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The Twins missed 127 of their 276 homers for Wednesday's game against Washington at Target Field. That number rose to 142 if you took into account the absence of veteran utility Marwin Gonzalez and at 149 if you added substitute goalkeeper Jake Cave.
It was the second consecutive game in which coach Rocco Baldelli was using a makeshift team largely due to injuries to CJ Cron (thumb), Miguel Sano (back), Byron Buxton (shoulder), Max Kepler (scapula ), Cave (groin) and Gonzalez (oblique). On Wednesday, the only healthy scratch was receiver Mitch Garver, who was granted a night off after running his 30th circuit.
The Twins' formation provided the recipe for a 6-2 loss to the Nationals and front row starter Stephen Strasburg. The defeat brought the Twins to 2-3 on a homestand that was to end on a rainy Thursday night and that started with Minnesota leaving two out of three in Cleveland. The Twins should then face the Indians in Cleveland this weekend.
The injury situation of the Twins – and some unstable throws – has raised concerns of the team's faithful, even after Jose Berrios pulled himself together after a difficult stretch to open seven shutouts on Tuesday in a 5-0 win over the Nationals. The Twins had a four-game lead in Central AL over the Indians who came into play Thursday, with Minnesota having a chance to increase its lead as Cleveland was absent.
Do not get used to this, but I'm here to tell you that there is no reason to worry about the Twins. Yes, the Twins have to face the novice players with Mike Clevinger and Shane Bieber and a third who looks to become Aaron Civale this weekend. This will give Cleveland an excellent opportunity to further reduce the lead of the Twins – especially if Baldelli is forced to continue to hold regulars – but that's what will happen after Sunday that should give everyone complete confidence.
The Twins will pass nationals and Indians to a season of thirteen games against 13 of the worst clashes of the American league. A seven-game family match begins Monday against the Chicago White Sox and ends with four games against the Royals. Minnesota will finish the regular season with three games in Detroit and three in Kansas City.
The White Sox seem to be a club on the rise, but they are now at 64-81 and 25 games of the Twins. The Royals have won seven of their last 10 games but are 54-92 and 35.5 on first place in AL Central. Detroit? The club's coach Ron Gardenhire has made it impossible by being worse than the Baltimore Orioles, who have spent this season trying to lose. The Tigers have 43-100 and 45 games in Central AL.
Put these three together and it's fair to say that the Twins will drop a match or two in this sequence – if the Chicago right-hander, Lucas Giolito is on – for example – but other than that, there's no excuse that the Twins do not end up at the top of the AL. .
The last 12 games of Cleveland after the departure of the Twins will be opposed to Detroit (three) and Philadelphia (three), as well as White Sox (three) and Washington (three). That means the Indians will have six games against quality opponents, while the Twins will not have one.
So let's stop with the speech of the Twins who do not win this division. A failure in this direction would be one of the biggest setbacks we have seen in the history of the major leagues. I do not care who is in training, or who is on the mound, not to participate in these last 13 games would be unfathomable.
If you want to worry about the chances of the Twins in the playoffs, I can not help you. Regarding the Central AL title, do not worry. The Royals, Tigers and White Sox have long been checking out for the 2019 season, which means that a flag of AL Central will fly to the Target Field next spring. If that does not happen, the amount of vitriol and ridicule directed against the Twins would be well deserved.
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