So, Gavin Floyd, OS&S whipping boy for the better part of a year now, stopped the Sox death spiral in its tracks last night against the Minnesota Twins, flirted with history for the second time in a matter of weeks and brought the Sox within a game of first place.

How is Floyd doing it?

Coming into the season, the perception was that all of Floyd's success and failures could essentially be revealed by one stat: his K/BB rate. If he could cut down on his walks, which he continued to have trouble with in spring training, and hold a high whiff rate, he would "get by" at a hitters' paradise like the Cell.

Efforts like last night's turn that theory on its head. In 8.1 innings, Floyd walked three and struck out only four, yet left after allowing only one unearned run and nearly completing a no-hitter.

And it's not the first time. Over his six starts of '08, Floyd owns an unimpressive 1.06 K/BB rate while averaging a pedestrian 4.66 K/9. With peripherals like that, you'd expect to see an ERA as high as the cost of crude oil and Lance Broadway packing his bags for Chicago.

But no, Floyd has managed 3 wins (5 out of 6 quality starts) and a 2.50 ERA. His .149 BAA has led to a Johan Santana-like 0.96 WHIP.

He has a middling K-rate and a relatively high walk rate, yet is dominating in the box score. How does that happen? Basically, hitters are hitting the ball, sometimes hard, always in the yard, but are making outs. Statheads will tell you that Floyd has an alarmingly low BABIP, or batting average against of balls put in play, and that it is not sustainable.

So, if the luck evens out, all the batted balls that are currently finding their way into the mitts of Sox defenders will fall for hits that will score all the baserunners Floyd is allowing via the base on balls. Plus, as the weather warms up, Floyd's ever-present flyball tendency will result in more homeruns. IN other words, let's not anoint this guys as Pedro Martinez just yet.

That sounds overly negative, and doesn't give Floyd the credit he deserves for his hot start. But I do agree that he needs to improve his peripherals, mainly that ugly K/BB rate, to avoid a barrage of three-run homers ruining his progress.

One thing I can say those numbers don't take into account his Floyd's newfound poise on the mound. After all, you can't write a Gavin Floyd article without using the word "confidence."

I was a huge skeptic when it came to pretty boy Floyd, but he had to be brave to balance the emotions of the first game of a home stand, a 6-game losing streak, a first-place, streaking opponent and, oh yeah, a looming no-hitter. That definitely showed some intestinal fortitude.

I expect somewhat of a regression from Floyd over the next few months, but he is still significantly ahead of where I had his pegged this spring.

If his progress mentally carries over to the mound and he can convince the stats he's got the right stuff, the sky could be the limit.