Joe Nathan is not a thinker on the mound. He rarely shakes off his catcher.
And he didn't bat an eye when catcher Drew Butera signaled for a breaking ball with two on in the ninth and a 3-2 count to Mark Ellis.
``(Butera) definitely was the only one who had that idea," Nathan said. ``He was the only one in the park who knew,;;
Nathan followed orders and threw a breaker that, uh, might have been a little inside. But not in home plate umpire Ted Barrett's world. Strike three. Conor Jackson followed with a ground out to end in the inning, then the Twins won 4-3 in 10.
``Pretty filthy in a do-or-die situation," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said.
Who else can Twins manager Ron Gardenhire trust in late innings these days. He has decided to use Nathan later in games,
Nathan has made progress since taking himself out of the closer's role last month. He's missing the plate by smaller margins. He's not yanking his slider down and off to the left of home plate. He did throw a bad slider to Kurt Suzuki in the ninth that turned into a double, but he feels he's getting better. He's using his curveball more, and was willing to throw it when asked in a tight situation.
``It is not all there yet," Nathan said, ``but it is getting there. It's going to be some time to get things where I want. But these outings give me more confidence every time I go out."
