Morneau, Doumit back in action for Twins

NEW YORK -- After Justin Morneau and Ryan Doumit were held out of the lineup on Thursday with soreness stemming from a week of playing on artificial turf, they both returned against the Yankees on Friday.

Morneau was back at first base and batting fourth, and Doumit made the start at designated hitter and hit fifth. The Twins returned to natural grass at Yankee Stadium after playing the Blue Jays and Rays on turf.

"It's just the turf beating the living fire out of our legs," manager Ron Gardenhire "[Morneau] is not getting any younger now. He's going to go through some of those things, and it was just a lot of days of him running around. So he was just a little sore."

Doumit was also hurting from catching 13 innings on Wednesday night, but he did appear as a pinch-hitter on Thursday, drawing a walk.

"Doumit was really sore yesterday with his legs and back and everywhere else because of that stuff," Gardenhire said. "Plus, he caught 13 innings. So we had a couple of guys beat up yesterday. So we just have to work our way through it, and getting off that turf should help us."

Gardenhire also shook up the lineup by moving right fielder Chris Parmelee into the two-hole for just the second time this season behind leadoff hitter Brian Dozier.

"We're just kind of ad-libbing as best as we can," Gardenhire said. "[Parmelee] takes pitches. So we'll see what happens. We figure if Doze gets on, maybe he can hook a ball through the hole. We're really searching here for what will work, because nothing has been working recently."