Sid Hartman: Morneau needed to boost offense

Well, the Twins finally beat the Tigers on Saturday, winning 4-1 after losing their previous 11 games to the team managed by Jim Leyland. If the Twins are going to beat Detroit out for the American League Central Division title like they did last year and the year before, they will have to find a way to score runs. Entering Saturday, they are 12th in the American League and 24th in the major leagues in scoring runs.

The Twins continue to have trouble scoring runs and that is a big reason for their 6-5 record during their current 12-game homestand to begin play after the All-Star break. Over the 11 games, the Twins have hit .251 and scored 39 runs, 3.5 a game, with seven home runs. At the All-Star break, the Twins had been hitting .248 and averaging 3.9 runs per game on the season.

The pitching staff has fared reasonably well in the homestand, posting a 3.36 ERA over the 11 games. Their ERA stood at 4.29 coming into the homestand.

The Twins' victory Saturday was their first over the Tigers since Sept. 1, 2010. Even with Scott Baker coming off the disabled list to throw five innings and give up no runs, Twins starters are only 1-7 against Detroit in 2011 with an 8.17 ERA. They have given up 53 hits -- including 20 extra-base hits and eight home runs -- with 17 walks and 34 strikeouts in 39 2/3 innings.

The Twins have been hurt by the long ball as well. During this series, the Tigers have improved their home run total at Target Field to 18, the most by any opponent. This season, the Twins have hit six home runs in their eight games with the Tigers, Detroit has hit 10.

Getting healthy but need Morneau The Twins offense obviously should improve as players continue to return. Delmon Young has hit well since coming back after the break, and Jason Kubel is now healthy and back in the lineup as well.

But the person they need badly is Justin Morneau in his MVP form, and it doesn't look like the first baseman is going to be back in the near future.

With Joe Mauer able to catch on a regular basis and Morneau's bat in the lineup, the Twins are a different team.

However, it doesn't appear that Morneau -- who had neck surgery in June, and before that was having problem with a wrist injury, and before that was out of action for the second half of last season because of a concussion -- will be back in the near future.

The original prognosis when Morneau had his neck surgery was that he wouldn't be able to return until mid-August at the earliest. Dr. John Steubs of the Twins medical staff said recently that "it was too early to tell" when asked about Morneau's return. Asked if two weeks would be a good guess, Steubs indicated it would be more than that before Morneau would be ready to play.

Well, by next week the Twins will have Denard Span back so that means all of their position players but Morneau should be active.

But without Morneau and with the way Detroit has dominated the Twins recently, I don't believe the Twins have a chance to beat out the Tigers, who have one great lineup this year as well as one of the best bullpens in the league.

Joes are going well; Perkins, too Bill Smith is not surprised that Mauer has raised his batting average from .186 on June 24 to .289 after Saturday's game.

"It's been great to see him swing the bat the last few weeks," the Twins general manager said.

"When you miss two months of time, you come back and you're behind the rest of the league, the pitchers are ahead of you. It hasn't taken him long to catch up.

"He's just caught up. He's comfortable at the plate. He's got his legs under him. His swing is always good. Joe Mauer is going to be a great player for us, and we're thrilled to see him back to playing at peak level."

Over the homestand, Mauer has hit .421, starting all 11 games, including four at first base.

"He's been swinging the bat very well," Smith said. "We just need to give him time and, as I say, he's one of the guys that doesn't need a lot of time."

Another veteran Twins player who has returned to form is closer Joe Nathan, who got his fourth save since coming off the disabled list Saturday.

Smith credits pitching coach Rick Anderson with the decision to send Nathan to Fort Myers. Nathan has a impressive 1.59 ERA since coming off the disabled list last month.

"The best thing we did was put him on the DL and sent him down. I know Rick Anderson talked to him about, 'reestablish your fastball, get your fastball back.' He's come back and he's done a tremendous job for us."

Smith added: "I'm thrilled to see Glen Perkins throwing the way he is. He's been a huge factor for us this year out of the bullpen.

Again for the fifth consecutive time on this homestand, Perkins threw a scoreless inning of relief Saturday; this time, he pitched around a leadoff double, striking out Magglio Ordonez and Miguel Cabrera. He now has a 1.69 ERA since coming off the DL last month.

Jottings

• There have been 12 scouts at Target Field this weekend, and as one scout said, "When there are this many on hand scouting one team, something is going to happen."

• Rumors persist that the Twins will land Jon Rauch, the reliever who was with them the past two years and is now with Toronto.

• With J.J. Hardy having a great year with the Orioles and recently signing a three-year contract, assistant Twins General Manager Rob Antony said that if the Twins had kept Hardy they would not have had the money to re-sign pitcher Carl Pavano.

• Can you imagine how much revenue the Gophers athletic department lost when they couldn't sell alcohol to the 58,000 fans who attended Saturday night's U2 concert? But the Legislature refused to give the university permission to sell alcohol for a second consecutive session.

• Until single-game ticket sales started for Gophers football, the North Dakota State ticket was more popular than Wisconsin, Iowa and Nebraska. Starting Friday, you can buy single-game tickets for the New Mexico State, Miami (Ohio), North Dakota State and Illinois games.

• MaxPreps.com ranks Hopkins boys' basketball as the preseason No. 2 team in the country behind only a team in Texas.

• John Carlson has a good chance to replace John Harris as the Gophers men's golf coach. Last year, Carlson came to the Gophers as an assistant coach after a stint as an assistant pro at Wayzata Country Club. A women's golf coach also will be hired.

• Mike Fuenffinger from Hibbing and Joel Bauman from Kerkhoven have made the U.S. Greco-Roman wrestling team for the FILA junior world championships in Bucharest, Romania, July 26-31. Fuenffinger is wrestling at 121 pounds, Bauman at 185.

Sid Hartman can be heard weekdays on WCCO AM-830 at 6:40, 7:40 and 8:40 a.m. and on Sundays at 9:30 a.m. • shartman@startribune.com