Manager Ron Gardenhire said Morales' main issue is with his momentum, which has been taking him sideways instead of toward second base as he comes out of his crouch. The off-kilter approach puts all of the onus on Morales' arm and lends little power or accuracy to his throws.

"He doesn't have an arm like that, so he has to use everything he possibly can," Gardenhire said. "He has to get a little momentum and a little rhythm when the ball's coming in there. The important thing is to catch the ball and go from there. He was trying to rush out in spring training. I think we saw him drop a few balls, and now he's gotten where he's staying back too far. He's got to find that happy medium."

Morales said his lack of success throwing out runners can be traced to the ankle injury he suffered in his first big-league game late in the 2007 season. Morales tried to play through a still-injured ankle last season, and before succumbing to surgery in June the weakness in his ankle left him unable to effectively use his legs when he threw to the bases.

"I had my right leg to push, but I didn't have anything in my left leg to (brace) me," said Morales, who had a Tommy-John-like surgery on his ankle to replace a shredded ligament. "Before my ankle incident, I never had any problems throwing to the bases. I've always had a good arm, but a year and a half throwing with a bad ankle has just created so many bad habits. I'm just trying to get back to using my legs the right way."

Ready and willing: R.A. Dickey's knuckleball-throwing rubber arm apparently warms up about as quickly as it recovers.

Gardenhire said he was amazed at how fast the right-hander warmed up for his inning of work in Monday night's loss.

"I said get him up and the phone rang. (Pitching coach Rick Anderson) set the phone down, and it rang. He was ready," Gardenhire said. "I said, 'He couldn't have thrown more than three pitches, Andy, and the phone rang.' That's because he prepares before. He's up playing catch with the outfielders. I don't think you'll have to worry about him not being prepared."

Dickey started Friday's game against Chicago but has moved into the bullpen with Scott Baker reclaiming his spot in the rotation tonight. Pitching for Seattle last season, Dickey was a better reliever than starter, but Gardenhire said the nature of the knuckleball will lead to some hit-and-miss outings in relief from the 34-year-old.

In his first appearance at the Metrodome as a Twin , Dickey's knuckleball was lively and put a damper on Toronto's hot bats in his one scoreless inning.

"If he's got a good (knuckleball) going, (left-handed hitters) or righties, it won't really matter because it's diving all over the place," Gardenhire said. "He had a good one on Monday night. Ball was jumping everywhere. Against a team that was on the ball pretty good, he actually went out there and had a pretty good inning. ... He changed the game a little bit."

Big step for Mauer: Joe Mauer's return from the disabled list grew closer Monday and Tuesday when the all-star catcher began to run -- and did so without a setback, Gardenhire said. Running pain-free has been the final hurdle in Mauer's comeback from an inflamed sacroiliac joint.

Gardenhire said Mauer would continue running, hitting in batting practice, doing infield drills and catching bullpens this week with the goal of playing in minor league games for the Gulf Coast League Twins next week.

Briefly: Bullpen coach Rick Stelmaszek is expected to rejoin the Twins today. The 60-year-old coach has been absent from the field since falling ill on Opening Day.

Pitcher Brian Duensing was optioned to Rochester to make room for Baker.