AL second wild card spot
Minnesota Twins
Overall record (through Sunday): 74-69
Last week: 3-4
This week: Off Monday; vs. San Diego Padres (Tue.-Wed.); vs. Toronto Blue Jays (Thu.-Sun.)
Another week, another missed opportunity for Minnesota to put some of their Wild Card challengers away.
For the second straight weekend, the Twins had a chance to all but eliminate the Kansas City Royals from playoff contention. For the second straight weekend, they were unable to do so.
After letting the Royals take two of three on the road to begin the month of September, the Twins only managed a split after winning the first two games this past weekend in Kansas City. It keeps the Kansas City Royals within 2.5 games of the second Wild Card spot.
It also allowed some of their opponents to close ground they otherwise wouldn’t have. It allowed others to keep from falling further behind after rough weekends of their own. (I’m looking at you, Baltimore and Seattle.)
As if that wasn’t bad enough, Minnesota dropped two of three in Tampa Bay to start the week. The good news for Twins fans is this: Nobody seems to want the playoff spot you hold. Plus, the schedule really eases up this week.
Two series against bottom-feeders San Diego and Toronto—both series coming at home—should prove to be a fix for what ails Minnesota. Expect the Twins to strengthen their grip on this spot in the coming week.