FORT MYERS, FLA. — Kyle Gibson had his offspeed pitches working Saturday, and he used them to dominate Pittsburgh hitters during the Twins' 3-0 victory at Hammond Stadium.
Gibson held Pittsburgh to three hits over six shutout innings while striking out eight. He lowered his spring training ERA to 1.53.
Gibson went to the mound looking to establish his fastball but said catcher Kurt Suzuki started calling for offspeed pitches, so he went with it, and Pirates hitters couldn't touch them.
Six of Gibson's eight strikeouts were swinging.
Things have gone smoothly in camp for Gibson, who has spent spring training working on throwing his curveball more. He wants hitters to worry about another pitch, and he feels the curveball makes his slider more effective.
''I feel pretty comfortable with the changeup and slider most of the time,'' Gibson said. ''At least going into the season and having the curveball like it is, it's pretty exciting."
Twins manager Paul Molitor felt Gibson struggled with spotting his fastball Saturday, and was pleased to see his pitcher and catcher adjust to more sliders.
''It's one of those days I think those guys continue to learn about what they can do,'' Molitor said.
The Twins took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning when Brian Dozier blooped a single to center against Pirates lefthander Kyle Lobstein. Miguel Sano followed with a rocket double off the left-field wall.
Trevor Plouffe followed with a two-run single to center that opened the scoring. The Twins made it 3-0 in the seventh when Eddie Rosario tripled and scored on Eduardo Escobar's single.
Glen Perkins, Casey Fien and Michael Tonkin each added a scoreless inning of relief. The Twins have won three straight games and five of their past six.
