, righthander Niklas Rimmel, who has pitched for the Twins' rookie-level Gulf Coast League team the past two summers, has been selected to play for Germany.

Those two teams, plus France, Nicaragua, Pakistan and South Africa, will play a tournament, with the top two teams advancing to the fifth WBC, which will be held next March. The WBC field is expanding from 16 teams to 20, with all entrants in the 2017 tournament, won by Team USA, invited back. Another qualifying tournament later this month will choose the final two teams for the field.

LaTroy Hawkins, who spent much of February as a spring training coach for the Twins, will serve as Brazil's pitching coach in the qualifier, under manager and baseball Hall of Fame shortstop Barry Larkin. Former Giants manager Bruce Bochy is in charge of Team France.

Dominicans Nelson Cruz, Miguel Sano and Gilberto Celestino will get the most attention, but lefthander Devin Smeltzer, who has given up four earned runs and a team-high 10 hits in 6⅓ innings this spring, hopes to have a better outing as the Twins take on the Tigers in Santo Domingo.

PHIL MILLER