What's most surprising about the Twins being in the playoff hunt after their slumpy start? Is it how well the Twins have played or is it how poorly Chicago and Detroit have played?

On June 20th I wrote that the Twins would likely need about 95 wins to make the playoffs as a wild card team. I noted that it would be a tough number to attain because they'd have to play nearly .650 baseball the rest of the way. They've done just that. I predicted that Detroit would fall back to earth and win between 90 and 95 games which at the moment seems like a pretty accurate prediction. What I didn't expect was the collapse of the White Sox. I wrote that 100+ wins was possible for the White Sox, so you can certainly label me surprised that they're currently not in good shape to make the playoffs at all.

For me there are two surprises: The Twins playing remarkably well and the White Sox playing remarkably bad. The Twins needed the stars to align just right to make the playoffs and it appears that's what happened. Throw in the fact that they did it without Liriano and Radke for extended periods of time and it's even more surprising.

The Twins certainly aren't succeeding solely because of other teams' failures. You have to give them a ton of credit for playing well against Detroit and Chicago in the second half of the season. They've won 7 of 9 against Chicago and 6 of 10 against Detroit since the All-Star break. The Twins have won the games they've had to win and that's the major reason their playoff hopes are so strong right now.

Win totals

The Twins haven't won 95 games since 1991. If they surpass the 95 win mark it'll be the highest win total for the Twins since they won 98 in 1970.