P.J. Walters of the Minnesota Twins pitches in the first inning during the game against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on May 17, 2012 in Detroit. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images)

DETROIT — Quick, someone find that game plan in which journeyman pitcher P.J. Walters saves the Twins’ bullpen from ruin, reliever Francisco Liriano delivers in the clutch and Drew Butera goes 3 for 4 to raise his batting average to .350.

Too far-fetched, you say? Well, seeing is believing, and don’t look now, but the Twins are on a winning streak after the unlikeliest of circumstances propelled them to a two-game series sweep of the slumping Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.

Walters provided a quality start at precisely the right moment for Minnesota while Liriano, the erstwhile starter banished to the bullpen to rebuild his confidence, led another shutdown performance by relievers as the Twins defeated the Tigers 4-3 on Thursday, May 17.

They swiped two from the defending American League Central Division champs to win consecutive games for the first time since April 11-12. It was that kind of game on a sun-splashed afternoon in the Motor City.

Butera matched his career high of three hits. And Walters won his first start since Sept. 29, 2010, against Pittsburgh, when he was pitching for the St. Louis Cardinals.

See, just like the Twins designed it coming out of spring training.

“It’s about winning baseball games. This is a great team,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said of the Tigers. “You come in here and win a couple ballgames and go toe to toe against them, it’s a good feeling. There’s some confidence coming through this clubhouse. It’s pretty

fun.”

The victory gives Minnesota (12-26) some momentum on its eight-game trip entering interleague play, with three games this weekend against the Brewers in Milwaukee. But Walters’ outing had more practical benefits.

The bullpen needed a break after starter Nick Blackburn left Wednesday’s win after two innings because of a strained quadriceps that landed him on the disabled list. Entering play Thursday, Twins starters had averaged only 5.24 innings per outing, and their longevity ranked 28th among 30 teams.

They needed Walters to eat innings, and he obliged, limiting the Tigers to four hits over 61/3. He gave up solo home runs to Brennan Boesch, Andy Dirks and Prince Fielder before allowing two runners to reach in the seventh.

“I don’t like to give up home runs, but the offense gave me some room to work with,” said Walters, 1-1 with a 3.65 earned-run average in two starts for the Twins. “They picked me up there those last couple innings.”

Walters yielded to Liriano, who made his second relief appearance since being demoted two weeks ago.

Liriano induced pinch-hitter Ramon Santiago to hit a comebacker, which he turned into an inning-ending double play. It was a minor success but a big deal for those trying to

The Minnesota Twins’ Francisco Liriano pitches in the seventh inning during the game against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park in Detroit. The Twins defeated the Tigers 4-3. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images)

prevent Liriano from totally flaming out after going 0-5 with an ERA over 11.00.

“The young man can pitch,” Gardenhire said. “He has some success doing things like that in big situations; I think that’s going to boost his confidence, and that’s what we’re trying to do. We need outs. We need wins, and we need to get him going.”

In the eighth, Glen Perkins came in and walked the first two batters on nine pitches. After falling behind 2-0 to Fielder, Butera and pitching coach Rick Anderson visited the mound for some blunt talk.

“I was like, ‘Hey, no big deal. Just go right after him.’ That’s what Andy said,” Butera said. “What’s done is done. Let’s go after him right here. We’re a couple pitches away from getting out of the inning.”

Perkins settled down to strike out Fielder swinging and got Delmon Young to ground into another inning-ending double play.

“That was huge,” Butera said. “Our pitching staff from P.J. all the way through the bullpen was outstanding.”

Follow Brian Murphy on twitter.com/bmurphPiPress

Read More: Justin Morneau (DH – MIN), Minnesota Twins

The Minnesota Twins want Justin Morneau involved in games whenever possible, though ideally, he would be at first base where he’s most comfortable and can be most effective. Unfortunately, Morneau has suffered plenty of injuries at first base, including concussions and concussion-like symptoms (which, as far as anyone knows, just means more concussions) over the last season or so.

Morneau will be involved right out of the gate in 2012, as the Star Tribune reports that he’ll open the season as the designated hitter. He doesn’t necessarily want to play there long-term though, and wants to play first base whenever possible:

“The way it’s looking, with (Chris) Parmelee making the team as a first baseman, I think it’s looking more toward DH than first base,” Morneau said. “It isn’t necessarily something that I want to do but it’s better in the long run in terms of being healthy and available to play every day. That’s the biggest thing right now.”

He goes on to say that they’ll revisit it later in the season and see how he’s feeling. It’s all about whether or not he experiences more concussion symptoms and what his fatigue is looking like at that point. Fatigue can increase the effects of a concussion, so if Morneau has to be limited, then that’s what’s best for him and his career. Just having him on the field should be a big help for the Twins, regardless.

Minnesota Twins designated hitter Justin Morneau follows through on an RBI single against the Philadelphia Phillies during the fourth inning of a spring training baseball game in Fort Myers, Fla., Wednesday, March 28, 2012. Morneau was 3 for 4 with a two-run home run in the Twins’ 11-7 win. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. – Justin Morneau isn’t particularly happy about becoming a designated hitter, but he has come to grips with it. So the longtime first baseman and 2006 American League MVP will start there when the Minnesota Twins open the season April 6 at Baltimore.

“I still think I have to do what’s smart and what’s best and not necessarily what everyone wants to do,” he said. “But if I go into it not wanting to (DH), I think it’s going to be harder for me to do. So I have to accept it for what it is and enjoy and just try to be a good teammate and try to be the guy when those guys come off the field to pump everybody up, maybe do that and keep myself involved in the game.”

Speaking before the Twins’ 6-6 tie with the

Tampa Bay Rays on Monday, April 2, at Charlotte Sports Park, Morneau made it clear he hasn’t given up on playing defense.

“I feel relatively young in this game, so I don’t plan on DH’ing for the rest of my career,” he said. “I want to get back to playing first. Hopefully, this is just the first step in that process.”

In fact, Morneau, 30, said he expects to play first base this season, particularly during interleague play in National League ballparks, where AL teams won’t be able to use the DH. For now, manager Ron Gardenhire said, rookie Chris Parmelee is the Twins’ regular first baseman.

“I want (Morneau) to have 500 at-bats or whatever it might take,” the manager said. “But there’s going to come a time when he needs to play first

base – as long as he knows that. We talked about it today.”

However temporary, the position switch seems to have been coming since Aug. 28, when Morneau suffered a second concussion while diving for Alex Avila’s hot grounder in a loss to Detroit at Target Field. It was his second season-ending concussion in 13 months, and though he is recovered and cleared by doctors to play, he is wary of a setback.

Doctors have told him that fatigue can play a factor in whether his symptoms return. He

also acknowledged that limiting himself to batting and running the bases will cut down his chances of another injury.

“But most of it is making sure it doesn’t happen again and I completely get past (the concussion),” Morneau said, “because last year we thought it was all gone, and a simple play in the field happened and I’m done for the rest of the year in late August. So it doesn’t make sense to go out there and every time I dive, or something questionable happens, you have to get through that whole thing. I know it would drive Gardy crazy and me crazy.

“I want to be out there free and be able to dive for balls and make plays I need to make. So if I’m not able to do that right away, and I don’t have the confidence that I’ll be able

to do that, then it’s probably the best to not do that right now and see what happens down the road.”

Morneau said he reported to spring training Feb. 24 with every intention of playing first base this season, and considering what he went through physically last season, his consistent participation has been notable. In addition to the concussion, he had surgery on his neck, left wrist, left knee and right foot between June and September.

But when his swing wasn’t coming around, Morneau started to DH so he could get more at-bats in spring training games. Since moving there on March 14, he is hitting .341 (14 for 41) with three homers, four doubles and 13 RBIs, though much of the production has come in his past eight games. He singled

in his last at-bat Monday to extend his hitting streak to eight games (12 for 27, .444).

“It’s feeling pretty close to normal. The timing took a while to come, so it’s starting to feel like the swing is pretty good now,” he said. “The wrist has really come a long way, especially in the last two weeks. The confidence at the plate really feels pretty good. Just standing in there and feeling like myself is a good feeling.”

FT. MYERS, Fla. — The Minnesota Twins released injured right-hander Joel Zumaya today to make room on their 40-man roster.

Zumaya, 27, was trying to revive his career after missing the 2011 season because of elbow problems, but the hard-throwing reliever hurt the joint again during his first bullpen session of spring training with his new team, tearing the ulnar collateral ligament. Zumaya is scheduled for Tommy John surgery Thursday and will need a year to recover.

“We’re going to make roster spots. It’s as simple as that,” general manager Terry Ryan said. “He understood. I told him when he left that, eventually, I’m probably going to need the spot.”

After a standout rookie year with the Detroit Tigers in 2006, Zumaya has not been able to pitch more than 39 innings in any season since because of arm injuries.

He signed a one-year contract with the Twins for $850,000, and Ryan said the Twins owe Zumaya all of that. There was language in the deal that limited the guarantee to $400,000, but that only applied if Zumaya was healthy and didn’t make the team, Ryan said.

“I talked to him,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said today. “He was going to get this surgery and give it one more shot.”

FORT MYERS, Fla. – He is the unlikeliest of prospects. At 28, he’s never been employed by any team affiliated with major league baseball. Instead, he is a refugee of the independent Can-Am League.

He received no signing bonus, not even a few bucks for a new glove. He’s been promised nothing. And he is surrounded by bonus babies and fresh-faced youngsters with their futures all nicely laid out in front of them.

Yet no one is happier to be in the Twins’ minor league camp than Chris Colabello.

“Through all the tribulations in independent ball, I always believed there would come a point where somebody would give me an opportunity,” he said. “I’m so thankful to the Minnesota Twins because I know how hard it is to sign a 28-year

old free agent who really has never had an opportunity to play with an affiliated team. I’m so grateful to be here.”

Colabello could be the poster child for spring training because he is hope personified. In fact, he is a minor miracle, a fixture at first base for the Worcester (Mass.) Tornadoes for seven years who finally is getting a chance. It’s as if he outlasted major league baseball, which clearly didn’t want any part of him. But he refused to go away.

Thursday morning, he ran onto the field with dozens of other minor leaguers for his first official workout as a member of the Minnesota Twins organization. And when Tom Kelly came over to give him a few pointers at first base, Colabello appeared happy beyond belief.

“I’ll tell

you what, anybody that takes time to come talk to me and try to help me, I truly appreciate it,” Colabello said. “I mean that from the bottom of my heart. It just means the world to me.”

Jim Rantz, the Twins farm director, points to the stat sheet.

“Look at the numbers he put up,” Rantz said. “We have some slots to fill.”

That finally may answer the philosophical question: If a tree falls in an independent league and everybody hears it, does anybody care?

Colabello’s story is unusual.

His dad was a star player in Italy for eight years, even pitching for the Italian national team at the 1984 Olympics. He also managed there, so Chris spent several of his formative years overseas. Chris went on to play first base for Assumption College in his native Massachusetts, which was close to his home in nearby Framingham. His goal always was to play pro ball, but he was undrafted upon his graduation.

The Tigers gave him a quick look but passed. Colabello figured there would be other teams at least willing to take a peek. But year after year passed with no takers. Colabello appeared to have two options. He could play in Italy, where his father’s name still carries plenty of weight. Or he could move on from baseball.

He chose

neither. Receiving encouragement from Worcester manager Rich Gedman, a former Red Sox catcher, Colabello kept grinding along, working various baseball clinics in the offseason to make ends meet.

“There were people that said to me: ‘How long are you going to do this? How old are you going to be?’ ” he recalled. “But there were good people in my life, Rich being one of them, who told me I was capable. ‘Keep playing until somebody rips the uniform off your back. Because as long as you have a uniform on, someone might see you.’ ”

The Twins, looking to fill a couple of holes in their minor league system, finally did see him. Colabello hit .348 with 20 home runs for Worcester last season. In seven Can-Am seasons, he has hit above .300 every

time. So the Twins worked him out in front of one of their scouts, then signed him and brought him to minor league camp.

Now, let’s not get crazy here. Colabello isn’t going to be groomed to take over for Justin Morneau. But he has a chance to catch on with one of the minor league teams, probably Double-A New Britain, and hold down a job until someone else, someone moving up the ladder, comes along.

“My agent…It’s hard to call him my agent, he’s more of a friend that helps me out, sent a bunch of stuff out for me, and he told me he heard back from the Twins,” Colabello said. “I was obviously very excited. But it’s hard because I have been so close so many times before. So it was hard to get really amped up at first.

“Over the

course of the next few days things progressed. When I got the call it was huge, but it wasn’t like, ‘Yes, I made it.’ It was more that I was able to take a deep breath and say, ‘Thank God.’ ”

Colabello holds no bitterness for the long wait.

“I’ve heard it all, I guess,” he said. “It was either that I didn’t run well enough, I didn’t hit for enough power or that I only played first base,” he said. “When they told me I didn’t have enough power, I showed them that I had power. When they told me I couldn’t run well, I ran well with all the guys my size. When they told me I couldn’t play somewhere else, I moved to third and to left field.

“Every negative word I heard over my career ended up being a positive for me,” he said. “I used it as fuel for the fire. And understanding how to handle failure is such a big component for me. At the end of the day, taking the road I have has made me who I am.”

Rantz was serious when he said Colabello has a chance to play in New Britain. But he does have to prove himself in camp or else he won’t be around long. If he makes good, he will end up earning about $1,600 a month, which is less than he was making with the Worcester Tornadoes.

“It was never about money for me,” he said. “I put myself in a situation in the offseason where I’ve kind of been able to make some money and save it up for the season. The money is just an afterthought.”

There is no sense of entitlement here. There is no grousing about the hand he was dealt. Instead, there’s just a sense of anticipation. And maybe the relief of knowing it hasn’t all been for nothing.

“I’ve always believed something good could happen if I kept going about my business the right way, working hard, playing hard and being a good person,” he said. “I guess I just didn’t listen to those people who said I couldn’t do it.

“I think every day of my life has been spent trying to get to the big leagues. What I can control is going out and being the best me that I can. Whatever the Minnesota Twins choose to do with me I totally understand. I just look forward to the opportunity to play every day. I know that a day on a baseball field is better than a day anywhere else.”

Colabello smiled and added:

“Would I someday love to end up playing at Target Field? Absolutely.”

The chances seem almost beyond remote. But he’s proved he can’t be counted out.

Tom Powers can be reached at tpowers@pioneerpress.com.

Minnesota Twins catcher Drew Butera throws a ball in the bullpen as fans look on during a baseball spring training workout Friday, Feb. 24, 2012, in Fort Myers, Fla. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Drew Butera vows he can hit. The problem, he notes, is that it comes in bursts, and so far the bursts have been few and far between.

The fact remains, if Butera were a better hitter, the Twins wouldn’t be looking for another catcher. Already displaced to third on the depth chart by the offseason signing of Ryan Doumit, Butera finds himself in a battle to be the third catcher the team will likely bring north when camp breaks on April 4.

A strong “catch-and-throw” guy, Butera has a .178 batting average in 142 major league games.

“I have full confidence I can hit,” he said Thursday. “Throughout my career I’ve shown flashes of it. I’ve been very inconsistent in the big leagues; I’ll have a good month, then I

won’t have a good month. So I think the biggest thing for me is being consistent, or being more consistent – finding something that will allow me to have more quality at-bats. And that’s what I worked on in the offseason.”

Research bears him out somewhat. Over the past two seasons, Butera, 28, has posted a few hot streaks: he hit .375 with a homer and seven RBIs between June 1-19 last season, and .318 with three RBIs in a seven-game stretch in August 2010, for instance.

And in his last six games of 2011, he hit .400 with four RBIs.

“The last two weeks of the season, I felt really good,” he said. “I worked with (hitting coach Joe) Vavra on having a plan. I worked on having a pitch I wanted to hit, and also worked on a few mechanical

things, and that’s what I carried into the offseason – and I’m carrying it into spring.”

Butera’s best professional batting average came in 2007, when he hit .235 with three minor league teams. But the Twins liked his defense, and with Joe Mauer ahead of him, they figured Butera’s bat wouldn’t be much of an issue. However, Mauer’s injury problems last season – he missed 80 games – exposed Butera’s weakness.

In 93 games last season, Butera hit .167. It was the 19th-lowest batting average for

any player with at least 250 at-bats since 1901.

“Drew Butera’s a pretty good catcher/thrower/receiver/teammate, all that stuff,” general manager Terry Ryan said, “but we’ve got to get more. We’ve got to get more than that. We’ve got to get him to either swing the bat, be able to move runners, coax a walk – keep the chains moving as I like to say. Just keep the chains moving; that’s all.”

To provide competition, the Twins invited former Astros prospect J.R. Towles to camp. He has a game-winning home run and a couple of singles this spring but is a .187 career hitter in parts of five major league seasons.

“I think competition is good,” Butera said. “It brings out the best in people, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Nothing’s a

guarantee in this game. That’s the one thing I learned at a young age. I think being around the game with my dad (former Twins catcher Sal Butera) playing, and seeing what he went through and hearing stories, has taught me nothing’s ever a guarantee.”

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) Glen Perkins appeared on the outs with the Minnesota Twins in 2010, his struggles on the mound compounded by a grievance he filed against the team the previous season.

Two years later, Perkins is the one arm the Twins know they can count on in the back end of their bullpen. Minnesota and the left-handed setup man agreed Thursday to a four-year contract that adds $10.3 million over three seasons and includes a team option for 2016.

For the first time in his career, Perkins has some level of stability and security.

”I hate using cliches, but it means I can just go out and pitch for the next four years,” Perkins said. ”That’s all that matters now. I can just go out there and pitch. I don’t have to worry about anything other than pitching. I don’t have to worry about anything like my family and all those good things.”

Perkins emerged as a reliable late-inning reliever last season, going 4-4 with a 2.48 ERA in 65 games. He struck out 65 and walked 21 in 61 2-3 innings.

”Everything has changed over the last couple of years,” manager Ron Gardenhire said earlier this spring training. ”He’s content. He understands more about the game than he ever has. He understands what he wants out of the game more than he ever did before.”

It was a breakout season that came as a surprise to some after a couple of injury plagued years that included 2009, when Perkins and his agent had the players’ association file a grievance against the Twins for sending him to Triple-A Rochester after activating him from the disabled list in August. Perkins thought he should have remained on the major league roster and been sent on a rehab assignment instead. The grievance was later settled.

He was converted from a starter to a reliever and grabbed a role as an overpowering setup man last season. Now with closer Joe Nathan gone to Texas, Matt Capps coming off of a disappointing 2011, starter Brian Duensing moving to the bullpen from the rotation and Joel Zumaya out for the season with elbow-ligament replacement surgery, Perkins is the rock.

”He’s got the perfect situation. He’s living at home. He grew up a Twins fan,” Gardenhire said. ”Can’t get any better for him and I think it took a while for him to realize how fortunate he was. That’s just being in the game and seeing how other people handle it. He’s done an awful lot in this game already and he’s got a lot more he can do, and he realizes that, believe me. I think he really likes what he’s doing.”

With a healthy arm, the former University of Minnesota standout and native of Stillwater, Minn., has seen his velocity jump a little and he is comfortable this spring knowing that he has a role with the team from the start. There has even been some talk about Perkins eventually becoming the team’s closer.

”I feel like where I pitched last year and where I’ll pitch this year that I can impact a game as much, or more, and I’m OK with that,” Perkins said earlier this spring. ”I like coming into situations where a closer wouldn’t typically come in. It is a cliche, but I like to help out the team, and I think I can help out the team the most, for me, this way.”

Perkins agreed in January to a $1.55 million salary for this year.

Although the Minnesota Twins have rarely been a team renowned for their power, they have still managed to produce some excellent home run hitters over the years. This list includes many team legends, and several players from the Twins’ World Series seasons.

Here are the top 10 home runs hitters going into the 2012 season:

Note: The totals are only from each player’s time with the Twins, and his career numbers may be higher.

1. Harmon Killebrew, 559

Killebrew is one of the most beloved players in Twins history, and he’s easily the team’s home run champion. He recorded 49 homers in 1964 and 1969, and was also the AL MVP in 1969. With these awesome numbers, it’s no surprise that Killebrew is in the Hall of Fame.

2. Kent Hrbek, 293

Hrbek spent his entire career in Minnesota, and had solid power throughout his career. His highest home run total came in the Twins’ 1987 World Series championship season, when he belted 34. Hrbek was also part of the 1991 World Series championship team, although he only hit 20 homers that year.

3. Bob Allison, 256

This hard-hitting outfielder was a three-time All-Star and the 1959 Rookie of the Year, which he earned while playing for the Washington Senators. After the Senators moved to Minnesota, Allison played out his career as a Twin. His most productive season came in 1963, when he hit 35 home runs and posted an impressive .533 slugging percentage.

4. Tony Oliva, 220

Oliva is one of the most accomplished players ever to wear a Twins uniform. He played his entire 15-year career in Minnesota, and was an eight-time All-Star, as well as the 1964 AL Rookie of the Year. Oliva’s first season also saw his highest home run total with 32.

5. Kirby Puckett, 207

The star of the 1987 and 1991 World Series championship teams, Puckett was the favorite player of just about every Twins fan. Although a great hitter, Puckett’s game didn’t focus solely on home runs, but he did reach 31 in 1986.

6. Gary Gaetti, 201

Gaetti racked up several homers throughout the 1980s as the team’s third baseman. He topped the 30 mark in back-to-back seasons, with 34 in 1986 and 31 in 1987. When you take into account Gaetti’s numbers while playing on other teams, his home run total is an excellent 360.

7. Torii Hunter, 192

Hunter was best known for his great defensive ability while playing in Minnesota, but he also had some solid power. In his first two full years with the Twins, Hunter only hit a total of 14 home runs, but by his fourth season in 2002, he knocked 29 out of the park.

8. Justin Morneau, 185

The Canadian native had his best year in 2006, when he hit 34 home runs and won the AL MVP. Morneau is also the only active player on this list who is still plays for Minnesota, so he is likely to rise up this list if he can stay healthy.

9. Roy Sievers, 180

Sievers only spent six seasons with the franchise, playing with the team in the 1950s before it moved from Washington. However, he was very productive in his relatively short stint with the team, and was the AL home run champion in 1957 with 42 dingers.

10. Tom Brunansky, 163

Brunansky was a very good right fielder for the Twins during the 1980s. He hit 32 home runs twice—during the 1987 World Series season and in 1984. Additionally, Brunansky was named an All-Star in 1985.