Young struggles again: two errors and hitless

Ed Zurga, Associated Press

Minnesota Twins left fielder Delmon Young reaches out but can't catch a ball hit by Kansas City Royals' Mark Teahen in the ninth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, May 27, 2008, in Kansas City, Mo. Teahen picked up a three-run, inside-the-park home run on the hit.

By JOE CHRISTENSEN, Star Tribune

Last update: May 29, 2008 - 7:33 AM

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KANSAS CITY, MO. - Twins manager Ron Gardenhire kept left fielder Delmon Young in the lineup Wednesday, explaining it was important for Young's confidence to get him back on the field after a rough game.

Young went 0-for-6 Tuesday and misplayed a fly ball by Mark Teahen into a three-run, inside-the-park homer that tied the score in the ninth inning. The Twins went on to win 4-3 in 12 innings.

This one might have been worse.

Young made two errors in the fourth inning, including a humiliating moment when he missed a routine fly ball from Alex Gordon.

The first of those errors was a throwing error, although Gardenhire later said he thought third baseman Mike Lamb should have caught that ball as the cutoff man.

Nonetheless, Young went 0-for-3 with two walks, as the Twins rallied to win 9-8 in 10 innings.

Young's average has dropped from .286 to .258 in the past week.

On April 23, Gardenhire benched center fielder Carlos Gomez for one game to clear his head after he capped a long slump by going 0-for-5 with four strikeouts. Gomez responded with a hot streak.

"Gomez was a little different scenario," Gardenhire said. "He was swinging like a madman and needed to shorten his swing.

"Delmon -- if it comes to that, it comes to that. I'm not afraid to do those things. If a guy needs a mental break, I give it to him, whether they want it or not.

"Tonight's a night where Delmon needs to get back out there. He had a tough night last night, and you put confidence in him by putting him back out there. Let him try to get rid of that feeling. I don't want him standing around with it for a couple days."

Young has played in 217 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the majors, but Gardenhire isn't about to anoint him with Cal Ripken Jr. status. Young has a mere 15 years to go to break Ripken's streak of 2,632 consecutive games played.

"You earn playing time," Gardenhire said. "You don't get 162 games just because you start the season. So he needs to get going offensively; he knows that. He's working hard and trying."

Young had more difficulty in the field Wednesday, making two errors in the fourth inning.

Punto ready

Nick Punto went 2-for-4 with a walk in an extended spring training game Wednesday. He felt no pain in his left hamstring and is ready physically to come off the disabled list, Gardenhire said.

Punto will fly from Florida to Minnesota today to be with his wife, Natalie, who is scheduled to give birth to the couple's first child on Friday. By Saturday, Punto could be activated from the DL.

With Brendan Harris and Alexi Casilla playing well as a shortstop-second base combination, Gardenhire isn't specifying where Punto will play when he rejoins the team.

Besides the big defensive play in the third inning, Casilla delivered his 12th RBI in 12 games with a sacrifice fly in the third inning.

Harris also made a nice twirling play behind second base to end the second inning.

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