MINNEAPOLIS -- Nearly an hour after the Twins suffered yet another disappointing loss to the Tigers on Saturday afternoon, a few of the team's personnel were still hard at work at the ballpark.

Third baseman Nick Punto and hitting coach Joe Vavra were in the club's batting cage until about 7 p.m., well after most of the team had gone home.

Punto has been struggling lately, hitting just .080 over the first eight games of the homestand and just .215 for the season. While much of the club's offense has struggled, it's clear that Punto has been pressing a bit more than others.

"He's been fighting it a bit," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said of Punto. "Obviously he's fighting it, but you still have to hit.

With his third baseman having gone 2-for-16 in his last five games, Gardenhire had been thinking of giving Punto a day off on Sunday. But Vavra encouraged him to keep Punto in the lineup, feeling Punto had made progress with his swing.

"He got here and worked [hard Saturday] night and really, really wanted to be in the lineup," Gardenhire said. "So we gave him that chance."

The extra work appeared to pay off in Punto's first at-bat on Sunday, as he delivered a hit to right field from the No. 9 slot. Gardenhire thought sliding Punto down a spot in the order might ease some of the pressure.

"He'll start off down there and we'll go from there," Gardenhire said. "We would love to see him get back to the top and get us started, with him and [Luis] Castillo up there hitting the ball and running around. But for now, we had to make some changes."

Moving Punto wasn't the only change to the batting order on Sunday. Gardenhire made good on a promise to mix things up yet again. He moved Michael Cuddyer into the third spot in the order, put Justin Morneau in the cleanup spot and shifted Torii Hunter to the No. 5 hole. He also put Jason Bartlett behind Castillo to generate some more presence on the basepaths for the middle of the order.

"We'll see if we can get something clicking," Gardenhire said.

Bends but doesn't break: Something like a little break in his nose isn't enough to keep Morneau off the field for very long.

Morneau was penciled in the cleanup spot for Sunday's game just a day after suffering a broken nose on a throw from Punto that took a wicked hop off the turf in front of first base.

The break wasn't as bad as the amount of blood made it seem, as Morneau suffered cuts from the seams of the baseball.

Though his nose was still sore on Sunday, Morneau said he wouldn't wear any protective gear on his face. After all, he had gotten enough chiding from his hockey buddies about having to leave Saturday's game in the first place.

"I got more text messages on my phone from every guy that plays hockey about leaving a game than I get hitting walk-off home runs," Morneau said with a laugh. "It shows what they pay attention to."

Out of all the text messages he received, Morneau said the best one he got was one from former Wild defenseman and current Canuck Willie Mitchell, who told him he'd better lock up his girlfriend now, since he's not getting any prettier.

Outside help? Twins general manager Terry Ryan reiterated Sunday that while the team's offense has struggled, he's not actively pursuing a right-handed bat to add to the club.

With Rondell White out for an unknown period of time, the club does not have many options of right-handed bats on the roster. The team's callup after Sidney Ponson was designated for assignment, Garrett Jones, is a left-handed bat. The Twins will face one left-hander in their upcoming series against the Indians in C.C. Sabathia, but despite the team hitting just .250 against lefties this season, Ryan doesn't feel it is a dire need for the club.

"I guess you're always looking [for another bat], but we're looking to clean up more things than just that right now," Ryan said. "There are a lot of issues going on right now that don't go with the way we're used to playing the game."

Back in the saddle: Gardenhire spent most of Sunday's pregame in his office with his left leg propped up and the cold pressure machine hooked up to his surgically repaired left knee. It was an attempt to make sure that he could be back in the dugout for the Twins' finale against the Tigers.

Gardenhire said his knee felt a little more sore on Sunday after having done some exercises the day before. Gardenhire thought he would be able to make it through the game, but since he won't use the machine in the dugout, he might have no choice but to leave.

"If it starts screaming at me, I might have to go back up there," Gardenhire said, referring to his office.

Minor honor: Triple-A Rochester second baseman Matt Tolbert earned the honor of Twins Minor League Player of the Week for the week ending May 12. Tolbert hit .391 (9-for-23) in eight games.

Twins tidbits: Mike Redmond got the start at catcher for the eighth straight day on Sunday. Redmond is hitting .378 (14-for-37) with three RBIs over his last 10 games, and Gardenhire didn't want to take the catcher's bat out of the lineup. ... The Twins' pitching rotation following the off-day on Monday will be as follows: Ramon Ortiz on Tuesday, Carlos Silva on Wednesday, Johan Santana on Thursday and Boof Bonser on Friday. Saturday's starter at Milwaukee is yet to be determined. ... The last time the Twins had a losing record during a homestand of nine or more games was in 2000, when they went 5-7 over 12 games.

Coming up: The Twins will enjoy an off-day on Monday before heading to Cleveland on Tuesday for the start of a three-city road trip. The club will kick off the series against the Indians by sending Ortiz to the mound against right-hander Paul Byrd in the 6:05 p.m. CT start.