The Sox just need to get to 90 wins, I don’t think anyone else in the division is anything better than that. I’ll go ahead and predict that the division winner will not win more than 90 wins unless that team in the Sox.

I’ve been saying it for awhile, I just don’t see the Twin’s pulling it off…. if it would have been any time it would have been the Tigres… but the pitching in D Town is terrible

that a .500 team in the AL Central is better than sub-.500 teams in the NL. As for 90 wins, if the Sox win 1 more this weekend, that’s exactly their pace at the half way mark.
No worries here.

Overall OPS: .728
OPS w/RISP: .847

That is a difference of .119. I can’t imagine any amount of sinching it up and hunkering down would actually make that difference sustainable.

In a quick and dirty check of other AL teams, only the A’s are close to this number with a .087 difference. But even with that difference, the A’s still only have an OPS w/RISP of .794. I think most of us expect the A’s offensive production to fall off. The safe bet would be that the Twins’ production also falls quite a bit.

At the very least, here’s to hoping!

Livan Hernandez is 8-4!

/Hoping my picture involves cats. Or Uribe.

Minnesota’s streak included Washington, Arizona, San Diego, and now Milwaukee. I don’t follow National League teams that much so I can’t tell if the Brewers are as good as their record indicates, but the last time the Twins played an AL team that was playoff caliber, it was the Sox and they got swept.

I don’t think it’s smart for teams (or fans) to ever worry about opponents that are closing in on division leads. It’s a 162 game season, a team can’t maintain a 14 game lead at all times

you putting out a scouting report on sean gallagher?

KC has won 9 of their last 10

The last time the Sox played them we manhandled them. In years past where the Twins made a charge like this, they always had the advantage of playing the Sox really well head to head, too. I don’t think that will be the case this season.

Only thing missing which someone mentioned is the unusually poor defense for them. Unless a roster change happens I am simply not worried about them long term this season. It wouldnt surprise me if they took over 1st for a game or two but the Sox would retake before the all star break. A hot team yes. But not a really good team overall.

Its ironic that the Central has taken a beating this year for not being that good but in the last division rankings it now comes in 2nd. http://baseballplayoffsnow.blogspot.com/search/label/Ratings

one thing i’ve learned trading the market:
how much longer can this phenomenon go on?
a little bit longer.

as colin pointed out, it is difficult to imagine the twins continuing to win they way they are doing it, but you’d better believe it can continue until we’re really feeling the pain. i’m not holding my breath for the twins to fall off a cliff. half the season is in the books and there is no taking away the wins they’ve got. i’m just hoping the sox play well enough to stave them off.

found the episode in youtube but in color:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nmt-UtCSHzg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGs36qEKlv8

or

http://www.veoh.com/videos/v687466q7X842aT

any b/w links to the whole thing?

Hey ChiSox fans, Jesse from the Twins SB Nation site here. I think you’ve all hit some pretty accurate pressure points as far as our winning streak and our (recent) success is concerned:

1: The Twins rake with RISP. It’s not an attained skill and isn’t likely to be perpetuated, but it’s a stat that has a lot of value. For a team with overall OBP and SLG as it is, hitting well with RISP is the one biggest factor that’s led to winning.

2: Failures of our starting pitchers can be attributed to Boofonser and Livandez. Baker, Blackburn, Slowey and Perkins have all been effective, even if the peripherals on a couple of them indicate they’ve been hit pretty hard. Liriano of course wasn’t ready when he was on the scene at the start of the season, but when the Twins eventually make a move on Hernandez (please please please), he should be in a much better position to be effective…although this, too, is relative.

3: Our defense has been pretty shocking. This can be attributed to an injured Adam Everett at short, and now a sub-par Brendan Harris at short; a crude Mike Lamb at third base; and then a few guys who have some nice defensive attributes but haven’t put it all together yet in Delmon Young, Alexi Casilla and, at times, Carlos Gomez.

If the Twins don’t make any changes, I think you’re right—this success can’t be sustained over the course of the season. But the way this division is shaping up, it isn’t anyone’s to lose. Whether it’s Minnesota or Chicago, both teams have some holes and are pretty imperfect as far as a division winner is concerned.

But there’s still half a season left to play. I think one of these two teams will grab the proverbial bull by the horns eventually, and state their case for October.

the Twinks are not sustainable. However, in a world where the 2006 Cardinals and the ‘69 Mets win championships, you can’t dismiss the “magic”, or “destiny”, or “luck”. Remember, effin’ Rob Neyer saidwe were not sustainable in ‘05, either.

I would not dismiss their chances. Whacked a pretty good Brewers team for the series this weekend. And the kids are getting better.