"Twenty pitches closer to his comeback from Tommy John surgery, Joe Nathan stood in the Twins' dugout at Hammond Stadium on Tuesday, surveying the field, chatting with teammates and smiling.

The all-star closer had just pitched in his first spring training game — his first game of any kind — since walking off the field almost one year ago with his ulnar collateral ligament torn completely and his 2010 season over before it began.

"You can only imagine," manager Ron Gardenhire said, "you miss that much time and you love the game as much as he does. It was a pretty big day for him."

A big day for Nathan and for the Twins, who are waiting to see how the closer's spring plays out before deciding which pitcher will handle the ninth inning in 2011, Nathan or Matt Capps. As much as the Twins like Capps, there is obvious hope that Nathan will come through, that he'll rediscover the dominance that made him one of the best closers in baseball for so many years.

On Tuesday, though, Nathan focused only on the task at hand, and during his scoreless inning that was a Red Sox lineup and a bundle of nerves. A walk, two flyouts, a groundout, 20 pitches and a palpable amount of satisfaction later, pitching coach Rick Anderson greeted the right-hander with a handshake atop the dugout steps. "