Minnesota Twins: What’s the team’s longest winning streak?

With the St. Louis Cardinals currently in the middle of a 17-game winning streak, we thought it would be a good time to take a look back at the longest such streak in Minnesota Twins history. In 1991, the eventual World Series Champions won 15 straight from June 1 to June 16.

It also seems like a fitting time to remember that streak, as we are celebrating the 30th anniversary of that great 1991 team. As longtime fans will remember, the team got off to a dreadful start that year, losing nine of their first 11 games. Coming off a season in which they finished last in the American League West, the team’s poor start did little to inspire fans that 1991 would be much different from 1990.

The team stabilized a little bit in May, and after losing to Kansas City on May 31, the Twins sat at 23-25.

Minnesota Twins: And then came June

The Twins would win the next two games in Kansas City before coming home for a ten-game home stand against the Orioles, Indians, and Yankees. The Twins would take all ten games, and then they would go into Cleveland at take three straight there.

The pitching especially shined during this stretch, as Jack Morris (3-0, 1.17 ERA), Scott Erickson (3-0, 1.50 ERA), Allan Anderson (3-0, 2.18 ERA) and Kevin Tapani (2-0, 1.59 ERA) all pitched great during that stretch while Rick Aguilera picked up seven saves. On the offensive side, Chili Davis hit five home runs and drove in the go-ahead run in the tenth inning of the team’s 15th straight win, in Cleveland.

A few other notes from the streak:

• Chili Davis hit two home runs both on June 1 against the Royals and on June 13 against the Yankees.
• In the only walkoff win of the streak, on June 4, Randy Bush drove in the winning run in a 4-3 victory over the Orioles.
• On June 7, Allan Anderson allowed two hits over eight shutout innings as the Twins beat the Indians 2-0. To show how much has changed in the game over the years, Anderson only struck out three batters, while the game lasted just two hours and 13 minutes.

Unfortunately, the streak had to end eventually, as it did in Baltimore on a walkoff loss on June 17. Yet as they say, the rest is history. At the beginning of the streak, the Twins were in fifth place, 5.5 games out of first, but by the end of the streak they had vaulted themselves to the top of the AL West. Then we all know how things ended in October!