Twins pitchers not wearing out

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The Minnesota Twins were 1-7 in Nick Blackburn's past eight starts before Wednesday night when he was the winning pitcher in a 3-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox at the Metrodome. The right-hander allowed two runs and eight hits in five innings.The media has been speculating that almost all of the starting pitchers, except lefty Francisco Liriano, were having problems because of tired arms.Blackburn, closer Joe Nathan -- who got his 39th save Wednesday -- and pitching coach Rick Anderson don't agree with that theory."No, no, I don't believe in that," Blackburn said. "I don't think it's a big deal. That's what we train all year-round for, to be throwing like this. I threw this many innings last year. I got a little in fall league and part here, so it wasn't all during the actual regular season, but I ended up getting this many innings overall last year."You can get tired eventually but once you get in the game, your adrenaline is going to take over and you'll be fine."Nathan agreed."I think everybody is probably a little tired now," he said. "We've been going at it for eight months, but right now we're at a spot where adrenaline means a lot. It's going to ride you through a lot of things."Nathan said he feels fine, and so do the four starters who have been with the team all or most of the season: Blackburn, Kevin Slowey, Scott Baker and Glen Perkins. Liriano started the season with the Twins, was sent down to Class AAA Rochester and rejoined the team in August."This is a time where this is where you want to be, the spot you want to be in," Nathan said. "And like I said, it's a spot where, when I get out there, the adrenaline is going to ride me through. I'm not saying the results are always going to work out the way you want them to, but as far as going out there and feeling fine and your body responding, I'm feeling great. Everything is intact."Anderson said beating fatigue at this time of year is more mental than physical."You know what, it's mind over matter," the pitching coach said. "It's been a long season for everyone. And in baseball in general, if you start thinking you're tired, you'll be tired. They're not tired, it's just mentally, they've got to stay strong."But you know what, right now you get in the stretch drive, and the adrenaline should take over."(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)