Gibson shakes off early struggles in Twins win over Yankees

TAMPA, FLA. - Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, before Friday's game against the Yankees, made it clear what was at stake for righthander Kyle Gibson,

"This is a big one for Gibby, right here," Gardenhire said.

Gibson helped his case a little more on Friday by shaking off early struggles in his four-inning outing during the Twins 7-3 win over the Yankees at George M. Steinbrenner Field. After giving up three runs in the first inning, Gibson three scoreless innings on 30 pitches. The Twins got a home run from Brian Dozier and two RBI singles from Chris Colabello as they roared past the Yankees.

Gibson gave up three runs on three hits and two walks. He was 0-2 in the first inning to Jacoby Ellsbury and Brian Roberts before giving up doubles to both. Ellsbury could have been out at second but shortstop Danny Santana had Oswaldo Arcia's throw go through his legs. Ellsbury scored on Roberts' double and the Yankees tacked on two more runs after that. The Twins got an RBI single by Colabello in the first, a home run from Brian Dozier in the third and another Colabello RBI single in the fifth to tie the game. The Twins broke the game open with four runs in the sixth.

Gibson retired nine of the last ten batters he faced. Gibson, with a 3.00 ERA this spring, and Samuel Deduno have been the best starters in camp as the Twins look for someone to fill out the rotation.

"It's something that the team is going to have to make a choice on here in the next couple of days," Gibson said. "They are going to have to start setting up their rotation for the first week of the season and all I'm trying to do is make their decision as hard as possible."