Doubleheader loss offers mixed reviews of Twins' starters

As another failed season winds down, the Twins are looking for signs that 2015 won't end the same way.

To really turn things around, the Twins must assemble a strong starting rotation. Two pitchers who should be a part of that rotation took the ball during a doubleheader against the Indians on Thursday. It ended up being a day with mixed results and familiar endings.

Kyle Gibson's pitches were pulverized all over Progressive Field during an 8-2 loss in Game 1. Ricky Nolasco put together one of his best outings since joining the Twins this season but was outpitched ever so slightly by rookie lefthander T. J. House in a 2-0 loss in the second game. The Twins ended up losing two of three games in the series and have not won a series since Aug. 11-13 against Houston — going 0-6-2 in eight series since then. That has accelerated their fall toward a fourth consecutive 90-loss season.

The Twins have to go 11-5 over their final 16 games to avoid 90 losses, enormously unlikely since they've gotten many starts like Gibson's or have seen their bats unexpectedly go cold in outings like Nolasco's.

Gibson gave up two runs in the first, one in the second and was finished off in the third when Cleveland scored four times. The seven earned runs tied his season high, done twice already.

Gibson has pitched wonderfully at times, and has been a hot mess on the mound at others. Thursday marked the 11th time that Gibson has given up at least five earned runs in an outing.

"Gibby didn't give us much of a chance there," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "He couldn't locate anything. He couldn't get the ball where he wanted to."

Gibson, 11-11, has a 1.07 ERA in his wins and a 12.21 ERA in his losses. After the game, baseballprospectus.com tweeted that Gibson's 11.14 differential in ERA between wins and losses is the largest by a starter with at least eight wins since Sammy Ellis in 1965 (11.84).

While Gibson has made progress, he hasn't tapped into his talent. On Thursday, he gave up seven runs over three innings, including home runs by Carlos Santana and Yan Gomes.

"I definitely think there have been times where I should be further along than I am right now," Gibson said. "But at the same time I feel like there have been some outings where I have taken a step forward and made some progress.

"Having a day like today is frustrating."

Gibson's uneven season might be wearing on Gardenhire, who sounded vexed after the game. With Gibson at a career-high 159 innings pitched, Gardenhire was asked about Gibson's future in the rotation.

With 30 minutes between games, the Twins had to brush off the loss quickly. Nolasco, who signed to come here for $49 million over four years, helped with the transition.

Throwing any pitch for a strike at any time in the count, Nolasco held Cleveland to one run over seven innings with some of his best work of the season. He held the Indians to six hits and no walks while striking out five.

"I thought it was good," Nolasco said. "The curveball was good. I did a good job filling up the zone and just tried to make them put the ball in play. One pitch got me. Not much else you could do."

Nolasco threw 117 pitches, 72 for strikes. His only mistake was costly.

A 1-2 slider in the fourth tumbled down the middle of the plate. Santana swatted that pitch into the visitors' bullpen in right field for a home run and the first run of the game.

House, meanwhile, shut out the Twins on four hits over seven innings and beat the Twins — and Nolasco — for the second time in less than a month. But it was sort of a victory for Nolasco, in that Gardenhire was able to see what he can do when he's on his game.

"Finish off this year and hopefully we'll have that guy out there next year who pitched just like that today," Gardenhire said. "That was really good. He gives you a great opportunity to win."

Santana drove in the insurance run in the eighth, hitting a single off Caleb Thielbar to score Michael Bourn. Santana was the player of the day, driving in four of Cleveland's 10 runs in the doubleheader. He made sure that both Twins starters, no matter how well or poorly they pitched on Thursday, hopped on a charter flight to Chicago with another loss.

"He's hot right now," Nolasco said. "He's been putting up good numbers since the All-Star break.''