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Home | Sports | Twins

Pitchers try to find a hitting stroke

By JOE CHRISTENSEN, Star Tribune

Last update: May 16, 2008 - 8:03 AM

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Twins pitcher Nick Blackburn used to be a pretty good hitter. He had nine home runs as a senior at Del City (Okla.) High School.

But Blackburn, 26, isn't exactly looking forward to batting tonight, when the Twins begin interleague play at Colorado's Coors Field.

"My swing's terrible now," Blackburn said before Thursday's 3-2 loss to Toronto.

Blackburn had only one at-bat during spring training, coming against Reds pitcher Bronson Arroyo.

Blackburn swung and missed at the first pitch by several inches.

"I turned around to the catcher and said, 'I was right on that,'" he said. "Then [Arroyo] threw me a slider, and I wasn't even close."

Blackburn grounded out to shortstop and was thrilled to make contact.

His brother will be in Denver tonight, along with several friends.

"I'll have plenty of people making fun of me," he said.

Two of the three starting pitchers the Twins will send up against Colorado -- Blackburn and Kevin Slowey, Sunday's starter -- have zero combined major league at-bats.

But Livan Hernandez, who will pitch Saturday, has batted .232 with nine home runs and 73 RBI in 789 career at-bats.

Hernandez won the 2004 Silver Slugger as the National League's top hitting pitcher, when he hit .247 for Montreal.

"It's pretty impressive," Blackburn said after watching Hernandez in batting practice this week. "It doesn't look like he's trying, and he's putting it up in the seats."

Perkins solid again

After three innings Thursday, Glen Perkins had allowed two runs and thrown 59 pitches.

But he finished the sixth, retiring the final eight batters he faced.

In two starts, Perkins is 0-1 with a 3.75 ERA.

"Getting an opportunity to start is what I've been looking for since I got drafted," Perkins said. "I just want to make the decision tough on them. Obviously Scott [Baker] is going to be back at some point, but if I do my best, that's all I can do."

Gomez nearly wins it

Center fielder Carlos Gomez did not start Thursday because of flu symptoms but entered as a defensive replacement for Craig Monroe in the ninth inning.

Gomez nearly won the game in the 10th, but Blue Jays left fielder Kevin Mench made a running catch going back to the warning track, with two men on base.

Etc.

• Baker (strained right groin) noticed the injury ever so slightly during a bullpen session Thursday. He will travel to Fort Myers, Fla., for his rehab but has been ordered to stop if he feels the injury again.

• Luke Hughes returned to the lineup as a designated hitter for Class AA New Britain, after missing a week because of a hamstring injury, and homered in his first at-bat, extending his hitting streak to 17 games.

• The Twins acquired former Blue Jays minor league infielder Sergio Santos, 24, and sent him to Class AAA Rochester to fill the spot opened when Alexi Casilla was promoted to the big leagues.

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