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The Minnesota Twins' biggest loss of
the day came after getting beat by Tampa Bay.


      Moments after Johnny Damon hit a two-run homer with one out in
the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Rays a 4-3 victory over
Minnesota on Thursday night, the Twins announced that star catcher
Joe Mauer was placed on the 15-day disabled list due to weakness in
his legs.


      Mauer had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in the
offseason. He had a very light workload during spring training to
try and reduce the wear and tear on his legs and stay fresh for the
rigors of catching an entire season.


      "He's going to go fly to Baltimore (Friday) and see his doctor
there, and then he'll head home to start rehab of getting his body
and his legs in shape," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "I
think they say it was bilateral leg weakness, which is causing all
kinds of soreness. He's compensating because of the surgery he had
this winter."


      Gardenhire is not sure how long Mauer will be out.


      "He's been, definitely, very sore over the last few days,"
Gardenhire said. "Shoulder. Elbow. Hips. I think it's just the
legs are not strong enough underneath him. He says he feels
terrible. We have to shut him down early in the season and try to
get him well."


      The three-time AL batting champion is hitting .235 with four
RBIs in nine games this year. Earlier this season, Gardenhire said
Mauer got banged up while blocking a lot of pitches in a game from
Francisco Liriano.


      Minnesota is recalling catcher Steve Holm from Triple-A
Rochester to replace Mauer.


      Carl Pavano pitched eight shutout innings for the Twins, but was
denied the victory when closer Joe Nathan gave up a two-run double
to Matt Joyce in the ninth.


      Minnesota regained the lead in the 10th on Danny Valencia's RBI
single off Kyle Farnsworth (1-0).


      Tampa's Sam Fuld singled with one out in the bottom of the 10th
off Matt Capps (1-1) and Damon followed with his third homer of the
season, a drive into the first row of the right-field seats.


      "You can't panic," Gardenhire said of the Twins, who are 4-8.
"You can't worry about it. You just have to keep playing.
Everybody would love to get off to a great start. You have to learn
through those things and you just have to keep plugging away. I
think we'll be fine."


      Delmon Young and Drew Butera drove in sixth-inning runs for the
Twins, seemingly supplying all the offensive support Pavano needed.


      Felipe Lopez began Tampa Bay's ninth-inning rally with a
one-out, bloop double off Nathan. Ben Zobrist then walked and Joyce
drove his third hit of the game into the gap in right to tie it.


      "A ball falls in on Joe and if that doesn't happen they've got
two outs in the ninth," Capps said. "It's tough to do what they
did with two quick outs right there. That changed the whole aspect
of the ninth inning. I made a pitch on a Fuld and it found a hole.
Same thing with Damon. I threw the ball where I wanted it to go and
he put a good swing on it and got enough of it to end the
ballgame."

      NOTES: Nathan has converted 3 of 4 save opportunities this
season. ... Capps had a stretch of 12 straight successful save
chances, dating back to Aug. 17 against the Chicago White Sox. ...
Michael Cuddyer batted second in the Minnesota lineup for the first
time since July 30, 2005.

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The Minnesota Twins' biggest loss of
the day came after getting beat by Tampa Bay.    Moments after Johnny Damon hit a two-run homer with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Rays a 4-3 victory over Minnesota on Thursday night, the Twins announced that star catcher Joe Mauer was placed on the 15-day disabled list due to weakness in his legs.

Twins lose game and Mauer to disabled list

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