Playoffs seem likely September 18th, 2006 at 5:30 pm
With a four gamea lead over the White Sox and just 13 games remaining in the season, the Twins playoff hopes are as good as they’ve been all year. The Star Tribune accurately reported That if the Twins finish the season just 7-6 the White Sox would need to go 12-1 to overtake the Twins. Considering that 7 of the Twins remaining games are against Baltimore and Kansas City, the Twins hopes look even better. However, it’s much too early to be satisfied.
The Twins are just 1 game behind Detroit heading into a 3-game series between Detroit and Chicago in Chicago. If the Twins win the series against Boston then they stand to gain ground on one of the two teams. Winning the Central means the Twins won’t have to play the Yankees in round 1 of the playoffs.
The Twins are also just 2 games behind the Yankees for the best record in the league. The best record ensures home field advantage throughout the playoffs and no team has a better home record in 2006 than the Twins. The Yankees are playing well, so overtaking them won’t certainly won’t come as easy as Detroit.
Another huge advantage could be gained by the Twins heading into the final days of the season with a padded lead in the standings. That would allow them to skip Johan Santana’s final start and set him up for the first game of the playoffs. Considering the huge dropoff from our #1 starter to our #2, having Santana available for 2 games in a five game series could make the difference.
Finally, let’s not be too confident yet. Chicago is only a sweep of the Twins away from gaining 3 of the 4 games they need to match our record. An unexpected slump could still spell gloom for the Twins. However, the momentum certainly seems to be with the Twins right now.
Article Sparcity
Also, apologies for the sparce entries as the season winds down. The long season doesn’t only take its tole on All-Star catchers batting averages. I also find it’s much easier to write when I want to bitch about something. The Twins started to play well and suddenly there’s less to bitch about.
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