BALTIMORE — Justin Morneau is not known for his speed, but he had two moments on the bases that impressed me in Game 2 tonight.

First inning, no outs, he’s on second base. Delmon Young flies out to right field. Nick Markakis, who leads the American League in outfield assists catches the ball, and Morneau dashes to third base — later scoring on Brendan Harris’ single.

Third inning, no outs, runner at first. Morneau hits a bouncer to second baseman Brian Roberts. Should have been a double play, but Morneau beats the throw to first from shortstop Juan Castro.

Hall of Famer Paul Molitor must have been proud.

“Moli says it to us all the time when we do our base running in spring training: ‘You don’t have to be fast to be a good baserunner,’” Morneau said. “The easiest thing to do in this game is to hustle, and it’s the only thing I know.”

Morneau explained that Markakis didn’t look like he was set to throw when catching Young’s fly ball.

“That’s kind of what I need to be able to go on that ball,” he said. “I don’t know. I’ll take it.”

So will the Twins. Manager Ron Gardenhire tried to let Morneau DH in Game 2, but Morneau remained at first base. I can’t stress this enough, but Morneau has started all 148 games this season, including 141 at first.

“I had the option to DH, but I wanted to go out there and show everybody you’ve gotta play hard,” he said. “If we don’t get into the playoffs, there will be plenty of time off, so grind it out as much as we can.

“We’ve gotta get in. If that means I play first every game, so be it. If that’s the best lineup we can put on the field, I’ll run out there until I can’t run any more.”

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