From Aug. 23 to Sept. 23, the Twins played in 14 games decided by one or two runs. Their record in those games? 1-13. Ridiculous, yes, and a byproduct of a weary bullpen, eroding starting pitching, some failed clutch hitting and some wrong buttons pushed by a manager desperate to see if something, anything, would work. How ridiculous was that stretch? Well, consider the Twins went 11-18 in that span and actually outscored opponents by 16 runs. They were either terribly unlucky or terrible in big situations (Brandon and others: any opinions?) The point of all this, of course, is that they stopped that skid at the biggest time last night, winning a tense 3-2 game over the White Sox by scratching out three early runs and getting four spotless innings of relief — from the underrated Craig Breslow, the unpredictable Boof Bonser, the emerging Jose Mijares and the hopefully back-on-track Joe Nathan. Also of note: Ron Gardenhire seems to be pushing the right buttons again. He went with Jason Kubel two nights ago even though Michael Cuddyer had big career numbers against Javier Vazquez. Every pitching move last night seemed like the right one. The Twins will need more of the same, as tonight’s game doesn’t shape up to be a laugher. Kevin Slowey’s ERA: 3.85. Gavin Floyd’s: 3:84.

*Small but crucial note at the bottom of the Twins’ page today: Zack Greinke, originally scheduled to pitch in the final series against the Twins, is instead done for the year. Kyle Davies, Gil Meche and Brandon Duckworth are the three starters for the series now. Also, Cliff Lee is slated to pitch for Cleveland in the season finale against the White Sox.

*Carlos Gomez is batting .292 with 18 RBI in September.

*If you don’t know what the final post of the day is going to be, you haven’t been paying attention.

*Fasola-link! The downfall of our civilization: peanut butter slices.

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