So is Tolbert's fit on the Twins right now, manager Ron Gardenhire said. He never wanted to send the infielder to Class AAA in spring training, waiting until the day before camp broke to do so. When Gardenhire and general manager Bill Smith decided Alexi Casilla's mistake-prone play was getting worse, not better, "there was no doubt he was the one to get called up," Gardenhire said. "I really didn't think about anybody else."

That's because Tolbert's strength -- a motor that runs in fifth gear pretty much every minute of the day -- is what Gardenhire believes his team needs right now.

"The report I got (from Rochester) was, 'busting his (butt) every day.' I didn't need to hear more than that," Gardenhire said.

That part hasn't changed. Tolbert's plane landed in Baltimore around 1:15, and he was in uniform at Camden Yards an hour later -- ready to play ball on roughly, oh, zero sleep.

"I couldn't sleep last night," Tolbert said. "I just sat there, thinking. I guess I'm pretty nervous."

But he's confident at the plate, too. Tolbert started the season in a slump that had his batting average below .200 two weeks in. "I was getting set up late, so my hands were late on the ball," he said. "But I was turning it around lately."

Guess so. Tolbert was batting .414 in May, raising his average to .260, and had a four-hit night on Monday. Good enough that Gardenhire has essentially made Tolbert the regular second baseman (and No. 2 hitter, probably) for the time being.

"Call it what you want -- Wally Pipp, whatever," Gardenhire said, a reference to the player famously replaced by Lou Gehrig. "I just want him to go out there and bring the energy that he always does and just play. He and (Brendan Harris) will split some of the time, but probably Tolbert (will play) most of the time."

Inattention forces demotion: Casilla didn't want to go, but he understood the decision, said Gardenhire, who told the second baseman of his demotion when the Twins arrived at their Baltimore hotel late Tuesday night.

"He said he knows, he doesn't feel right right now," the manager said. "He said, 'I know I'm not playing good; mentally, I'm trying so hard, but it's not working.' "

Casilla's .167 batting average, just .080 against left-handers, was proof of that. But Gardenhire said it wasn't the hitting slump that forced the move but Casilla's increasing inattention to detail -- even after being warned about it.

"The last few nights, it actually got worse," Gardenhire said.

The 24-year-old Dominican didn't run after popping up a bunt on Monday, resulting in a double play when the Tigers let the ball drop. He failed to relay a throw from home that might have thrown out Gerald Laird on Tuesday. And in his final at-bat, "he hit a pop fly and ran with the bat all the way to first base, not really running," the manager said. "And that's just not acceptable. There is no excuse for (lack of) hustle."

The problem is mental, Gardenhire said, but he doesn't believe Casilla -- who now is out of options -- is gone for good. "He'll get straightened out a little bit. He can still really help us," the manager said.

Briefly: Joe Crede was scratched from the lineup shortly before Wednesday's game after coming down with a stomach ailment. He was taken to a hospital for tests to make sure it wasn't anything more than a virus.

Joe Mauer was given the night off after two consecutive long nights, including 1 2/3 innings of catching R.A. Dickey's knuckleball. "Balls were ringing off him a little bit," Gardenhire said.

Harris batted third for the first time since 2007.