As it stands, Kyle Gibson’s next start — the second of his major league career — will come on the Fourth of July against the New York Yankees.
While the Yankees don’t have the firepower as they normally do (Mark Teixiera, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Kevin Youkillis and Curtis Granderson are all out of the lineup), it’s still New York. They still may figure out how to hammer the Twins.
Gibson will try to keep that from happening, just as he did in his MLB debut Saturday at Target Field. Through six innings, Gibson gave up two earned runs on eight hits to get the victory.
As the Bleacher Reports’ Tom Schreier argues, Gibson was set up perfectly to win that game: “He was called up five days before his scheduled start, spotted a five-run lead in the first inning and had catcher Joe Mauer sitting behind the dish.”
Pioneer Press writer Tom Powers says Gibson thrilled everybody by not letting them down.
In his words: “Sure, it’s just one game. Yet this isn’t some warm body trying to eat up a few innings. Gibson is considered a big part of the Twins’ future. Who knows what his next start, against the Yankees on the Fourth of July, will bring? At least we know what he can do when he’s right.”
If you weren’t there Saturday, WCCO Twins blogger Peter J. Nelson put this video clip together that focused on all of the hype from Gibson’s Game 1. Here’s hoping Game 2 has the same result:
