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Slowey quiets White Sox offense in Twins' victory

Sep 23, 2007 - 11:53 PM By Brian Hall PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) - Rookie pitcher Kevin Slowey is building his case to be a part of the Minnesota Twins' rotation next season.

Slowey put together the best start of his short major league career in dominating the White Sox over a career-high seven innings and Michael Cuddyer added four RBI in a 7-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday.

With ace lefthander Johan Santana a free agent after next season and likely able to get premium dollars in the open market, the usually frugal Twins might not be able to make a move on the two-time Cy Young winner this offseason.

Moreover, starter Carlos Silva is a free agent after this season and the status of Francisco Liriano is still up in the air after he sat out the entire season coming off of elbow surgery.

"He (Slowey) is going to be part of our ballclub next year if he comes to spring training and throws like this," Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We have holes to fill, and to see some of these guys stepping up is very important for our baseball team right now."

After two appearances out of the bullpen, Slowey (4-0) has strung together two consecutive impressive outings together. The 23-year-old has given up just two runs over 13 innings in two straight starts, this after being named International League Pitcher of the Year following a 10-5 campaign with a 1.89 ERA for Class AAA Rochester.

"That is one of the things I have learned this year, your last start is just that - it's your last start," Slowey said. "The outings I had in the International League were just that, they were in the International League. I think the emphasis is just on moving forward and continuing to do what I have to do to improve and try to keep getting better."

Slowey allowed a single run to Chicago in the second inning after Jermaine Dye doubled and came home on Juan Uribe's single. From there, the Minnesota starter got even stronger.

The righthander retired 15 of the next 16 batters, and during one stretch, struck out four straight and five of six. He allowed one run and four hits with a career-high nine strikeouts.

Tied at 1-1 in the seventh, Cuddyer sparked a three-run frame with a two-run single to give the Twins a 4-1 advantage. He repeated the feat in the next inning, capping another three-run inning to increase the lead to 7-1.

"We didn't get much going early in the game," Cuddyer said. "But we were able to break it open and give (Slowey) some support."

Rookie Garrett Jones added his first career home run in the second as Minnesota took the finale of the three-game series to avoid being swept by the White Sox and finish its home slate with a winning record at 41-40, one season after going a major league-best 54-27 at the Metrodome.

Gavin Floyd (1-4) took the loss after going 5 2/3 innings, surrendering four runs and seven hits with a career-high seven strikeouts.

"He threw the ball real good, once again, we did not support him," Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen said. "Run support for him (has been) real low. I liked the way he threw the ball. He did show me a lot of great stuff. He has one more outing, hopefully, he continues to throw the ball like that."