Span making an impression, both on field and off

Ben Revere is batting over .400 for the Beloit Snappers in the Class A Midwest League. Last month, he was giving credit to several members of the Twins organization for their assistance, and he included Denard Span in the group.

Span was the 20th overall choice for the Twins in the 2002 draft as a lefthanded-hitting center fielder. Revere was the 28th overall choice for the Twins in the 2007 draft as a lefthanded-hitting center fielder.

Span made a strong impression in the Twins' major league camp this spring before being sent across the parking lot to the minors on March 24.

Once there, Span tracked down Revere, who was getting ready to start his second professional season -- and his first at a place other than the Twins' complex in Fort Myers, Fla.

"That's the way it works with the Twins," Span said. "Kirby Puckett befriended Torii Hunter, Torii befriended me, and Ben was a young guy who reminded me of myself.

"Basically, I just gave him some encouragement and said, 'If I can do anything to help out, let me know.' We've stayed in contact this year. He's a nice guy. You can tell right away that he was well-raised."

Span was a late signee with the Twins in '02 and didn't start his formal pro career until the next summer. He returned to the big leagues for the second time this year -- and in his six seasons -- on Monday night.

Span was in right field and batting ninth. As a team, the Twins were back in the American League, with Detroit in town and ready to demonstrate its intention to take over as the Central Division's bully.

The Twins were 13-2 in the final 15 interleague games but the Tigers' hot streak went back even further -- 17-4 since they decided on June 7 that enough was enough.

Those numbers are now 18-4 vs. 13-3, as Detroit rallied for a 5-4 victory that was this dramatic: Joel Zumaya retiring Joe Mauer with two outs and two on in the ninth.

You can't ask for a finer moment of hardball tension, although most Minnesotans would prefer Mauer hitting a rocket over the fence (as he did Friday night) rather than a ground ball to shortstop for the game's last out.

Span was involved in a big way throughout the night. He opened the game with a tremendous sliding catch on the right field line.

Then, with one out in the ninth, Span ripped a single off Zumaya and went to second on Carlos Gomez's broken-bat single. Span stayed there through Alexi Casilla's fly ball and Mauer's bouncer.

There was one bad moment in Span's otherwise productive night. He allowed Matt Joyce's drive into the right field corner to skip around him in the seventh, getting the lead run to third.

Joyce scored on Curtis Granderson's single. That was the fourth Detroit run that arrived after starter Glen Perkins left with a 4-1 lead and one out in the seventh.

Detroit had a two-run rally against Jesse Crain, the shaggy heartbreaker from the Twins bullpen, in the seventh, and then a two-run rally against Matt Guerrier, the middle reliever-turned-setup man, in the eighth.

The Tigers' comeback came with Magglio Ordonez on the disabled list and Miguel Cabrera hooked after demonstrating an unwillingness to bend over while playing first base.

"I just want to get up here, stay here and be a big leaguer," he said.