I love a good curveball. Always have.

Bob Boone once told a story about Bert Blyleven’s curveball: “He was the only pitcher who could throw his curveball with so much spin you could hear it buzzing as it crossed the plate.”

Anthony Swarzak is no Blyleven when it comes to throwing Mr. Snappy. But his curveball was a big reason why he held Oakland to two runs over seven innings on Tuesday.

“I had to find a pitch I could get over and I found one and just rode it,” he said.

When was the turning point?

“After I gave up on trying to pinpoint a fastball. I couldn’t do it all night and I was like. `Man, I’m burning up pitches.’ It was about the third inning when I decided to go to the curveball.”

That’s right when he retired 11 of 12 batters to get him to the seventh inning. Of Swarzak’s 107 pitches, 28 were curveballs and 20 of those were strikes. His strike percentage with his curve (71 percent) was better than his other pitches (53 percent) if my math is right. That backs up what he said about not spotting his fastball.

Matt Holliday flied out three times.

Jack Cust struck out twice.

There was another key to Swarzak’s seven strong innings.

“You know what else he did?” pitching coach Rick Anderson said. “He pitched inside. We didn’t do any of that last night.”

Suddenly, last night made a little more sense. It’s amazing how pitchers get away from keeping hitters honest in the batter’s box. It’s not just the Twins.

Hopefully, Swarzak set a good example. 

 NOTES

• Joe Nathan has converted 20 straight save opportunities
• The Twins are 4-5 in extra inning games
• They are 11-14 in one-run games

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