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Mauer's first HR of season worth the wait; Twins earn split

Carlos Gonzalez, Star Tribune

Joe Mauer (7) heads for home plate after hitting his first home run of the season to tie Monday's game in the seventh inning.

Joe Mauer's solo shot -- his first home run since Sept. 29 -- and key extra-base hits by Michael Cuddyer and Delmon Young rallied the Twins.

By JOE CHRISTENSEN, Star Tribune

Last update: June 3, 2008 - 10:00 AM

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TWINS 6, NEW YORK 5

Up next: Three-game series vs. Baltimore, beginning at 7:10 tonight • TV: FSN (1500-AM)

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Joe Mauer had one thought when the ball left his bat.

"It's about time," he said.

Mauer hit his first home run of the year Monday night -- a two-out, game-tying blast in the seventh inning off Yankees lefthander Andy Pettitte.

Yes, it was about time for Mauer. And it was about time for Delmon Young and Michael Cuddyer to play the major roles they did in this spirited 6-5 victory.

An announced crowd of 20,168 at the Metrodome and a national cable audience watched the Twins erase two leads before pulling ahead for good when Young drove in Cuddyer with an RBI double in the eighth inning.

The Twins gained a split in the four-game series, and afterward, the clubhouse was filled with talk of how this could be a springboard victory.

Mauer hadn't hit a home run since Sept. 29 -- his final game of last season in Boston.

This one came in the season's 185th at-bat.

The Twins were trailing 5-4 in the seventh, and with a 1-1 count, Mauer choked up on his bat against Pettitte, who hadn't allowed a home run to a lefthanded hitter all season.

Pettitte threw a fastball inside -- a pitch that would have been called a ball -- and Mauer turned on it, drilling the ball off the facing of the upper deck in right field.

"The biggest thing is to get [Adam] Everett off my back," Mauer said after catching the Twins shortstop in the home run race.

"He's been giving me a hard time. It's all in fun."

Cuddyer and Mauer started growing beards on the last road trip, determined not to shave until they hit another home run.

Cuddyer shaved his beard into a goatee and homered Saturday -- his second of the year. Mauer gave himself a clean shave Monday and ended his home run drought.

"Maybe we all should just grow it out and shave it," Cuddyer said.

After Mauer's home run, Cuddyer turned in a spectacular eighth inning.

First came a defensive gem. With one out, Derek Jeter hit a ball off the right-field wall and tried legging out a double.

But Cuddyer bare-handed the ball, turned and threw a no-hop pellet to shortstop Brendan Harris, who tagged Jeter for the out.

Cuddyer said the key to that play is gauging the bounce off the wall.

"[Jeter] crushed it," he said. "He absolutely mashed the ball, and I knew it was going to come back to me."

Matt Guerrier (3-1), who pitched 1 2/3 innings for the victory, retired Bobby Abreu to end that inning.

Then, Cuddyer led off the bottom half of the eighth with a double against Yankees reliever Kyle Farnsworth (0-2).

After a sacrifice bunt by pinch hitter Nick Punto, Young delivered his third RBI double of the game.

Young finished the series 8-for-18, after getting benched last Thursday in Kansas City.

"My confidence is always through the roof," Young said, "so I don't think it could build any higher."

But Twins manager Ron Gardenhire was more enthusiastic.

He predicted Mauer would hit 14 more homers this season.

And of Young, Gardenhire said, "We need him to hit. ... And if this is the start of him getting rolling -- I was told he's a slow starter and gets going -- that's great. That's great."

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