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Home | Sports | Twins

Mauer's wrist fine, as he proves

By LA VELLE E. NEAL III, Star Tribune

Last update: May 26, 2009 - 7:19 AM

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TEAM NOTES

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Joe Mauer was out of the starting lineup of the Twins' 6-5 loss to Boston on Monday, but it didn't have anything to do with him getting hit by a pitch on the wrist the night before.

The All-Star catcher was hit in the seventh inning of a 6-3 victory over Milwaukee on Sunday, but Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said before Monday's game that Mauer's wrist was fine. However, Mauer had played in 22 of 23 games since coming off the disabled list May 1, and Gardenhire said he had to look at the big picture, even with Mauer's eye-popping statistics since his return.

"We're in a situation where he may be the best player in the league, and it's really hard to sit him down,'' Gardenhire said, "but you have to. You can't take a chance to wear him out. He needs a break like every other catcher."

Mauer still appeared in Monday's game, pinch hitting with two out in the ninth inning and the Twins trailing the Red Sox by three runs. After falling behind 1-2 to Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon, Mauer hit a two-run homer to right-center that was estimated at 412 feet. It was his 11th homer in 81 at-bats this season, putting him two from his career high for a season (13 in 521 at-bats in 2006).

So yes, the wrist is fine.

Mauer has 31 RBI this month, breaking Harmon Killebrew's club record of 29 RBI in May 1961. He leads the majors in May with a on-base-plus-slugging percentage of 1.444.

The other injuries

Outfielder Denard Span still felt a little lightheaded Monday morning, and Gardenhire didn't feel comfortable sending Span to the plate against Boston's Brad Penny.

Third baseman Joe Crede's right hand remained sore and swollen after he was hit with a pitch by Dave Bush on Sunday.

That limited what Gardenhire could do with late-inning moves.

"We didn't have many bullets on the bench with a couple guys injured,'' Gardenhire said.

Gardenhire wasn't sure whether Span or Crede would be ready tonight. So Carlos Gomez could start in center field again. Brendan Harris could get the start at third against Red Sox lefthander Jon Lester.

Span said after Monday's game that he felt better and hoped to be able to contribute if needed tonight.

Tale of the tape

The Twins have hit 37 homers this month, second in the major leagues to the Yankees.

Suddenly, the talk in the clubhouse has been about home runs. One discussion Monday centered on home-run distances.

So Michael Cuddyer grabbed a tape measure and headed to the field. Twins media relations mavens Mike Herman and Dustin Morse helped Cuddyer re-measure places where some Twins home runs have landed.

Morse held the chart they use to estimate the length of homers. They found out that, on average, their estimates were about 8 feet short. So they made note of the difference.

When Cuddyer homered in the second inning Monday, the Twins confidently estimated the distance as 430 feet.

Gomez's grabs

Gomez is still trying to figure out things at the plate. But there's little doubt that he impacts the game with his range and glovework in center field.

Jason Varitek sent a drive to center in the third inning Monday, but Gomez raced back to the fence and jumped up to steal a home run from the veteran catcher.

He made an even better play in the sixth inning, when he raced in and to his left to make a tumbling catch of Dustin Pedroia's sinking fly. The crowd gave Gomez a standing ovation. R.A. Dickey, who was on the mound at the time, saluted him.

• Dickey has given up one earned run over his past 12 2/3 innings.

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