Garcia regresses in rotation quest

TAMPA, Fla. -- On Friday, Ivan Nova took a step backward in the battle for a rotation spot.

On Sunday, Freddy Garcia did the same.

Garcia entered having allowed no runs and two hits in five innings, but his third start didn't go well. The Twins scored four runs in 2 2/3 innings.

"Today I couldn't make a pitch," Garcia said. "I was feeling good but I couldn't make a pitch. I wasn't throwing strikes like last time. I didn't make the pitch when I needed it."

Joe Girardi has said he wants the four contenders for the fourth and fifth spots -- Garcia, Nova, Sergio Mitre and Bartolo Colon -- to avoid overreacting to any one outing. "We don't expect any of our starters to be perfect," Girardi said, reiterating that final decisions on the rotation might not come until the end of spring training.

Garcia isn't discouraged. "I didn't pitch the way I want to pitch, but there's nothing I can do," he said. "I know I need to pitch well to win a spot, but it was one of those days. I have to forget about it, come back tomorrow and try to do my job and in my next start pitch better."

Oops

Derek Jeter dropped Luke Hughes' pop-up in the sun in the fourth inning, leading to four unearned runs. The last pop anyone could remember Jeter dropping was Mike Napoli's on July 10, 2009, in Anaheim.

"Once I started backpedaling, I was in trouble," Jeter said with a smile. "It's not the first pop-up I've dropped, and I'm sure it won't be the last one I drop." Extra bases

Andrew Brackman had a frustrating second outing, allowing two hits and two walks in 12/3 innings . . . Former Yankee Alfredo Aceves is scheduled to start for Boston against Mitre Monday nightin Fort Myers . . . The Twins' Denard Span, who is from the Tampa area, lined a foul ball off his mother's chest last season when Minnesota came to town. She was in the stands Sunday, but, per her request, Span said, sat behind the backstop netting.