In conjunction with the Monday print column, here are the inherited runners stats for the Twins bullpen through Saturday's game.

A few points: First, this is a pretty small sample size. Second, not all inherited runners are the same. Brian Bass' 18 IRs, for example, include the three men on base when he entered Saturday's game. The guy on third and the guy on first count equally; yet the man on third was obviously more likely to score than the guy on first. Third, the numbers underline the starting point of the print column: somebody's going to be called on to get important right-handed outs with men on base. It doesn't seem likely that it will be Bass — he's had a lot of inherited runners, but very few of them were in close games — but Gardy obviously hasn't entrusted those outs to Rincon yet.

OK, enough palaver. Here we go:

Reyes: 16 inherited runners, 1 scored. Strand Rate: 94 percent.

Neshek: 8 IR, 4 RS, SR 50%

Rincon: 2 IR, 2 RS, SR 0%

Crain: 5 IR, 0 RS, SR 100%

Bass: 18 IR, 5 RS, SR 72%

Nathan; 0 IR, 0 RS, --

Korecky; 5 IR, 0 RS, SR 100%

e-mail Edward Thoma