MINNEAPOLIS — Few people expected the Minnesota Twins to be hovering in the playoff conversation as the calendar approached the end of May.
Despite an 11-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday, the Twins remain just three games out of first place in the American League Central Division, and after a series win against the Tampa Bay Rays over the weekend, the Twins are currently locked into the second wild-card position in the A.L.
Perhaps more impressive has been Minnesota’s ability to overcome an abysmal 1-6 start to the regular season and a 2-7 record against the Detroit Tigers. The Twins are 20-11 since that seven-game stretch to start the season, including a 14-6 mark at Target Field, where Minnesota has struggled each of the last four seasons.
While the Twins have been one of baseball’s feel-good stories through the first two months of the season, players in the Minnesota clubhouse are doing exactly what they thought they would.
“It’s definitely not a surprise to me,” Twins right fielder Torii Hunter said. “One of the reasons I signed here, obviously it’s home. But they were good. I saw them when I was with the Tigers and they would beat the hell out of us. This team was ready to go, ready to win; it’s just all about being consistent and being ready to win.”
Hunter also said the club looks forward to the dance-club celebration the team has begun after wins at home, complete with “laser shows” and a smoke machine that has clouded the Twins clubhouse on several occasions already.
“It’s that home energy,” Hunter said. “When we come home, people are saying your name, they have energy and we feel good about it.”
Twins manager Paul Molitor, in his first season on the job, said he is simply taking things one game at a time.
“I don’t know if surprised is the right word,” Molitor said. “I didn’t really know how the season was going to unfold.”
The Twins have shown an ability to be resilient through the first six weeks of the season, a trait that has been lacking in recent seasons.
Minnesota missed several opportunities to expand a 3-1 lead during its game against the Rays on Saturday, including a runners-on-second-and-third-with-nobody-out situation in the sixth inning. The next three hitters struck out, and in the next half inning, Tampa second baseman Tim Beckham smashed a tying two-run homer.
It was the type of turn of events that had crushed the Twins in their recent past.
Instead, the Twins answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning, including a big two-out single by shortstop Eduardo Escobar, to lift Minnesota to victory.
“You hope they remember the feeling and the confidence we have displayed,” Molitor said. “Just like any other part of the game, when you do it a few times and get good results, hopefully you have positive thoughts the next time you’re in that situation.”