(Sports Network) - A 9-15 April caused plenty of reason for concern for the Minnesota Twins a year ago. Granted, the team got white-hot in the second half of the season and eventually won the American League Central, but a half-decent April was certainly on the organization's wish list for 2007.

This time around, it was an up-and-down month, but all in all, the Twins will gladly take their 14-11 record and head into May.

"That probably was my biggest concern this year coming in, just getting off to a good start," pitching coach Rick Anderson told the Minnesota Star Tribune. "This gives them confidence, and that can carry them. Then, if they hit a bump along the way, at least they've got this to fall back on."

Minnesota just took two of three from the Detroit Tigers to close out the month tied for second in the division. Prior to that, Minnesota had lost five of six. May will not be an easy month, but the Twins have positioned themselves nicely in the middle of the pack that a rough stretch here or there should not make or break their season.

The bullpen has been steady, other than Sunday's series finale with the Tigers, in which reliever Jesse Crain gave up a walk-off home run to Brandon Inge to narrowly miss sweeping the Tigers on the road.

The loss also snapped a three-game win streak for the Twins, who have held their opponents to four runs or fewer in each of their last five games. The bats did the work on Saturday, piling up 11 runs on 17 hits. Friday's 5-3 win saw Nate Robertson pitch seven innings while giving up three runs, as the Twins took control of the game with a four-run eighth inning. And in Thursday's 1-0 win over the Kansas City Royals, five Twins pitchers combined for a five-hit shutout, while Mike Redmond hit the game-winning single in the 11th inning.

It was a nice rebound for Minnesota, after losing its previous four games. Manager Ron Gardenhire spoke out to his team after Thursday's 4-3 loss to the Royals.

"He was pretty pumped up," said center fielder Torii Hunter of Gardenhire's outburst. "But he's for us. He knows that last year we struggled in April and May and ended up winning the division. So this was just to give us a little big of encouragement, that it's going to come through. You see a lot of guys with their heads hanging low, so he had to remind us what happened last year."

CIRILLO IN, CASILLA OUT

With Jeff Cirillo set to return from a stint on the disabled list and Luis Castillo also ready to return to the lineup, Alexi Casilla became the odd man out and is on his way back to the minors.

The move is not all that much of a shock, considering the plan before Cirillo's injury was to have Casilla get consistent work down in Rochester this season. His defense has been shaky, and he was taken out of the starting lineup in favor of Luis Rodriguez for the Detroit series.

"We've seemed to be under control out there defensively," Gardenhire said after the move. "We're trying to stay away from some of the mental mistakes right now. And it's a good learning process on the bench right now for [Casilla]."

KUBEL GETTING A SHOT IN LEFT

Originally expected to be used as a designated hitter at the outset of the season, Jason Kubel has been getting plenty of work in left field, with Rondell White out with a calf injury.

Kubel is hitting .261 this season, and Gardenhire said he will continue to slot Kubel out in left field.

"With Rondell definitely out for a while, he has to step up," Gardenhire told the team's Web site. "We've been playing him out there in left field and letting him get plenty of at-bats because we believe he's an impact player. He can be one of these guys that can do some damage, so we're trying to give him as many at-bats in a row and see if he can get going."

He hit .333 in June last season while filling in for an injured Shannon Stewart, though knee problems forced him out of action. This year, according to Kubel, the knees are fine and he is aiming to make the most of his opportunity to make left field a more permanent spot for him.

WHO'S HOT

Mike Redmond had a game-tying two-run single in the eighth inning of Friday's 5-3 win, and he drove in the lone run of Thursday's 1-0 win. He has five hits in his last 13 at-bats.

Hunter has gotten hot, going eight for his last 20 at-bats.

WHO'S NOT

Sidney Ponson has been dreadful in the starting rotation, going 1-3 with an 8.44 ERA in four starts.

A LOOK AHEAD

The Twins are at Tampa Bay for three games, before hosting the Red Sox, White Sox and Tigers, followed by a trip to Cleveland. Indeed, things won't get any easier for Minnesota in the coming weeks. The pitching matchups in the Tampa Bay series will be Ponson versus Edwin Jackson (0-3, 6.10), Boof Bonser (0-1, 5.26 versus Jae Seo (1-2, 9.51) and Ramon Ortiz (3-1, 2.57) versus James Shields (2-0, 3.75).