FORT MYERS, Fla. -- By any tangible measure, Zach Duke had a decidedly un-Duke-like spring.

He finished 0-4 with a 7.62 ERA after another set of numbing numbers in the Pirates' 5-3 loss to Minnesota yesterday at Hammond Stadium: The Twins produced all of their runs and 10 of their 11 hits in Duke's five innings, including back-to-back home runs in the second by Tony Batista and Lew Ford.

And yet, all concerned not only praised Duke's work but also offered the same, somewhat unusual reason for doing so: He threw too many strikes.

"I don't care what the numbers suggest," manager Jim Tracy said. "I thought the life to his fastball was as good as we've seen all spring. I think there could have been a couple different choices he made in a few two-strike counts, but I'll tell you: He was throwing nothing but quality pitches in the strike zone. ... He was actually too fine."

That was the same way Duke, who threw 52 of his 75 pitches for strikes, described his performance.

"Mechanically, it's the most consistent I've been all spring. Almost consistent to a fault," he said. "I got ahead 0-2 and 1-2, and I made pitches that were too good, too hittable. That's the kind of thing that, during the season, can't happen."

Catcher Humberto Cota saw it the same way.

"He made his pitches," he said. "Don't worry about Zach's numbers. What we were working on mostly was his command of the fastball, and he nailed it. Believe me."

Duke's season debut will come Wednesday in Milwaukee.

"I'm right there," he said. "I wanted to throw strikes, and I did. Now, I just have to put guys away."

Lineup preview?

The Pirates' lineup for the opener Monday against Brewers left-hander Doug Davis is likely to look like this:

Chris Duffy, CF

Jack Wilson, SS

Sean Casey, 1B

Jason Bay, LF

Jeromy Burnitz, RF

Joe Randa, 3B

Jose Castillo, 2B

Cota, C

Oliver Perez, P

Tracy confirmed yesterday Duffy will start. He declined to name Cota, but Cota was the catcher in Perez's strong outing Wednesday against the Boston Red Sox.

Other game highlights

Cota has had a typically quiet spring, batting .189, but he hit his first home run off Minnesota's Brad Radke in the fifth. Cota said he has spent March working on his patience at the plate. He has five walks. "That's all I've been focused on, making sure I see good pitches in the No. 8 hole," he said. "The hitting is coming around."

That home run was the Pirates' 45th of the spring, their highest total since records first were kept in 1986. No National League team has more.

Duffy had one of his best games, going 2 for 4 with a double, an infield single and his third stolen base. He also reached on an error in the fifth that should have been scored another infield single. That raised his average to .241.

The bullpen turned in four scoreless innings after Duke's departure. Ryan Vogelsong and Terry Adams each retired all three batters they faced and struck out one.

Buried treasure

Ian Snell will start the exhibition finale today against Minnesota's Kyle Lohse at McKechnie Field.

The Pirates (15-16-1) have lost nine of their past 11 games.