Patrick Reusse: Weekend high jinks at Dome draw lukewarm buzz

The Twins defeated the New York Yankees 5-1 on Sunday at the Metrodome. This was noteworthy since it put Ron Gardenhire's record at 13-36 in seven seasons against the Bronx Budget Busters.

This includes the manager's 0-13 start in 2002 and 2003 against the Yankees, and a 2-6 record in the 2003 and 2004 playoffs.

Even in victory, the Twins received a fright from the mighty Yankees. That came when Bobby Abreu hit a ball that had the potential to make pitcher Nick Blackburn look worse than the loser in an Ultimate Fighting mismatch. The rookie righthander escaped Abreu's line drive with a cut lip and a bruised nose.

The lead was 3-1 with one out in the fifth when Blackburn left with his bloodied mug. Relievers Brian Bass (winner), Jesse Crain and Joe Nathan faced only one Yankee over the minimum the rest of the way.

The combination of Blackburn's survival and an elusive victory over the Yankees left a few of the home clubhouse occupants concerned with another matter:

Justin Morneau being credited with a triple rather than an inside-the-park home run in the sixth inning.

Morneau was getting ready to coast into second base when center fielder Melky Cabrera slipped on the warning track, then kicked around the object near him as if it were a mini-soccer ball.

The throw sailed over Abreu, allowing Morneau to complete his trip around the bases. Official scorer Gregg Wong ruled it a triple and an error on the bad throw.

"I haven't seen the replay of it yet," Morneau said. "I haven't heard the exact reasoning, but usually when they overthrow the cutoff man, it's not an error."

Morneau had picked up this cutoff theory from coaches and teammates.

One problem: This wasn't someone throwing high and late toward third base or home plate, allowing a trailing runner to move up a base. This was a center fielder making a bad throw involving an individual runner and giving away a base.

This was no different than a shortstop slipping, rushing a throw, overthrowing a first baseman and thus giving the runner second base.

"I don't know if I'll ever get to do that again," he said. "Hopefully not. Just hit them on the other side of the fence. It's a lot easier."

The Twins' streak of reaching the other side of the fence was stopped at two games Sunday, keeping their total at 33 home runs. Meanwhile, the Royals were pummeling two home runs in Kansas City, putting their total at 29 and intensifying the battle for 29th place in MLB's major power category.

The homerless victory did move the Twins to 29-27 and to within one game of first place in the American League Central.

Now that we're two months into the schedule, it's time to offer my personal apology to Star Tribune subscribers for our preseason baseball section that paid tribute to the potency of the AL Central.

"Grand Central" -- that was the headline on the cover of the energetic, well-intended and wonderfully laid-out 16-page section.

Again this weekend, there was evidence the local sporting public remains more focused on the shortcomings of the '08 Twins than on the division standings.

Tickets sold for the first three games of this Yankees' series have been a lukewarm 94,108, with an expectation for a mere 20,000 tonight.

When you can't average 30 grand for the New Yorkers, there are issues that go beyond gas prices with your customer base. And when you're 87,000 behind the 2007 pace and already have played host to the Red Sox and the Yankees on a weekend, it's clear many fans are more interested in pouting over the whereabouts of Johan Santana and Torii Hunter than watching Carlos Gomez and Justin Morneau travel the bases at their varied speeds.

Patrick Reusse can be heard weekdays on AM-1500 KSTP at 6:45 and 7:45 a.m. and 4:40 p.m. • preusse@startribune.com