Kemp's pitching atones for fight

It has been said that a good closer has to have a short memory.

Twins reliever Beau Kemp has had to put more than an occasional blown save behind him. Kemp, who is on the Twins' 40-man roster, has rebounded from an embarrassing episode in which he was involved in a late-night, parking lot fight with teammate Ronnie Corona in April.

Both players were demoted to Class A Fort Myers because of the incident, and Kemp spent two months trying to regain the trust of the organization.

Kemp was reassigned to Class AA New Britain in late June. Corona never had a chance to redeem himself because he underwent season-ending surgery on his pitching shoulder. He is rehabilitating the shoulder.

Kemp's had a strong performance in the Eastern League playoffs, where he pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings to help the Rock Cats to an 8-4, 12-inning victory over New Haven. The best-of-five North Division series was tied 1-1 heading into the weekend.

"Beau has done a fine job," said Jim Rantz, the Twins' director of minor leagues. "He went down to the Fort Myers Miracle and got back on track."

The fight between Kemp and Corona is a thing of the past as far as the Twins are concerned. The organization was concerned only about Kemp's development on the mound.

In Fort Myers, he went 1-2 with 11 saves and a 3.76 earned-run average.

"It really hasn't been brought up," Rantz said of the fight. "The only time it was an issue again was when he first went back to New Britain. He's back to doing his job and has done all that he needs to do."

Kemp, 22, recorded 11 saves for the Rock Cats. He also posted a 5-6 record while working 52 innings.

"He is a power pitcher with a hard sinker and slider," Rantz said. "When he's on his game, he gets a lot of ground balls."

The Twins believe Kemp has a closer's mentality.

"He's a very good competitor," Rantz said. "That's a quality all the good ones have. You can't be in that role unless you block out what's happened previously."

Milton waiting: Twins starter Eric Milton, who has missed the entire season after having knee surgery in spring training, has been assigned to New Britain. He would pitch in a postseason series against New Haven only if it reaches a deciding Game 5.

"We just want him to get back into rhythm and use all his pitches," Rantz said. "This is his spring training. We want to make sure he doesn't get too sore or stiff."

Briefly: In 73 games at Class AA, Joe Mauer hit .341 with 17 doubles, a triple and four home runs. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2001 draft also drove in 41 runs while posting a .400 on-base percentage.

The Fort Myers Miracle lost their series 2-1 to Dunedin in the Florida State League playoffs.

The Twins' minor league clubs combined to finish four games over .500 this season.