Twins in free fall heading into the final week of the regular season

Twins

Twins in free fall heading into the final week of the regular season The Twins have lost 21 of their past 32 games and are on the outside of the American League wild-card race.

The Minnesota Star Tribune September 24, 2024 at 1:41AMRoyce Lewis is one of many Twins players experiencing a power loss over the past five weeks. (Carlos Gonzalez/The Minnesota Star Tribune) The Twins are proof of that. Actually, double proof.

Minnesota opened this season in a horrendous slump that made it seem as though they hadn't attended spring training. They lost 13 of their first 20 games, batted .195 as a team with an embarrassing .609 OPS, and averaged only 3.3 runs per game.

As if building bookends to their season, their starting lineup has almost matched that output in its past 20 games: a .219 average, .621 OPS and a mere 3.4 runs per game.

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What you need to know about the Twins and the MLB playoffs "It wasn't easy to go through [in April], but we came out of it. We went on a [12-game] winning streak and showed our true selves," catcher Ryan Jeffers said last week. "The talent is still there, obviously."

Yes, but this lull has been almost team-wide, this predicament one of their own making.

Carlos Santana is at .217 for the month, and went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position on last week's road trip. Jeffers himself is at .154 this month, Brooks Lee only .143.

about the writer Phil MillerPhil Miller has covered the Twins for the Star Tribune since 2013. Previously, he covered the University of Minnesota football team, and from 2007-09, he covered the Twins for the Pioneer Press.

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