Hudson sets the tone on many levels

Posted: July 19, 2010, 7:10 p.m. CT

By Anthony Maggio
foxsportsnorth.com

MINNEAPOLIS -- Three more outs and the Minnesota Twins would be exactly where they were heading into the All-Star break – 3 1/2 games out of first place and in third overall in the American League Central Division. Three more outs, and Minnesota would be looking back on an opportunity wasted, as the division-leading Chicago White Sox would leave Target Field with a four-game split rather than a reminder that this Twins team is every bit the collection of piranhas of seasons past.

Minnesota second baseman Orlando Hudson is a newcomer to this AL Central rivalry, but with only three outs left to overcome a three-run deficit on Sunday the second baseman was charged with the task of sparking the rally against White Sox closer Bobby Jenks.

Given their choice of players in this situation, Twins fans would’ve spun through their roster rolodex a bit before getting to Hudson’s name. But the veteran switch-hitter, with only two career at-bats against Jenks, executed flawlessly.

“The key guy in that inning is the leadoff hitter,” Minnesota hitting coach Joe Vavra said. “He went to two balls and no strikes, and he’s been kind of aggressive in offensive counts and he wasn’t (in that at bat). Right there you knew he was seeing the ball well.”

Entering Sunday, Jenks had converted 15 consecutive save opportunities. In those 15 save situations, he allowed just two earned runs and walked only one batter.

The first pitch to Hudson was a fastball for ball one. The second pitch was another fastball off the plate for ball two.

“We’re down by three, you don’t want to go up there hacking at the first pitch and all of a sudden you’re out, quick out and you lose 6-3,” Hudson said. “I was going to go up there and take a pitch.”

Hudson fit seamlessly between Denard Span and Joe Mauer at the top of the Twins’ batting order to start the season and Minnesota hit the ground running – jumping out to 10 games over .500 with a victory in the series finale with the Texas Rangers on May 30.

The game ended with a collision between Span and Hudson in short center field, and Hudson’s resulting wrist injury landed him on the disabled list. The Twins played .500 baseball in the 16 games he missed.

His return on June 18 coincided with the beginning of a stretch of brutal starting pitching, which thanks to Nick Blackburn on Sunday served as precursor to Hudson playing the part of ninth-inning table-setter.

Two more fastballs from Jenks didn’t induce a swing of the bat, but both cruised over the dish for called strikes.

“That’s very non-typical for him thus far this season, but that’s the way the game is meant to be played,” Vavra said. "You’re supposed to put pressure on the pitcher and make him throw it over and he did. He applied pressure with each pitch.”

“After strike one, I wanted to see if he’d throw another strike. Then it was strike two,” Hudson said. “After that I was like, I gotta tie my shoelaces up now, gotta scrap and get on base some way some how.”

Hudson’s numbers this season don’t particularly point to his adeptness in this high-pressure situation. In fact, he’s about as average as you’ll find among Twins regulars. Hudson's batting average and on-base percentage are both fourth among Minnesota regulars. He’s sixth on the team with 44 strikeouts, and his 31 walks are tied for sixth most as well.

As for guys who work the count – another plus when leading off in a high-leverage situation – Hudson again doesn’t stand out. In fact, only Delmon Young and Michael Cuddyer have seen fewer pitches per plate appearance among the Twins’ usual starters this season.

Yet with a 2-2 count, the bat once again rested on Hudson’s shoulder as Jenks missed outside with a 96-mph fastball.

“We’ve faced (Jenks) a number of times, (so) we know the pitcher,” manager Ron Gardenhire said. “If you can make him work and miss the strike zone a little bit and get a couple of hits you never know in the ninth what is going to happen.”

Hudson’s first swing of the at-bat came on the sixth pitch as he fouled off a fastball at the knees. A pair of cutters, each higher than the pitch before, followed. Hudson stayed alive with two more foul balls. Jenks tried to climb the ladder with another fastball. Hudson fouled off his fourth straight pitch.

Those remaining at Target Field, lulled mostly to sleep by five consecutive scoreless Twins innings, cheered in appreciation of Hudson’s effort. Jenks chose a backdoor cutter for pitch No. 10, which missed wide of the strike zone for ball four.

Suddenly Target Field was alive. Hudson trotted down to first base and soon made it to second on defensive indifference – a crucial 90 feet with 4-6-3 specialist Joe Mauer at the plate.

But by the time Cuddyer touched home with the winning run on Alex Rios’ throwing error and was nearly decapitated by Jim Thome’s celebratory haymaker, Hudson had long been in the dugout. His at-bat by then was a fleeting memory thanks to walks from Mauer and Jason Repko, RBI singles from Jason Kubel and Cuddyer, and Young’s game-tying single that preceded Rios’ to-nobody-in-particular rainbow to the Sox dugout.

Not that Hudson minds – this is a player similar in message, although opposite in delivery, to Young, who rarely if ever will speak to his individual accomplishments. Instead, he’ll bask in the afterglow of victory, pleased simply to have been a contributor to the effort.

“It wasn’t just my at-bat,” Hudson said. “Mauer came up with some good eyes, Kubel came up with a base hit, Repko a big five-pitch walk, still got no outs. Then Cuddy comes up and drives in another run with no outs. It was all of us.”

Now instead of 3 1/2 games back of Chicago and still behind Detroit in the division standings, Minnesota is tied with the Tigers and just 1 1/2 games behind the pale hose. Without Hudson’s effort – both Sunday and all season – the Twins may have found themselves in a much less desirable place.

Follow Anthony Maggio on Twitter @fsnorthmaggio