"Everything has gone great," Gardenhire said. "He's been catching in the bullpen, hitting on the field. He feels great."

Things have been so great that Mauer has changed his approach from being cautious to being aggressive as he tries to rejoin the Twins .

"He wants to push the envelope," Gardenhire said. "He's ready to go and we've got a nice program for him and we're saying, `whoa, whoa, whoa.' "

It's unclear how much running on the field Mauer would need before he would start playing in minor league games. But Mauer has been running in a pool at a facility outside of the Twins' complex to keep the pounding off his back. The Twins believe that the water resistance will help his legs get close to game-ready.

The Twins have been so impressed with Mauer's water work that they would like to have a similar facility installed at their Fort Myers location so players don't have to go off-campus for therapy.

Blackburn eager to start

Twins righthander Nick Blackburn said he has talked enough about his performance during the Twins' 1-0 loss to the White Sox last year in game No. 163 last year.

He hopes he can provide another talking point after facing Chicago in today's series finale.

"I'll be glad when this start is over so we can move on to something else," Blackburn said.

Blackburn received a lot of praise for keeping the Twins in contention in that game. Many predicted that he would take off from that outing.

He appreciates the praise. But reminds everyone of one thing: "I threw pretty well and there was a lot on the line," he said. "But we lost the game."

Baker to start

Gardenhire said that righthander Scott Baker will come off the disabled list to start on Wednesday against Toronto at the Metrodome. "We'll have to make a roster decision," Gardenhire said.

Gardenhire said knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, whose spot in the rotation is expected to be taken by Baker, threw fairly well Friday. It's unclear if the Twins will send Dickey to Class AAA Rochester, move righthander Philip Humber to make room for Baker or come up with something else.

Baker threw 70 pitches over seven innings on Friday for Class A Fort Myers during a minor league rehab stint. He threw 15-20 pitches more in the bullpen following his outing. He will work in the bullpen today, then fly to the Twin Cities and wait for his start on Wednesday against the Blue Jays.

Etc.

- The way things are set up right now, Francisco Liriano would start opposite of Toronto ace Roy Halladay on Thursday at the Metrodome. Both pitchers started Saturday.

- Carlos Gomez was back in the lineup on Saturday. Delmon Young, who is 3-for-6 against White Sox starter Bartolo Colon, was on the bench for the third time in the Twins' first six games.