MINNEAPOLIS _ Strikeouts. ERA. Innings pitched. WAR. The numbers all reveal the same thing, that Kyle Gibson has gone from being shaky to a being a stalwart of the Twins rotation.
Gibson on Saturday churned through the White Sox lineup with ease, limiting them to one run over six innings, while the Twins buried Chicago, 8-3, in their penultimate game of the season.
In six innings, Gibson held the White Sox to three hits and three walks while striking out seven. Gibson gave up a run in the first inning on an RBI single by Omar Narvaez before locking in and retiring 11 of 12 White Sox batters. Gibson has had several stretches like this during his turnaround season.
After posting a 5.07 ERA in each of this previous two seasons, Gibson's mark of 3.62 is the lowest of his career. He entered the game with a career high strikeout rate of 8.1 per nine innings. His 1962/3 innings are a career high. His WAR last season was 0.3. He entered Saturday with it at 3.5.
Gibson (10-13) has succeeded through solid command of four pitches and the ability to throw them to all quadrants of the strike zone.
"As a manager, you want as many guys in the rotation you feel will give you a chance each and every time they take the ball," Twins manager Paul Molitor said, "and Kyle certainly has done that this year."
The Twins scored twice in the first inning before breaking the game open with six more in the second. Seven straight Twins reached base at one point during the second.
