The game: Adam LaRoche and Ryan Doumit hit back-to-back home runs, but the Pirates fell to the Minnesota Twins, 8-4, yesterday at McKechnie Field.

For LaRoche, his two-run shot inside the right foul pole off left-hander Brian Duensing's fastball in the fourth inning was his second home run of the spring, and his 1-for-3 day left his average at .400.

Not bad for a guy determined to avoid his usual slow start.

"I wouldn't say I'm locked in, but it's getting there," LaRoche said. "I have a good feeling about how this is all going to go."

Doumit's home run, to right-center, was a rare long ball from the right side of the plate. It was his first of the spring, too, and his 2-for-3 day - including a hard lineout - buried that 1-for-11 start.

Matt Morris started with two scoreless innings but allowed Minnesota to take a 4-0 lead in the third, including home runs by Craig Monroe and Jason Kubel on consecutive pitches.

His total pitch count: 78.

"But I feel like I was able to carry over some of the good things I've been doing this spring," Morris said.

Paul Maholm came next and gave up two soft singles and Justin Morneau's two-run double, then set the Twins down in order in the fifth and sixth.

"He's a great hitter," Maholm said of Morneau. "I thought I had him backing off that pitch, and he got it."

Today: The Pirates' Phil Dumatrait makes a four-inning start against the Detroit Tigers' Nate Robertson, 1:05 p.m. in Lakeland, Fla. Ty Taubenheim, Damaso Marte, Franquelis Osoria and John Grabow will follow.

Camp roster: 63, with 37 pitchers, five catchers, 13 infielders and eight outfielders. The next round of cuts, the largest so far, will come today or tomorrow.

Injury update: Second baseman Freddy Sanchez continues to be limited to throwing at three-quarters force, and there remains no timetable for his return to the field.

"He's coming along fine," Russell said. "Should be a matter of a few days."

Reliever Elmer Dessens (back) had his first bullpen session in two weeks yesterday morning, perhaps averting an early cut, but he still faces a large challenge to make the team.

Also, reliever Byung-Hyun Kim, signed after camp opened, is scheduled to make his spring debut with an inning tomorrow.

Battle lines: Jaret Wright and Sean Burnett, each part of the bullpen mix, had dramatically varying results yesterday.

Wright's opening pitch to Jon Knott in the seventh resulted in a monster home run that sailed above the tall palm trees beyond right. Another run came on a double and single, also well struck.

Burnett, by contrast, breezed through a 13-pitch, 1-2-3 eighth, including swinging strikeouts of Jason Pridie and Allan de San Miguel. A slider got the left-handed hitter to lunge, and a changeup on the outside corner got the right-hander.

This comes on the heels of an 11-pitch, 1-2-3 showing Wednesday.

"A little fuel for the fire," Burnett said. "I'm feeling good."

Fun in the sun: It is surprisingly common in baseball to see a pitching coach visit the mound, and the pitcher, no matter how erratic the performance, immediately follows up with a strike.

How, then, to explain Morris' sequence in the fourth?

Jeff Andrews went to the mound after Monroe's home run, and the next pitch, another fastball, was mashed just as far.

"Andy told me to throw one right down the pipe and let the guy kill it," Morris said.

He laughed.

"No, actually, he told me my pitch count was getting up there, and I said, 'Well, I'm going to get this next guy out with one pitch.' Didn't quite work out."

Inside pitch: The Pirates and LaRoche continue to discuss a long-term contract, an extension of two or three seasons beyond the coming one, although talks have quieted in recent days. He can become a free agent after 2009, so any season beyond that likely will make for challenging negotiations.

Countdown to Atlanta: 22 days.