In his past six appearances, accounting for eight innings, Guerrier has ratcheted his game even higher. The opposition has managed only one hit in those eight innings, a .042 average.

Impressed? Guerrier isn't.

"I didn't necessarily start great" this year, he said. "I had that four-run game (against hot-hitting Toronto on April 16). But even when that happened, I felt I had made good pitches. Sometimes you make good pitches and they get hit."

Last year, they got hit a lot, as his 8.86 ERA after the all-star break showed. But the Twins insist that Guerrier was a victim of accumulated overuse - a mistake they intend to avoid this year.

Guerrier has pitched on consecutive days only three times, and in two of the instances, he was given at least three days to rest.

"That's where I kind of got in trouble last year, (always saying) 'I feel good, I feel good,' " Guerrier said. "That's how players end up in 50-some games in three or four months. They've done a great job this year" in keeping him fresh.

Manager Ron Gardenhire said Guerrier's overuse was unavoidable last season, but the right-hander's start to this season has reinforced how important his role will be as a bridge to the late-inning specialists.

"He's very valuable to this team," Gardenhire said. "Efficiency with your pitches works out very well."

Particularly when you're used in more than 70 games, as Guerrier has been in each of the past two seasons. He would like to pitch even more this year -- just spread out more.

He wants his workload spread out over an extra month, in fact. "If we're going to pitch deep into October," Guerrier said, "we don't want to be worn out."

White update: A Comerica Park maintenance crew was busy all afternoon in the stairway leading from the Twins' clubhouse to the dugout, trying to make a wheelchair elevator attached to the railing functional again. The device was needed Monday night but wasn't working.

First-base coach Jerry White had to be carried up the stairs by reserve infielder Brian Buscher and strength coach Perry Castellano after being struck by a foul ball -- an injury that White shook off a day later.

"Woke up today, the swelling was already going down," said White, who returned to his post Tuesday. "Don't know how that happened."

White spent most of the day being needled about his injury, which necessitated him being carried off the field. "We may have to hold him out a game," Gardenhire joked, "because after going down the way he did last night, to not miss a game might look like he was playing to the camera."

Briefly: The Twins' clubhouse was unusually quiet Tuesday afternoon, as most of the players interrupted their pregame routines to watch highlights of the 1991 Twins -Braves World Series, which happened to be on TV.

Gardenhire said it's gratifying to see Rick Knapp, longtime Twins minor league pitching instructor, getting a chance to work in the major leagues as Detroit's pitching coach. "He's been kind of a leader of our whole minor league group, helping us develop into an organization that develops really good pitchers who throw the ball over the plate. He's been a big part of the success with our pitchers," Gardenhire said. "I'm happy for him. He put in a lot of hard work in the minors."

Pitching matchups for the Twins' two-game series in Baltimore: Kevin Slowey (4-0) vs. left-hander Mark Hendrickson (1-4) tonight, and Glen Perkins (1-2) vs. rookie Brad Bergesen (1-0) on Thursday. Both games start at 6:05 p.m. CDT.