Rough weekend won't cost Capps closer role

MINNEAPOLIS -- Minnesota Twins closer Matt Capps struggled in back-to-back games over the weekend, but manager Ron Gardenhire said Capps isn't in danger of losing his ninth-inning role. "(Capps) is still our closer," Gardenhire said following Sunday's game, in which Capps gave up two hits in the ninth inning of Minnesota's 9-7 win over Milwaukee. Capps blew the save in Saturday's game against the Brewers, allowing four runs in the ninth to let a three-run lead slip away. Sunday, Capps was lifted from the game before it was over. Gardenhire took out Capps with one out in the ninth and brought in left-hander Glen Perkins to face dangerous Brewers slugger Prince Fielder. The move came despite Capps' past success against Fielder, who is 0-for-7 lifetime with three strikeouts against Capps. It paid off, however, as Perkins struck out Fielder and then fanned pinch hitter Casey McGehee to end the game and pick up his first career save. "His job is to make the moves that are best for the team, and that's what he did," Capps said of Gardenhire. "I've got no problem with that. We won the ballgame; it worked out. That's the ultimate goal, and that's what he did. Perk's certainly capable of throwing against anybody. He showed today why." "That was a really hard situation. Cappy has good numbers. He let me know that on the mound," Gardenhire said. "They were good numbers against Fielder, but we have a hot left-hander out there. I had him up for a reason in case we got to that situation where Prince could tie it up, and I went to him." Capps took over the closer's role early this season when Joe Nathan struggled to save games one year after having Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery. Capps' blown save Saturday was his sixth this season, tied for most in the majors. Sunday was Perkins' 31st relief appearance this season -- and the 67th of his career -- yet the save was the first of his career. "It was a fun experience. I think we've got two guys that are pretty good closers. They're going to be our guys," Perkins said. "Sometimes you've got to pick them up, and I was glad I was able to do that today." Perkins was converted to a reliever last season after going 6-7 with a 5.89 ERA in 2009. He spent time on the disabled list this year with a right oblique strain but has been used effectively as the Twins' set-up man since then. While he's now thriving in the bullpen, Perkins said he hasn't given much thought to closing games. "I just want to pitch when I get the ball," he said. "I never said this season I wanted to pitch in the eighth inning. I just want to be able to pitch and be successful because I've had a couple long years. I'm glad that I'm pitching well." Birthday bash: Minnesota outfielder Rene Tosoni's birthday gift to himself came one day late. Tosoni turned 25 on Saturday but wasn't in the Twins' lineup. On Sunday, Tosoni started in left field and celebrated his birthday belatedly with a three-run home run in the fourth inning that brought the Twins to within 6-4 of the Milwaukee Brewers. Tosoni took Brewers starter Zack Greinke deep to right-center for his second career home run. Both homers have come at Target Field, and Sunday's was hit to one of the deepest parts of the park. "It's a tough wall out there, so I wasn't sure if it was going to hit the wall," Tosoni said. "I'm glad it did not." "That's huge, a young kid up there against Greinke, who's a pretty good pitcher," Gardenhire said. "He got a fastball up, and (Tosoni) put a really good swing on it." Tosoni shares a birthday with Brewers outfielder Nyjer Morgan, who homered and tripled on his birthday in Milwaukee's 8-7 comeback win over the Twins on Saturday. "Good things happen on birthdays," Tosoni said. "Nyjer Morgan had a good day (Saturday)." Nishioka still struggling: Twins shortstop Tsuyoshi Nishioka had just one hit over the weekend and is now 1-for16 over his past five games, with his average dropping to .189 this season. Nishioka was a batting champion in Japan but has had trouble adjusting to major league pitching. Gardenhire said he finally had a chance to study video of Nishioka's swing while in Japan in order to compare it to what he's been doing with the Twins. "He's been staying on the ball a little bit longer, but I think through his videos, when you get a chance to watch them, he stays in there, uses the whole field and is not drifting off the ball as much," Gardenhire said. "I think that's what you see, a confidence when you know the pitchers over there and all those things." Nishioka missed more than two months after breaking his leg during the first week of the season. Since his return on June 16, he's batting .191 with a .269 on-base percentage and two doubles. But despite his struggles, Gardenhire and the Twins remain confident Nishioka can replicate what he did in Japan. "His video didn't make any outs," Gardenhire joked. "There's no outs, so I couldn't tell any bad swings. Every video on there was all base hits and doubles and triples. There's no outs. That's a good video. I never had a video like that. I made outs."