|
 Gibson pitched 5 2/3 shutout innings and then watched his bullpen
close out a 3-0 victory over the Houston Astros at Target Field.
The win was Gibson's first since July 12 and helped salvage a brutal
August for the young right-hander, who entered with a 6.35 ERA in
five August starts. Gibson (9-9) lowered his season ERA to 3.82.
"I probably should have gone seven or eight (innings) tonight.
That's really the only frustrating thing about it," Gibson said.
"Any time you can leave an outing healthy and not give up any runs,
that's probably a good night for the most part. Any time you don't
give up a run, the team has a chance to win."
Left-hander Glen Perkins, returning from back spasms, and
right-hander Trevor May bridged the gap to temporary closer Kevin
Jepsen, who worked around two singles and a walk in the ninth inning
for his ninth save this season and fourth since joining the Twins in
a trade from the Tampa Bay Rays on July 31.
With the bases loaded and two outs, Jepsen got Astros second baseman
Jose Altuve to line out to center field for the final out of the
game.
Since Jepsen allowed two runs in his first game with the Twins, he
has pitched 13 1/3 innings (14 appearances) of scoreless relief.
"They can't all be easy," Jepsen said. "But at the end of the day,
it's just about getting the outs. Any time you walk guys, innings
don't go as smoothly as they need to go."
Astros left-hander Scott Kazmir took the loss, allowing three earned
runs, three hits and a walk in seven innings. Kazmir dropped to 1-4
in August and 0-2 in three starts against the Twins this season.
"He really didn't get hit hard at all," Astros manager A.J. Hinch
said. "Every mistake he made, either through the walk or the home
run, came back to haunt him."
Twins third baseman Eduardo Nunez was responsible for two of the
three runs, hitting a homer in the third inning and added an RBI
groundout in the fourth.
Nunez's third-inning blast was a bit of a gift. Off the bat, Nunez
said he thought he had flied out to left fielder Jake Marisnick. But
as Nunez ran toward first, Marisnick kept retreating toward the
wall.
"I threw my bat down because I was thinking, 'I just missed it,'"
Nunez said. "That was a surprise, but a good surprise."
Playing without shortstop Carlos Correa, who missed his second
straight game with a sore hamstring, Houston could muster just six
hits -- five of them singles. The Astros have been shut out in three
of their last eight games.
Altuve had two singles, the only player from either team to have a
multi-hit game.
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Nunez's homer was the first baserunner of the night for the Twins
and was his third homer of the season.
Control issues haunted Kazmir in the fourth as the Twins took
advantage of two hit by pitches. Kazmir plunked first baseman Trevor
Plouffe to load the bases with nobody out, then hit designated
hitter Torii Hunter with one out, scoring a run.
"I felt out of sync with my delivery," Kazmir said. "Normally in
those situations, I kind of amp it up a little bit, give them a
different look and throw it harder. When I tried to do that, it was
just side to side with everything, pulling everything. That was
unfortunate. Hitting two guys right there, that's just something you
can't do, especially when you have guys on."
Nunez added an RBI groundout for his second run-scoring play of the
night, giving the Twins a 3-0 advantage.
Gibson worked out of a two-out, two-on jam in the fifth and walked
two in the sixth before giving way to left-hander Brian Duensing
with two outs. He got shortstop Marwin Gonzalez to ground out to
second to end the threat.
"A really big out there to get us out of that inning," Twins manager
Paul Molitor said.
NOTES: Astros SS Carlos Correa was held out of the lineup with
hamstring soreness for the second consecutive game. ... Astros OF
George Springer is set to head out on a rehabilitation assignment as
soon as this weekend to Double-A Corpus Christi. He took batting
practice on the field Friday and will head back to Houston before
going out on his rehab. ... Twins 3B/DH Miguel Sano was scratched
from the lineup with hamstring soreness. Manager Paul Molitor said
Sano should be back in the lineup Saturday. ... Twins 1B Joe Mauer
was given the day off. He was hitting .231 in 33 career at-bats
against Friday's starter, LHP Scott Kazmir. ... The Astros and Twins
play the second of a three-game series on Saturday at Target Field.
Houston will send RHP Mike Fiers (6-9, 3.63 ERA) to the mound
against Minnesota RHP Mike Pelfrey (6-7, 3.69).
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