MINNEAPOLIS — The Twins know better than anyone about the restorative properties of extra rest. They once set up a special nap room for Nelson Cruz, after all.
Dylan Bundy might not need that sort of accommodation, but he's been undeniably better this season with more than the normal four days off between starts.
On Friday, the right-hander allowed only two hits and one run over 5 1/3 innings, his third straight effective start, in leading the Twins to their fourth straight victory, 2-1 over the Rangers. The win allowed the Twins to remain one game back of the Guardians in the AL Central.
And the fact that Bunday has pitched so well in August correlates with the fact that he's had extra rest before each start.
"Every starter can use extra days, and I do think it helps them," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "With Dylan, he's been throwing the ball pretty well lately. I hope the extra day does play out the way we have it lined up."
It did. Handed a two-run lead when Luis Arraez and Jose Miranda slugged back-to-back home runs in the first inning, Bundy forced weak contact through two smooth trips through the Rangers' batting order, allowing a line-drive single to Adolis Garcia in the second inning and an infield hit to Bubba Thompson in the sixth. And even though Caleb Thielbar gave up a single to Nathaniel Lowe that drove in Thompson with a run charged to Bundy — the first inherited runner allowed to score by Thielbar since July 8 — the evidence remains clear.
Bundy's ERA in 21 starts this season is 4.60, but look how much extra rest matters: With four days off between starts, Bundy's ERA is 7.00. When he has an extra day or two? It's 3.32.
"I like what I've seen," Baldelli said. "It seems beneficial to his performance."
The performance of the entire pitching staff has been stellar during this homestand, albeit against a couple of teams far outside the playoff chase. When Lowe knocked in Thompson in the sixth inning, it marked the first run allowed by the Twins since the first inning of Monday's game, a 31-inning shutout stretch. That missed, by one inning, the Twins' record of 32 straight scoreless innings, set back in the days of Brad Radke and Johan Santana in July 2004.
The Twins' bullpen immediately began starting a new streak, however, once Thielbar struck out Garcia to end that brief threat. Trevor Megill pitched out of a two-on, one-out jam in the seventh inning, getting Thompson to hit a long fly ball that Byron Buxton caught on the run. Jhoan Duran quickly retired Texas in the eighth, striking out Lowe on a curveball after setting him up with three pitches clocked at 102 or 103 mph.
And Jorge Lopez picked up his third save as a Twin, retiring the middle of the Rangers' order in the ninth, though not without some drama: After Lopez walked two straight hitters with one out, Brad Miller smacked a line drive that at first appeared likely to drive in the tying run.
But Max Kepler raced in and snagged it, then doubled pinch-runner Charlie Culberson off second base for the final out.
That excitement at the end matched the excitement at the beginning, when Arraez and Miranda continued the Twins' pattern of fast starts. Arraez hit a two-out fastball from former Twins teammate Martin Perez onto the plaza behind the right-field seats. Two pitches later, Miranda sliced a slider four rows deep into the left-field bleachers.
It was the Twins' 26th and 27th first-inning home runs of the season, more than any A.L. team but the Yankees.
