Twins' best hitters need more at-bats

The Twins (3-6) are batting .214 as a team, and they had been shut out for 16 consecutive innings by Oakland until they scored three runs in the eighth inning Sunday in a 5-3 loss at Target Field. Jason Kubel is the only regular hitting .300.

Twin manager Ron Gardenhire believes the lack of batting practice might have something to do with the slumps of Joe Mauer, Michael Cuddyer and Justin Morneau. They weren't healthy for much of spring training and didn't get their normal number of at-bats. The Twins batted .273 as a team last year.

But Gardenhire said he is encouraged that Morneau got three hits Sunday and Mauer, who is batting .233, got a long double.

Sunday's game was Morneau's first with three hits since June 23 at Milwaukee, and he has hit safely in five of his past seven games, batting .320 (8-for-20). He is hitting .258 for the season.

However, Cuddyer continues to have bad luck with a .107 batting average after going 0-for-4 Sunday. Gardenhire said he is not the least bit concerned about Cuddyer, who has hit some shots that have been caught.

In spring training, Cuddyer played in only eight major league games, hitting .238 in 21 at-bats. Morneau played in 11 games, had only 33 at-bats and hit .152. Mauer played in only eight games, had 20 at-bats and hit .300.

"It just doesn't always help [the lack of spring training], but we've seen Mauer go without having hardly any spring training and win a batting title, too, so let's play it out and see what happens," Gardenhire said. "Morny obviously was hampered a little bit and didn't get on the field in time, but he is starting to swing real good and it's just consistent at-bats. Cuddy, the same thing. They're starting to put some real good swings on the ball."

However, on the other hand, the Twins have played only nine games, so it is a little early to panic.

Lack of home runs Another interesting batting stat from those nine games is that Jim Thome's home run Sunday was the first for the Twins since April 3 at Toronto when Denard Span hit one off former Twins reliever Jon Rauch. The Twins have been outhomered 12-3 in their past eight games at Target Field dating to Sept. 22 last season against Cleveland.

They also have had only 13 extra-base hits since Span's homer (12 doubles, one home run). Kubel's ground-rule double in the fifth inning was the Twins' first extra-base hit since Kubel hit a double in the fourth inning April 7 off the Yankees' A.J. Burnett.

But good pitching can dominate good hitting, according to most baseball experts. Oakland's starting pitchers, who came into Sunday's game with the second-lowest ERA in the American League (2.47), no doubt had something to do with the Twins' struggles at the plate.

Good at second Cuddyer played his first game this year at second base Sunday. "I felt good at second base," he said. "I enjoyed being out there and hopefully instilled some confidence in Gardy that he can try it again."

"Gardenhire can get Kubel and Thome both in the lineup at the same time with me and Morneau," Cuddyer said. "You'd like to think we could do some damage."

Cuddyer added: "Starting the double play, for me, is the part that I'm a little apprehensive about. Turning the double play, I'm not too worried about. But starting the double play is something I'd like to get some reps on."

Jottings • You can't blame the Twins starters for the club losing two out of three games to the A's, after they posted a 2.37 ERA in the series. The home run by Oakland's Hideki Matsui in the fourth inning was the first allowed by the Twins since April 5 at New York by Andruw Jones.

• Twins starter Scott Baker suffered his first career loss to Oakland on Sunday, making his record 4-1 in six starts. It was Baker's first loss at home since July 2010 against Cleveland.

• Twins closer Joe Nathan, who blanked the A's in the ninth inning in Friday's 2-1 victory, was asked how his arm reacted. "Business as usual," he said. "Just trying to stay ready and wait for the call as we always do. Arm feels great. I was up [Saturday] and was ready to go in if needed. Everything is business as usual."

• Infielder Trevor Plouffe, who spent 22 games with the Twins last season but hit only .146, is off to a great start with Class AAA Rochester. He has hit three home runs in four games and is hitting .444. If he continues to hit, there is a chance he might get called up for another chance with the Twins. Shortstop Alexi Casilla is hitting only .167, Luke Hughes is hitting .143 and Matt Tolbert is hitting .200 in the brief period he has played.

• The NCAA champion Minnesota Duluth men's hockey team had six players that were drafted by NHL clubs, headlined by freshman defenseman Justin Faulk (Carolina), while runner-up Michigan had 13 players listed on its roster drafted by NHL teams. The top four Bulldogs scorers (Jack Connolly, Justin Fontaine, Mike Connolly and J.T. Brown) were not drafted by NHL teams.

• Former Gopher Thomas Vanek led the Buffalo Sabres in regular-season scoring with 32 goals and 41 assists in 80 games. Also for the Sabres, former Shattuck-St. Mary's standout Drew Stafford was tied for third in scoring with 31 goals and 21 assists and former Gopher Jordan Leopold was second on the team among defensemen in scoring with 13 goals and 22 assists in 71 games.

• Former Gopher Phil Kessel also led the Toronto Maple Leafs in scoring with 32 goals and 32 assists in 82 games.

• Former Gopher Mike Hoeffel had two goals in 10 games for the New Jersey Devils' top affiliate, Albany.