Jim Souhan: Blackburn looking like an ace despite strange ending

MILWAUKEE — We draw conclusions; the baseball gods laugh.

With two outs in the bottom of the eighth Wednesday night, Nick Blackburn appeared to be cruising to his second consecutive dominating victory and establishing himself as the Twins ace.

Then he made two inexplicable throws that blew the ballgame -- a pitch that the persistently powerless Jason Kendall ripped off the top of the center-field wall, and a silly throw to third base that sailed into left field, allowing the winning run to score.

That pitch and that play cost Blackburn and the Twins a victory, and raised the question of whether Twins manager Ron Gardenhire should have called on his bullpen on a warm night in Milwaukee.

This is one of the many times during a long season, though, when we are better off taking the long view. Even that embarrassing sequence of improbable events shouldn't obscure the fact that Blackburn is still the Twins' most reliable pitcher, or cause second-guessing about Gardenhire's decision. Not on this night, at least.

Blackburn leads Twins starters with a 3.11 ERA, almost a run better than Kevin Slowey's. Slowey has received more mentions for a spot on the All-Star team because of his 10-2 record, but Blackburn has been more dominant while pitching more innings (101 1/3 to Slowey's 84 2/3).

Ever since Blackburn stood tall in Game 163 last fall, he has been the Twins' most reliable starter. Which is why Gardenhire was right to let him pitch the eighth.

Then came a rare extra-base hit from Kendall, a bad relay from Brendan Harris, and Blackburn's bad decision to chuck the ball toward third when Kendall was sure to be safe.

As if the loss didn't hurt enough, Blackburn found himself in the unique position, for a starting pitcher, of bending over in anguish by home plate as the winning run passed him.

Blackburn belonged on the mound in the eighth. He had pitched his first career complete game in his previous start. He entered the eighth with just 84 pitches thrown. The Twins' young starters need to learn to pitch deeper into games. And if the Twins are going to contend -- even in their mediocre division -- they are going to need lots of innings from their rotation.

It is not coincidental that the Twins bullpen has performed better as their starters have worked more innings. Pitchers such as Blackburn and Slowey are efficient with their pitches; they should be encouraged to finish games, or at least to hand the ball directly to closer Joe Nathan.

Until the Twins find or develop a dominant setup man, their best recipe for success is relying on their six best pitchers -- their five starters and their closer.

Which was sound. Blackburn became the first Twin to pitch consecutive complete games since Brad Radke in June 1998.

"He's not trying to do too much with his pitches," pitching coach Rick Anderson said. "He's a sinkerball guy and he realizes he's got a sinker, and it's such a good sinker that he just tries to throw it down in the zone and let them swing at it.

"He's really laid back. The way he pitches fits his personality. He doesn't get too excited, doesn't get too high or low, just stays on an even keel."

He didn't look all that "even" after the game, not after chucking the ball into left field and watching the winning run score right in front of him.