ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Minnesota Twins did not need to make a trade to invigorate their pitching staff this month.
Right-hander Ervin Santana won his second successive game while extending his streak of consecutive scoreless innings to 16 on Thursday with a 3-0 win over the Los Angeles Angels.
Since returning July 5 from an 80-game suspension for using performance-enhancing drugs, Santana compiled a 2-0 record with a 2.60 ERA, the best among the Twins’ starters. In four starts spanning 27 2/3 innings, Santana has conceded just 20 hits and seven walks while striking out 21.
“Three out of his four starts were outstanding,” Minnesota manager Paul Molitor said. “It’s a nice lift to get a talented guy like that with his make-up and his personality to come back to your club.”
Against the Angels on Thursday, Santana conceded only four hits and a hit batter while striking out seven as he won his 300th career start.
The right-hander also generated 12 consecutive outs between the second and sixth innings, retired 19 of the final 21 batters he faced and expressed particular satisfaction with defeating his old team, where he spent the first eight seasons of his career.
“It means a lot,” the 32-year old said with a smile. “It means I’ve still got it, so that’s good.”
Santana succinctly stated the reasons for his recent success: “Throw a lot of strikes, keep the ball down, put hitters away when I have the chance,” he said.
That success reflects the foundation Santana built with his teammates during spring training.
“I think his transition back, given the circumstances, went fairly smoothly,” Molitor said. “He’s been able to turn the page. A lot of it has to do with the way he handled himself this spring and the relationships that he was at least able to begin to make.”
One of those was with Molitor, the Hall of Famer in his first season as the Twins’ manager.
“I was able to communicate with him a fair amount while he was gone,” Molitor said. “It was all about his anxiousness to get back here and to help us continue to win.”
In less than three weeks, Santana has converted that anxiousness into action.