Mauer, Gomez in helmet-breaking moods

By JOE CHRISTENSEN, Star Tribune

Last update: April 14, 2008 - 12:00 AM

KANSAS CITY, MO. - Joe Mauer is one of the most even-keeled professional athletes you will find, but even he gets furious sometimes.

An 0-for-12 streak has lowered Mauer's average to .250, and Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said Mauer broke his helmet in frustration after one of his at-bats Saturday.

"He's pretty calm, but he's been a little fired up the past couple days," Gardenhire said. "It doesn't happen very much; he's a pretty good hitter. He's not getting pitches right now to do anything good."

Gardenhire rested Mauer on Sunday, letting Mike Redmond start at catcher in the 5-1 loss to the Royals. Mauer had started 10 of the first 11 games.

He wasn't the only player who broke a helmet this weekend; Carlos Gomez did, too, Gardenhire said. The center fielder is mired in an 0-for-11 slump.

"I'm going to have the old calm-down-on-the-helmet meeting," Gardenhire said. "It's not the helmet's fault. It's that head inside the helmet."

Bass impresses again

If the Twins hadn't promoted Francisco Liriano to start Sunday's game, one option was long reliever Brian Bass.

He pitched four innings for his first career save Wednesday and came back with 2 1/3 innings of hitless relief behind Liriano against the Royals.

"He's got good stuff," Gardenhire said. "He's perfect for that [long-relief] role. He can come in and shut guys down and give us a chance."

Relying heavily on his sinker, Bass needed only 17 pitches to record seven outs, lowering his ERA to 3.27.

The Royals signed Bass as a sixth-round draft choice in 2000 but let him go as a minor league free agent after 2006. This was his first appearance at Kauffman Stadium.

"When you throw well against your old team, it's a satisfying feeling," Bass said.

Punto hits positive note

After batting .210 last season and .125 during spring training, Nick Punto has started 10 of the first 12 games on the bench. But he went 2-for-3 with a walk Saturday, leaving him at .500 (3-for-6) this season.

"A couple years ago, he wasn't starting, and he came along pretty good in this role," Gardenhire said. "Maybe this clears his mind a little bit, so he's not worried about going 0-for-3 every day, and he'll come back and be a great player. He already is to me because he's so valuable everywhere you play him."

Baseball, the contact sport

Twins third baseman Mike Lamb got leveled by Royals slugger Billy Butler in the fifth inning Sunday on a play that was originally ruled defensive interference.

Gardenhire argued, and after huddling, the umpires actually overturned the call, calling obstruction against the 240-pound Butler for the third out of the inning.

"It was the right call," Gardenhire said. "Poor Lamb Dog. He picked the wrong guy to run into. That guy's a tank."