They have won 7 in a row (again) and have won 20 of their last 21 home games. The Twins have faught back to just 4 games behind the ChiSox for the AL Wild Card lead. In the strongest dividion in all MLB, the Twins are opening some eyes. With Johan Santana and Francisco Liriano (the best 1-2 punch in the majors) leading a pitching staff that is the best in MLB over the last two months, and Joe Mauer (MLB's leading hitter) and MVP candidate Justin Morneau (leads the AL in Batting Average, SLG %, and RBI since June 8th) heading a resurging offense, doubters beware! Here come the Twins!

Red Hot Twins

YEEEEEAH!

The best part is, during that span, they've gained exactly 2 games on the Tigers.

The best part is they don't have to catch the Tigers. Only the hated ChiSox! We're Comin'! We're Comin'!

And currently the Yankees and the Jays

i've got minnesota ahead of toronto by a game and a half, and that half is a toronto loss, not a minn. win.
minnesota's pretty legit for the wildcard at this point.

of course they are, unfortunately, three good teams will be out of the playoffs.

CHICAGO (AP) -- The middle of the lineup supplied the power. The bottom part came through with six hits, and the starting pitcher was effective, too.

Not that this was unusual for the Minnesota Twins.

"That's what we've been able to do this whole year," Michael Cuddyer said after a 7-4 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Monday night.

Joe Mauer hit a three-run homer, and Cuddyer and Justin Morneau also connected to lead the surging Twins past slumping Chicago.

Brad Radke pitched six solid innings for Minnesota, which pulled within two games of the second-place White Sox in the AL Central with its 32nd win in 40 games. Jason Tyner and Jason Bartlett, the bottom two batters in the Twins' lineup, had three hits apiece.

Tyner also made two nice catches in center field.

He sprinted back, leaped and banged into the wall to rob Joe Crede of an extra-base hit in the second. And he raced to snag Jim Thome's drive to deep right-center with a runner on third to end the fifth.

Paul Konerko homered in the fourth and Juan Uribe connected in the fifth to give the White Sox a 2-0 lead. But Chicago lost for the 10th time in 13 games and fell 7½ games behind first-place Detroit.

Brian Anderson hit a two-run shot in the ninth for the White Sox, who are only 1½ games ahead of the New York Yankees in the wild-card race.

"Everybody is catching up and gaining ground on you, but there's still two full months to go," Konerko said.

Cuddyer and Morneau hit consecutive homers off Javier Vazquez (9-6) in the sixth to give the Twins a 3-2 lead. Mauer went deep against Neal Cotts in the seventh -- the first homer of his career off a left-hander.

Radke (9-7) allowed two runs and seven hits. He is 5-0 in nine starts since losing to Oakland on June 3.

"It just happens," Radke said. "We just ran into a stretch where we're playing well. We're playing well at home. It's nice to get a few wins on the road."

Vazquez took a shutout into the sixth, but things again fell apart quickly for him.

Nick Punto led off with a single to extend his career-high hitting streak to 16 games. With one out, Cuddyer hit a two-run shot for his 13th homer. Morneau put the Twins ahead with his 26th -- a shot that just cleared the wall in right.

It was the third time the Twins hit back-to-back homers this season, and Cuddyer's shot was Minnesota's first since Rondell White went deep against Tampa Bay on July 18 -- a span of 202 plate appearances.

The sellout crowd booed Vazquez on his way to the dugout and let him hear it again in the seventh, after Bartlett's double put runners on second and third with none out.

Neal Cotts relieved and, with one out, Punto sent a grounder to shortstop. Juan Uribe fired home to cut down Tyner, who protested the call by yelling and waving his arms. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire came out of the dugout and argued vehemently with plate umpire Laz Diaz.

But instead of letting that play slow them down, the Twins quickly took control.

The next batter, Mauer, padded the lead with his eighth homer. He added a sacrifice fly in the ninth to make it 7-2.

"I just love arguing," a smiling Gardenhire said. "The big thing there is it didn't go our way at home plate. I tried to keep my argument to a minimum, told him, 'I think you missed it,' and (wanted to) get back in because I thought we had momentum going."

The Twins have had momentum for 40 games, actually. And the White Sox can't find it.

They beat Texas on Sunday to snap a four-game losing streak and grabbed a 2-0 lead in this one. But the game soon took a turn.

After going 1-for-14 in his previous four games, Konerko drove a 1-1 pitch over the center-field wall for his 25th homer. Uribe led off the fifth with his 13th homer.

Vazquez kept Minnesota off balance early with his cutter and changeup before falling apart. It's a perplexing trend.

"What's frustrating is that I feel good, and I feel like I'm making some good pitches and nothing is happening," he said.

Game notes
Punto's 16-game hitting streak tied Morneau for the Twins' season high. ... The White Sox acquired right-handed reliever Mike MacDougal from Kansas City for minor league pitchers Tyler Lumsden and Daniel Cortes. An All-Star closer in 2003, MacDougal strained his right shoulder during spring training and was activated from the disabled list July 13. He is expected to be a setup man for closer Bobby Jenks. Chicago optioned pitcher Sean Tracey to Triple-A Charlotte to clear roster room for MacDougal.


Source: ESPN.com

just think where they'd be had they never started kyle lohse over liriano to begin with.

Thanks for making it a 7.5 game lead in the Central!

Probably a pitcher down as liriano would have hurt his arm in spring training after the WBC.

i highly doubt that. any way you can provide some evidence as to how much more injury prone pitchers in the wbc have been so far as opposed to pitchers who didn't participate?

Not much historical evidence about the impact on the WBC.

I was just spewing the line Gardenhire and Ryan (?) used as a reason.

ahh i see. i'm pretty well removed from their pr departments.

Santana outduels Contreras; Twins close on White Sox


CHICAGO (AP) -- The way Johan Santana sees it, this is how it's going to be the rest of the season -- the Minnesota Twins and the Chicago White Sox locked in step.

At the moment, they're teams headed in different directions.

Santana outpitched Jose Contreras, and Jason Bartlett hit a three-run homer as the surging Twins pulled within a game of slumping Chicago with a 4-3 victory on Tuesday night.

"That's the way it's going to be," Santana said. "We're going after each other pretty good. Unfortunately for both teams we're in the wrong division. At the same time, that's what made this game so interesting."

The Twins have won 33 of their last 41, while the White Sox suffered their 11th loss in 14 games. Chicago is 7½ games behind first-place Detroit in the AL Central, and the Twins are another game out in third. And the White Sox lead the New York Yankees by one-half game in the wild-card race, with Minnesota right behind.

Bartlett broke a 1-1 tie when he hit his first homer of the season with one out in the seventh. Chicago's Joe Crede hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning to make it 4-3.

Santana (12-5) allowed three runs and seven hits while striking out six and walking none. He is 8-1 in his last 10 starts against the White Sox.

Contreras (9-3) allowed four runs and seven hits in seven innings, taking his third straight loss after winning a franchise record 17 straight regular-season decisions.

"I knew on a night like tonight I had to be perfect," Contreras said through an interpreter. "Either of us who made a mistake -- [the other team] was going to capitalize on it. In the seventh inning in a tight ballgame, I was the one that made the first mistake, and that's why they got the upper hand."

Joe Nathan put two runners on with one out in the ninth but got the last two outs for his 20th save in 21 opportunities. Michael Cuddyer robbed A.J. Pierzynski of the potential game-tying single with a diving catch in right before Alex Cintron grounded out to end the game.

"One thing about the Minnesota Twins," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said, "that's what they are right there: great pitching, clutch hitting and great defense. And I think that's the reason those guys have had success for so many years."

The winning rally started when Rondell White singled up the middle and Jason Tyner reached on a bunt single in front of the mound -- barely beating Contreras' throw. Bartlett then gave the Twins a three-run lead when he homered to left.

"The last guy I thought was going to hit a home run on the ballclub did," Guillen said.

Bartlett was surprised, too. He had not gone deep since last Sept. 13, against Detroit.

This one came on a hanging slider -- one that Bartlett got under a little bit. Although he made solid contact, he said he thought the ball would be caught.

Chicago's Jim Thome his a solo homer in the first -- the 463rd of his career and 33rd this season.

The Twins' Jason Kubel led off the second with his eighth home run to tie it 1-1.

"We always knew we are a good team," Nathan said. "We never lost sight of that."

Game notes
Minnesota's Nick Punto extended his career-high hitting streak to 17 with a single in the first. ... Twins CF Torii Hunter will likely be back in the lineup on Monday against Texas. Hunter, who has missed 10 games with a stress fracture is eligible to come off DL on Monday. ... C Joe Mauer will be the DH Wednesday, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. ... Twins OF Lew Ford, on the DL with a strained oblique muscle, will likely begin batting practice Friday. ... White Sox backup C Sandy Alomar Jr. started his first game since being acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday. ... Chicago's Pablo Ozuna ended an 0-for-17 skid when he doubled in the third.



ESPN Story and Highlight Video

By Mark Simon, ESPN Research

We might have a new wild-card leader in the American League in the next few days, and don't be surprised if that team is the Minnesota Twins, who continued their amazing roll by beating the White Sox 7-4 Monday night.

By now, you probably know the names Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer and Johan Santana, but during this run you can add Francisco Liriano and even Nick Punto to the list of those whose performances have been simply astounding.

It's clear the Twins are a team worth taking seriously. Remember the runs the 2002 Angels and the 2003 Marlins went on once they figured out the secrets to their success? Minnesota might be headed in the same direction.

MINNESOTA FATS: LAST 40 TEAM GAMES
Justin Morneau .400 BA, 15 HR, 43 RBI
Joe Mauer .392 BA, 3 HR, 25 RBI
Nick Punto .333 BA, 18 RBI, 29 R
Francisco Liriano 8-1, 1.58 ERA
Johan Santana 6-1, 2.67 ERA
Brad Radke 5-0, 2.70 ERA
Joe Nathan 3-0, 1.23 ERA, 12 SV
Twins: 32-8 in last 40 games, tied for best 40-game stretch in franchise history

and a weak team from both the al and nl west will be in.

I thank the Twins personally for winning me some serious $$$ the past two days

I'd just like to take this fantastic opportunity to say FUCK THE WHITE SOX ^_^

break out the brooms, bitches!