"I've been dealing with a blister and a split nail for at least three weeks now," Santana said.

That was a revelation, actually, since Santana had said nothing publicly.

[...]

This time, Santana benefited from an extra day's rest between starts. Monday's open date gave the blister more time to heal, and it wasn't until the late innings that it started wreaking havoc with his slider again.

[...]

"It's going to stay there for a while," he said, staring at the finger. "But the good thing is my nail is growing back, so it's not like before, when I was missing a quarter of my nail. So now it's OK."

At the time of his first home run of the season Monday, Willie Bloomquist had gone 418 at-bats without a homer. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that was the fourth-longest current homerless streak among non-pitchers in the majors, behind Jason Tyner (948), Joey Gathright (525) and Luis Ordaz (440).

Some confusion between the Twins coaching staff and the trainers had led to a few reports that Francisco Liriano might be playing catch Tuesday. That was not the case, as Liriano will not be able to do any sort of throwing until he undergoes a medical evaluation this weekend to test the strength of his shoulder and see if the pain has diminished.

The Giants came to regret trading Single-A pitcher Francisco Liriano ... But the Padres, too, should have regrets, said their former international scouting supervisor, Bill Clark, who recalled that Padres scout Bill Bryk urged the club to work out Liriano after staging a private workout with him in the summer of 2000.

"We had Liriano at our complex in the Dominican Republic," Clark said. "He was 16 years old and he threw about 94 miles per hour and he knew what he was doing. He wanted play the outfield but his agent, [Don] Nomura said he would pitch for San Diego for $400,000. That was a lot of money for San Diego, but we thought he was worth it. I had an annual total budget of $1 million. I needed the money but couldn't get it."

Nomura confirmed that he represented Liriano at the time but declined further comment. The Padres got poor results from their international program on Clark's watch and fired Clark in September 2003.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire has changed his diet after missing four games from July 31 through Aug. 3 with an intestinal virus that cost him "16 to 17 pounds."

Gardenhire rejoined the Twins on Aug. 4 after being hospitalized for a day because of dehydration. Gardenhire says he's stopped drinking beer and eating red meat.

"I feel better," Gardenhire said. "I don't wake up with a headache after those ugly losses."

It has never been a common offensive weapon, but there was a time stealing home wasn't such a rarity. Ty Cobb pulled it off 54 times in his career. Jackie Robinson famously, and controversially, did it in Game 1 of the 1955 World Series, maybe or maybe not beating the tag by the Yankees' Yogi Berra. Rod Carew had a field day in 1969, stealing home seven times.

Since Robinson retired in 1956, however, Carew (17 career steals of home) and Paul Molitor (10) have been the only players to retire with at least 10.

CESAR TOVAR, ROD CAREW, TWINS (May 18, 1969)

Tovar, also famous for spoiling five no-hit bids during his major league career, led off the third inning with a single off Detroit starter Mickey Lolich. After Lolich balked him to second, Tovar stole third. Lolich then walked Carew. Two pitches later, Tovar and Carew teamed up on a double steal, Tovar swiping home and Carew pilfering second. Then, with Harmon Killebrew batting, Carew caught Lolich napping and executed a straight steal of home.

TWINS 3RD: Tovar singled; Lolich balked [Tovar to second]; Tovar stole third; Carew walked; Tovar stole home and Carew stole second; Carew stole third; Carew stole home; Killebrew struck out; Oliva popped to third; Cardenas walked; Mitterwald made an out to left; 2 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Tigers 2, Twins 2.

Jacque Jones and Angel Pagan both failed to hit cutoff men during Thursday's loss in Milwaukee. Do the Cubs have to give their outfielders a refresher course on the fundamentals?

"It's not about teaching as much as executing," [Dusty] Baker said.

Baker said Pagan "panicked" when he lost a ball at the wall and made a wild throw, while Jones is trying too hard.

"You saw earlier in the year, Jacque was throwing low," Baker said. "Now he's trying to compensate and he's throwing high. The next step is in the middle. He knows.

"Sometimes you start thinking about throwing out everybody instead of just doing what you're supposed to do. We talked."

Francisco Liriano's throwing session Tuesday will consist of light tosses from 60 feet, with a chance he'll back out to 90 feet. Twins pitching coach Rick Anderson said the session will last for just a few minutes as they check to see whether there's any pain in Liriano's elbow.

Liriano is in the middle of a shoulder and elbow strengthening program in an effort to return to the lineup. He's out indefinitely, but the club quietly is hoping he will return at the end of the month.

Despite a report that injured rookie Francisco Liriano could begin playing catch as soon as Tuesday, the medical staff said that the all-star pitcher is to remain completely shut down from all throwing until his status is re-evaluated next weekend before the team heads on the road.

Until then, Liriano, on the disabled list because of a chronic strain in an elbow ligament and weakness in his shoulder, is scheduled only for physical therapy under a trainer's supervision.

Gordon: That's exactly why I think this team has a chance--heart. As in, a heart of the batting order that the Twins haven't had since Kirby Puckett and Kent Hrbek. Justin Morneau alone provides the kind of legitimate power and run production that make this lineup formidable enough to win on nights it doesn't get its best pitching. That's the difference between this team and those three-peat division winners.

Jason: Yeah, your theory really worked well against Toronto junkballer Ted Lilly on Thursday night, didn't it?

Gordon: Look, Bill James. I know you're a baseball expert and everything, but even the 1927 Yankees were shut out every once in a while.

For the past four days, Brad Radke washed his hair with his left hand and avoided throwing a baseball with his right. "Sometimes I make a sudden movement with my right arm," he said, "and it brings me to my knees."

[...]

"Seriously, I can't even play catch," he said. "Maybe the day before a start, I might feel a little better, where I can throw maybe five throws, from 40 feet at most, before it really starts to hurt."

So how does he throw 100 pitches to big-league hitters? "I guess it's adrenaline," he said. "And what we're going through here, fighting for a playoff spot. I'm doing everything I can."