Blackburn resumes routine after scary liner

By JOE CHRISTENSEN, Star Tribune

Last update: June 3, 2008 - 3:08 PM

One day after getting hit in the face by a line drive from the Yankees' Bobby Abreu, Twins pitcher Nick Blackburn remained on schedule to make his next start on Friday in Chicago.

Blackburn's upper lip remained swollen Monday, but other than that, he said he felt fine after getting a full night's sleep.

"I thought I'd have a hard time breathing, but nothing bothered me," he said.

Blackburn will throw his regular between-starts bullpen session today.

He said he watched the replay of Abreu's line drive four or five times. It was a scary moment, but it put him in the national spotlight. The replay was even shown on NBC's "The Today Show."

"My cousin told me I'm getting more attention for that than if I threw a no-hitter," Blackburn said. He is 4-3 with a 3.22 ERA this season.

Morneau hurting

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire waited an extra hour to post the lineup Monday so he could check the health of two players: Nick Punto and Justin Morneau.

Punto has a slightly strained left hamstring after reaggravating the injury in Saturday's 12-inning loss. Gardenhire kept him out of the lineup for the second consecutive day, using Brendan Harris at shortstop.

Punto pinch hit for Craig Monroe in the eighth inning and delivered a sacrifice bunt.

Morneau fouled a ball off his right knee Monday and also felt cramping in his left calf.

Gardenhire put Morneau in the lineup for the 57th time in 57 games, but noticed him hobbling.

For example, Morneau made a soft throw to catcher Joe Mauer when Alex Rodriguez scored on a bouncer by Jason Giambi in the seventh inning, giving the Yankees a 5-4 lead.

"He was hobbling," Gardenhire said. "He's definitely not moving around very good, which goes into that [play], too. He's got sore legs. A really sore left leg, and you could tell out there. He made a decent play on it, but a great baserunner got by him."

Baker returns

Scott Baker returned from his rehab assignment and will start Thursday, with Boof Bonser moving to the bullpen as expected.

When the Twins activate Baker from the disabled list after Wednesday's game, they'll likely send infielder Matt Macri back to Class AAA Rochester, keeping 13 pitchers on the roster.

"There's a lot of issues here," Gardenhire said. "We're coming up on National League baseball, too. Do you want to go into Milwaukee [a week from Friday] with 13 pitchers? Not really.

"But right now, I don't know how many options I have. Punto's going to have to play through his hamstring [injury] and do the best he can, that's all there is to it."

Nathan clears the air

Twins closer Joe Nathan said he wasn't upset at left fielder Delmon Young after Mark Teahen's game-tying, inside-the-park home run last Wednesday in Kansas City.

Nathan said he gave Young a quick "Don't worry about it" tap as they passed that night in the dugout. After hearing how the exchange looked on TV, Nathan sought out Young the next day to make sure there were no hard feelings.

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