Gardenhire takes no chances with Hunter's sore shoulder

Twins outfielder Torii Hunter grabbed a bat and headed to the batting cage before Wednesday's game to see if he could get his bruised left shoulder loosened up enough to face Felix Hernandez and the Mariners.

By La Velle E. Neal III, Star Tribune

Last update: April 19, 2007 - 12:01 AM

SEATTLE - Twins outfielder Torii Hunter grabbed a bat and headed to the batting cage before Wednesday's game to see if he could get his bruised left shoulder loosened up enough to face Felix Hernandez and the Mariners.

"I'm going to play," Hunter said. "I'm an athlete. I'm going to try to make it happen."

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire had a different view. The season is long and there's no sense in rushing Hunter, the major-league leader with nine doubles, back to action.

"He's sore," Gardenhire said, "He is not going to play."

Hunter injured his left wrist and shoulder Tuesday while attempting a tumbling catch of a sinking fly by Raul Ibanez in the sixth inning. He came out of the game an inning later and wanted to play Wednesday night, but was held out. Jason Tyner replaced Hunter in center field and batted second.

Gardenhire knows Hunter wanted it to be a game-time decision but made it an afternoon decision.

"Players always believe they can play through anything," Gardenhire said. "And you sometimes have to say, 'Hey, this is the right thing to do.' They look at one day at a time. I do that, but I also have to look down the road. Losing him for an extended period of time is not a good option."

Punto, White recovering

Nick Punto was kept out of the lineup for another day to mend a sore left ankle.

"He was a little sore when he walked in," Gardenhire said. "I think he's getting better, but he said he was sore from doing all the [therapy] He's been doing a lot."

Rondell White, on the disabled list because of a right calf strain, ran the bases before the game without a setback and remains on track to be activated from the disabled list on Friday.

Minor leagues cold, wet

Twins minor league affiliates Class AAA Rochester and Class AA New Britain each have had eight games postponed because of rain, snow or wet grounds.

Rochester (3-2) had its game at Pawtucket postponed on Wednesday while New Britain (2-4) had a doubleheader at Binghampton wiped out. At this point, no one knows when the games will be made up.

Jim Rantz, the Twins' director of minor leagues, said team evaluators usually wait two to three weeks before traveling to affiliates and looking at players. The run of bad weather could delay that process.

"Obviously, it's frustrating not only for us but for the players," Rantz said. "They spent five weeks in spring training and they are ready to play but they are losing whatever edge they had coming out of spring training."

Etc.

• Mike Redmond caught on Wednesday while Joe Mauer was the designated hitter. Today is a day game, and Gardenhire wants Mauer fresh enough to catch Johan Santana.

• Because of the injuries, the Twins had only Josh Rabe and Alexi Casilla as healthy bench players on Wednesday.

La Velle E. Neal III • lneal@startribune.com