Final Stretch

As the Minnesota Twins head into the final stretch of the 2015 regular season, they find themselves 2 1/2 games back of the Houston Astros for the second American League Wild Card spot.  Their recent five game skid came at an incredibly inopportune time, as three of the losses came against the LA Angels, now tied with the Twins in the wild card hunt, and also failed to take advantage of several Houston losses.  Time is of the essence, as there are only 13 games left ,and they must make one last surge if they wish to be playing in the postseason.  Of course, they’ll need a little help from the Houston Astros as well.

The Twins post a combined record of  20-25 against the teams remaining left on their schedule (Detroit, Cleveland, and Kansas City), with a losing record against each of them.  Here’s a breakdown of the Twins remaining regular season schedule:

3-game series vs. Cleveland at home, 3-game series in Detroit, 4-game series in Cleveland, and a 3-game series at home against the Kansas City Royals for the season finale.  We will likely face reigning AL Cy Young award winner Cory Kluber twice in the seven remaining games against Cleveland, which will be no easy task, since he has won his last two starts vs. the Twins.  The Indians are still mathematically alive in the wild card race and at the very least want to play spoiler for their AL Central rivals.

Houston has a six game home stand against division foes LA and Texas, followed by a six game road trip at Seattle and Arizona to close out the season.  It appears that New York has secured the first wild card spot and that Texas will hang on to the AL West title, so our only chance at a playoff birth is for Houston to drop off somewhat dramatically in their final four series of the year, as well as LA, and for the Twins to string together one last winning streak of their own.   October is just around the corner.  Anything can happen.

God Bless and Go Twins