Twins pack plenty of punch in Morneau's absence

With Jeff Cirillo, Jason Kubel and Torii Hunter leading the way, Minnesota banged out 17 hits and supplied Carlos Silva with uncustomary support.

By Joe Christensen, Star Tribune

Last update: June 24, 2007 - 3:34 PM

MIAMI - Justin Morneau sent a two-word text message to Dolphin Stadium from his hospital bed Saturday night after watching the Twins light up the scoreboard without him:

Wally Pipp.

That reference to the first baseman who missed a game in 1925 only to see Lou Gehrig take his place for the next 14 years, gave Twins manager Ron Gardenhire a chuckle after his team's 11-1 victory over the Florida Marlins.

"It's one night," Gardenhire said. "I would hate to think of that [a lineup without Morneau] over the long run. But it's all about picking each other up when somebody goes down."

Morneau has been the Twins' ironman, actually. They hadn't played a game without him since May 19, 2006.

He spent a second night in the hospital with a bruised right lung, and the Twins still jumped to a 7-0 lead by the third inning against Florida's Josh Johnson (0-2).

This was Johnson's second start back from an elbow injury, and neither has been pretty, evidenced by the Minneapolis native's 14.98 ERA.

By the end, Jeff Cirillo had four of the Twins' 17 hits, Jason Kubel had three and Torii Hunter had three chances to become the first Twin to hit for the cycle since Kirby Puckett in 1986.

Hunter's first three at-bats went triple, double, single. Needing a home run to make history, Hunter struck out, grounded out, and then popped to the right fielder in the ninth.

"You know what?" Hunter said. "It would have been easier if I just needed a single. I can hit a homer, but I'm not a home run hitter. I had to go for it, and I thought I was going to pull my back out."

Morneau, who bruised his lung in a home plate collision Friday, is expected to be released from the hospital today after a blood test and another chest X-ray.

"Just precautionary stuff," Gardenhire said.

The Twins remain hopeful that Morneau will be ready to play again within a few days, and they hope others can build off Saturday's performances.

Carlos Silva (5-8), whose 2.94 run support average ranked last among AL starters, thrived with a rare lead. He held the Marlins to one run on four hits over seven innings.

Pitching coach Rick Anderson said Silva threw 15 sliders and 20 changeups among his 90 pitches, after practically abandoning the slider in his previous start.

Silva threw a slider past Miguel Olivo for a strikeout to end the seventh and made a big fist pump, which gave the Marlins pause, trailing 10-1.

"I was very excited because we've been working all this time on my slider," Silva said. "I know that pitch is going to help me a lot."

Cirillo, who replaced Morneau at first base with little thought of Gehrig or Pipp, was batting .207 just nine days ago. Twelve hits later, he's batting .284.

"Even though we scored 10 runs, you still can see that big hole when we don't have Morneau in the lineup," Silva said. "I hope he gets well very soon because that's the guy we're going to need."

Joe Christensen • jchristensen@startribune.com

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