The Kyle Gibson Watch is back on today, as the Twins try to pull off their second three-game sweep of the season. The fifth-year pitcher has been perhaps the biggest disappointment on Minnesota's pitching staff so far, failing to last six innings in any of his five starts, and putting up an 8.08 ERA to go with his 0-3 record.

Twins manager Paul Molitor wouldn't say Gibson's job is on the line, but he didn't describe the fifth-year starter in glowing terms this morning, either, describing Gibson's most recent outing, allowing three runs in 5 1/3 innings as "making fairly minor improvement."

Getting ahead in the count has been a big problem for Gibson, and the manager emphasized it again. Opposing batters are hitting .455 when Gibson's first pitch of an at-bat is a ball, and it drops to .244 if it's a strike. It's not just Molitor insisting that Gibson improve on his strike-throwing; chief baseball office Derek Falvey emphasizes it, too.

"Derek has placed a lot of value on 0-0 and 1-1 counts. I've tried to follow up on some of his ideas on that, seeing how it changes results and how dramatically they're related to a pitcher's outing," Molitor said. "Commanding his fastball has really been a big thing for [Gibson]."

Gibson has faced Oakland only once in Target Field, and he threw six shutout innings. He could use a repeat of that performance today.

Meanwhile, Eddie Rosario's 13-game hitting streak has finally moved him up in the batting order, though it has more to do with Danny Santana and Chris Gimenez being in the lineup, Molitor said. Rosario has started the past 19 games in the eighth spot in the order, but he'll bat sixth today against Oakland righthander Jharel Cotton, the first time this season he's batted higher than seventh.

"He's been doing a good job down there," Molitor said. "Rosey's slowly starting to understand the value of swinging at good pitchers, of making the pitcher get you out instead of getting yourself out."

Molitor also made it official: Nick Tepesch will serve as the team's fifth starter, beginning with Saturday's game against the Red Sox. The manager said he can't commit beyond that first start, but he anticipates Tepesch getting more than a one-game shot at remaining in the rotation.

Here are the lineups for Thursday's series finale:

ATHLETICS

Joyce RF

Lowrie 2B

K Davis LF

Alonso 1B

Healy 3B

Vogt C

Pinder DH

Decker CF

Rosales SS

Cotton RHP

TWINS

Dozier 2B

Polanco SS

Sano DH

Vargas 1B

Escobar 3B

Rosario LF

Gimenez C

Santana RF

Buxton CF

Gibson RHP