As Twins head for road, the worriers are justified

The Twins defeated Oakland 3-1 in the Metrodome last Aug. 20 and headed for Anaheim, Calif., one game behind Chicago in the American League Central. They would visit seven cities and make one return home over the next month.

The Twins played 24 of 30 games on the road and went 12-18. The White Sox also played poorly during this stretch, allowing the Twins to enter the final week trailing by 2 1/2 games. The rest was history.

Today, the Twins play Boston in a matinée. This will be the 30th home game out of 49 played. That's the most home games in the major leagues.

The Twins will depart after the game for Tampa Bay. They return home for a midweek series with Cleveland, and then spend most of next four weeks on the road.

After today, the Twins play 22 of 31 games on road. They will require a dramatic reversal of the league's worst road record (5-14) to keep from fading badly before the journey to six cities ends July 1 in Kansas City.

The Twins returned to .500 for the first time in 12 days with a 4-2 victory over Boston on Wednesday night. This was a triumph for the stout pitching of Kevin Slowey and three relievers, not a group of hitters that left a season-high 14 runners on base.

It's disconcerting to see the Twins at 24-24 with all those home games behind them. And it's alarming to see them at 13-13 in May, a month in which Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau have been blasting away.

Mauer started his season on May 1. He's batting .425 with 11 home runs and 32 RBI. Morneau is batting .366 with nine home runs and 26 RBI this month. Both of these talented hitters are completing what figure to be their best months of the season.

So where are the Twins going to add the necessary offense to turn around the road woes and stay within reach of a Detroit team that has stumbled into the AL Central's best rotation?

Jason Kubel, Denard Span and Michael Cuddyer have produced at rates that would satisfy everyone -- and a bit more power from Kubel can be anticipated.

Joe Crede might have a hot streak in him, although he already has missed games because of three ailments: a sore knee, a stiff back and the current swollen hand. And Brendan Harris, after getting much admiration from Twins fans in the first few weeks, sits at a modest .264 after Wednesday's two hits.

Gardenhire's preferred middle infield remains a black hole offensively, with shortstop Nick Punto playing the role of a modern-day Ray Oyler (look it up), and second baseman Matt Tolbert coming up supbar as a hitter.

That leaves one outfielder to add juice to the lineup -- Delmon Young with his bat, or Carlos Gomez reaching often enough to make an impact with his speed.

They weren't world beaters as first-year Twins in 2008, and they have gone in reverse.

The Twins appear to be keeping Gomez here rather than demoting him so as to not hurt Go-Go's feelings. He's batting .225 with two RBI in 89 at-bats and is the extra outfielder.

Young was gone for nine days to be with his mother before her death and then the funeral. He has been in the lineup since returning Sunday.

Delmon ended an 0-for-19 stretch with a second-inning single Wednesday, and then singled again in the seventh. He's batting .253 with two extra-base hits in two months.

Ron Coomer was the FSN analyst on Tuesday. He showed the audience Young leaning forward with weight shifted to his front leg before he started a swing. He has no chance to drive a ball with that approach.

Joe Vavra is in his fourth season as the Twins hitting coach. Morneau gave Vavra credit for assistance in turning him into a standout hitter.

Fair enough, but there are now two major projects on this team in Young and Gomez -- 23-year-old hitters with talent but not a clue.

It's important for Vavra to get to at least one of them, since the Twins seriously need another source for offense, what with a road-heavy schedule and cooler months inevitably ahead for Mauer and Morneau.

Patrick Reusse can be heard 5:30-9 a.m. weekdays on AM-1500 KSTP. • preusse@startribune.com