After the Twins were swept by the New York Yankees, it was hard to imagine that they could still be in the running for the second wild card spot in the American League. Well, they are. And get this: The Twins now lead the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim by 2.5 games. How did that happen?
That happened because the Angels, just like the Twins, ran into a buzzsaw of their own when they played the Cleveland Indians. The Indians, who are 19-1 in September, swept the Angels just like the Yanks walked all over the Twins. But this time the Twins snapped their losing streak Thursday and beat the Detroit Tigers 12-1.
The Twins scored 12 runs on 14 hits. No one hit a home run, but there were plenty of doubles and singles to get the job done. Mauer doubled for the 400th time in his career.
Byron Buxton also stole his 22nd consecutive base, tying a Twins franchise record. Buxton likely breaks that record by the end of the season.
Extra innings…
-Starter Adalberto Mejia pitched well enough. He limited the Tigers to one run, but he still isn’t pitching deep into games. Mejia was done after four-plus innings.
-Despite the Angels’ struggles, the Twins are still in a must-win situation the remainder of the season. They have three more games with the Tigers on the road, three more with the Indians, and then they come home to play the Tigers three more times.