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Joe Mauer has not been the most fortunate Twins player when it comes to injuries, but the neck problem that kept him out of Tuesday's 9-6, 12-inning loss to the Yankees proved to be nothing serious.
The catcher did play Wednesday and played a major role in the 4-2 victory over New York, going 2-for-3 with a walk and scoring two runs. He also stole his first base of the season and threw out Bobby Abreu trying to steal.
If the Twins are going to win the division, they are going to need Mauer to remain in the lineup. Mauer was hurt most of his 2004 rookie season, and last year he played in only 109 of 162 games, missing a month because of a strained quadriceps. In comparison, Wednesday's game was the 105th he has played in this year for manager Ron Gardenhire.
"It was pretty sore the last couple of days but I should be fine," Mauer said Wednesday of his neck. "It's pretty sore today, but we've got a day off and I'm going to get some treatment and it should be ready to go.
"When I woke up [Tuesday] I couldn't move my head. It was pretty bad last night."
Mauer said Gardenhire told him he would probably get a day off either Tuesday or Wednesday, so he sat out Tuesday night, not even taking batting practice.
Mauer's return helped the Twins finish the season series 4-6 against the Yankees. They improved to 9-16 against American League East teams and have 10 more games to play against the division, all on the road in September: three at Toronto, three at Baltimore and four at first-place Tampa Bay. The Twins are 0-6 against the East on the road, but those games were at Boston and at New York.
Closer Joe Nathan, who earned his 32nd save Wednesday and pitched all three games in this series against the Yankees, said he isn't concerned about the Twins' poor record against the East.
"Right now, it's not about who we're playing, it's about winning the series," Nathan said. "It's obviously nice to beat a team that is so close to us in the wild-card race. So to be able to go and take two out of three from [the Yankees] and kind of put them in a little more of a hole and separate us from those guys is nice.
"But we know how important every game is, every series, so it's going to be this way from here on out."
Don't want to risk it A year ago, the Vikings lost seventh-round draft choice Tyler Thigpen to Kansas City when the Vikings tried to get him through waivers so they could place the quarterback from Coastal Carolina on the practice squad.
With that experience, there is little doubt the Vikings will avoid doing the same with 2008 fifth-round pick John David Booty.
Booty saw service in Friday's 34-17 exhibition loss to Seattle, completing nine of 18 passes for 82 yards with one interception while getting sacked twice. It all added up to an unimpressive 39.6 rating.
But this was his professional debut, and no doubt if you take the opinion of Southern California coach Pete Carroll, Booty is going to be a great pro someday.
The Vikings have four quarterbacks in camp now with starter Tarvaris Jackson and veteran backup Gus Frerotte locked in. The other quarterback in camp is Brooks Bollinger, who played in five games last year and started one but appears as though he might end up being the odd man out.
Thigpen played in only one game last year for the Chiefs. In this season's preseason opener vs. Chicago, he went 8-for-16 passing for 113 yards and led Kansas City back from a fourth-quarter deficit. Thigpen's 27-yard touchdown pass to Bobby Sippio with only 68 seconds left in the game capped a six-play, 60-yard drive and gave the Chiefs a 23-20 victory over the Bears. The Chiefs consider Thigpen their quarterback of the future.
So based on the experience the Vikings had last year with Thigpen, look for the Vikings to try to trade Bollinger, because they likely will keep Booty on the active roster rather than risk losing him. If Bollinger gets the right opportunity, he will prove he can play in the NFL.
Jottings With 18 home dates remaining in 2008, the Twins have sold 2.05 million tickets. They are also on a run where they have drawn 15 consecutive crowds of 30,000 or more to the Metrodome, dating back to July 5 against Cleveland, but even so, they are averaging 27,841 per game, down from 29,561 through 63 dates a year ago. They are down a total of 108,349 fans from last year, although it's possible they can cut that number down if they continue their run of large crowds with six games remaining in this homestand.
Twins owner Carl Pohlad will soon celebrate his 93rd birthday, but he was in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday along with Jerry Bell and Dave St. Peter representing the Twins at a major league owners meeting. ... The Twins have a $950,000 option on catcher Mike Redmond for 2009, and while it seems certain they will exercise it, General Manager Bill Smith said nothing will be done until the end of the season. ... Twins outfielder Carlos Gomez was hitting .246 when leading off; since he has been dropped to ninth in the batting order, he has hit .313 in that position.
Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Heacock told the Columbus Dispatch on Tuesday that freshman defensive lineman Willie Mobley of Eden Prairie will sit out the Buckeyes season because of a shoulder injury believed to have been suffered in high school.
The word is that Brock Lesnar was paid $250,000 for appearing in the big mixed martial arts match Saturday at Target Center. Among the people advising and training Lesnar is Gophers assistant wrestling coach Marty Morgan.
There are 10 walk-on freshmen on the Gophers football squad: offensive linemen Tyler Brasch of Minneapolis Southwest, Jacob Glickstein of New Berlin, Wis., Curtis James of Edina and Austin Hahn of Hartford, Wis.; running back Jake Ferris of Hartland, Wis.; defensive backs Tim Horton of Chicago and Nathan Tow-Arnett of Redwood Falls, Minn.; linebacker Mike Rallis of Edina; wide receiver Brandon Randolph of Oak Creek, Ill.; and kicker David Schwerman of Kettle Moraine, Wis. Tow-Arnett, 26, is a freshman while his younger brothers -- tight end Nick, 23, and guard Jeff, 21 -- are Gophers juniors.
All together, including upperclassmen, there are 25 walk-ons in a Gophers uniform. Walk-ons who recently have been given scholarships are tackle Jason Meinke of Eastview and cornerback Marcus Sherels of Rochester John Marshall.
Sid Hartman can be heard weekdays on WCCO AM-830 at 6:40, 7:40 and 8:40 a.m. and on his Podcast twice a week at www.startribune.com/sidcast. shartman@startribune.com
