 As the regular 2006 season began for the Twins , Nathan started off strong , allowing no runs from the start of the season to April 25 . He also converted 10 straight save opportunities from April 11 to June 17 . On June 24 , Nathan recorded his one hundredth career save against the Chicago Cubs , and 99th save with Minnesota . Four days later he got save number 101 , his hundredth save with Minnesota against the Los Angeles Dodgers , becoming the fifth pitcher in Twins history to achieve that mark . Despite putting up great numbers during the 2006 season , Nathan was not selected to the All @-@ Star Game . He continued to pitch well throughout the season , passing Eddie <unk> for second on the Twins ' all @-@ time save list when he earned his <unk> save against the Detroit Tigers on September 9 . Nathan was also given the Major League Baseball <unk> Man of the Month award for July , going nine for nine in save opportunities and posting a 0 @.@ 75 ERA for the month . He finished the season with some of his best numbers to date : a 7 – 0 record , a 1 @.@ 58 ERA , 95 strikeouts , 36 saves , an 18th @-@ place finish in MVP voting , and a fifth @-@ place finish in Cy Young voting . His 61 games finished were also good for the AL lead and opponents batted just <unk> against him , a career high . With 36 saves in 38 opportunities , Nathan also became the first pitcher for the organization to earn 35 saves in three straight seasons . The Twins won the division on the last day of the regular season , but were swept by the Oakland Athletics in the ALDS as Nathan made one scoreless appearance . 
