Gibson grinds his way to shutout win over White Sox

In his first four starts of the season, the Twins presented Kyle Gibson with six entire runs to work with.

The starvation diet got no better on Friday. But Gibson did.

The third-year righthander loaded the bases in the third inning, and put two runners on base in the seventh. But each time, with zero margin of error, Gibson worked his way out of trouble. His reward was a 1-0 victory, only the Twins' second since 2011, over the Chicago White Sox.

Displaying a sinker that produced eight ground balls — and more critically, a pair of double plays — and a willingness to throw strikes against the major leagues' lowest-scoring team, Gibson needed only 94 pitches to complete eight scoreless innings. He was hoping to pitch the ninth, too — but that decision wasn't his.

Manager Paul Molitor "was there waiting for me" as he came off the field in the eighth, Gibson said. "That's not a good sign."

But Gibson's eagerness to finish what he started is, the manager said. "There was some lobbying going on. I like that," Molitor said. "I think he knows I have a lot of confidence in what he does. … But a solid eight [innings], he's feeling good, it's time to get Glen [Perkins] in there."

Perkins gave up a couple of hits and gave Chicago some hope, but he struck out Tyler Flowers on three pitches with runners on second and third to end the game and earn his seventh save in seven opportunities.

"It's not too often when Kennys Vargas steals a run," Molitor laughed.

That's what happened, though, after Vargas, the speed-challenged slugger, led off the fifth inning with a single, and moved to second when Shane Robinson followed with one of his own. Molitor considered a sacrifice bunt from Danny Santana, but "that's risky because the chance for a force at third is increased with [Vargas] out there." Santana struck out, but Brian Dozier flew deep to center, deep enough to allow Vargas to tag up and move to third.

"We all held our breath when he went back to tag," Molitor said. "He read the ball to be caught, which was good."

And when Quintana bounced a fastball in the dirt and it got past Flowers, Vargas roared home, scoring standing up. "Turns out, him advancing was a big play," Molitor beamed.

It's the first time Gibson has held a team scoreless since July 29 in Kansas City, 15 starts ago. That streak appeared likely to extend to 16 when Adam LaRoche singled with one out in the second inning and Avisail Garcia followed with a double that carried over center fielder Shane Robinson's head. Gibson hit Conor Gillaspie with a pitch to load the bases, but escaped unscathed when Flowers hit a sharp grounder to Danny Santana at shortstop, a ball that quickly turned into an inning-ending double play.

"You don't really worry about the scoreboard. At the end of my outing, my goal each time is to have the team in the game," said Gibson, who was on the mound for the Twins' only other 1-0 victory in the past four years, last May 5 at Cleveland. "Sometimes, like today, that means throwing up zeros. But I still have to execute."