Reliable ace halts Twins' slide

Johan Santana may be out of the Cy Young race, but he stepped up as a stopper and ended his team's losing streak.

By Joe Christensen, Star Tribune

Last update: September 11, 2007 - 12:41 AM

CHICAGO - Johan Santana's chances of winning a third Cy Young Award this season faded about the same time the Twins faded from the playoff picture.

It's an individual award, but these things often work hand in hand.

On Sunday, Santana set aside several weeks of frustration and did the work of an ace, as the Twins ended their season-long six-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field.

Jason Kubel delivered a pair of two-out hits against Chicago starter Jon Garland -- a run-scoring single in the third inning and a three-run homer in the fifth -- and Santana held the White Sox to one run over seven innings.

Winning for the first time in three starts, Santana improved to 15-11 with a 3.09 ERA.

"He probably should have 20 wins the way he's pitched," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "He's been dominant. We just haven't been dominant."

Santana does appear headed to a fourth consecutive American League strikeout crown. He struck out 10 White Sox, raising his season total to 213.

Erik Bedard leads the league with 221, but the Orioles announced Sunday that they are shutting him down because of a strained rib cage muscle.

Santana has four starts remaining, with the next one coming Saturday against Detroit, so he could still finish with 19 victories.

What hurts are the losses.

The last pitcher to win the Cy Young with 11 losses was Greg Maddux in 1992, when he went 20-11 with a 2.18 ERA.

Only one pitcher who didn't win 20 games has won a Cy Young while still notching at least 11 losses. That was Mike Marshall, who went 15-12 with 21 saves and a 2.42 ERA for the 1974 Dodgers.

In Santana's case, voters might have a hard time looking past his 0-5 record against Cleveland, even though the Twins gave him only eight runs of support in his six starts against the Indians.

Asked if he still considers himself a Cy Young candidate, Santana said: "I don't really think about that. I know there are a lot of guys out there who deserve to win such an award. I'm just doing my job.

"I know exactly what I have to do. Unfortunately, as a team, things haven't worked out the way we want."

Josh Beckett and Chien-Ming Wang both improved to 18-6 on Sunday. C.C. Sabathia is 17-7 with a 3.15 ERA.

"A lot of people talk about me struggling and everything, but if you go by numbers, they're still there," said Santana, who entered the day leading the majors in walks and hits per innings pitched, at 1.06.

Santana threw 116 pitches, two short of his season high.

"He might have gone out there for 130 if I had my way," Gardenhire said. "[Pitching coach Rick Anderson] said that was enough."

Joe Christensen • jchristensen@startribune.com

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