AaronGleeman.com

Down 4-1 early thanks to a pair of homers off Brad Radke, the Twins came back to tie the Astros at 4-4 in seventh inning and then took a 5-4 lead on a Brad Lidge wild pitch in the top of the ninth. Joe Nathan came in to lock down the Twins' 35th win of the season and at no point did it even cross my mind that he could blow the lead.

Not only was Nathan 17-for-17 converting save chances dating back to last September, with a 1.93 ERA and .178 opponent's batting average he's been so automatic this season that I can't remember the last time I felt nervous with a late-inning lead. True to form, Nathan got two easy outs and quickly got two strikes on Preston Wilson, one of baseball's most strikeout-prone hitters.

And then, much like the ending of The Crying Game except with slightly less homoeroticism, Wilson sliced a line drive down the right-field line for a game-tying homer.

Nathan shook off the blown save to retire Brad Ausmus on an easy ground out, sending the game into extra innings. Houston brought lefty Trever Miller in from the bullpen to pitch to Justin Morneau, who promptly launched the first pitch he saw into the gap in left-center field to take Nathan off the hook with a go-ahead homer.

Two outs later Jason Bartlett lined a double down the left-field line, bringing up Nathan's spot in the lineup. That gave Ron Gardenhire an interesting decision to make, because in order for Nathan to pitch the 10th inning he had to hit for himself with a runner in scoring position. The upside is that Nathan had only thrown 17 pitches and likely wanted a second chance to close out the win.

Of course, there's a downside too. Even though Nathan is a former position player who likely hits much better than the majority of big-league pitchers, letting him bat for himself basically forfeits any chance at tacking on an additional run. Plus, having Nathan pitch a second inning may make him unavailable for Wednesday's game.

The other option is pinch-hitting for Nathan, which would bring Juan Rincon in for the 10th-inning save. Whereas the best-case scenario with Nathan is him lucking into a hit maybe 15 percent of the time, a pinch-hitter like Mike Redmond gives the Twins perhaps a 30-percent chance of bringing Bartlett in for the seventh run. Plus, Rincon has been every bit as reliable as Nathan for most of the year.

Gardenhire chose to stick with Nathan and I likely would have brought Redmond off the bench to hit, but unlike many of his decisions I can't say that I find much fault in the way things went down. Adding an insurance run in that situation could be hugely important and I have nearly as much faith in Rincon as Nathan, but using Nathan for multiple innings is something I've been advocating for a while now.

Nathan predictably struck out on four pitches, stranding Bartlett at second base, but definitely got his money's worth on the two swings he unleashed. Then, as if angry at himself for goofing around in the ninth inning, Nathan struck out Orlando Palmeiro, Eric Munson, and Craig Biggio to emphatically slam the door.

Some other notes from the Twins' eighth straight win ...