When last we left you on As The Standings Turn, the Minnesota Twins had the worst record in baseball and bore a greater resemblance to the Bad News Bears than the defending American League Central champions. However, their recent stretch of winning nine of their last eleven games, coupled with a bit of a tailspin by the Cleveland Indians, has helped their cause somewhat.
On June 1, the Twins trailed the Indians by 16.5 games in the AL Central standings. Today, those standings look like this:
Yes, the Twins have cut their deficit in the division nearly in half in the past 12 days, as they now stand only nine games out of first place. It doesn't sound terribly impressive on the surface, but it beats the heck out of being 16.5 games back, that's for sure.
Also, the Twins no longer have the worst record in Major League Baseball. No, as it stands right now, they simply have the worst record in the American League. Looking over at the Senior Circuit, both the Chicago Cubs (25-39, .394 winning percentage) and the Houston Astros (24-42, .364 winning percentage) are worse than Minnesota. So the Twins have that going for them. . .which is nice.
Now, it's unrealistic to think that the Twins can win nine out of every 11 games for the rest of the regular season. . .but with the American League Central not appearing to have any one dominant team, the Twins just might be able to make it all the way back and make themselves a major player in the AL Central race in the latter part of the season.