Valant effort, but Twinkies choke when it matters most

I knew it was a long-shot. Only two weeks ago, the Twins were counted out of the AL Central race. The Tigers had a comfortable 5 game lead, and were poised to win the division with only 85-87 wins. No team in the division was playing particularly well, and it seemed the Tigers would do just enough to punch their ticket to the playoffs. But out of nowhere the Twins made it interesting, despite their mundane pennant chase with the Tigers and White Sox throughout most of the season. Added to the fact that Justin Morneau had to shut it down due to a fracture, this Twins team was showing some heart down the stretch without their 2006 AL MVP. Joe Mauer seemingly would have to solely carry this Twins team the rest of the way with his .370 batting average, but Michael Cuddyer filling in for Morneau at first base hit .370 himself. Couple that with 6 hr, 19 rbi, and only 7 strikeouts over the 13 games after Morneau went down, and suddenly the Twins were alive and only 2 games back going into the 4-game Tigers series. They needed to win 3 of 4 from the Tigers to pull even. But I guess it wasn't to be, as the Tigers woke up and took Games 2 and 3 after the Twins won Game 1 to sit just 1 game back. Even if they do split the series 2-2 on Thursday after losing 2 of the first 3, they would need significant help from the White Sox, who play 3 games to close out the season against the Tigers. The Twins who face the Royals for the last 3 games might certainly have to win all 3 games.

Word to the wise, never count Minnesota out. They have done so much this decade with little resources and star players leaving for bigger contracts (ie. Tori Hunter). They seem to get the most out of their ballplayers and it definitely showed in late September this year.