Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
It may have taken extra innings, much to the dismay of freezing fans, but the Minnesota Twins climbed their way back to .500 and defeated the Chicago White Sox 2-1.
If you were a fan of offense, Saturday’s afternoon game was not for you. The game was anything but an offensive outburst and both teams, especially the Twins, were inept at driving in runners in scoring position. The Twins, as a team, were 1-13 with runners in scoring position compared to the White Sox who were 0-2. Had it not been for Alexi Ramirez’s throwing error at shortstop that scored Ryan Doumit from second in the top of the tenth inning, both teams may still be playing right now and may have had to resort to a heated game of rock-paper-scissors to decide the outcome.
The highlight of the game for the Twins was definitely the starting pitching and the work of the bullpen. Vance Worley, who was 0-2 with a 10.50 ERA in three starts this season, demonstrated some of the promise and poise that the Twins were expecting when they traded Ben Revere for him this past off-season. Worley made one mistake, which was a first inning homerun to Alejandro De Aza, but settled down to complete seven quality innings with five hits, two walks and seven strikeouts. Unfortunately for Worley, that wasn’t enough for a win; instead, Worley earned a quality start and a no-decision.
If Worley can continue to string together these type of performances, the Twins’ rotation immediately becomes exponentially better. Worley possesses the type of “stuff” that can lead a young pitching staff or fill in the middle of an accomplished rotation. At the present time, the Twins are looking to Worley to be a leader of the staff and Saturday’s performance was the type of performance the Twins need consistently from Worley. The combination of high strikeouts and low walks should be Worley’s hallmark, but let’s realize the struggles of the White Sox lineup before we proclaim Worley to be a dominant strikeout pitcher.
What could prevent Worley from becoming consistently dominant with the Twins is his inability to develop and throw an above-average third pitch to complement his cut-fastball and sinker. If he fails to do so, teams will begin to catch on to his pitching style the second and third time they face him making Worley a one-trick pony. Worley has shown the ability to throw other pitches for strikes and as the season wears on, that third pitch’s performance may directly correlate with Worley’s success rate.
In addition to Worley, the Twins got three solid innings out of a combination of Jared Burton, Casey Fien, Brian Duensing and Glen Perkins. Combined, the four pitchers went three innings while surrendering one hit, one walk and striking out six which brought the Twins’ total strikeouts for the day to 13. With the backend of the bullpen solidified with Burton and Perkins, who now is four for four in save opportunities, it will be up to the starting pitchers to go six innings consistently and then allow for the remaining bullpen to account for one inning before turning it over to the Burton/Perkins combination.
It may sound like a broken record, but if the Twins can consistently get average starting pitching, their bullpen and lineup are good enough to keep them in contention. If you haven’t had time to see the tear that Joe Mauer is currently on, take notice now because the newly turned 30 year old is hitting .393 this season with no signs of slowing up. With Mauer leading the lineup and Perkins anchoring the bullpen, the pieces are starting to fall into place for an improved Twins’ roster in 2013.
Brian Wille is a Minnesota Twins writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @BeeWill15 or “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
