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 The shortest outing of Gibson's brief career was a two-inning
stint May 10 at Comerica Park in which he allowed six runs on seven
hits, including a three-run home run to Cabrera on a ball he left up
in the strike zone.
But Friday night things evened out when Gibson got Cabrera to ground
into a double play with one out and the bases loaded in the fifth
inning.
It was the Tigers' only serious threat on a night when Gibson and
two relievers made a third-inning home run by Eduardo Escobar stand
up for a 2-0 Twins victory that was the free-falling Tigers' 17th
loss in 24 games.
The right-handed Gibson (6-5) allowed five hits, walked two and
struck out three in turning in his second straight start of seven
shutout innings.
Right-hander Casey Fien worked a scoreless eighth and lefty Glen
Perkins earned his 17th save with a run-free ninth.
"I try not to remember the home runs I give up," Gibson said. "This
was a little better than the last time I was here."
A leadoff single, a bunt single, a sacrifice bunt and a walk loaded
the bases for Detroit in the fifth.
"Andy (pitching coach Rick Anderson) came out to remind me it was an
RBI situation and Cabrera is pretty aggressive in those situations,"
Gibson said. "I tried to be aggressive. I wanted to be down with a
slider or sinker away. He hit it right to the third baseman (Trevor
Plouffe).
"If you want to win a game, you've got to make that big pitch in
that situation. And that was a big situation with a 1-0 game and
that guy up."
"He kept the ball away," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "He had
a good angle on his hard slider. He definitely made them work. You
could see them fighting off his pitches."
Detroit got a one-out double in the seventh and a two-out double in
the eighth but could not cash those runners in either.
"I don't think you can really call this a slump," said Don Kelly,
who played left field to give Rajai Davis a break. "Not after the
way we hit the ball in Chicago.
"When we pitch, we don't hit. And when we hit, we don't pitch.
Things just haven't gone our way. We've still got 100 games left (99
actually). This is not a time to hang our heads because we're going
through a rough stretch."
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Southpaw Drew Smyly, on his 25th birthday, allowed just four hits in
six innings but fell to 3-5 due to the one bad pitch. The Tigers had
just nine baserunners and could cede first place in the American
League Central for the first time this season by the time the
weekend is over.
Tigers closer Joe Nathan, who hadn't pitched since Saturday and has
been largely ineffective lately, walked Escobar with the bases
loaded to plate an unearned insurance run for Minnesota with two
outs in the ninth. He walked two batters and hit one batter two outs
after a throwing error by rookie shortstop Eugenio Suarez put left
fielder Josh Willingham on to open the inning.
Escobar latched onto a hanging 1-2 breaking ball from Smyly to open
the third inning and drove it over the fence in left, his second
home run of the season, to break a scoreless tie.
NOTES: Twins CF Aaron Hicks was placed on the 15-day disabled list
Friday with a right shoulder strain, and OF Sam Fuld was recalled
from a rehab assignment to take his roster spot. C Eric Fryer was
recalled from Triple-A Rochester to take the spot of C Josmil Pinto,
who was optioned out Wednesday. ... Tigers RHP Luke Putkonen
underwent successful surgery Thursday to remove a posterior
osteophyte from his right elbow. He will be re-evaluated after 6-8
weeks of rest and rehab. ... Twins 2B Brian Dozier was held out of
Friday night's game because of a sore back. He collided with SS
Eduardo Nunez on Wednesday while trying to catch a pop fly. ...
Detroit LF Andy Dirks, out since spring training after undergoing
back surgery, took some "live swings" for the first time Friday, but
no timetable is set for a return.
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reserved.]
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