Red Sox Notebook: ERod shines in second outing; Gonzalez homers from each side of plate

In his second start of the spring, Eduardo Rodriguez was both efficient and dominant, limiting the Minnesota Twins to a single run on four hits over four innings with six strikeouts.

Rodriguez yielded a solo homer to Twins' phenom Alex Kirilloff in the first inning but that was the only damage done against him over 48 pitches, 33 of which were thrown for strikes.

He also didn't allow a walk.

"I was working today on location,'' said Rodriguez after the Red Sox beat the Twins, 5-4, "and it was working really great. Changeup command was perfect, fastball command was good. The curveball (Kirilloff hit) was a good pitch, I tried to throw it for a strike and he put a good swing on it and hit it out of the ballpark. But everything I threw today was working.''

Rodriguez credited having "a regular off-season'' following his COVID-19 and myocarditis battles for the quality and location he's shown.

"My pitches are getting back to where they (were),'' he said.

"It was good to see him perform this way, but it wasn't surprising,'' said Alex Cora.

Rodriguez's fastball was 92-93 mph, a bit off from the 95 mph or so that he usually registers. But he's not the least bit worried.

"Right now, I'm just working on location,'' he said. "I know the velocity is going to get back. (The closer we) get to the season, it's going to get back. Right now, my mind is just on getting my pitches back, working on location and getting my shoulder really strong. Then, there will be a point where my (velocity) will back.''

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As good as Rodriguez was, the real star of the day was Marwin Gonzalez, who hit two homers -- one from each side of the plate. The last time a Red Sox player did that was 11 years ago when Victor Martinez did it against the Yankees in a regular season game.

Gonzalez hit the first one lefthanded, with the bases empty, in the first inning. He hit another in the fifth, from the right side of the plate, with two baserunners on.

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Franchy Cordero, finally cleared to work out with the team after a lengthy stay on the COVID-19 related IL, took some swings in a simulated game.

The Sox will soon have to clear a spot on the 40-man roster to get Cordero back to active duty. It will take some time for him to see game action, as he hasn't been very physically active since arriving in camp last week.

"We're going to try to get him as many at-bats as possible,'' said Cora. "The other stuff is buildup. We've got to make sure his legs are under him. We've just got to make sure. We know the history, so we have to do it the right way. He hasn't run in a while, so that's going to take some time.''

With Cordero doubtful for the start of the season, Cora said left field would be handled by Gonzalez, Kiké Hernández and J.D. Martinez. He added that he wanted Michael Chavis to focus on the infield only.

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Hirokazu Sawamura will make his Grapefruit League debut with a scheduled inning Friday against Tampa Bay....Matt Barnes hit 98 mph with his fastball, fanning two of the four hitters he faced...Christian Arroyo, getting the start at shortstop, had two hits...Xander Bogaerts and Danny Santana are expected to make their Grapefruit League debuts Friday, sharing DH at-bats...Less than half of the 30 MLB teams are planning on having scouts in-person at games this spring and into the regular season -- partly due to COVID-19 worries, partly because of a general industry-wide trend of cutbacks in the scouting area. But the Red Sox will be one of the teams sending scouts to games. "Safety first, but our scouts are out there now,'' said Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, "and I would expect that to continue throughout the summer.''