Joe Nathan remains a work in progress for the Twins, but the four-time All-Star is 2-for-2 in save opportunities a little more than one year removed from Tommy John surgery.
As Jim Souhan said on our video last night, Nathan's 1-2-3 10th inning might have been the biggest development for the Twins on Tuesday night.
Manager Ron Gardenhire said, "This is a good one for Nate, another one of those tests along the way that he's going to have to have, pitching in New York and all those things."
Nathan had blown his last two save opportunities in New York, including Game 2 of the 2009 Division Series, when Alex Rodriguez hit his two-run game-tying home run.
Nathan admitted he thought about that, which added to the drama. He also was coming off a high-wire act in Toronto on Sunday. And then there were the cold, windy conditions in New York.
"It seemed almost like we were throwing ice cubes out there, it was so cold and dry," Nathan said.
Nathan's fastball velocity was about the same as Sunday, averaging just over 90 mph, according to the Pitch/FX data on BrooksBaseball.net. But after throwing 19 curve balls in his 31-pitch outing in Toronto, Nathan was back to trusting his slider.
The lingering concern moving forward is that Nathan isn't generating the swing-and-misses that he used to. He had just one in Toronto, and one Tuesday, on the 90-mph fastball that struck out Derek Jeter to end the game.
