Sid Hartman: Cuddyer heating up after major slump

Twins right fielder Michael Cuddyer went on the disabled list April 5 after injuring his thumb sliding headfirst. He returned April 25 but hit only .220 in the 31 games that followed heading into the current four-game series against the Yankees.

However, he went 3-for-4 in Sunday's 5-1 victory, making him 6-for-14 in the first three games of the series. His batting average, down to .217 on May 21, is back up to .245, and Cuddyer said he figures he found his stroke.

He hit only his second home run of the season Saturday, and Sunday he drove in three runs on a two-out, two-run single in the first and a two-out RBI triple in the seventh.

"It's nice to be able to contribute. It feels good to finally be able to pick my teammates up because they've picked me up quite a bit this year so far," he said Sunday.

A year ago, Cuddyer hit .276 with 16 home runs and 81 RBI in 144 games. In 2006, he hit .284 with 24 homers and 109 RBI in 150 games. This year, however, he got into a slump by swinging at pitches out of the strike zone.

"I'm swinging at strikes now. ... I'm getting some strikes to hit, and I'm able to get the bat on it," he said. "Once I start swinging at strikes I'll be better, but sometimes you just go through rough patches, and this is one of them for me. The thing is to try and swing at better pitches, have better at-bats, see balls in the strike zone. One thing I am happy about is, the hits that I am getting are with runners in scoring position."

He said that home run he hit Saturday to tie the score at 6-6 with the Yankees was a big boost for him. His only other home run this season came April 26 at Texas.

The injured thumb that sidelined him most of April might be one reason for the worst slump of Cuddyer's Twins career, but he won't use it as an excuse.

"It's not like it feels fine. It's stiff but it's not handicapping me at all," said Cuddyer, who made his Twins debut in 2001. "It might have messed up my timing there for a little bit, but ... I don't want to use that as an excuse. The finger's fine, I mean it's going to be tight the rest of the year, but it's not going to affect anything I do on the field. I've just got to go out there and play better."

The Twins certainly are doing better than many experts expected, and they begin today one game behind the first-place White Sox in the American League Central. The results aren't any surprise to Cuddyer.

"We knew we had a good team. It's just a matter of putting it together, and we're not a team that's going to go out there and hit a bunch of home runs," he said. "But we're a team that can generate runs, and we've been able to do that so far."

He looks for the Twins to contend for the division all the way.

Speaking of Sunday's victory, which came after a pair of one-run losses to the Yankees, Cuddyer said: "Today was a good one, and hopefully we can come out tomorrow and split the series."

Asked if he ever had seen a pitcher get hit in the face by a line drive before, after Nick Blackburn had to leave Sunday's game following Bobby Abreu's comebacker, veteran Twins catcher Mike Redmond said: "Well, I've seen a few guys get hit, I don't know if I've ever seen a guy get hit in the mouth like that. He actually got lucky that he didn't lose some teeth; that ball was a bullet. ... It's scary. Anytime a guy gets hit in the head, anywhere, it's obviously a concern, especially to see the blood, you know. He's going to be fine, so that's great news. He was pitching great, too. It's too bad he took that ball in the face."

The Twins typically take great pride in their outstanding fielding, but their .980 fielding percentage ranks 13th in the 14-team American League, something manager Ron Gardenhire isn't happy to see. The Twins have 43 errors in 56 games.

"We have to catch the ball better than we have this first part of the season and get away from the mistakes, but we can compete with anybody," Gardenhire said. "We've seen the whole division, we've seen everybody. You know what, we've got to be good, and you have to play real well, and we have to get healthy and stay healthy, but sure, we can play with anybody."

Sent back to Class AAA Rochester by the Twins on Friday, relief pitcher Bobby Korecky entered Saturday's game in the seventh inning vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in relief of Francisco Liriano, who gave up three hits and one earned run while striking out seven in 6 1/3 innings. Korecky gave up a run on two hits and one walk in 1 2/3 innings. Rochester lost 5-2 in 10 innings, wrapping up a 10-20 May, the Red Wings' first 20-loss month since August 2002.

The Lynx are off to a great start, at 4-0 the lone undefeated team in the WNBA. Though several other NBA owners have given up on their WNBA investments, Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor continues to support his, saying: "It's a league that we're supporting ... and it's something that I believe in. I think it's right for Minnesota but it's not necessarily a big financial success. So, I'm doing it because I think it gives great inspiration to the young women and the fans in Minnesota to see these women play."

Four members of the Gophers men's track and field team were named first-team All-Big Ten: Ibrahim Kabia, who won the conference 100-meter title; Hassan Mead, who won the 5,000; Chris Rombough who finished first in the 10,000; and Hans Storvick, who won the 800. Pole vaulter Ben Peterson was named second team. Mead and Peterson earned bids to the NCAA championships in their respective events Saturday at the regional in Lincoln, Neb. ... Former Gophers gymnast Guillermo Alvarez has qualified for the Olympic trials on June 19-22 in Philadelphia.