CLEVELAND — For the Minnesota Twins, it is baby steps, and maybe even more than that in one rejuvenating season. The Twins’ 4-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Monday night improved their record to 81-75. That guarantees that the Twins will snap a streak of four consecutive years with a losing record.
The last time the Twins finished with a winning record was 2010, when they won the American League Central with a record of 94-68. The worst they could finish this year would be 81-81. The best they could finish would be to maneuver into the second wild card spot in the last week of the season.
The Twins are 1 1/2 games behind Houston in the race for the second wild card spot. The Angels are 1/2-game behind Houston. But the Twins are clearly the most surprising team in the playoff hunt.
After winning 94 games in 2010, the Twins averaged 97 losses in each of the next four years, prior to this year’s surprising run at a playoff spot. The Twins will play three more games with Cleveland in this series, then finish the regular season with three games at home against Kansas City.
“This was a good win for us. A great way to start the last week of the season,” said Twins manager Paul Molitor of the win over Cleveland on Monday.
“We’ve put ourselves in a good position,” said Trevor Plouffe. “We’re looking forward to the rest of this week.”