Twins 4, Pirates 1

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) -- A slimmed-down Boof Bonser appears to be good news for the Minnesota Twins.

Bonser dropped 29 pounds during the offseason. Now weighing in at about 239 and sporting a new, improved changeup, he lowered his spring ERA to 3.00 on Friday, pitching four scoreless innings. He allowed three hits and a walk, striking out three.

Bonser spent much of Friday's outing working on his changeup.

"I was throwing them for strikes," said Bonser, who has set a goal to pitch more than 200 innings this season after going 8-12 with a 5.10 ERA in 173 innings last year. "Last year, I probably threw one or two in a game. I'd definitely like to throw more than that this year."

Joe Mauer had an RBI and two runs scored -- on a sacrifice fly by Craig Monroe and a single by Justin Morneau -- and Carlos Gomez showed his speed with an RBI triple in the fourth.

"He can make a bad bunt look good," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said of Gomez. "People stop watching the ball and start looking at him."

Former Twins Luis Rivas and Doug Mientkiewicz starred for the Pirates. Rivas had two doubles and an RBI and Mientkiewicz went 2-for-4.

Rivas, who spent most of last season in Triple-A for the Cleveland Indians, started at shortstop.

Mientkiewicz, who hit .277 in 72 games last season for the New York Yankees, started at first base. Both players are fighting for a roster spot as a bench player, said first-year Pirates manager John Russell, who got his managing start in the minor leagues for the Twins in 1995.

"He's playing great," Mientkiewicz said of Rivas. "He's doing awesome. It's the best I've seen him play in a long time."

Mientkiewicz, who won a Gold Glove in 2001 while with the Twins, had a rare error at first in the fifth inning. But he shed 25 pounds during the offseason and said he has felt great.

"I feel young again," said Mientkiewicz, who is 33.

Game notes
Twins 3B Mike Lamb returned after missing a week with a sore left hip. He went 0-for-3 but reached base on Mientkiewicz's error. ... The Twins made roster moves Friday, optioning INF Alexi Casilla to Triple-A Rochester along with INF Matt Macri and RHPs Julio DePaula and Bobby Korecky. Pitcher Mariano Gomez and INFs Chris Basak and Howie Clark were reassigned to minor league camp.