Morneau is bright spot on day of frustration

By JOE CHRISTENSEN, Star Tribune

Last update: August 24, 2008 - 11:01 PM

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ANAHEIM, CALIF. - As the Twins looked for positives in a sea of negatives Sunday following their 5-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels, at least they had Justin Morneau.

After going just 1-for-13 in the first three games of the series, and batting only .213 for August, the Twins first baseman went 3-for-4 with three RBI, including his 33rd double and 20th home run.

With his RBI single in the first inning, Morneau became only the second Twins player to reach 100 RBI in three consecutive seasons, joining Harmon Killebrew, who did it from 1969 to 1971.

"It doesn't mean anything if you don't win the game," Morneau said. "But hopefully I'll carry that into Seattle and do a little more than I did the first couple games in here."

Kubel's tough day

First-base umpire Hunter Wendelstedt signaled home run in the eighth inning, when Jason Kubel hit a towering drive down the right field line.

Angels manager Mike Scioscia sprinted from the dugout as Kubel rounded the bases. The umpires convened and quickly reversed the call -- correctly, as TV replays showed.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire got a quick explanation and didn't argue.

"What are you going to say?" Gardenhire said. "Four guys go and say it's not a home run. What argument do you have, to tell you the truth? Everybody in our dugout probably thought it was a foul ball, too."

A home run would have put the Twins ahead 4-2. Instead, it was 3-2, and Kubel wound up striking out against Jose Arredondo.

Kubel said he didn't watch the replay.

"I was already mad enough," he said.

Costly hesitation

An inning earlier, Kubel hesitated when Mike Napoli dropped a single into short left field. Howie Kendrick saw Kubel's delayed reaction and hustled to third. Kubel's throw bounced off Kendrick's spike for an error, enabling Napoli to reach second base.

If Napoli had stayed at first, the subsequent grounder from Chone Figgins might have been an inning-ending double play.

"Non-chalanted it. No excuse," Gardenhire said. "That's not good and not acceptable."

Let's see, a home run reversed, a throw off a runner's spike, "and the hat trick," Kubel said, referring to his three strikeouts. "So that worked out pretty good."

Etc.

• To make room for Brian Bass on their Class AAA Rochester roster, the Twins released reliever Casey Daigle.

• Matt Tolbert (left thumb surgery) remains on schedule to rejoin the Twins on Sept. 2 in Toronto. On Tuesday, he will jump from Class AA New Britain to Rochester, continuing his rehab assignment before busing to Toronto with the rest of the Twins' September callups.

• Brian Duensing, who posted a 1.17 ERA for Team USA in four Olympic relief appearances spanning 7 2/3 innings, will rejoin the Rochester squad after returning from Beijing. Duensing is being considered for a big league promotion, along with Red Wings pitchers Bobby Korecky, Philip Humber and Kevin Mulvey.

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