CLEARWATER, FLA. - Joe Nathan had his second rocky outing of the spring Thursday, as the Twins continued to wait to name their Opening Day closer.Nathan, who missed last season because of reconstructive elbow surgery, allowed three runs on three hits and a walk in the Twins' 7-3 victory over the Phillies.

"Facing hitters he doesn't know, all those things -- I'm not worried about that stuff," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "I just want to see his arm, and the velocity and everything's good."

Nathan, whose Grapefruit League ERA is 11.05, opened with four scoreless appearances before giving up six runs against Philadelphia on March 13. He bounced back with three scoreless outings, including a six-up, six-down appearance in a minor league game Monday.

His next test will be pitching back-to-back days, with another appearance scheduled Friday. The other closer candidate, Matt Capps, made his eighth scoreless appearance Thursday.

"We're not getting into that [closer decision]," Gardenhire said. "We'll let you know at the end [of camp]."

Young's groove Delmon Young went 2-for-3 with a double and a three-run homer off lefthander Cole Hamels, raising his average to .424 this spring.

After missing the first 12 exhibition games because of a swollen left toe, Young has 14 hits in 33 at-bats, including two home runs.

"I think Delmon's kind of past all the worrying about him," Gardenhire said. "He's grown into a player. He's going to be a run producer. He can do those things."

Mauer's appeal According to The Nielsen Company, Joe Mauer is baseball's eighth most marketable player. The company conducted a poll to measure athletes' awareness, appeal and attributes such as approachability.

Ranking ahead of Mauer were Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Josh Hamilton, Albert Pujols, Evan Longoria, Ichiro Suzuki and Chipper Jones. Alex Rodriguez and Roy Halladay rounded out the Top 10.

Etc. • Justin Morneau took a scheduled day off Thursday after playing games three days in a row, including two on the minor league side.

• Tsuyoshi Nishioka went 1-for-3, extending his hitting streak to 12 games.

• Utility infield candidate Luke Hughes hit his team-leading sixth home run, a fourth-inning shot off Hamels.

• The Twins are donating $25,000 to relief efforts in Japan, pairing with Feed My Starving Children to provide more than 100,000 meals to victims of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. The Minnesota Twins Wives Organization has pledged an additional $4,000 to the same cause.

On deck Scott Baker will make his first start since being named the Twins' No. 5 starter, when they play the Orioles on Friday at Hammond Stadium.