There's more than one reason a bat adorns a shoulder of Tampa Bay Rays righty Andy Sonnanstine(notes) in this photo.

It's not only because Sonnanstine comes into 2011 batting a career .318 (7-for-22) with three walks in his limited plate appearances.

It's also because the Baltimore Orioles were driving him batty with home runs Tuesday.

Sonnanstine allowed five homers in the first 11 batters he faced. Our own 'Duk was on the ground at Ed Smith Stadium for the shellacking, which the Orioles won 12-6. Incoming!

Sonnanstine, who saw 12 batters overall, threw 15 of 18 pitches for strikes. Nick Markakis(notes) made him pay twice; Vladimir Guerrero(notes), Adam Jones(notes) and Jake Fox(notes) also took him deep.

The Heater has video of Sonnanstine's reaction.

"I had a little bit of an anomaly," Sonnanstine said.

A reporter also asked if Sonnanstine could recall ever giving up that many homers in a game. He could not recall, because four was his max in one game — regular season, anyway —

Chris Carpenter(notes) felt a "twinge" in his left hamstring that caused him to leave his Grapefruit League start Tuesday.

His sensation was nothing like the twinge that probably ran up and down the collective spine of the St. Louis Cardinals minutes earlier as he walked off the mound with a trainer.

Here is an account from MLB.com:

Carpenter had breezed through 2 2/3 innings with scarcely a hiccup before he walked Marlins outfielder Chris Coghlan(notes). After the final pitch of Coghlan's plate appearance, Carpenter walked off the mound, and head athletic trainer Greg Hauck came out to check on him. With virtually no delay, Carpenter headed for the dugout.

Feelings of dread parted some when Carpenter revealed the injury wasn't to his arm, or that serious. But soon thereafter, right-hander Mitchell Boggs(notes) left the game after clutching his lower back.

The Cardinals have had rotten fortune this spring, also having lost right-hander Adam Wainwright(notes) to season-ending elbow

This business of the Minnesota Twins shopping left-hander Francisco Liriano(notes) certainly fits their organization's profile for the past 50 years.

Liriano is a free agent after the 2012 season, which means it's not too early for the Twins to trade him so they don't have to pay him. It's like, even a step or two ahead, of what they did with Johan Santana(notes) a few years back.

If you thought the days of the Twins going cheap were over simply because their ballpark is a cash cow and they gave Joe Mauer(notes) all that money, well, you were wrong. (Apparently Mauer got all the money.)

Liriano is — by a wide margin — the Twins' best pitcher. Not only does he have an ace's stuff, he actually pitched like an ace in 2010 at age 26. Further, he was one of the two or three best pitchers in the AL.

The Twins treat him like potential that never will be realized. Sometimes, he gives them reason. But there's no sense risking dollars on that, in Minnesota's view.

Well, if the Twins trade

MESA, Ariz. — Hitting is definitely ahead of pitching right now for new Chicago Cubs righty Matt Garza(notes).

Garza made up for a blah performance on the mound Sunday afternoon by getting his first base hit as a professional ballplayer in his Cactus League debut.

Garza found it hard to contain his joy after hitting a single down the first-base line against left-hander Josh Outman(notes) to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning against the Oakland Athletics.

"It wasn't pretty, but it was a hit," teammate Carlos Peña said. "So we'll take it. He was so pumped up, it was funny."

Garza got to the bag and the A's Daric Barton(notes) made a request.

"When I got to first," Garza said, "Barton's at first and he's like, ‘Don't smile.' I'm like, ‘Dude, it's my first hit.'

"He's like, ‘Just turn around and smile, then.' "

So he did.

Garza also ran the bases well, to the satisfaction of manager Mike Quade. The A's won 15-7 at Hohokam Stadium.

Garza's first Cubs pitching performance was

MESA, Ariz. — When I first asked Hall of Fame closer Rollie Fingers for an interview on Sunday afternoon, he said to come back later.

Fingers was sitting at a booth inside Hohokam Stadium at the Cactus League home opener for the Chicago Cubs. He was next to fellow Hall of Famers Gaylord Perry and Fergie Jenkins. Former Cubs' player Pete LaCock was there, too, and they were all signing autographs.

When I returned a couple of hours later, Fingers still wasn't ready to answer any questions. Actually, he acted as though I had returned to yank out his fingernails.

"I told you, I don't do interviews," Fingers said, revising his earlier statement a bit.

Not wanting to miss an opportunity to learn something about the most celebrated mustache in Major League history, I didn't take "get out of here" for an answer. I said I'd be brief, I put down my recorder, turned it on and started asking him questions. I was quite polite in my rudeness, I swear.

Below, the results of that interview.

Q: Have

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Clay Zavada(notes) still has work to do on his arm, and his handlebar mustache, before he is ready to return to the majors.

The Arizona Diamondbacks mustachioed man had a memorable rookie season in 2009 when he struck out 52 in 51 innings, doing so while looking like a left-handed Rollie Fingers.

He could not follow up in 2010. The mustache looked similar but Zavada couldn't throw strikes in spring training, and he continued to struggle during five appearances in Triple-A, before a proper diagnosis was made. He had an elbow injury that required Tommy John ligament replacement surgery.

About 10 1/2 months later, Zavada is optimistic but realistic about his chances of making the team out of spring training.

"I got a long way to go," Zavada said over the weekend. "It's going good, progress is good, I'm advancing every day. But I've still got three bullpens to throw and then I've got to throw a couple of simulated games where we get a couple of hitters in there.

"And

Every day in spring training until we finish the entire league, Big League Stew takes a brief capsule look at each team we visit in the Grapefruit and Cactus leagues. Next stop is Salt River Fields, new spring home of the Diamondbacks. Sure, the house is nice — but how is the furniture?

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS

2010 RECORD: 65-97, fifth in NL West.

BIGGEST ACQUISITIONS: He set up with the White Sox, but J.J. Putz(notes) presumably gives the D-backs a capable closer. And a trading chip at the deadline. Right-hander David Hernandez(notes), coming from the Orioles in the Mark Reynolds(notes) deal, is a solid prospect.

BIGGEST DEPARTURES: Reynolds and Adam LaRoche(notes), though productive, seemed to represent something manager Kirk Gibson didn't seem to like about his offense: The feeling that all it could do was hit home runs.

FIVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE D-BACKS

1. So, how's the rebuilding going? Kevin Goldstein, who knows about these things, doesn't rank the farm system particularly high.

Hall of Famer Duke Snider, a contemporary of Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle who was the last prominent surviving member of the Brooklyn Dodgers' "Boys of Summer" teams of the 1950s, died Sunday at age 84.

The New York Daily News reported the news first. Snider had been in declining health in recent years because of diabetes.

Bill Madden writes:

With his passing, all the regulars — catcher Roy Campanella, first baseman Gil Hodges, second baseman Junior Gilliam, shortstop Pee Wee Reese, third baseman Billy Cox, right fielder Carl Furillo and Jackie Robinson -- of those star-crossed Dodger teams that won six National League pennants but just one World Series in Brooklyn from 1947-57 — are now gone. Of them, Robinson, Reese and Campanella are also enshrined in Cooperstown.

After growing up in Compton, Calif., Snider broke in with the Dodgers in 1947, moved with them to Los Angeles in 1958. He finished his career with single seasons with the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants. He