FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) – If this had been the regular season, it would have been the matchup of the day, if not the week.

Johan Santana bested Curt Schilling, pitching three scoreless innings to lead the Minnesota Twins over the Boston Red Sox 1-0 in a split-squad game Thursday, their second exhibition meeting this year.

Schilling struck out four in four innings, allowing one run, two hits and one walk. He worked on a changeup, a pitch he’s trying to add to his repertoire.

Minnesota’s Matthew LeCroy, batting in the second inning, saw four straight changes from Schilling before striking out looking on a fastball.

“I was like, ‘What in the world?”‘ LeCroy said.

The 40-year-old Schilling threw changeups on 14 of 60 pitches.

“I thought he threw the ball very well,” Boston pitching coach John Farrell said. “Of those 14, probably four or five of them were the quality that we, and he, are looking for. He takes all of his work very seriously. He uses spring training to its fullest.”

Santana, struck out three of 12 batters, trying to mix pitches as if it were a real game.

“I felt much better,” he said. “My fastball is much better coming out of my hand, and I’m getting the ball down. I’m making progress. I’m trying to get a feel for all of my pitches.”

The two-time Cy Young Award winner’s contract doesn’t expire until after the 2008 season.

“I would love to stay here,” Santana said. “It’s going to be up to them to make it happen. Hopefully they’ll find a way to keep this team together when they get a new ballpark for many years to come.”

Venezuelan left-hander Jose Mijares got a save with a perfect ninth in his first spring training appearance. He missed the past two weeks after his brother was killed by a gunshot in Caracas.

“He’s got some stuff under control,” pitching coach Rick Anderson said. “Not bad at all for his first time out there.”

Red Sox 3, Blue Jays 2

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Kyle Snyder is healthy again after four operations on the right arm that made him the seventh pick of the 1999 amateur draft.

So what if he gave up two homers during his first four batters Thursday in Boston’s 3-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays? He’s still competing for the lone vacancy on the Red Sox pitching staff.

“I don’t necessarily look at it like pressure” to make the team, the 6-foot-8 right-hander said. “There’s far less sense of urgency. I understand where I stand physically now. I’m not wondering every day that I come out whether or not I’m healthy or whether or not this pitch is going to hurt.”

It was “not his sharpest day,” Boston manager Terry Francona said. “He was certainly around the plate, but he just couldn’t put guys away.”

Snyder is out of options, so the Red Sox likely would lose him to another major league team if they don’t keep him on the 25-man roster.

There’s no room in the rotation of Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Jonathan Papelbon and Tim Wakefield. But Snyder said he’d prefer to pitch out of the bullpen for a contender such as Boston rather than start for a weaker team.

“We really like him,” Francona had said on Wednesday. “He’s not been healthy, really, ever. He’s healthy now so we really want to get as good a look as (we can) because at the end of spring we’re going to have to make some really tough decisions and losing pitching is not something that we’re really excited about.”

The Red Sox claimed Snyder last June 16 after Kansas City placed him on waivers. In 16 outings for Boston, 10 of them starts, he was 4-5 with a 6.02 ERA.

On Thursday, he struck out leadoff hitter Russ Adams then allowed solo homers to Jason Smith and cleanup hitter John-Ford Griffin. Six relievers shut out Toronto after Snyder left with one out in the third inning.

Boston tied the game with two runs in the fourth. J.D Drew tripled to right-center, scoring Manny Ramirez, who had singled. Drew scored when second baseman Adams’ throw went into Boston’s dugout.

The Red Sox won the game in the ninth on Jeff Bailey’s RBI double after a double by Kerry Robinson and a walk to Brandon Moss.

Tomo Ohka made his first start since Toronto signed him as a free agent on Jan. 25. He allowed one hit and struck out two in three scoreless innings.

He outpitched Snyder, but Boston’s starter feels confident he’ll improve after throwing just 469 pitches in the majors and minors in eight injury-plagued seasons. He even sat out all of 2001 after having ligament transplant surgery on his right elbow.

“I wasn’t real efficient (Thursday), but physically I did feel good and saw a few positives battling through a little lack of rhythm,” he said. “I think I have a lot of room to improve because of the lack of experience that I have.”

Notes: Smith went 4-for-4 for Toronto, which had 10 hits. … The Red Sox lost to Minnesota 1-0 in another split-squad game. Curt Schilling allowed one run on two hits in four innings with two strikeouts and one walk.

AP-ES-03-08-07 1939EST