Hunter, Twins finding a groove after rough start

Torii Hunter thinks he's found something important: his swing. The Twins have found something pretty critical, too: their confidence.

Both were on display Sunday, and the result was a memorable home run, a winning homestand, and a 7-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians at Target Field.

It's been more than 91 months since Hunter hit a home run in a Twins uniform, and the wait was wearing on him. Off to a .229 start with only two extra-base hits going into Sunday, Hunter devoted himself to the batting cage this week, hitting coaches in tow, all in hopes of restoring his stroke at the plate.

"And I think I found it," Hunter said.

The proof? It came on a 1-1 fastball in the sixth inning from, coincidentally enough, another former Twin, Anthony Swarzak. Hunter pounced when Swarzak's low pitch stayed inside, blasting it a half-dozen rows deep in the left-field stands — his first Twins home run since Sept. 8, 2007.

"I don't remember the last one, but I'm just happy to finally get that home run out of the way, in a Twins uniform and in Target Field. It was pretty cool," Hunter said after the 332nd home run of his career, a three-run shot to increase the Twins' lead to 7-1. "We really needed those insurance runs, and we got them."

Just like they got four victories in five games this week, a remarkable rebound from a 1-6 start and horrific 12-3 loss in the home opener last Monday that left fans fearing the worst about Paul Molitor's first set of Twins. There wasn't much optimism left, but the starting pitching got much stouter, the bullpen settled down and the hitting slowly got rolling. The Twins won two consecutive from Kansas City, split the first two games with Cleveland, then let Trevor May finish off a 4-2 homestead with the best start of his Twins career.

"It's night and day compared to Monday. It was a rough [start] — defensively, offensively, we just didn't play the way we're capable," Hunter said of the turnaround. "The last four or five days, we've been playing Twins baseball. We've been going first to third; pitchers have been throwing strikes and going after batters. I like the way we're playing."

So does Molitor, who had to have wondered what he had signed up for during that embarrassing first week.

"Throughout the course of the homestand, you can kind of feel [the team's confidence] getting back to a comfort level. Some of the weight has been lifted that was created by the poor start," Molitor said. "Each day we go out there and play a crisp game — even in the [4-2] loss yesterday, I thought it was a crisp game — there's definitely just more confidence. Guys are free to do more of what they're capable."

Guys such as May, who allowed only four singles and no walks over six innings. But also guys such as Trevor Plouffe, who followed up Friday's game-winning homer with a 3-for-4 day that nearly doubled his hit total this year. And guys such as Shane Robinson, who contributed three hits, two runs batted in and a solid day in center field, running down six fly balls. And guys such as Aaron Thompson, who pitched two scoreless innings, further solidifying Molitor's trust in handing him a lead.

"Offensively, guys are just getting confidence," Molitor said.

Every Twin in the lineup except Brian Dozier and Kurt Suzuki collected a hit Sunday, and even that pair reached base three times between them and scored three runs.

"We're scoring a little bit more than we did early on," Molitor said, "and even times when we've leaving guys out there, our at-bats are pretty good."

Especially the guy who's approaching his 40th birthday. Hunter occupies a spot in the heart of the lineup, and his resurgence would add an important spark to the Twins' offense — home runs or not.

"We'll welcome power numbers from him, but I'm not expecting him to be the power hitter he once was," Molitor said about Hunter, who has hit 17 homers each of the past two seasons. "I look more at the quality at-bats, using the whole field, doing the things he does. Every once in awhile, he's going to take his shots. He's just more of a complete hitter today than when he was thinking about being a power hitter."