Sid Hartman: Call-ups have been a big boost to Twins

Terry Ryan was hoping that three players the Twins recently called up from Class AAA Rochester -- shortstop Brian Dozier and starting pitchers Scott Diamond and P.J. Walters -- would turn the Twins around and so far the trio has contributed quite a bit for a team that has now won four games in a row.

Since his recall, Diamond is 3-0 with an impressive 1.40 ERA and has given only 17 hits in 19 1/3 innings.

"Diamond's got the ability to hide the ball, and he also can add and subtract and he's certainly looked much more confident than he was last year," said Ryan, the Twins general manager.

"Walters has been with the Cardinals some and Toronto a little bit last year. He did a good job for us at Rochester this year and got off to a good start. He throws strikes. He was obviously one of those guys that, if we had trouble with our rotation, he might be one we go get, and we did."

Walters has a 3.65 ERA and has given up 10 hits in 12 1/3 innings.

Dozier has played great at shortstop, with one error in 13 games. He hit two sacrifice flies off Milwaukee ace Yovani Gallardo on Saturday and is hitting .286, and his two home runs in the short time he has been up is already good for fifth on the team.

"[Dozier] has made most of the plays," Ryan said. "They're starting to change speeds on him, it's apparent that he can hit the fastball. But he's doing everything we're looking for in the middle of that diamond. He can run and throw and he can steal a base. He knows how to handle the bat and I think he's going to get better.

And Ryan added that Dozier can play all over the infield but added: "The good thing about him is that shortstop is something he can handle. We've been certainly gearing up and grooming him for shortstop up here and he's accepted that. He can play a lot of places. We've had him at second, third, center, all over actually. But I think we'd be very comfortable if he could just settle in at shortstop and we could put [Alexi] Casilla and [Jamey] Carroll over at second, it fits pretty good."

Catcher Drew Butera is another of the recalls who have done well. Butera, who hit just .167 a year ago, was batting .360 after getting two hits Saturday and, as always, has done a fantastic job behind the plate.

Down on the farm Ryan just returned from a scouting trip to Rochester. "We've got a few pitchers down there that are doing well," he said. "We don't need that right now. We're looking for something offensively. I think if we could get this pitching staff to settle down and start giving us opportunities to win, we'd be more in tune to probably looking position-wise down there."

Demoted third baseman Danny Valencia began Saturday on a five-game hitting streak for Rochester. After a slow start, he was hitting .214 with a homer and four RBI in seven games with the Red Wings.

Joe Benson, a September callup for the Twins last year, homered for Class AA New Britain on Friday night but was hitting .156 with a homer and two RBI in eight games since being demoted from Rochester.

As for the Rangers players with a local connection, they of course include former Wild superstar Marian Gaborik, who is third on the team in playoff scoring with four goals and six assists in 17 games. Hastings native Derek Stepan has a goal and seven assists in 17 games, while former Cretin-Derham Hall standout Ryan McDonagh has two assists and logs nearly 27 minutes of ice time per game. Both Stepan and McDonagh played at Wisconsin. Former Gophers defenseman Stu Bickel, a Chanhassen native, has played in 16 of New York's 17 playoff games, registering no points and four penalty minutes. He had 108 penalty minutes in 51 games during the regular season.

For New Jersey, Minnesota native and pending free agent Zach Parise is third on the Devils in playoff scoring with four goals and five assists while former Wild defenseman Marek Zidlicky is eighth with a goal and six assists. White Bear Lake native Ryan Carter has two goals and two assists in 14 games, with one of the goals a game-winner. Former Wild assistant coach Dave Barr is a Devils assistant coach.