Despite losing 5-3 to the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday, the Twins still won the AL Central title because the Chicago White Sox lost again to the Chicago Cubs, 10-8.
The Twins will now host the Houston Astros on Tuesday. I guess the Twins could be criticized for not winning the division outright on Sunday, but if they backed into a division win, what are we to make of the Astros? Houston reaches the postseason with a losing record of 29-31, including 10-17 in September.
Meanwhile, the Twins lost in extra-innings to the Reds.The two teams took a 2-2 tie into the 10th where the Twins bullpen coughed up three runs in the top of the inning and that was the game.
Kenta Maeda gets the ball in Game 1 of the wild card series on Tuesday.
Extra innings…
-The Twins scored three runs on only five hits on Sunday, but second baseman, Luis Arraez, who had four hits on Saturday, had two more, including a double. He ends the season hitting .321.
-The Twins’ first run of the game was scored on a balk.
-The White Sox ended the season losing seven of eight games, including Sunday’s 10-8 loss to the Cubs. The Cubs took a 10-1 lead into the final two frames of the game, then watched as the South Siders made it interesting with five runs in the eighth and two in the ninth. It wasn’t enough, and now the Pale Hose face the A’s in the wild card series.
-The Twins were 4-3 against the Astros in 2019.
-What’s the weather forecast for the Twin Cities? Tuesday calls for cloudy skies but daytime temperatures are expected to hit 64 degrees. By Thursday, though, overnight temps will fall to 37 degrees.
-Keeping my fingers crossed that Byron Buxton and Josh Donaldson are ready to play on Tuesday.