Pitching proving strong backbone
04/20/2008
By Mike Cook / Special to MLB.com
http://mlb.mlb.com/content/printer_friendly/min/y2008/m04/d20/c2562681.jsp
MINNEAPOLIS -- The Twins begin a six-game road trip with confidence
after beating the Indians on Saturday and Sunday.
That comes in large part from their men atop the hill, especially the
non-starters.
Starters Nick Blackburn and Scott Baker combined to allow two earned
runs in 14 2/3 innings Saturday and Sunday. And the bullpen has
allowed just one run in 16 innings over the last five games.
"Following up Blackburn's performance [Saturday], our starting
pitching has been great. [It has] given us a chance to win pretty much
every game," said Justin Morneau, who had the game-winning single
Sunday. "Then you get into the bullpen, which we feel is as good as
any one in the league. We feel we can win a lot of games with that
formula."
The relievers have bounced back nicely since Jesse Crain, Matt
Guerrier and Pat Neshek combined to give up nine runs in 3 1/3 innings
last Monday and Tuesday in Detroit.
"We have a lot of good arms in the bullpen, and we can put those
things behind us and focus on the next day," said Dennys Reyes, who
pitched one scoreless inning Sunday, and hasn't been scored on in 12
appearances (seven innings) dating back to Aug. 9, 2007.
Neshek said the struggle and the success are just part of baseball.
"You're going to have your ups and downs," he said. "We've had that
happen in the past and we've bounced back. We've dealt with it pretty
good. It'd be kind of scary if we didn't.
"Things will even themselves out. It's really nice to see when other
guys are doing good, to see Matty bounce back, see Crain have two good
innings, and I had a couple of good outings. Sometimes it's contagious
when stuff like that happens."
Livan Hernandez, in search of his fourth win, is scheduled to get the
starting call Tuesday in Oakland.
And if he struggles, Minnesota shouldn't be worried.
"These guys have a great track record of getting it done. That's the
strength of our baseball team and it will be throughout the year,"
said manager Ron Gardenhire. "They all attack, they never back away."
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- Scott Smith: scott.smith@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/choppersmith
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