Kuzul

Breaking down the ALDS, part one I looked at pure statistical numbers of both the New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins.

Part two, is what I see as the pros and cons, which both teams before heading into Game One on Wednesday evening.

What are each team’s pros and cons?

Minnesota Twins

Let’s state the obvious advantage for the Twins in having the home-field advantage, after posting 53-27 wins/losses at Target Field. Anything is better than having to start out in the Bronx for the Twins.

The Twins have been at New York’s mercy in both the regular and postseason forever. The chip on Minnesota’s shoulder can only make the players hungrier and the team should feed off this determination to win.  Add that to a more experienced Twins ball club, who are familiar specifically with this situation. This can only help in determining a strategy to finally get past the Yankees.

The Twins biggest downfall is that is all they do when playing the Yankees. Maybe watching game footage of the Tampa Bay Rays would get their confidence up, because the Twins are scared of the big, bad Yankees. If this doesn’t change the Twins should just wave the white flag now, as the Yankees will scorch any team who bows down to them.

New York Yankees

Please understand that being the guest is not a con for the Yankees, who have a 43-37 record on the road. The Yankees are either playing well or their not, no matter the stadium field they happen to be on.

On the season, the Yankees are 23-13 against AL Central teams and other then the Twins not much else goes on in the Central. Yes, the White Sox popped up for a few weeks but the Twins had little to worry about. The AL East teams do not have it as easy, as the division is so competitive and the Yankees and Rays were both beat-up down the stretch.

The Yankees bats hold the weight in this series, especially Alex Rodriguez who has personally demoralized the Twins. In the 128 games that A-Rod has faced the Twins in his career, he has a .322 batting average, with 115 RBI and 45 home runs. That is almost surreal and A-Rod is hitting well so expect a big series from him. Look for Brett Gardner and Curtis Granderson to utilize their speedy legs on the basepaths.

The question of whether Robinson Cano can continue his dominant 2010 in the postseason will play a big part for the team. Cano has almost shutdown at the plate in past playoff appearances. Still, Cano is a different beast this season so look to see how the MVP candidate fares.

Everyone is talking about the Yankees pitching rotation, which would be incredible if CC Sabathia could pitch on a daily basis. See the Yankees have been sans Andy Pettitte for most of the second half; add that to an imploding AJ Burnett who’s issues run too deep to trust and Javier Vazquez’s demotion to the bullpen.

Vazquez came in on thin ice, and the Yankees did not take a chance with Javy, who could be very useful out of the pen if innings need to be eaten before getting to Mariano Rivera.

Summary

Pitching will be the biggest factor in who wins this series.

The only other starting pitching staff in question as much the Yankees is the Twins.

Fact is, Sabathia is a better ace than Francisca Liriano, who doesn’t throw a lot of strikes but can’t get ahead in the count enough to fan batters.

The Twins most consistent pitcher is Carl Pavano, who had some success last season against New York. Pavano will face Pettitte, who is the most successful postseason pitcher ever so it is wise to think Pettitte will be ready to go come Thursday night.

Looking at both bullpens, the Yankees are better with Wood, Joba, Robertson, and Mo.

The Twins can play baseball that is not the issue. It’s attitude and if that has not taken a complete 180-degree turn versus the Yankees they are doomed.

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A solid ace is the most important part of any postseason rotation. In 2001, the Mariners were clearly the most talented team in the league, having won a record 116 games.

But they ran into the Yankees’ Roger Clemens and Mike Mussina and lost in a mere five games. Whatever team’s pitching proves most consistent will be the team that wins the World Series.

While the Padres are still mathematically in the race, their loss tonight has given them a nearly impossible task…and for that reason, their pitching has been left off this list.

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The Minnesota Twins clinched the American League Central earlier this week.  Every year, the Twins seem to make the playoffs even if they don’t have the best talent.

Joe Mauer is the best player and linchpin of this Twins team, but there are many other players you don’t know that are crucial to the success of this team.

Here are five players who need to have a big postseason for the Twins to have a shot at winning the World Series.

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Minnesota Twins fans have an unusual luxury that they have not enjoyed in quite some time.  Instead of sweating it out until the final week or final day of the season as to whether the Twins would get into the playoffs, Twins fans can sit back and enjoy some quiet time of reflection on the season.

In looking back at the season, one question that fans are going to argue and debate over their favorite beverage in the next few days is who was the most valuable player for the Minnesota Twins this year.

You can go with a pitcher or an everyday player and a compelling case can be made for your favorite player.

There is no easy answer to the question.

Several players put up good numbers worthy of most valuable player consideration.  However, no one player put up ridiculous numbers that makes the conversation pointless and no one player for the Minnesota Twins was consistent throughout the year. 

Below are the nine Twins that are most worthy for consideration as the Most Valuable Player for Minnesota.

Michael Cuddyer

Cuddyer is batting .272, with 14 homeruns and 77 RBIs on the season.  Cuddyer’s numbers are not eye-popping but if there has been a Twins player that has been consistent throughout the year it would have to be Cuddyer.  The real value Cuddyer has brought to the Twins is his flexibility and enthusiasm to play multiple positions throughout the season.  Cuddyer has played first base, second base, third base, right field and center field.  “He’s a warrior,” Denard Span said. “He epitomizes the Twins way. He just amazes me how night in and night out he’s ready to play, and he has the same energy level.”

Justin Morneau

The former American League Most Valuable Player appeared in the first half of the season to be ready to add another MVP trophy to his mantel.  Morneau was simply on fire before the all-star break with a .345 average, 18 homers, 56 RBIs, an on-base average of .437 and a slugging percentage of .618.   Justin almost single-handedly kept the Twins in the race during the first half of the season.  Unfortunately, Morneau has not been able to play since July 7 because he has been suffering concussion type symptoms. 

Jim Thome

The Big Man in the middle has provided the long ball threat that Twins needed to fill with Justin Morneau being unable to go during the second half of the season.  Thome’s titanic blats have drawn favorable comparisons to Harmon Killebrew who he passed on baseball’s all-time homerun list this summer.   In just 271 at-bats, Thome has 25 homeruns and 59 RBIs.   Jim has on-base average of .412 and a slugging percentage of .631.  In September when it was time to finish the White Sox, Thome stepped up his game batting .357 while hitting 7 homeruns and knocking in 14 RBIs.

Thome has also provided the classic veteran leadership that rubs off favorably on the young guys in a clubhouse.  Rookie Danny Valencia said of Thome that “he’s always prepared. I’ve never been around a guy who takes his job so seriously. I try to do what he does, because he’s been successful, and still is successful at what he’s doing.” 

Kevin Slowey

Slowey currently stands with a 13-6 record with a 4.18 earned run average.  Some will undoubtedly point to his slow start to the season and the fact he has given up 20 homeruns in 153 innings that he is not worthy but Slowey deserves some consideration for his control and what he has down the stretch of the season.  The most amazing statistic for Slowey is that he has 115 strikeouts to only 29 walks for a team leading strike out to walk ratio of 3.96.  Kevin is simply not going to give out free passes and beat himself.  Since the All-Star game, Slowey is 5-1 with a 3.38 earned run average.  Slowey also improved upon his strikeout to walk ratio in the second half of the season; he has 47 strikeouts against only 10 walks since the All-Star game.

Delmon Young

Many Twins fans felt that acquiring Young was a mistake and that the Twins should rectify the situation by trading Delmon as soon as possible for an arm that bolster the pitching staff.  Fortunately, the front office didn’t listen because Young put the Twins on his broad shoulders and carried the team during the month of July this year.   While some Twins fans will point to Delmon’s defense in the outfield as precluding him from being considered as the Twins most valuable player his numbers and importance to the team in July can’t be denied.  July was a critical month for the Twins as they lost Morneau and it would have been easy for the team to curl up in the fetal position without the big slugging first baseman.  No need, Delmon to the rescue.  In July, Young had 12 doubles, a triple, six homeruns, and knocked in 30 runs.  Young even had a stolen base.  Delmon also had a .434 batting average and a slugging percentage .736 in the month.  On the year, Delmon’s numbers are 18 homeruns, 105 runs batted in and a .299 batting average.

Carl Pavano

If there has been a workhorse for the Twins pitching staff it would have to be Carl Pavano.  Pavano’s ability to take the ball and go deep into games was very valuable to the team in that he gave the team an opportunity to rest the arms in the bullpen every fifth day consistently throughout the season.  Pavano has already pitched 210 innings in the season and tossed seven complete games.  In comparison, Twins starters Brian Duensing, Francisco Liriano, Kevin Slowey, Scott Baker, and Nick Blackburn between them only have two complete games.  In June and July, Pavano was nearly unhittable.   In June, Pavano limited opponents to a .186 batting average; and in July, Pavano limited opponents to a .235 batting average. On the year, Pavano is 17-11 with an earned run average of 3.60.

What is the secret weapon to Pavano’s success this year?  Pavano’s success has to be tied to the decision to go with his Mario Brothers’ mustache.

Brian Duensing

Duensing would be the lovable dark horse candidate to be the most valuable player on the team.  Duensing started the season in the bullpen and performed admirably in short relief with a 2-1 record, an earned run average of 1.62 and limiting opponents to only a .187 batting average.  When the Twins starters faltered during the days of summer, Duensing stepped up and took the ball and became a dominant starting pitcher.  Since the All-Star break, Duensing has been 8-1 in 11 starts with a complete game, compiled an earned run average of 2.48 while keep the opposition to a batting average of just .268.   The only drawback to Duensing’s claim to the MVP award is that he has only pitched 119 innings on the season.

Joe Mauer

It is difficult not to pencil in Mauer’s name as the Twins Most Valuable Player Award every year given that he will likely be on the short list for the American League Most Valuable Player Award for the rest of this decade.  Mauer’s numbers on the year are solid in that he is second in the league in batting with a .331 average, nine homeruns and 74 runs batted in.  Mauer “struggled” before the all-star break as he hit just .293.  Since the All-Star break, Mauer has a .383 batting average, a .459 on base percentage, and a .541 slugging percentage.  Mauer has also been Mr. Clutch for the Twins this year.  With runners in scoring position with two outs, Mauer is batting .391 with two homeruns and 24 runs batted in; further, his on-base percentage is .525 and his slugging percentage is .609 in those situations.  If Mauer had another five homeruns and 20 runs batted in on the season, the only question would be which player is the second most valuable player on the Twins.

Francisco Liriano – Team MVP

Yes, the knock on Liriano having a slow start to the season is legitimate.  However, when Francisco has been on his game he has been downright nasty and filthy as his team leading strike out total of 191 attests.   On the season, Liriano is a very solid 14-8 with an ERA of 3.44.   Since the All-Star break when the Twins made their big push to separate themselves from the Tigers and White Sox, Liriano has been crazy good with an 8-1 record and an ERA of 2.48.  Francisco has given Twins opponents little to hit in the second half holding opponents to just a .235 batting average.  The most impressive statistic for Liriano is that how rarely he gives the teams with the big bats an opportunity to change the game with a homerun, Franscisco has given up only five homeruns on the season.   In comparison, Duensing in 70 fewer innings has given up six more homeruns; Slowey and Pavano who have roughly pitched the same amount of innings have both given up more than 20 homeruns.

Liriano simply gives the Twins the best chance to win and has been rewarded by Manager Ron Gardenhire as the starting pitcher in the playoffs.  Why not also reward Liriano by awarding him the Minnesota Twins Most Valuable Player?

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The Minnesota Twins were the first MLB team to punch their postseason ticket on Tuesday night after defeating the Cleveland Indians 6-4 at Target Field.

The Twins are currently a game back of the Yankees for the best record in baseball after their division clinching victory improved them to 91-60 on the year.

Minnesota clinched their second straight AL Central title, and they will be one of the top World Series contenders when the playoff get underway in October. 

Despite winning the division five times in the past decade, the Twins have been able to get over the playoff hump and into the World Series.

Here are five reasons why this will be the year the Twins get back to the World Series for the first time since 1991 and will ultimately win it.

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A lot of noise has been made in the sabermetrics community stating that Felix Hernandez should win the 2010 Cy Young Award.

While most of the arguments are rational and valid, they tend to be shortsighted, comparing King Felix to only CC Sabathia.

Advanced metrics and statistical analysis show that while Felix has won only 12 games while losing 11, he’s actually pitched much better than Sabathia this season.

Felix boasts strikeout rates, walk rates, home run rates, ground ball rates, and accumulated Wins Above Replacement (WAR) that are all superior to that of Sabathia.

Each has been a dependable workhorse, pitching well over 200 innings this season. However, writer perception, combined with a Zack Greinke victory in award voting last year, which he won out from under Felix Hernandez, has spawned a pretty heated debate, where perhaps some people who were chanting Felix’s name last year are now again in his corner, but for completely opposite reasons.

However, the season that Greinke had last year was very special by all measures. His nine WAR were the best by a pitcher since Pedro Martinez’s 10.1 WAR season in 2000, a season often considered to be the most impressive by any pitcher ever considering the hitting environment in which it was pitched.

Greinke posted a FIP of 2.33 and an ERA of 2.16 on a Royals team that played pretty bad defense. He won 16 games while losing only eight and led the league in strikeouts. So while the league eschewed three wins for each of Hernandez, Justin Verlander, and Sabathia, they didn’t completely diverge from accumulation statistics or conventional metrics.

The reality is that while once again Felix has been impressive, even more impressive than his amazing 2009 season, he still falls to second-best in terms of peripheral statistics, especially when combined with conventional measures.

R.J. Anderson of FanGraphs wrote about the guy that should truly win, Francisco Liriano.

Liriano is 14-7 with a 3.28 ERA and 189 strikeouts in 178.1 innings. While Felix tops all of those numbers in terms of total count, Liriano has the King beat in most rate stats. Liriano has more strikeouts per nine innings pitched, a lower FIP, a higher ground-ball rate, and has given up only four home runs this season, good for 0.20 per nine innings.

Most impressively, however, is that Liriano has managed to accumulate 6.3 WAR in about 55 fewer innings than it has taken Hernandez to accumulate 6.1. Liriano has four less starts and is averaging close to an inning less per start, but when he’s been on the mound, he’s been significantly more effective.

That’s not to take away from Hernandez, who has had yet another tremendous year, but if he’s given the Cy Young Award, it will truly be a multi-year award, as once again Felix has been the second-best pitcher in the American League by most contemporary measures, as well as the most traditional.

As much as Sabathia’s 20 wins (and counting) will help his case with the most dusty, closed-minded voters, Liriano may be hurt by not reaching a similar plateau. David Cone is the only starting pitcher to win the American League Cy Young Award without pitching at least 200 innings, which he did in the strike-shortened 1994 season.

The lowest inning count for a full-season starting pitcher American League Cy Young Award winner was 213.1, done by Pedro Martinez in 1999. He also won the award with 217 innings in 2000. Each of those seasons he won the award unanimously after posting two of the best modern-era pitching seasons ever.

ZiPS projects that Liriano will receive two more starts (and a relief appearance) before the end of the season for only 15 innings. That would put him at 193 innings for the season, a full 20 innings behind Pedro Martinez’s 1999 mark.

But while a low inning count may hurt Liriano, it seems like a much easier argument to make. While several closers have won the award, there have been a couple of National League winners to win the award, even pre-sabermetrics, without 200 innings or a recorded save.

In 1981, another strike-shortened season, Fernando Valenzuela won the Cy Young Award with 192.1 innings pitched in a season where the Dodgers played only 110 games.

1984 may be the best argument, however, for Liriano’s candidacy in 2010. In a full season, Rick Sutcliffe pitched only 20 games for 150.1 innings. He won the award unanimously but also boasted a 16-1 record. Sutcliffe benefitted from an ERA before advanced statistical analysis, as his 10th-place ranking in WAR that season (3.7 WAR) would hardly fly in 2010.

Either way, the reality is that Sabathia will probably win, but if he doesn’t, Liriano should be the guy, as he better fulfills the combined criteria of both traditional and contemporary metrics.

Check out more articles about Seattle sports at North and South of Royal Brougham.

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The Minnesota Twins appear to be on their way to winning back-to-back division titles and for the first time in two years, not having to go to a game 163. With the Twins sitting comfortably in front of the Chicago White Sox they will have the opportunity to rest pitchers down the stretch and set their rotation however they would like for the postseason.

There’s a good chance Francisco Liriano will be thrown out in Game 1 against either the Tampa Bay Rays or New York Yankees. The other option would be Carl Pavano, who has been a godsend for the Twins’ rotation with the way he eats up innings.

The postseason is creeping up closer and closer, which means it’s time to grade the pitching staff up to this point.

Francisco Liriano—B+

It was a tough choice not to give Liriano an A especially seeing how well he’s pitched since the All-Star break. While he’s had a very good season, he hasn’t pitched like a staff ace consistently enough. Consistency is something the promising lefty is going to have to work on if he ever wants to be considered an elite pitcher.

Right now, Liriano is having a good stretch, but as many Twins fans know, he is just as capable to fall into a three- or four-start funk.

Carl Pavano—B

He always seems to give Minnesota seven or eight quality innings every start and more importantly, a chance to win. When Scott Baker, Kevin Slowey, and Nick Blackburn were struggling, it was Liriano and Pavano who kept the Twins afloat.

Over June and July, Pavano compiled an 8-1 record, lowering his ERA to 3.21 at one point, which put him in the Cy Young conversation for a brief stint. Since then he has come back to Earth a bit, but without that remarkable stretch earlier in the season. the Twins wouldn’t be where they are today.

Scott Baker—D

“Moonshot Scott” is by far one of the more overvalued players in baseball.

For some reason Minnesota believes that Baker is an above-average pitcher, even though he hasn’t produced like it on the mound. Baker will sucker you in with a dazzling performance making you think that he’s turned a corner, only to break your heart with a subsequent poor outing. One complaint about Baker is his consistency.

That’s not the case this year as he has been consistently bad. 

Kevin Slowey, Nick Blackburn—C

Slowey gets a C because he simply is an average starting pitcher who is having an average season.

Blackburn is different. He was so bad at one point during the season that he was sent down to the Minors to try to rediscover his sinker ball. In May, he went 5-0 with a 2.65 ERA, which he followed up with two disastrous months leading to his demotion. Since being called back up, he has pitched very well and would most likely be the fourth starter in a seven game series. 

Brian Duensing—A

Since joining the rotation, Duensing has posted a 5-1 mark to go with a 3.06 ERA. Not to mention that he was a key member of the bullpen for the majority of the season before he was summoned to be a starter.

It’s clear that he has become the No. 3 guy behind Liriano and Pavano surpassing Baker, Slowey, and Blackburn. For the second-straight season, Duensing has stepped into the rotation in a pennant race and delivered. His stellar pitching helped the Twins surge past the White Sox into first place. 

Matt Capps—C-

Capps was acquired from the Washington Nationals in exchange for highly touted catching prospect, Wilson Ramos. While Capps‘s numbers with Minnesota may not look all that bad, they aren’t much better than the man he replaced, Jon Rauch. He’s blown two save opportunities in 11 chances, but has routinely given up base runners and made the game much more interesting.

That’s never a good thing if you are supposed to be a shut down closer. The complaint about Rauch was that he didn’t have overpowering stuff and gave up too many hits. Capps has come in and thrown the ball harder than Rauch, but not necessarily more effectively.

In 19 innings, the former National has given up 20 hits, while striking out 13 batters. The jury is still out on Capps as his so-so regular season performance with the Twins will definitely be erased if he is able to get the job done in October.

Something not even former All-Star Joe Nathan could do.

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For the Minnesota Twins, 2010 has been a roller coaster ride for the starting pitching staff.

It’s been almost a different pitcher stepping up to lead the club every month. 

Of late, Carl Pavano appears to be ready to settle into the ace of the staff. 

The Twins just completed a crucial 12 game stretch, going 9-3. Half of these games were against the second place Chicago White Sox—where they won four of six games, building a five game lead in the AL Central.

Now they start another crucial stretch where they will face the first place Texas Rangers seven times over the next 13 games. 

Nick Blackburn has been recalled from AAA Rochester, replacing Kevin Slowey who has been placed on the DL, opening the four game series in Arlington for the Twins.

Here’s a month-by-month look at how the starters have taken turns, not only on the mound, but as the staff ace.

April Pitcher of the Month: Francisco Liriano

Liriano: 4 GS, 3-0 record, 0.93 ERA, 0.965 WHIP.

Team: 23 GS, 12-7 record, 4.08 ERA, 1.35 WHIP

Liriano opened the season as the Twins’ fifth starter. After Joe Nathan suffered a season-ending injury, there was talk about moving Liriano into the closer role.

Thankfully, Liriano turned down the offer and dominated in April. He started the season with a no decision before rattling off three straight wins. He allowed three or less earned runs in each of his four starts.

He was awarded the American League Pitcher of the Month for April.

Unfortunately, he would only go 3-6 over the months of June and July.

Currently with a 3-1 record in August it appears he back on the right track.

May Pitcher of the Month: Nick Blackburn

Blackburn: 5 GS, 5-0 record, 2.65 ERA, 1.20 WHIP

Team: 28 GS, 15-9 record, 3.95 ERA, 1.31 WHIP

After going 1-1 in four starts in April, Blackburn dominated in May.

Blackburn won all five of his starts, pitching at least seven innings in each of them. Included were two victories over the Yankees—a feat that had not occurred since August 13, 2008, when Kevin Slowey won at the Metrodome.

At 6-1 through the first two months of the season, Blackburn was leading the team. Unfortunately, with the turn of the calendar to June he lost something. After finishing first half at 7-7, going 1-6 in June and July, Blackburn was sent to the Rochester Redwings.

The team would not mind at all if he were to return to his winning ways of May, while Slowey is on the disabled list.

June Pitcher of the Month: Carl Pavano

Pavano: 5 GS, 4-1 record, 2.25 ERA, 0.80 WHIP

Team: 27 GS, 9-13 record, 5.10 ERA, 1.26 WHIP

After starting the season 5-5, Pavano was the only good thing for the Twins in June. As the team struggled with a 12-15 record, his four wins would account for a third of the team’s. For the month, no other starter would have a winning record. Besides Slowey going 2-2, no other starter would win more than one game in the month.

Pavano would pitch back-to-back complete games, dominating Roy Halladay and the Philadelphia Phillies, and Johan Santana and the New York Mets, incredibly, allowing only one earned run over the 18 innings.

July Pitcher of the Month: Carl Pavano

Pavano: 6 GS, 4-0 record, 2.91 ERA, 0.95 WHIP

Team: 26 GS, 13-5 record, 4,19 ERA, 1.22 WHIP

Pavano would back up his dominate June with a strong July.

Falling to third place in the AL Central at the All-Star break, the Twins’ turn around would begin with a four game series at Chicago, where Pavano would have another complete game.

At the end of the month he would emerge as the staff ace, with a team leading 13-6 record, and as a Cy Young candidate.

August Pitcher of the Month: Brian Duensing

Duensing: 4 GS, 3-0 record, 2.08 ERA, 0.96 WHIP

Team: 20 GS, 10-4 record, 3.71 ERA, 1.29 WHIP

With eight games remaining in August, each of the starters will get at least one more turn on the hill. Since his promotion to the starting lineup, Duensing has been almost unbeatable. In six starts in July and August he has four wins and two no-decisions.

He currently has a combined 7-1 record with a 1.92 ERA.  

This has turned out to be the best acquisition the Twins made at the trade deadline.

After going 8-1 in June and July, Pavano has come back to earth with a 2-2 record in August.

If Duensing can continue pitch this effectively, the Twins will have a formidable trio, along with Pavano and Liriano going into the postseason.  

With the playoffs still more than six weeks away, I like the thought of the Twins opening with Pavano, followed by Duensing and Liriano.  After that, it really doesn’t matter.

Scott Baker is currently 11-9, but has won four of his last starts with two no-decisions. He has not won, nor lost, three consecutive starts all season. With a strong finish in September, I see Baker as the fourth pitcher to take a turn in the playoffs.

As for Slowey and Blackburn, the only way I see either of these two pitching in October would be due to an injury.  

Of course anything could happen, a look back to 2009 on this date—the Twins were in third place, 4.5 games behind the White Sox and Tigers. 

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The American League Central division is a dead heat.

With their loss to Baltimore on Monday, the White Sox dropped into a tie with the Minnesota Twins.

The Detroit Tigers, 6-19 since the All-Star break, have gracefully bowed out of the race for the division, making it a two-team contest—two teams that competed in just such a race back in 2008.

After finishing tied at 88-74 in 2008, the White Sox and Twins needed a one-game playoff. Due to the bad luck of a coin toss, the game was played at US Cellular Field.

The game was decided in the bottom of the seventh inning, when Jim Thome led off the inning with a home run off of Nick Blackburn. It was one of only four hits that Blackburn would allow in seven and a third innings pitched.

Final score: White Sox 1, Twins 0.

Oh, how the worm has turned.

Thome is now hitting home runs for the Twins, and Blackburn has been dispatched to the Rochester Red Wings, the Twins’ triple-A affiliate.

Over the next 10 days, the Twins and White Sox will face each other six times. In the remaining 40 games of the 2010 campaign, they will meet only three more times.

It’s said that games within the division count as two—so that makes now the time for the Twins to put some distance between them and the White Sox.  

If the pitching rotations hold, the Twins will get their first look at the newest White Sox player, Edwin Jackson, who was acquired from Arizona at the trading deadline.

In return, Twins’ fans hope the White Sox get plenty of looks at Minnesota’s own trade deadline acquisition—All-Star closer Matt Capps, acquired from the Washington Nationals.   

The Twins hold the edge so far in 2010, having defeated the White Sox six times in nine games, including opening the second half of the season winning three of four at Target Field.

Since the break, the Twins have been the hottest team in the American League, going 17-6. They’ve won five of seven series, losing only one, while tying a four-game series against the Rays in Tampa Bay.

And they have done all this without MVP candidate Justin Morneau.

The Twins’ slump that dogged them a month ago seems to have ended with the break, and they looked primed for another strong second-half finish.  

Since Ron Gardenhire took over as manager, the Twins are 85-73 against Ozzie Guillen and the White Sox.

If the Twins can continue their hot streak as they head into Chicago, they could find themselves well on their way to Gardenhire’s sixth division championship in nine years.

Upcoming pitching probables:

Tuesday: Scott Baker (9-9, 4.70 ERA) vs. Freddy Garcia (10-4, 4.54 ERA)

Wednesday: TBD vs. Edwin Jackson (7-10, 4.97 ERA)

Thursday: Francisco Liriano (10-7, 3.33 ERA) vs. John Danks (11-8, 3.30 ERA)

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If I had more title space, I would have called this the “Twins Edition.”

With the Twins turning the tide at the beginning of the second half, it’s time to look at some of Minnesota’s big guns and the effect they may have on the American League.

Awards, playoffs, whatever works. I’ve got enough odd/frightening/bewildering/upsetting predictions to last us until next season.

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