"Joe Nathan's time of uncertainty has run out, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said.

The right-hander has been pitching in a variety of situations since removing himself from the closer role in search of less pressure-packed situations in which to pitch, but Gardenhire said the plan now is to split the setup duties between Nathan and left-hander Glen Perkins.

The Twins are still wary of using Nathan on back-to-back days, so that will come into play when Gardenhire is making eighth-inning decisions, but the manager was encouraged by what he saw from Nathan on Friday night and hopes it was a sign of what's to come.

Nathan gave up a home run to Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista and needed 33 pitches to get through his one inning of work, but Gardenhire said that at times during that inning Nathan's breaking ball showed flashes of dominance.

When that happened, the manager said, Nathan "stayed up on top and stood up on his backside and got on top of the ball," which caused both his slider and his curveball to break sharply, Gardenhire said. Other times, though, Nathan dropped his arm slot too much and his slider got "spinny" and "flat," according to the manager.

"Once he gets the feel of that and feels it more consistently, he'll realize that's where his arm slot's got to be," Gardenhire said. "And that's something that you just have to get back to, get used to."

Nathan has allowed 12 runs (11 earned) in 14 appearances (13-2/3 innings) this season, though seven of those were in a span of three straight outings, the first two back-to-back blown saves, the third in his first outing after Matt Capps took over as closer. "