It was a very successful week for the Minnesota Twins, and the ESPN Power Rankings definitely recognized them for it with a bump in this week’s edition.
Facing two divisional opponents in the same week is always a difficult task. What makes it even more difficult is when both of those series’ are on the road. That is exactly what the Minnesota Twins faced last week when they traveled to Chicago then Cleveland.
The Twins looked great in their shortened-by-rain series against the White Sox. Two great offensive performances gave them wins by scores of 7-2 and 7-6. The series against the Indians was a little more towards the pitching side. Minnesota won the first two games, 1-0 and 4-1. They finished the week off with their only loss of the week, 8-3 to Cleveland.
After a fairly short week, the Twins finished at 4-1 in those two series. This allowed them to hold onto their top spot in the AL Central by one game and move up in the ESPN Power Rankings from number 15 last week to number 12 this week.
This is the highest the Minnesota Twins have been in the power rankings this season, to nobody’s surprise. They started off hot in 2017, but they seem to finally have some consistency in their lineup and the pitching seems to be clicking.
Speaking of pitching, Ervin Santana and Jose Berrios put together some great performances against the Indians this weekend. Santana improved his record to 6-1 behind a 7-inning shut out performance by the ace.
Berrios, on the other hand, was making his first major league start of the season. Even though he had been tearing up AAA, going up against the reigning AL Champions would be a tough task. He had no problem, though, going 7.2 innings, allowing only 2 hits and one run. This could be a sign of GREAT things to come for Berrios.
Offensively, the Twins looked solid all week. Brian Dozier is struggling, but Miguel Sano is starting to look like a contender for AL MVP, albeit the season is still young. Kennys Vargas also seems to be the power bat to go along with Sano that the Twins so badly needed.
If there was one negative to take away from the week, it would be from Sunday’s game, of course. It’s hard to expect a 5-0 week, but what is scary is when Minnesota loses, it seems to always be in blowout fashion. That’s a dangerous trend that the Twins need to address.
Next: Highlighting the All-Time Minnesota Twins Dream Team
All in all, it was a fantastic week for the Minnesota Twins. They needed a good week going up against two divisional opponents, and that’s exactly what they got. Here’s to hoping we can crack the top ten this time next week!