Five Minnesota pitchers combined to shut out the Houston Astros, as the Twins returned to Target Field with a 3-0 victory Friday night.
Twins starter Kyle Gibson (9-9) gave the team 5 2/3 innings of shutout baseball, before turning things over to the bullpen. Then Brian Duensing, Glen Perkins, Trevor May and Kevin Jepsen took care of the rest to keep the American League West-leading Astros off the scoreboard.
Ex-Gopher Glen Perkins is now pitching for the Twins in the top seventh. He's been dealing with back spasms. Molitor didn't know if he'd go.
— Marcus R. Fuller (@Marcus_R_Fuller) August 29, 2015
Eduardo Nunez – a late addition to the Twins starting lineup when Miguel Sano was scratched due to a sore hamstring – got the Twins on the scoreboard in the third inning with a solo home run. It was Nunez’s third homer of the year.
The Twins added two more in the fourth, when Torii Hunter was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, scoring Eduardo Escobar. Nunez followed with a ground out to second that brought home Brian Dozier.
Nunez finished 1-for-3 with the home run and two RBIs. Escobar and Shane Robinson had the only other Twins hits.
But the game really wasn’t about offense as the pitchers controlled most of the contest. Houston starter Scott Kazmir (7-9) gave up just three hits, but also three runs in seven innings of work.
While Gibson didn’t quite make it six innings, he kept the Astros off the scoreboard, scattering four hits and three walks, while striking out four.
Mike Pelfrey (6-7) is on the mound for the Twins Saturday night against Mike Fiers (1-0) for the Astros.
