MINNEAPOLIS _ Twins manager Paul Molitor is not a fan of labels, especially when it comes to young players.
But right-hander Jose Berrios on Thursday, once again, showed that he's good at being the stopper.
Hours after the Ervin Santana faltered in a loss to Seattle, Berrios shut down the Mariners as the Twins eased to a 6-2 win to earn a split of the four-game series.
Backup catcher Chris Gimenez homered twice for the Twins.
Thanks to a five-run first inning, Berrios was set up for an easy trip. And he came through by holding Seattle to two runs through a career-high eight innings on five hits and a walk with six strikeouts.
Berrios is 6-1 overall, but 3-1 after a Twins loss. The sample size is small, but it's a good trait to have. The Twins needed the win to avoid losing another series at home, and are now set up nicely for their four-game weekend series against Cleveland _ a series that includes a day-night doubleheader on Saturday. By going eight innings, Berrios allowed the bullpen to rest up before the big series.
Seattle left-hander Ariel Miranda had gone six consecutive starts without allowing more than two earned runs before Thursday's game. That streak was snapped in the first inning.
Brian Dozier led off the inning with a double, on a fly ball to right that outfielder Ryan Hanigan misplayed. Eduardo Escobar followed with a two-run homer to left to open the scoring.
Miguel Sano walked and, two outs later, Jorge Polanco bunted his way on. Gimenez followed with a three-run homer to left to put the Twins ahead, 5-0.
Escobar has 18 hits in his past 30 at-bats.
Seattle scored a run in the third to make it 5-1, but Gimenez stepped to the plate in the bottom of the inning and homered off the left-field foul pole to put the Twins ahead, 6-1. Gimenez has played in 319 major league games, but Thursday was his first multihomer game.
Seattle made it 6-2 in the sixth on Robinson Cano's RBI single.
Berrios needed just 17 pitches to get through the first two innings but labored some in the middle innings before retiring the last six batters he faced. He threw a career high 108 pitches, 66 of them strikes. And he's won his last three starts.
In just a short period of time, Berrios has made himself a vital member of the rotation with Santana.
Unfortunately for the Twins, their top two starters will be unavailable for this weekend's series against Cleveland. It's a battle of the top two teams in the American League central division, although Molitor declined to play up the meeting.
"It should be fun to play Cleveland at this time of year," Molitor said before the game. "There's not any extra pressure or trying to prove anything. You are playing a team that was in the World Series last year and was a divisional rival. A very talented team.
"People are going to try to use it as a measuring stick, and all those things, of where you're at. There's way too many games to put it into any category of being essential or critical or you have to win 'X' many games in the series. Young players are looking for things to continue to build confidence. I think to go out there to play them well, whatever the outcomes might be, will be as important as maybe winning the games."
