Cruz smashes first ‘bomba’ of spring training as Twins beat Red Sox 3-2

Nelson Cruz smacked a two-run homer in the third inning to help the Minnesota Twins to a 3-2 win over Boston on Monday afternoon.

The Twins improve to 2-0 in the Grapefruit League after the victory, as the 5-5 tie with Toronto on Sunday doesn’t count toward the standings.

Kenta Maeda, acquired in a trade over the offseason, started the game for his Twins spring-training debut. Boston outfielder Andrew Benintendi took Maeda’s second pitch of the game deep to right field for a solo homer. But Maeda settled down after that and allowed two hits and one run over two innings of work.

Gilberto Celestino’s solo homer in the third inning tied the game at 1, and Cruz’s two-run shot gave the Twins the lead for good. The Red Sox added one run in the top of the ninth but couldn’t complete the comeback.

Reliever Trevor May looked impressive, as he fanned three hitters and allowed one hit in one inning of work. Right-hander Tyler Duffey also logged a 1-2-3 inning.