Twins Fever at a Mid-Season High

It has been a long time since I have been able to sit down and put my thoughts together on the Twins. I have been encouraged with their play over the last 5 weeks. The Twins are 24-11 since June 1st and have made up 10 games in the standings, (although they've only made up 4.5 games on Detroit over that span). Strangely enough, this stretch included a six-game losing streak. I'm not exactly sure what happened there. Anyway, the run to the 2011 pennant is in full swing.

The following list of things has me very excited about the final 73 games of the season:

• The starting pitching has been getting deeper into games. Pavano and Baker have now raised their season average above 6.5 innings per start. Swarzak has saved the team in the spot starts he has made. Duensing and Liriano have both thrown complete game shutouts, and although Blackburn has really struggled in his last 3 starts, the Twins still managed to win 2 of them.
• The innings logged by the starters has reduced the amount that the bullpen needs to be relied upon. My feeling on the bullpen this year can be summed up with "Less Is More." Yet, I still feel pretty good about the bullpen getting through 3 innings if needed.
• The Twins have been clutch at the plate which has led to an increase in run production. Prior to June 2, the Twins averaged 3.5 runs per game, since June 2 their runs per game average has increased to 4.5. The team has to be clutch when they don't hit it out of the park.
• Casilla, Nishioka, and Revere have been making terrific plays in the field. Although the Twins are low in the fielding rankings and still have trouble at times completing double plays, they are now making plays that they didn't make earlier in the season. Revere has outstanding range, and Casilla and Nishioka seem to be figuring out how to work together now that they have switched between shortstop and second base.

The next 11 games out of the All-Star break are against Kansas City, Detroit and Cleveland. The Twins need to continue the climb again the division and really put the pressure on the division leaders as the season stretches into August and September. Chicago and Detroit have proven in the past that they have the ability to crumble down the stretch. Cleveland has been ravaged by injuries so much in the past that they haven't been in this situation since 2007. Most people thought they would have folded by now and they haven't, so I believe they will be around until the end.

6.5 games out of the lead at the All-Star break is not too much for this team to overcome. The Twins have done it in the past and can do it again. Sometimes it has taken 163 games, but the Twins will not give up until the final out has been made.