The Twins are tired of talking about home runs. Michael Cuddyer admitted it Sunday.

Their inability to hit more is a regular topic for fans.

In April, Philadelphia’s Chase Utley was outhomering the Twins all by himself.

And now there’s this head-scratcher: Alexi Casilla, the tiny Twins second baseman, has two home runs — as many as Cuddyer (one), Mike Lamb (one), Joe Mauer (zero) and Delmon Young (zero) combined.

Maybe that’s a fluke. Or maybe it’s a disturbing trend for a team that ranks second-to-last in the majors with 29 home runs.

Fifty games into the season, nobody with the Twins seems overly concerned.

"Obviously, when you’re accustomed to hitting a few, you’re saying, ‘What’s going on?’ " Cuddyer said. "But you just have to trust who you are and what you’re going to be when the season’s over. It’s a long, long season, so you can’t really harp on it too much right now."

Frankly, the Twins have stopped expecting home runs from Mauer.

Quibbling about Mauer’s home run total is like quibbling about a top point guard’s lack of dunking skills. Chris Paul, for example. Mauer is good at everything else.

He is superb defensively at catcher, the most demanding position on the field.

Entering Monday, he led the American League in batting at .338 and was third in on-base percentage at .416.

"When I do hit home runs, obviously something has to give," Mauer said. "I don’t think I’d be getting on base as much if I did try to hit a home run every time."

Cuddyer’s big struggle

For Cuddyer, Young and Lamb, the expectations are different. They play corner defensive positions, from which teams expect power.

Among right fielders with at least 100 at-bats this season, Cuddyer entered Monday ranked 31st in on-base-plus-slugging percentage (OPS) at .606.

Typically positioned behind Mauer and Justin Morneau in the No. 5 spot in the lineup, Cuddyer is batting .225 and has failed in several big spots recently.

"I know Michael Cuddyer’s been struggling," Twins General Manager Bill Smith said. "I don’t worry about him as much because I think he’s one of the more reliable guys on our ballclub. Over the next [112] games, I think we’re going to see big things from him."

Cuddyer didn’t hit a home run during spring training, but he did hit .339. Then, on April 4, he dislocated a finger, forcing him to the disabled list for three weeks.

"Obviously, I haven’t been to the point I want to be since I came back," Cuddyer said. "But it happens. People go through it all the time."

Lamb showing signs

Lamb raised his batting average from .224 to .248 this weekend by going 5-for-9 at Detroit. He finally connected for his first home run with the Twins on Friday, but he downplayed the achievement.

"I’m not really a home run hitter, so I’m more worried about my batting average and getting hits in key situations," he said.

Lamb is batting .400 with runners in scoring position, and his 20 RBI are tied for third on the team.

But the Twins had a right to expect more power from Lamb when they signed the free agent to a two-year, $6.6 million contract.

Lamb’s home run totals the past four years with Houston were 14, 12, 12 and 11. That was as a part-time player, averaging 323 at-bats per year, and the Twins handed him an everyday role.

Entering Monday, Lamb’s .613 OPS ranked 29th among third basemen.

"Mike Lamb has had a spring of adjustments — new club, new league," Smith said. "I don’t want to say everything’s going great because obviously we’d like to see more offense out of the lineup as a whole. But at the same time, I don’t think it’s cause for panic."

Young and stubborn

Outwardly, the least panicked is Young.

"I couldn’t care less about home runs," he said. "We’re scoring runs without hitting home runs, so it doesn’t really matter if we hit them or not."

The Twins are averaging 4.5 runs per game, entering Monday ranked sixth in the AL, ahead of the Yankees (4.4).

But Young has the Twins perplexed. This is a player who hit 20 home runs in 84 games for Class AA Montgomery in 2005, at age 19, before his power numbers leveled at Class AAA Durham.

Young hit 13 home runs as a rookie for Tampa Bay last year. The Twins were careful not to bombard him with instruction when he first arrived after getting traded from the Rays. But the coaching staff has been urging him to turn on more pitches lately.

During batting practice Sunday in Detroit, Young sent five balls towering over the left-field wall in a span of six swings.

For that brief flash, he abandoned his regular inside-out swing and began turning on the soft tosses from bullpen catcher Nate Dammann.

"It doesn’t really matter," Young said. "Anyone can hit BP balls out."

By game time, Young returns to his comfort zone, looking to take most pitches up the middle or to right field, in a determined effort to keep his swing slump-proof.

"If I get pull-happy," Young said, "you all are going to be wondering why I’m hitting .200."

Young is batting .270 and walking more than last season. After a recent run of doubles and triples, his OPS is .671, ranking 27th among left fielders.

"I would venture to say that no one’s going to be tougher on Delmon Young than Delmon," Smith said. "But he’s 22 years old.

"We’re still excited about having him. I’m looking forward to what he’s going to bring to our lineup this year and in the years to come."