In a spring with relatively few roster spots up for grabs, catcher John Flaherty's first shot at catching Tim Wakefield's knuckleball yesterday got more than its fair share of scrutiny.

Flaherty's two-inning experience was not too smooth.

In Wakefield's 30-pitch first-inning, one passed ball was credited to Flaherty, who saw seven other balls brush off his mitt or pop out of it on the 38-pitch afternoon at the Twins' Hammond Stadium.

"Today didn't go the way I wanted to," said the 38-year-old Flaherty. "You're not expected to hit it but you are expected to catch it."

Flaherty, who caught knuckleballer Russ Springer in the past, said he adjusted to a more sideways squat in the second inning and enjoyed better results.

"It's good to get the first one out of the way," said Flaherty. "It's different. You can catch him in the bullpen all you want but until you get runners on base, it's a different thing."

Manager Terry Francona thought that Flaherty "looked a little uncomfortable, which I think is to be expected. I'm sure he felt like he was in the fishbowl but the only way to get to that point is to do it."

For his part, Wakefield said that Flaherty "caught some really tough ones that moved a lot and he missed a couple."

The knuckleballer, who was caught almost exclusively by Doug Mirabelli the last four seasons, expressed hope the Red Sox choose among Flaherty, Josh Bard and Ken Huckaby soon.

"I'd rather it be sooner for them to make a decision on who it's going to be and let that guy fail first," said Wakefield.

Francona did not sound as if a catcher would be found on that timetable.

"We can't do that," said Francona. "I'm not sure why he said that."