Joe Mauer

Jamey Carroll hit a two-run double in the sixth inning to give Minnesota the lead, and the Twins outlasted the sloppy Detroit Tigers 11-7 on Wednesday night. Detroit made four errors in the first three innings. The Tigers still led 7-6 when Carroll came up with men on first and second in the sixth. His double off Duane Below (2-1) scored both runners. Brian Dozier hit a three-run homer for Minnesota in the second, and Trevor Plouffe's two-run shot in the ninth made it 11-7.

Chris Sale pitched seven sharp innings and Paul Konerko and Alex Rios backed him with home runs, leading the Chicago White Sox to a 6-0 win over the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday night. Sale (5-2) held the Twins to two hits and two walks, striking out six. He has allowed three runs or less in all eight of his starts in his first year as a member of the Chicago rotation. Still showing a black eye after getting hit in the face by a pitch last Friday, Konerko had three hits and scored three times.

Scott Diamond lost his scoreless streak. He still won his third straight start for the Minnesota Twins, who pounded the Milwaukee Brewers 11-3 on Friday night. Diamond (3-0) gave up a run in the first, ending the 14-inning scoreless stretch he put together in two starts since he was called up from the minors. He went on to give up three runs and eight hits in 5 1-3 innings. Josh Willingham hit a two-run homer, his eighth of the season, Joe Mauer had three hits and three RBIs while Denard Span had four hits and three RBIs for the Twins.

Gavin Floyd just can't find a way to beat the Twins. The White Sox right-hander dropped his eighth straight start against Minnesota on Tuesday, getting roughed up in a 9-2 loss to open a three-game series. Floyd (3-5) lasted just 3 ⅔ innings, gave up eight hits and nine earned runs and suffered his second straight loss. He was at a loss to explain the Twins' continued success. "I guess I've got to figure that out," Floyd said. "I wish I could pinpoint certain things … They have a good game plan against me apparently and I've got to change that and try to get...

The Minnesota Twins are missing two of their top hitters against Detroit ace Justin Verlander on Saturday. Joe Mauer missed his third straight game because of a stiff neck and Michael Cuddyer was out with a sore left wrist. Two days after saying Mauer "had to be available to play" in a game against the Baltimore Orioles, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire defended his star catcher, who has come under criticism for missing so much time with injuries. Gardenhire said before the game that Mauer doesn't get enough credit for all of the times he has played hurt and felt that was unfair.

Joe Mauer made his major league debut at first base in the Minnesota Twins game against the Chicago White Sox on Thursday night. Before he even got to play the field, Mauer hit an RBI single in the top of the first inning. The star catcher was put in the lineup by manager Ron Gardenhire in part because Drew Butera usually catches Carl Pavano, who started for the Twins. Minnesota also wants to get Mauer’s productive bat in the lineup as often as possible. The three-time batting champion , was limited to 27 games this season after landing on the 60-day...

Joe Mauer is still catching for the Minnesota Twins. But the 2009 American League Most Valuable Player has, at least, begun to take groundballs at first base. Mauer got some work in at that position before Monday’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Mauer says he’s willing to play first base from time to time to help the team. He says he still considers himself a catcher. But with teammate Justin Morneau out for several weeks following neck surgery, the Twins could use first base as a way to keep Mauer’s bat in the lineup when he needs a break from behind the plate.

Josh Willingham extended his season-opening hitting streak to 14 games with a go-ahead three-run double and the Minnesota Twins beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 on Friday night. Willingham's hit in the seventh off Joel Peralta puts him one away from tying Kirby Puckett's team mark of hitting safely in 15 straight games to start the 1994 season. The Twins also got two RBIs from Joe Mauer, who went 2 for 3 with two walks. Mauer is 31 for 70 overall at Tropicana Field. Evan Longoria and Matt Joyce homered for the Rays.

MINNEAPOLIS - Pitching, fielding, baserunning, and timely hits. That all fell into place for the surging Texas Rangers over the weekend. Just like the fastball Glen Perkins left over the middle for Josh Hamilton. Hamilton's two-run homer in the eighth capped a three-run inning for the Rangers and set up Joe Nathan for the save against his former team in a 4-3 victory on Sunday over the Twins, their first series sweep in Minnesota since 1999. "I'm not trying to do too much.

Gavin Floyd just can't find a way to beat the Twins. The White Sox right-hander dropped his eighth straight start against Minnesota on Tuesday, getting roughed up in a 9-2 loss to open a three-game series. Floyd (3-5) lasted just 3 ⅔ innings, gave up eight hits and nine earned runs and suffered his second straight loss. He was at a loss to explain the Twins' continued success. "I guess I've got to figure that out," Floyd said. "I wish I could pinpoint certain things … They have a good game plan against me apparently and I've got to change that...

Scott Diamond lost his scoreless streak. He still won his third straight start for the Minnesota Twins, who pounded the Milwaukee Brewers 11-3 on Friday night. Diamond (3-0) gave up a run in the first, ending the 14-inning scoreless stretch he put together in two starts since he was called up from the minors. He went on to give up three runs and eight hits in 5 1-3 innings. Josh Willingham hit a two-run homer, his eighth of the season, Joe Mauer had three hits and three RBIs while Denard Span had four hits and three RBIs for the Twins.

Jim Leyland mentioned before Wednesday night's game that although the Detroit Tigers were struggling, they weren't playing sloppy baseball. Then the veteran manager watched his team make four errors in the first three innings. "I probably jinxed us when we said we weren't kicking the ball around, because we did that tonight," Leyland said. Jamey Carroll hit a two-run double in the sixth inning to give Minnesota the lead, and the Twins outlasted the Tigers 11-7 on Wednesday night.

Jamey Carroll hit a two-run double in the sixth inning to give Minnesota the lead, and the Twins outlasted the sloppy Detroit Tigers 11-7 on Wednesday night. Detroit made four errors in the first three innings. The Tigers still led 7-6 when Carroll came up with men on first and second in the sixth. His double off Duane Below (2-1) scored both runners. Brian Dozier hit a three-run homer for Minnesota in the second, and Trevor Plouffe's two-run shot in the ninth made it 11-7.

Scott Diamond pitched seven shutout innings, Brian Dozier hit his first career homer and the Minnesota Twins held on to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3 Sunday. Ryan Doumit and Jamey Carroll added two hits apiece for the Twins, who became the last team in the majors to reach double-digit wins by splitting the four-game series. Matt Capps pitched a scoreless ninth for his seventh save in as many chances. Yunel Escobar and Eric Thames knocked in runs for Toronto, which closed its road trip at 5-5. Diamond (2-0)

The Minnesota Twins showed some improvement this time around against Angels ace Jered Weaver: They made him work to get through six innings and did not let him join Johnny Vander Meer as the only pitchers in big league history to throw consecutive no-hitters. The sad thing for the Twins is that even with some improvement, they still didn't stand a chance. Weaver allowed three hits over six innings in his first start since no-hitting the Twins last week to lead Los Angeles to an 8-3 victory on Monday night.

A cold, steady rain on Saturday kept Kansas City from trying to extend its three-game winning streak, but the Royals welcomed the day off to rest their exhausted bullpen. The Royals' game against the last-place Minnesota Twins was postponed and scheduled to be made up as part of a split doubleheader on June 30. The Twins announced there would be a rain delay about a half hour before the first pitch. But with forecasts not showing much relief and most of the fans huddled in the concourses, officials decided to scrap the game altogether just after 2 p.m., an hour after...

MINNEAPOLIS -- Start calling the Minnesota Twins the comeback kids. Justin Morneau hit a two-out, two-run single in the ninth inning off Mariano Rivera to lift the Twins over the Yankees, 6-5, last night for their fifth straight come-from-behind win. The Twins trailed, 5-4, heading into the ninth with one of the league's best closers on the hill. But Luis Castillo beat out an infield hit -- his fourth hit of the game -- to start the inning and advanced to third on a single by Joe Mauer, who reached second when Hideki Matsui threw to third.

■The early exit for Phillies ace Roy Halladay ended his string of 63 road starts in which he lasted at least six innings. It was the longest such streak since Walter Johnson went 82 from 1911-15. ■ Joe Mauer of the Twins moved into 11th place on the team's career lists for hits (1,049) and RBIs (486), passing Roy Smalley in both categories. ■The Indians' Asdrubal Cabrera 's 17 home runs are one short of his career total heading into this season.

A chill ran down Justin Morneau's spine when he saw teammate Chris Parmelee get hit in the head with a fastball in the sixth inning Wednesday night. It was eerily similar to the one that hit Morneau in the head in 2005 and touched off a series of concussion-related problems that have plagued him for the last two years. The early indications are that Parmelee is going to be OK, and the Twins are breathed a sigh of relief, even after a loss. Parmelee left the game after getting hit in the head in the sixth, and the Twins weren't able to cap a spirited comeback in a 7-6 loss to the Boston...

Josh Willingham extended his season-opening hitting streak to 14 games with a go-ahead three-run double and the Minnesota Twins beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 on Friday night. Willingham's hit in the seventh off Joel Peralta puts him one away from tying Kirby Puckett's team mark of hitting safely in 15 straight games to start the 1994 season. The Twins also got two RBIs from Joe Mauer, who went 2 for 3 with two walks. Mauer is 31 for 70 overall at Tropicana Field. Evan Longoria and Matt Joyce homered for the Rays.