First Place Minnesota Twins Sweep Orioles in Baltimore

One of the surprise teams in baseball as we approach a third of the way through the regular season is the Minnesota Twins. Last season, the Twins were 59-103, by far the worst team in baseball record wise. They were 83-79 in 2015, but aside from that, Minnesota hasn’t been anywhere near .500 since 2010 when then won the American League Central with a record of 94-68, and lost to the New York Yankees in the playoffs.

But the Central Division has produced the last three American League pennant winners, with the Cleveland Indians last year and the Kansas City Royals the two years before that, effectively quashing the idea that smaller market franchises can’t compete with the big market and big money teams. The Twins traveled to Baltimore May 22nd-24th for a three game set against the Orioles, who have been battling the Yankees for 1st place in the A.L. East. The Twins won the opener in a slugfest 14-7, then followed that with a 2-0 shutout behind a two hit pitching performance by Ervin Santana, and then closed it out with a 4-3 win in the third game on May 24th.

Here’s some highlights from Santana’s performance. His season record improved to 7-2, tied for most wins in the league with Houston’s Dallas Kuechel. His 1.80 ERA is best in the league.

The Twins have an outstanding road record of 14-5, but are only 11-13 at home. That home record figures to improve as the season moves along. Through games of March 25th, the Twins were 25-18 and in first place with a two game lead over the Indians.