Before he took the mound for Tuesday's start, Twins right-hander Kyle Gibson rarely struck a batter out.
Gibson's strikeout-per-nine-inning ratio of 2.7 was the lowest rate among all Minnesota starters. In fact, it was the lowest of any starting pitcher in baseball with at least 20 innings pitched this season. Three of Gibson's first six starts of the year saw him fan one or zero batters.
But something clicked for Gibson in that department Tuesday against the big bats of the Detroit Tigers. Gibson racked up a season-high six strikeouts, using his changeup and slider to fool Tigers batters. Unfortunately for Gibson, that wasn't enough to earn his fourth win of the year as Minnesota's offense mustered just one run in a 2-1 loss in 10 innings.
Though it was an off night for the Twins' lineup against Detroit starter Alfredo Simon, Gibson put together one of his best starts of an already strong 2015 season.
"It's tough when you get a well-pitched game. Gibson did great," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "We just weren't able to get him any run support."
The only blemish Gibson had Tuesday was a solo home run off the bat of Detroit's J.D. Martinez. The Tigers right fielder took a Gibson pitch deep to right-center field for an opposite-field, line drive blast. It was one of just five hits Gibson allowed, but it was enough to give Detroit a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning.
The Martinez home run snapped an impressive streak for Gibson, whose scoreless innings streak was snapped at 20. He didn't allow a run in his previous two starts against Oakland (six innings) and the White Sox (eight innings).
"He's done that to me now a couple times this year," Gibson said of Martinez. "The most frustrating thing from the night is you get beat on a long ball when I'm normally a guy who's able to keep it in the park. . . . The one pitch and letting them kind of take control of the game there is a little frustrating."
From there, Gibson cruised -- and the strikeout was a big reason why. He struck out a total of five hitters in the fifth and sixth innings, including some of Detroit's big bats.
Gibson struck out Miguel Cabrera on a changeup to lead off the sixth and closed the inning by getting the best of Martinez one at-bat after his home run. Martinez couldn't connect on an 83 mph changeup from Gibson, who got through six innings trailing just 1-0.
The seventh inning was even more strikeout-filled for Gibson, who struck out the side to end his night. That included strikeouts of Yoenis Cespedes, Nick Castellanos and James McCann to bring Gibson's season-high total to six strikeouts.
"There's a lot of questions about his ability to strike people out. We haven't seen it very much," Molitor said. "We all know that our team I think is at or near the bottom of strikeouts. If our guys continue to pitch competitively and get people out, I'm not going to worry about that number too much. It was nice to see him finish some people off."
Gibson's night was done after seven innings, the third time this year he's reached the seven-inning mark. With just the one earned run, Gibson's ERA dropped from 2.97 to 2.70. Equally important was the fact that Gibson did not issue a walk, just the second time this year he's managed that feat.
As Minnesota's starting rotation continues to take a step forward, it seems as if Gibson is leading the charge. He did so again Tuesday, even if the end result for the Twins was a loss. Minnesota's offense had been rather productive for most of the season but couldn't get Gibson that extra run he needed.
"We've been swinging the bat pretty good," Gibson said. "You're never sitting on the bench feeling like you're not going to score. We've got a lot of guys on the team that can hit right now. We always feel like we're a couple at-bats from putting up a crooked number."
FOX Sports North's Marney Gellner contributed to this report.
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