Believe it or not, the Twins are the hottest team in baseball. After sweeping the doubleheader against the Orioles on Wednesday, Minnesota’s winning streak extended to an impressive 10 games.
Before the winning streak started, the Twins were 2-11 in games decided by two runs or fewer. Now, they are 8-11.
Here’s how the Twins became the hottest team in MLB
Clutch hitting
During the Twins’ 10-game winning streak, their offense ranked 4th in MLB in clutch (1.27), which measures how well a player or team performed in high leverage situations.
The winning streak started with a 4-3 win over the Red Sox on May 3, thanks to a two-run home run in the sixth inning from Kody Clemens in front of his dad, MLB legend Roger Clemens.
Similarly to the first game of the winning streak, Clemens hit a clutch three-run homer in the eighth inning against the Orioles in Game 2 of the doubleheader Wednesday to lead the Twins to their 10th consecutive win. Amid those two victories, several other Twins provided clutch hits to contribute to Minnesota’s hot streak. For example, in Game 1 of the doubleheader against the Orioles, Christian Vázquez collected his first home run of the season, a three-run homer that provided Minnesota a 6-3 win.
Other big-time moments from the Twins’ offense included a DaShawn Keirsey Jr. walk-off single against the Giants and a big two-run homer off the bat of Trevor Larnach to give the Twins a 2-1 win against San Francisco.
The Twins' hottest hitters during the streak have been Harrison Bader (.417/.500/.667 slash line), Byron Buxton (.270/.378/.595) and Trevor Larnach (.310/.341/.595). Carlos Correa has not been hitting for power but still has a .323 batting average during the winning streak.
Consistent starting pitching and dominant showings from the bullpen
Although Simeon Woods Richardson, who was just demoted to Triple-A St. Paul, had a rough outing in the Twins’ most recent win, allowing six runs in four innings, the pitching has been a key reason for the Twins’ winning streak. During the streak, Minnesota’s pitching staff ranked 1st in fWAR (2.5), 4th in ERA (2.67) and 1st in FIP (3.00)
Bailey Ober has arguably been the Twins’ most valuable pitcher lately, as he has a 2.87 ERA across 15 ⅔ innings during the winning streak, including one start he made on short notice due to Joe Ryan being sick. Ryan only made one start during the streak and dominated, allowing one run in six innings while recovering from his illness. Chris Paddack also contributed, pitching to a 2.92 ERA across 12 ⅓ innings in two starts. Pablo Lopez had one rough outing recently, allowing four runs against the Giants, but has otherwise been an ace all season (2.77 ERA).
The bullpen deserves its flowers as well for its performance during the winning streak. Jhoan Duran notched six saves while pitching seven scoreless innings. Danny Coulombe still has not allowed a run all season, pitching 4 ⅓ innings since May 3. Cole Sands and Louie Varland each contributed five scoreless innings. Even Jorge Alcala, who has an ugly 7.63 ERA this season, hurled three scoreless innings during the streak. Griffin Jax allowed just a pair of runs in 6 ⅔ innings, Justin Topa threw 1 ⅔ scoreless innings and Kody Funderburk, who was called up for the doubleheader Wednesday and will remain on the roster, pitched 1 ⅓ innings without allowing a run.
The Twins aim to continue their winning streak with hopes of another sweep of the Orioles. Game 3 of the series between Minnesota and Baltimore is slated to start at 11:35 a.m. Thursday at Camden Yards.