Wednesday, July 28, 2010
The Suddenly Powerful Twins
I had been getting a bit bummed in the Twins lethargic play before the All Star Break. They fell out of first place, letting both the White Six and Tigers pass then and fell dangerously close to .500. It was depressing knowing how well they have played earlier in the season. Well, they have played well since the break. Besides losing 2 or 3 to the streaking Indians, they took 3 of 4 from Chicago, 3 of 4 from Baltimore and over the last three games, have scored 40 runs! Delmon Young has continued his torrid July, Joe Mauer seems to be coming back to life a bit and rookie Danny Valencia has been red hot!The Twins banged out 19 hits in their 11-2 victory over the Royals on Tuesday night. That marked the third consecutive game that Minnesota has registered at least 10 runs and 19 hits (10 runs, 19 hits vs. Baltimore on Sunday; 19 runs, 20 hits vs. Kansas City on Monday). Over the last 100 years, only two other teams have scored at least 10 runs with at least 19 hits in three consecutive games in a single season: the Giants in August of 1933 and the Pirates in August of 1928.
Danny Valencia went 4-for-5 in Minnesota's victory over Kansas City on Tuesday night, marking the fourth consecutive game he has registered at least three hits. Prior to Valencia, the last major-league rookie to register at least three hits in four consecutive games was San Francisco's Jim Davenport in 1958.
I know they can't keep THIS pace up but I sure hope they can continue to score runs and the pitching stays as solid as it has the last 10 or so games. It sure makes it fun to follow!
