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Can the Twins keep this run going into October?
Saturday’s Say Hey, Baseball focuses on the Twins and their improbable run at a Postseason spot. Plus, there’s news on Mark Teixeira’s leg, the Royals are getting into scuffles again, and a tennis legend is criticizing a manager. Subscribe for your daily Say Hey!
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With teams such as the Astros, Blue Jays, Mets, and Cubs taking up some of the spotlight due to their somewhat improbable runs to Postseason contention, it's easy to see why a success story like the Minnesota Twins would go under the radar a bit. Nobody expected this team to come anywhere near the Postseason, and yet here they are -- They're 73-67 and only one game out of the second Wild Card spot in the American League, which means that they're right in the thick of things.
Now, how did the Twins end up going from being a surefire lock for last place in the AL Central to being right in the middle of the AL Wild Card race? The good people at Twinkies Town actually gave us ten reasons why the Twins have surpassed all expectations this season, and one of the most important reasons is the fact that their youngsters are producing in a big way. Miguel Sano has only played in a fraction of the games for Minnesota this season, but it's looking like he was probably worth all of the hype. Eddie Rosario and Trevor May have also come up big for Minnesota at certain points this season. When your rookies are being productive alongside the established talent, that can go a long way in turning a team into a success story.
Additionally, it just looks like the Twins are playing loose and free baseball right now. It's almost as if they are clearly aware that they shouldn't be in this position, but they're going to make sure that it lasts as long as possible. Everybody expected the Twins to lose, so as a result, they actually have nothing to lose. They've defied all expectations by even being alive at this point, so belief must be sky-high in their camp right now. The big question now is can they continue to keep this story going all the way into October? With the way their season is going, they just might keep on bucking trends and take this story all the way into the Postseason.
- The Orioles ran roughshod on the AL-leading Kansas City Royals to the tune of 14-8 on Friday night. It was a pretty testy affair, as well.
- Mark Teixeira’s mystery leg ailment turned out to be a fractured leg. As a result, he’ll be out for the remainder of the season and quite some time, afterwards.
- Despite the fact that they’ll be without Teixeira for the rest of the season, the guys at Pinstripe Alley still believe that the Yankees have enough to take the AL East divisional crown over the Blue Jays.
- Colby Lewis was absolutely dazzling for the Rangers on Friday night as they beat the A’s 4-0. Texas is now just 1.5 games back of the Astors for the AL West lead.
- The Mets continued their run to the NL East title with a ho-hum victory over the Braves. It included a moonshot from Yoenis Cespedes.
- Meanwhile, the Nationals are still struggling and now manager Matt Williams is catching public criticism from tennis legend John McEnroe, of all people.
- Cincinnati stole four bases against Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina. That’s the first time that Molina’s ever given up four stolen bases in his career.
- A.J. Burnett returned to the Pirates on Friday night, and the team (plus the city of Pittsburgh as well) responded by welcoming him back with the Bat Signal. Move over, Matt Harvey: Apparently there’s a new Dark Knight in baseball.
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