Tigers beat writer dunks all over Twins after blowing AL Wild Card lead

Things aren't looking great for the Minnesota Twins, as the season continues to slip away in the 11th hour.

It wasn't that long ago the Twins appeared to be near locks to make the playoffs, to the point where we were all on Magic Number duty as the final month of the season began. Unfortunately, Minnesota has simply been a bad baseball team over the last four weeks and it's all starting to catch up with them at the worst time.

Injuries and poor play have piled up to create a very real scenario where the Twins collapse and miss the playoffs. If that happens, the Tigers will likely be the ones to steal Minnesota's postseason ticket, and everyone in Detroit is ready for that to happen.

Twins got dunked on by Tigers beat writer, and have no right to argue with it

Tigers beat writer Evan Petzold dug into the Twins in more than one way on the most recent epiodde of the Days of Roar podcast. While talking about the chances Detroit catches Minnesota, he dropped a one-liner that pretty much sums everything up.

"Once you get the stink on you, it's really hard to get it off. The Twins have the stink on them," said Petzold said.

It's hard for Twins fans to argue with that, even if it's not particularly fun to hear.

Minnesota was 70-53 a month ago and looked to be cruising not only to a playoff berth but potentially an AL Central title. Since then, the Twins have gone 9-18 and are now on the brink of falling out of the playoff picture entirely.

Detroit has gone the opposite direction, suring so hard since mid-August that the Tigers could end up taking over second place before the season is over. Making matters even more frustrating is that the Tigers and Royals are playing a series with insane playoff implications after an offseason in which both teams decided to add meaingfully to their rosters.

Meanwhile, the Twins slashed $30 million and pathetically pinched pennies at every single turn. From salary dumping Jorge Polanco to refusing to take on future money at the trade deadline, the Twins have only themselves to blame for the way this season has collapsed.

The season isn't over, though. The Twins are down bad but hardly out as they still control their own destiny, own a tiebreaker over Detroit, and could use the next 12 games to get back on the right track. The fact the folks as far away as Michigan can see how slim that outcome is says it all, though.

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