Twins benchwarmers Harris, Casilla and Butera get their chance

They say any time you show up at a ballpark you may see something you've never seen before, but this was ridiculous.

On Sunday, Justin Morneau struck out four times, while Nick Punto, Brendan Harris and Alexi Casilla produced seven hits. It was like watching Larry the Cable Guy steal a scene from Laurence Olivier.

With starting middle infielders J.J. Hardy and Orlando Hudson nursing injuries, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire opted for exactly the infield that prompted his bosses to sign Hardy and Hudson this winter -- Punto at third, Harris at short and Casilla at second.

The lack of production from the Twins bench -- Harris, Casilla and backup catcher Drew Butera had combined to hit .200 with six RBI before Sunday -- offered one explanation for the Twins' relative futility in day games, when backups often get the call. The Twins were 6-7 during the day and 14-4 at night before beating Baltimore 6-0 on Sunday afternoon at Target Field.

"I thought Lexi and Brendan were the reason we won today," said center fielder Denard Span.

They were the reason Span looked like a No. 3 hitter. He drove in Harris once and Casilla twice as the Twins moved 3 1/2 games in front of Detroit in the AL Central. "I felt," Span said, "like Joe Mauer."

Before Sunday, you could have made a case that the bench was the Twins' weakness. As with many theories you develop on any given day during a 162-game season, this one got blown up in about four innings.

After the game, Punto expressed appreciation for the fans who loudly chanted his name on Sunday. Or maybe he was thankful that after they chanted his name they didn't add a verb. "It's definitely cool, to hear that," he said.

He's hitting .259 and playing spectacularly at third base.

Casilla, the Twins' former second baseman of the future, said he tries to believe he'll get another chance. "I don't want any of my teammates to get hurt," he said. "But if that happened, I have to be ready."

Of course, Casilla also said he was happy to play well "on Mother's Day."

So, did he call his mother? "Well, no," he said. "In the Dominican, Mother's Day is the last Sunday in May."

Of the three, Harris felt the most pressure to take advantage of his day in the starting lineup. He began the day with a .184 batting average in 49 at-bats. Unlike Punto and Casilla, Harris is supposed to be an offensive player. That's why the Twins asked for him along with Delmon Young in the 2007 trade with the Rays -- they wanted more righthanded pop in their lineup.

Harris has produced 14 homers in 996 at-bats as a Twin, after producing 12 in 576 at-bats with Tampa Bay. He's analytical and intense and has probably noticed that his manager, who values fielding range and agility in his infielders, insists on pronouncing his name "BRAN-don," which might be a sign he should be studying for his realtor's license.

Standing at his locker after the game, Harris, who went 3-for-4, looked relieved. "It's been a long time coming," he said of his three-hit day.

Harris pointed out that many of his at-bats have come against such aces as Zack Greinke, Justin Verlander and Fausto Carmona. He also admitted what many players won't -- that he is acutely aware of his statistics.

"It's tough, and it does eat at you a little bit," Harris said. "I don't think anyone's really immune from slumps and scuffling here and there. It's just that sometimes when you're scuffling and there are 40,000 people out there, you want to crawl under a rock and hide."

"It's demoralizing," he said. "You try not to look up there. You hope that every now and then there's a power outage on the scoreboard."

Harris didn't look like a man who had just gotten three hits. He looked like a man who had just gotten paroled.