Kyle Gibson's impressive night for the Twins

The Twins are 16-8 over their last 24 road games after beating the Braves on Wednesday behind Kyle Gibson's complete game. Next up: a trip back to Kansas City.

August 18, 2016 at 5:00AM
Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Kyle Gibson
Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Kyle Gibson (Associated Press/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Here are three quick thoughts on the Twins' 10-3 win over Atlanta: GIBSON SURGES LATE: Kyle Gibson's career high for pitches thrown in a game is 117, thrown June 10, 2015 against the Royals. Gibson hasn't passed the 110 pitch mark often, actually. He threw 115 on Wednesday - his sixth time at with at least 110 pitches. He was at 90 pitches after eight innings, and some might have bet that he had a chance to stay under 100. But his eighth-inning offered clues that he was weakening some. He gave up three fly balls, two were hit hard, and one forced Robbie Grossman to the wall. Sure enough, Gibson needed 25 pitches to get through the ninth, as Nick Markakis homered and Dansby Swanson lined a single to center. Still it was an impressive performance, as Gibson was one step ahead of Braves hitters all night. ROSARIO WITH KEY AT BAT: Eddie Rosario's at bat in the seventh inning showed what he's been and what he's trying to become as a hitter. Rosario swung at a 1-2 pitch that was neck high but fouled it off. That's the free-swinging uber-confident Rosario that gets him into trouble. But then, he calmed down. He took the next two pitches for balls to run the count full. Then he got a fastball up in the zone and lined it to center for a two-run single. He laid off a couple pitches and gave himself a chance to get a better pitch to hit. Twins manger Paul Molitor noticed and pulled Rosario aside to praise him for ending up with a good at-bat. DANSBY SWANSON!: The mega-prospect didn't disappoint in his major league debut for the Braves, collecting two hits on the night. He did a 17-minute media session before the game, and the scribes were pleased that it didn't include canned answers. He looked good at the plate, battling in most of his at-bats. The only thing that was noticeably wrong was when he couldn't hold on to a throw from the catcher that might have caught Jorge Polanco. BONUS: I made fun of Gibson a little bit in the dead tree editions, but he did point out that, ``I haven't seen anything above 93 in a while." He was talking about Braves righthander Mike Foltynewicz, who hit 98 a couple times on the gun Wednesday. Not easy for an AL pitcher to adjust to. Still, his teammates were laughing at him trying to bunt, and I try not to miss a chance to get anything remotely funny in the paper.

about the writer

about the writer

La Velle E. Neal III

Columnist

La Velle E. Neal III is a sports columnist for the Minnesota Star Tribune who previously covered the Twins for more than 20 years.

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