Twins GM aglow after four-run rally

The Twins and White Sox began their series on Thursday at Target Field with the Twins 12-18 in the 30 games leading up to the All-Star break while first-place Chicago went 25-5.

A lot of people had given up on the Twins, and it was the opinion of a lot of the media that if the Twins didn't improve their pitching, the chances of this team repeating as division champions were almost nil. Righthanders Nick Blackburn, Kevin Slowey and Scott Baker were all in a terrible slump and Francisco Liriano hadn't won a decision since June 11.

Add in the fact that All-Star first baseman Justin Morneau wasn't going to play after ending up on the disabled list, and it didn't look good.

So what did this unpredictable team do? The Twins won three of four from the hottest team in baseball, taking the last game by scoring four runs in the ninth inning for a 7-6 victory Sunday.

One person not surprised by the results of the White Sox series was Twins General Manager Bill Smith.

"Well, for a lot of years now this team has never quit," Smith said after Sunday's big victory. "They play the game the right way. [Ron Gardenhire] and going back to Tom Kelly, this team tries to play the game the right way. They've got a lot of fight in them."

In recent seasons the Twins dominated the White Sox at the Metrodome. The Twins went 7-2 vs. Chicago at home in 2009 and 8-1 in '08.

"I think a lot of people were concerned that we were going to lose our home-field advantage, and this team has played well here at Target Field all year long," Smith said. "It helps a lot when you've got 40,000 people screaming for you."

Smith describes the current squad as the best team the Twins have had in years.

"We've got a lot of baseball left to play," he said. "We've scuffled a little bit the last month and let's see if this is hopefully a turning point for us. We've got a lot of baseball left to play. We're still behind these guys, so we'll give it our best shot.

"This was huge ... to come from behind in a game where you looked out of it."

Smith said Morneau is expected back at the ballpark Monday, when doctors and trainers check him over.

Advice for Morneau Pierre-Marc Bouchard missed almost all of last NHL season because he was trying to recover from postconcussion syndrome. The Wild forward had some advice for Morneau, his fellow Canadian who also has suffered more than one concussion during his playing career.

"You don't see that many concussions in baseball, but still once in a while you'll see a collision with the catcher or when you slide -- like Morneau, I think he got hit with a knee in the head [July 7 at Toronto] -- so any sport you can see some of that stuff happening," Bouchard said. "I think my first advice is make sure it heals properly.

"You don't want to go out there and not be 100 percent and you get hit again, and the [next concussion] can take three, four, five times more to heal. So that's the best advice I can give, is to take his time and make sure he's ready to go."

How long has it taken for Bouchard to get healthy? Well, he said he is not yet in perfect condition to play hockey even now.

"I just started probably two weeks ago, three weeks ago, to ride the bike at a slow pace," he said. "So right now I'm just focusing on getting 100 percent healthy, and after that I'll get back into more serious training."

When he did get elbowed in the chin last September at St. Louis, he said: "I kind of knew it. I experienced it a few months before, and the headaches were pretty bad. I felt tired. I had a lot of pressure in my head.

"That's the thing with concussions, is it's really hard to know how long it's going to take to heal. It's not like a broken wrist or a broken ankle that you know you're going to be out six weeks and then you're back on the ice 100 percent. With the brain, sometimes it takes more time, and it was kind of a back-to-back concussion for myself. That's why the second one takes more time to heal."

Nobody is saying that Morneau's concussion problem is going to be as serious as Bouchard's. Morneau was not at the ballpark for the four-game series against the White Sox, though Gardenhire is hopeful Morneau can return this week at Baltimore. But Bouchard said he knows what the Twins slugger is going through.

"It's not easy, but I just wish him all the best that it's not too bad, and hopefully he's going to be back on the field soon," Bouchard said. "The brain never reacts the same way with the same person, so hopefully it's not too bad and he's able to come back soon."

Jottings Twins closer Joe Nathan, out for the season after elbow ligament replacement surgery in March, was scheduled to throw Saturday, but it was postponed until Monday. "[It's] the first official day," the four-time All-Star reliever said, adding, "Just excited to get back out on the field, put the glove on, and everything feels good. So we'll see how it goes. ... Right now it feels great. Everything has gone according to plan and [Monday is] a big day."