   Righthanded reliever Michael Tonkin is headed to Minneapolis Friday for his fourth stint with the Twins this season. Tonkin was recalled to replace veteran reliever Blaine Boyer, who was placed on the disabled list after suffering inflammation in his right elbow.
   Tonkin, 25, has allowed just one run since June 30 at Class AAA Rochester, holding opponents to a .127 batting average while posting an ERA of 0.42 in 21 1/3 innings over that span. He has a 1.29 ERA for the season, along with 12 saves. His ERA is 5.73 in the major leagues this year, however, in 16 appearances over three separate call-ups by the Twins.
   Boyer, 34, has a 2.98 ERA for the Twins this season; his 51 appearances ranks seventh in the AL.
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La Velle E. Neal III has covered baseball for the Star Tribune since 1998 (the post-Knoblauch era). Born and raised in Chicago, he grew up following the White Sox and hating the Cubs. He attended both the University of Illinois and Illinois-Chicago and began his baseball writing career at the Kansas City Star. He can be heard occasionally on KFAN radio, lending his great baseball mind to Paul Allen and other hosts.
Phil Miller covered three seasons of Twins baseball, but that was at a different ballpark for a different newspaper. Now Miller returns to the baseball beat after joining the Star Tribune as the Gopher football writer in 2010, and he won't miss the dingy dome for a minute. In addition to the Twins and Gophers, Miller covered the Utah Jazz and the NBA for six years at The Salt Lake Tribune.
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