Brandon Kintzler runs with his chance to close for Twins

With three-time All-Star Glen Perkins reported to be making progress after surgery on his shoulder, and being expected to be healthy enough to be available to the Twins next season, what will happen to Brandon Kintzler, who has come out of nowhere to have a great season?

Kintzler, who turned 32 Aug. 1, is making only $507,500 this season and likely will be due for a big raise in 2017.

He is posting career lows in ERA (1.82), WHIP (0.983), walks per nine innings (0.7) and, of course, saves (12). And for a pitcher who thought of retiring at 25 when he was in the Independent League, it has to be rewarding to have this kind of success in the major leagues.

"It has been a lot of fun," he said. "I think there's no better experience as a reliever, no better rush. So far it has been quite a good experience.

"I think [closing is] the situation you want to be in. As any athlete, you want to be in a position to help your team win in the biggest pressure, so the fact that I've been able to get the job done, so far, and I put myself in a lot of bad situations at times and gotten out of it, so it's a learning experience, but it will help me going forward."

Kintzler didn't even begin the season in the major leagues, but he was called up in May and took over as the closer in June. He has only blown one save, and in six August appearances he has given up only three hits and one unearned run.

He said becoming the closer wasn't a given from the Twins coaching staff.

One of the highlights of the season was when, protecting a 2-1 lead at Boston on July 22, Kintzler gave up two singles and a walk to start the ninth inning, bringing up David Ortiz with the bases loaded and nobody out.

He described what pitching coach Neil Allen told him to help him escape the jam.

"Neil Allen came out and said, 'This is a double-play dream right here,' " Kintzler recalled. "You almost laugh at him right there. It's good they can say something to lighten the moment because especially on the road, it's a lonely feeling when the crowd is going nuts, stadium shaking, and David Ortiz is up. It all depends on the situation, and right there he was trying to lighten the situation and take the stress off of me and it worked out well."

Ortiz hit into a second-to-home-to-first double play, and Hanley Ramirez then lined out to right.

Kintzler was asked what he says to himself before each appearance when he kneels down on the mound.

When Leslie Frazier took the Vikings coaching job in 2011 he decided not to keep offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, who was then hired by the Seahawks for the same position under Pete Carroll. The Vikings hired Bill Musgrave.

With Bevell, Seattle has posted a 53-27 regular-season record with a Super Bowl win and a Super Bowl loss, and the Seahawks are 4-0 against the Vikings. The two teams played a preseason game on Thursday night.

This will be an interesting season for Bevell and the Seahawks because they will be without the retired Marshawn Lynch, probably the second-best running back in the NFL over the past five years behind Adrian Peterson.

Earlier this month, Bevell talked at a news conference about how much the team will miss Lynch.

"Lynch was such a phenomenal player for us," he said. "He did so many things. You know, really kind of our mentality. He kind of embodied that. We have to move on. We have a good stable of backs in here. We brought three young guys in. We'll get a chance to look at those guys and give them an opportunity to compete. Let that thing shake out.

The Vikings got a look at a few of those backs on Thursday, with Thomas Rawls and Christine Michael expected to be Seattle's top two rushers.

Bevell's career with the Vikings had a few ups and downs, most notably the 2009 season when they reached the NFC Championship Game with Brett Favre at quarterback.

The 2009 team had the No. 5 offense, but when things fell apart in 2010, the Vikings offense dropped to No. 23, Brad Childress was fired and Frazier decided to start over.

It's hard to know if it was the right choice, because Bevell has started to show that he can be one of the best coordinators in the NFL.

Since Bevell joined Carroll, the Seahawks have had the Vikings' number.

Since then Seattle has outscored the Vikings 119-56 over four games, with the most painful loss for the Vikings being their 10-9 loss in the wild-card game last season. That came a month after the Seahawks blew out the Vikings 38-7 at TCF Bank Stadium.

The Vikings, of course, would be happy to have another crack at the Seahawks this season, because it means the two teams would be meeting up in the playoffs.

• The Gophers football season opener with Oregon State could draw the smallest crowd at TCF Bank Stadium. The Sept. 1 game is competing against the Vikings' preseason home game with the Rams, the Twins' home game with the White Sox and the State Fair.

• Former Gophers running back David Cobb rushed for 146 yards and one touchdown on 52 carries as a rookie for the Tennessee Titans last year. He was injured for the preseason opener but is expected to play Saturday.

• C.J. Ham, who had 12 carries for 35 yards and a touchdown for the Vikings last week at Cincinnati, played in the NSIC for Division II Augustana in South Dakota. Four Vikings are from the NSIC: Ham, tight end Brian Leonhardt (Bemidji State), defensive end Zach Moore (Concordia [St. Paul]) and wide receiver Adam Thielen (Minnesota State Mankato).