Twins fans, Mauer take over

For years, Cubs Nation has been one of the best traveling troupes of fans in all of baseball. Just ask the Brewers, the Cardinals or any other team that happens to play host to the North Siders.

When the Cubs are in town, one thing's for sure: You're going to see large swaths of seats painted Cubbie Blue, regardless the venue.

On Friday at Wrigley Field, Cubs fans got a taste of their own medicine as a big and boisterous bunch of Minnesota Twins backers invaded the Friendly Confines and took over, cheering on all-everything catcher Joe Mauer and his mates to a 7-4 victory.

"It's pretty cool; we were well represented today," Mauer said. "A lot of Minnesotans were down here. It was nice to see."

Mauer, who was drafted No. 1 by the Twins in 2001, just ahead of Cubs pick Mark Prior, visited the North Side for the first time in his career Friday.

"You hear so many things about Wrigley," he said. "It's a special place. So much history. It's everything it's advertised to be."

As is Mauer, who heard chants ranging from "Let's go Mauer" to "M-V-P" every time he stepped to the plate.

"He's a rock star, a teen idol, the whole package," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We hear chicks yelling for him all the time. Don't tell me it was the guys, it was the chicks."

Whoever it was, Mauer delivered, going 2-for-4 with a home run and 3 RBI to up his batting average to .413 since coming off the disabled list (back) on May 1.

Mauer's 2-run homer in the third inning off Randy Wells was his 13th of the year, already matching his career high set in 2006.

"I don't think Wells should feel bad that Joe Mauer put him in the seats, because he's been doing that to a lot of people," Gardenhire said.

No kidding.

In just 39 games, Mauer already has accumulated 13 homers, 39 RBI, a slugging percentage of .762 and an OBP of .488.

Enough to make one's head spin.

"I was looking at Mauer and he's hitting .476 coming into the game against right-handed pitching," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "Those are numbers you see at Williamsport, in Little League.

"And then you say, 'Well, I'm going to bring in a left-hander against him.' He's hitting .404 off lefties!"