TORONTO - It seemed awkward at the time, the way the Twins were determined to slide Martin Perez into the starting rotation. He piggybacked behind a starter three times before the Twins needed a fifth starter. Two of those times, he replaced a starter - Michael Pineda once at Target Field and Jake Odorizzi at Citi Field - who were pitching rather well. (Well, Odorizzi's had a no-hitter through four, was told he was out of the game only to be told to return to the game, where he blew up).

But the numbers since Perez (pictured) became a starter speak for themselves:

Jose Berrios has a 3.79 ERA.

Kyle Gibson's ERA is 2.50.

Jake Odorizzi's is 1.11.

Michael Pineda's is 8.53.

And Perez's is 1.64.

Collectively, the group has a 3.18 ERA since they shifted to a five-man rotation and distanced themselves from the first three weeks of the season, during which they had six off days (including a postponed game against the Tigers).

For the season, Twins starters have a 3.69 ERA that is fourth best in the American League, even better than AL Central rival Cleveland. The Indians have a 4.11 starters ERA and are missing Corey Kluber and Mike Clevinger due to injury.

Some other observations:

Pineda clearly is struggling, but saw some positives in his last outing Sunday against the Yankees.

For the criticism I hear about Gibson, he's been better than some people think. That strikeout to walk ratio since April 15 - he's walked two and struck out 17 in 18 innings - is strong. And that includes Friday's game in New York, during which the team did him no favors.

Odorizzi is pitching as well as he has since being traded to the Twins during spring training of 2018.

Perez might have the best control of any starter right now. He's not missing his spots by much.

The run this rotation is on, with Pineda the exception, really helps a bullpen from being too taxed.

Let's see if the run continues tonight with Berrios on the mound against the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre

Here are the lineups. As expected, Twins catcher Jason Castro is out after being plunked in the elbow with a pitch last night. C.J. Cron, whose batting average is headed for .200, also is on the bench for the start of this one; he might be the backup catcher tonight.

With the Raptors playing at home tonight, the expected crowd at the Twins-Blue Jays game is expected to be 400. Kidding ... I think.

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