The AL Central is the Twins to lose

I sure didn't see this coming on the afternoon of September 17th. On that day, the Twins lost their 3rd of 4 against the White Sox. It was a pretty awful series that left the Twins 3 back in the division AND gave Chicago the tiebreaker, so it was essentially a 4 game deficit.

But then a strange, stunning, potentially wonderful thing happened. The White Sox collapsed. They lost 2 of 3 to the Reds, and now have been swept in a 4 gamer by Cleveland, which included TWO walkoff homeruns. 

On our side the Twins rebounded to take 2 of 3 at Wrigley, and then swept 2 from the pesky Tigers.

Add it all up and heading into the final weekend of the season the Twins have a 1 game lead, and a magic number of 3. 

All the Twins have to do is get a home sweep over the lowly Reds (who to be fair are trying to hang on to one of the NL's 8 spots). The White Sox have a series against the crosstown Cubs, who are in the playoffs but still haven't secured their own division.

So it seems pretty likely that the Sox lose at least once this weekend. And the Twins have Berrios and Pineda the  next 2 nights, backed by a lineup that has at least improved some since their Sox series flop. They are hitting homeruns again, due no doubt to the robe.

The Twins have to be heavy favorites to take this thing. 

This wouldn't be quite as remarkable as the 2009 title, when they trailed Detroit by 3 with 4 to go. But I really had written them off here. The inevitable matchup with the Yankees seemed so certain that I barely even paid attention to the Twins last weekend. The only thing worth watching anymore was to see if we would get home field for the latest sweep.

But now we are one weekend away from a world of possibilities opening up for the Twins. The Twins haven't played a.playoff game against anyone but New York since 2006. They can't beat the Yankees. Ever. 

But a division title means we get to play someone else. Houston. Cleveland. Toronto. Heck, we can beat THOSE teams. And I don't just mean A game. I mean a series.

The Twins become legitimate World Series contenders if they can just get this division wrapped up. 

The lineup is producing, maybe not at 2019 levels but at least not at the pitiful levels from much of this season. Their pitching is excellent, with a genuine big 3 in the rotation, and Hill and maybe Odorizzi after that, backed by a bullpen that aside from Taylor Rogers is rock solid. 

Great things could be about to happen for a franchise that has known nothing but October pain for decades. 

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