Over the past few seasons, the Twins' first baseman has gone through his share of really hot stretches only to then hit lulls that he found difficult to get past.

This year has been different. Instead, he's had a season that he describes as "decently consistent." Through 71 games, Morneau is hitting .305 with 53 RBIs. It's a season that hasn't included any hot streaks for Morneau -- well at least not yet.

"I don't feel like I've been locked in for any period of time," Morneau said. "It seems like it will be a couple of two-hit games in a row and then an 0-for-4. ... So do I feel like I can swing it better? Yeah, because my home run numbers aren't quite where they have been the last couple years."

Despite putting up fairly consistent numbers overall, the one statistic where Morneau is lacking in '08 is home runs. The first baseman came into Tuesday's game with just 10 on the year, tying him for the team lead in home runs with Jason Kubel. It's a sharp dropoff considering that Morneau had totaled 20 homers through the first 70 games last season.

June had been a particularly dry spell. After hitting a home run against the Yankees on May 30, Morneau went through a stretch of 72 plate appearances without a home run until Tuesday night.

His two-run blast off Nationals starter John Lannan in the sixth inning gave him 11 homers on the season and ended what had seemed like a significant drought.

"I'm not going to lie, I knew that I hadn't hit one in June," Morneau said. "But we were on the road for so long, I looked down and didn't realize it was June 15 when we came off the road trip. I didn't feel too bad at the plate. I was still getting some doubles in there and think I actually got a couple triples.

"The one thing I've learned is that if you try to hit home runs, you aren't going to hit home runs," he added. "If I go up there with my swing, eventually I'll get locked in and I will hit three or four in a week and be right back where I want to be for personal numbers. But it doesn't really matter -- winning ballgames is the most important thing.

Coming off a stretch where the Twins played 40 games in 41 days, Morneau said that he came to the ballpark after Monday's off-day feeling as good as he's felt in awhile. Morneau has been battling a sore back and sore legs for the early part of the season, although you won't hear him complain. In fact, he seems to have begun to take pride in his ability to battle through the everyday aches and pains.

"The more you play and the older you get, you realize you are not going to feel great every day," Morneau said. "It's one of those things that Torii [Hunter] was saying a couple of years ago, we've got guys who need to go out there and battle through some things. Now that I've been here a little longer, I see that and I've learned that you just try to get in the lineup every day if you can."

Playing so much may not lend itself to hot spells, but Morneau seems to be OK with finding consistency. To him, that is a sign of development.

"Besides that first series [of the season], I don't think there have been too many games in a row where I've really struggled," Morneau said. "It's been kind of one game and I think that's part of maturing as a hitter. It's making adjustments quicker and not going through those long slumps."

With the long slumps hopefully behind him, Morneau is just waiting for one of the long hot streaks to begin.

Pitching matchup
MIN: RHP Kevin Slowey (3-6, 4.70 ERA)
Slowey rebounded from two so-so starts to deliver a stellar performance in the Twins' series opener against the Brewers. The right-hander allowed just two runs on five hits over eight innings in the start, but he provided almost as much support with his bat by tallying two RBIs on the night. For only the third time this season, Slowey kept the ball in the park and did not give up a home run.

WSH: RHP Jason Bergmann (1-4, 5.48 ERA)
Bergmann's struggles continued against the Pirates in his last start on June 12. The Bucs connected for eight hits and six runs to knock the right-hander out of the game after 4 2/3 innings. Bergmann has now given up 18 hits and 11 runs in his last two starts.

Tidbits
Francisco Liriano continued his push to rejoin the Twins' rotation, giving up just two earned runs on five hits over 7 1/3 innings in his start for Triple-A Rochester on Sunday. Liriano struck out five and did not issue a walk in the outing. ... Nick Blackburn said his sore right elbow was feeling much better on Tuesday. The pitcher didn't feel the soreness much in his last start in Cleveland, but the team felt it was best to use Monday's off-day to make sure the soreness went away completely. ... The Twins signed four more Draft picks from the 2008 First-Year Player Draft including eighth-round pick Jeff Lanning -- a catcher from the University of New Orleans, ninth-round pick Mike Gonzales -- a first baseman from Diablo Valley Junior College, 11th-round pick Dominic De La Osa, a second baseman from Vanderbilt University and 28th-round pick Nate Hanson, a third baseman from the University of Minnesota. ... Dmitri Young, Delmon's older brother, had a bit of advice for the 22-year-old who is going through a slow transition phase with his new team this season. "I did the same thing after my rookie year in St. Louis, I got traded over to Cincinnati," Dmitri said. "The adjustment period is kind of tough, but at the same time the organization believes in him. So just go out there, have fun and play."

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Up next
• Thursday: Twins (Glen Perkins, 2-2, 4.57) vs. Nationals (Shawn Hill, 1-3, 4.61), 12:10 p.m. CT
• Friday: Twins (Scott Baker, 2-2, 3.71) vs. Diamondbacks (Randy Johnson, 4-4, 4.76), 7:10 p.m. CT
• Saturday: Twins (Nick Blackburn, 5-4, 3.87) vs. Diamondbacks (Micah Owings, 6-5, 5.18), 6:10 p.m. CT