Rivera comes through in Twins win

Twins catcher Rene Rivera stepped up to the plate in the second inning of Thursday's game in Oakland with just one hit in 15 at-bats this season. As a team, Minnesota did not have a home run by a catcher the only team in the majors to hold that distinction.Rivera changed all of that with one swing of the bat, as he teed up on Oakland reliever David Purcey for a solo home run to left in the second. Purcey entered when A's starter Tyson Ross left with an injury after just seven pitches."I was struggling a little bit at the beginning," Rivera said of his slow start since being called up from Class AAA Rochester on May 5. "I was just trying to hit the ball hard somewhere else, and I found it."It was Rivera's fourth career home run, and his first since July 9, 2006 when he was a member of the Seattle Mariners. It was the second solo homer of his career.Rivera wasn't done after the home run in the second. He picked up his second hit of the day his third as a Twin on a single to center in the top of the eighth inning to raise his average to .158 nearly a 100-point increase from where he was to start the game. He also drew a walk, reaching base three times in five plate appearances, in Minnesota's 11-1 victory."It's awesome. I'm proud of the Twins," Rivera said. "We've been through tough times, but lately the last week we've been playing pretty good."Behind the plate, Rivera gunned out Oakland's Coco Crisp, who tried to steal second in the first inning. Rivera's throw was right on target to nail Crisp, the third runner he's thrown out in seven attempts this season.He also caught Twins starter Nick Blackburn on Thursday, the third consecutive game the duo worked together this season. Blackburn allowed just one run in seven innings to pick up the win against the A's, and he's given up five total runs in three starts (21 innings) with Rivera behind the plate.Rivera's second-inning home run was just a sign of things to come for the Twins on Thursday. Designated hitter Justin Morneau hit a two-run homer in the fifth off Oakland reliever and former Twin Craig Breslow, and shortstop Trevor Plouffe went deep in the eighth, sending a three-run shot to left off Trystan Magnuson."I think everybody checked in with a hit today, which is nice to see, get the offense going a little bit heading to Arizona," Morneau said."I think you see that they're relaxed," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "You win a few in a row and the pressure goes off your backs and you don't feel like you have to squeeze the bat or make every play. You can just go out and let it fly, and that's kind of what happened today."Morneau's home run was one of his three hits in the game, his second three-hit game of the season."I think the confidence is starting to get there," Morneau said. "The approach has been a little bit better in the last few days. I'm not trying to do too much, just keep it simple.""His (Vancouver) Canucks are playing hockey, and they won, so I knew he'd come in and have a good day today," Gardenhire joked.