Twins take care of Royals, then pack for New York

The last thing the team needed was to be swept by Kansas City. Johan Santana made sure that didn't happen with a sterling effort.

By La Velle E. Neal III, Star Tribune

Last update: September 1, 2006 - 12:06 AM

The starting rotation has been clobbered by injuries. The offense has looked sickly. The second baseman is hobbling. The Twins' playoff chances have not looked more unhealthy.

But, to a man, the Twins sang the same song Thursday after scratching out a 3-1 victory over the Royals.

Bring on the Yankees.

"September baseball," Twins catcher Mike Redmond said. "This is what it's all about."

Despite needing a Cy Young-like outing from ace Johan Santana to avoid a sweep at home, the Twins' intensity level in the clubhouse afterward seemed higher than before the game.

Part of it might have been manager Ron Gardenhire, who was seething over recent newspaper columns criticizing his team and got so worked up that he cut short his postgame comments.

Before he did so, he talked as if his team had all cylinders firing despite batting .198 and scoring six runs in three games against the Royals.

"We know that we kind of rise to the occasion," Gardenhire said. "Hopefully we will there. We'll have a good series in New York. It'll be some good experience for some of the younger players that have never been there, and our pitchers. You can learn by these things, and we're going to go in there with the attitude that we can play with anybody."

So Gardenhire walked out of his office, and everyone else walked into a clubhouse of players packing for the trip to New York.

With the White Sox and Tigers both losing on Thursday, the Twins are a half-game out of the AL wild card lead and five back in the AL Central.

Uncertainty about several players follows them to the Bronx. Righthander Brad Radke's shoulder will keep him out of the rotation for a couple weeks, if not the season. Lefthander Francisco Liriano is in the early stages of a throwing program that likely won't get him into a game until the second week in September.

Second baseman and leadoff hitter Luis Castillo might not play against the Yankees because of a sore right ankle.

The Twins will start rookies Scott Baker and Matt Garza in New York, as well as Carlos Silva, who has given up 33 homers this season.

"There's really nowhere to go," Gardenhire said. "What it is is what it is. The pitching staff is getting younger going into September, and that is just where we are at."

The Twins hope to improvise like they have all season -- and find a way to win a series against the Yankees.

On Thursday they got a home run from Rondell White in the second inning. Another run scored during a double play in the sixth, and a third run was crafted by Jason Bartlett in the eighth when he stretched a single into a double, stole third and scored when the throw went into the outfield. Santana improved to 16-5 by striking out 11 and limiting the Royals to five hits over seven innings.

Now the Twins must prove Gardenhire right and rise to the occasion during the last month of the season.

"I think we have been improvising the whole year, if you think about it," Redmond said. "We have been without starters. We have been without our whole outfield and went on the biggest winning streak we've had. It's a testament to our team."

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

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