The Twins haven't fared very well this season in games against baseball's elite teams. They just finished their season series against the Dodgers: four games, four losses, by scores of 7-2, 7-0, 10-3, and 8-5. They're 0-3 against the Astros. The scores of those games were 5-0, 11-3, and 5-0. Against the Yankees, slightly better: in a 3-game series at Target Field in June, the Twins won a game (and for what it's worth, not much, outscored the Yankees in the series). They have a 4-game series in The Bronx in early September and a 3-game series in Houston later this month.
In games against other American League teams likely to make the playoffs, the Twins have done pretty well: they won the season series against both Toronto (4 games to 3) and Tampa Bay (4 games to 2). If the season ended today, the Twins would finish out of the playoffs, a game behind the Guardians in the Central Division and a game behind the Orioles for the last wild card spot. We're 5-6 against the Guardians and 4-3 against the Orioles.
Perhaps the fairest conclusion to be drawn is that the Twins, while certainly not a great team, are good enough to be competitive against other merely good ones. If they can stay in contention through the end of this month, the start of September should be fun: a road trip to Chicago (the White Sox currently trail us in the Central Division by 1.5 games) and then on to New York for the series against the Yankees. After that trip, eight of their next eleven games are against the Guardians.
Fine for fans to look ahead. I don't know if the Twins are changing hotels, but their next three games are also in Los Angeles, against the Angels. Tyler Mahle, one of three good pitchers acquired before the trading deadline, will be on the mound for game 1 tomorrow. We've lost three games in a row, not for the first time this season, but we've yet to lose four in a row. If the first half of September is to be interesting, better start winning the next game.
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