Broken nose or not, Morneau wants to play tonight

By Joe Christensen, Star Tribune

Last update: May 12, 2007 - 11:12 PM

Twins first baseman Justin Morneau suffered a broken nose in Saturday's 8-2 loss to the Detroit Tigers, but the slugger said he hopes to play in tonight's series finale.

In fact, Morneau was upset he had to leave Saturday's game in the eighth inning after a throw from third baseman Nick Punto took a wicked hop and hit him in the nose.

A hockey player at heart, Morneau knew Wild players Wes Walz, Mark Parrish and Keith Carney were at the game.

"They're going to be all over me for coming out of the game," Morneau said. "If they were still here. I don't know whether they stuck around to watch that or not."

The American League MVP said he suffered a broken nose one other time. Playing street hockey, of course.

This time, he retreated to the clubhouse, where Dr. Dan Buss reset his nose. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said Morneau's status was day-to-day.

"I'm sure it'll be sore," Morneau said. "We'll see how it feels [tonight]. I should be able to go, hopefully."

Office manager

To lighten the mood after his team's fourth consecutive loss, Gardenhire called the team together and put the blame on himself for having watched the past two games from his office, recuperating from knee surgery.

"[Tonight], I hope to be down in the dugout; that's my plan," Gardenhire said. "They need me. I can see that."

One day after having the arthroscopic procedure done on his right knee, the skipper did walk the 48 stairs between the clubhouse and the field but returned to his office during batting practice.

Gardenhire has been using a machine with a sleeve for his leg that administers cold and pressure treatment to the knee.

"I don't want to be on national TV hooked up to a machine," he said.

Mauer update

Joe Mauer is eligible to come off the disabled list May 20, but it remains uncertain the Twins catcher will be ready. Mauer has been playing catch and taking swings to keep in shape, while waiting for his strained left quadriceps to heal.

"It's getting better each day, but it's still in there," Mauer said of the muscle tightness.

Asked if Mauer will be ready next Sunday, Gardenhire said: "Anything's a possibility. It's going to be determined by what the doctors and trainers tell me. The one thing you don't want to do is bring him back too quick and end up having issues again.

"We're going to give him his time. That's why we put him on the DL, to let this thing heal so we're not fighting it the rest of the year."

Etc.

• Outfielder Rondell White has made recent progress with his strained right calf muscle. He's doing running exercises in Fort Myers, Fla., though Gardenhire continues to say there is no timetable for his return.

• Michael Cuddyer, Luis Castillo and Jason Bartlett will be among the Twins swinging pink bats today to raise breast cancer awareness in what has become a Mother's Day tradition for baseball.

• After dropping the first two games to Detroit this weekend, the Twins are 1-6-1 in their past eight series.

• The Twins are 2-5 since Mauer suffered his latest injury. But backup catcher Mike Redmond is batting .524 (11-for-21) during a six-game hitting streak. Gardenhire said he was considering starting Chris Heintz behind the plate tonight.

Joe Christensen • jchristensen@startribune.com