With each passing day, Justin Morneau grows more confident his concussion issues are behind him, but Sunday brought another test -- surviving the celebration that comes after hitting a game-ending home run.
Morneau's second homer of the day and 19th of the season was a laser beam off Vinnie Pestano that stayed just inside the right-field foul pole, giving the Twins an 8-7 victory over Cleveland at Target Field.
The Twins gathered around home plate to greet Morneau and gave him a slight pounding, as everyone jumped up and down. Then, during Morneau's postgame television interview, two teammates doused him with a cooler of ice water.
"All I was thinking about when I was coming down third was, 'Don't hit me in the head,'" Morneau said. "That's why I took my helmet off. I took a pretty good head butt from [Chris Parmelee], and a cooler in the back of the neck. But other than that, it was fun. If I can stand up to that, I think it'll be all right."
It was Morneau's fifth career game-ending homer but his first since June 17, 2007, at the Metrodome. This one capped a 3-hour, 26-minute game that included three lead changes. Twins CEO Jim Pohlad's annual team party was planned for 6 p.m., so everyone was getting a little antsy.
"I think we were all ready," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We've got a party to go to. I told [Morneau] that right before he went up there. You can print that. It sounds better."
The Twins can't help but feel good for Morneau, who suffered season-ending concussions each of the past two seasons. Last year, he had as many surgeries as home runs (four).
This year, he has played in 116 games, the most since 2009, when he played in 135. He spent 15 days on the disabled list in May because of a sore left wrist, but otherwise he's been healthy.
