DETROIT -- Ten pitches, nine strikes, three strikeouts and one 97.2-mph fastball.
That's what Tyler Duffey's sixth inning looked like on Friday night at Comerica Park, when he generated six swinging strikes and threw the fastest pitch of his career as he and Trevor May combined to strike out six straight Tigers hitters in the Twins' 13-5 blowout win.
"I was 0-2, and I think [Travis] Demeritte had swung through two fastballs, so I was just like, 'All right. I'm just going to throw one up here and see,'" Duffey said prior to Minnesota's 10-7 loss to Detroit on Saturday night. "It was like, 'OK. That's kind of cool.' So it's fun to do, but you'd rather have it when you need it versus just throwing it to throw it."
That performance was just the latest in a recent run of dominance for the right-hander, who has posted 15 consecutive scoreless appearances as he has cemented his status as an important cog of the new-look Minnesota bullpen. He has 20 strikeouts and five walks in those 13 shutout innings.
That success has served Duffey well as he has transitioned into the "fireman" role out of the bullpen, often entering with traffic on the basepaths to clean up the final inning of a starting pitcher's outing.
Duffey had been pitching in lower-leverage roles for much of the season before this move, and even he didn't know that the coaching staff had that role in mind for him until he got a few of those appearances under his belt.
"Once the first one happened, that one, you're like, 'OK, I guess this is a thing,'" Duffey said. "And then it happened several times, and it's like, 'All right. That's me now.'"
Though Duffey was a starter for much of his time in the Twins' organization, he said that he pitched in a similar role at Rice University, which has helped him feel comfortable in the often tense situations that face him when he enters games.
According to Twins manager Rocco Baldelli, several factors played into Duffey's usage, including the right-hander's durability, his ability to get both right-handers and left-handers out, and his swing-and-miss ability is significant in helping him escape traffic on the basepaths. Duffey's 30.8 percent strikeout rate is the highest in the Minnesota bullpen, behind only closer Taylor Rogers.
"He can do some different things without extending himself as far as he needs to go, but when he does need to extend himself, he has the 90s [mph] fastball and the harder breaking ball he can turn to," Baldelli said. "He can do some different things, which is why he has fallen into this role. But also the fact he can physically recover and actually do it."