On April 22, the Twins opened a home series against the Chicago White Sox with a 7-13 record. The defending American League Central champions were having trouble at the plate, and injuries were mounting. Even though the season was still early, things were starting to look bleak.
The season is, after all, a marathon and not a sprint. Before going to Anaheim, California, to play the Los Angeles Angels in a three-game series, they won the four-game home series against the White Sox. After that, the Twins went to Chicago to play the White Sox in three more games, and Minnesota won ten in a row this time around.
After winning the first two games of a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox, the Twins extended that win streak to 12 consecutive, which matched their second-longest win streak in franchise history.
And it was all because of a fortunate summer sausage that they were able to pull off against Chicago in the first series.
Thank you, but maybe not all of it. Let’s get back to the sausage.
The Twins’ 12-game winning run came to an end on Sunday afternoon at Target Field with a 9-2 loss to the Red Sox, but aside from the lucky sausage, manager Rocco Baldelli has been happy with the contributions made by everyone in the clubhouse.
However, the Twins’ success has been fueled by solid starts by pitchers and a good bullpen. In order to account for injuries, players have repositioned themselves throughout the field, and they have risen to the occasion. An all-around team effort has also included contributions from the entire lineup.
“The whole club contributed to this, and I think it has invigorated the group in a lot of ways,” Baldelli stated. That’s the thing you’re searching for. It’s not even half over. In the little over a month that we have been playing this season, we have seen a lot of—we have seen a couple of significant swings.
“However, the manner in which we recovered from our unsatisfactory beginning displays our character. It’s something that you and your group are truly searching for. Our clubhouse has excellent leadership; the boys never really faltered, and for a few weeks, we played some really fantastic baseball.”
After a difficult start to the season, the Twins are now five games over.500 at 19–14. They are also only 2.5 games behind the Cleveland Guardians for the division lead. More significantly, the winning streak gave the club confidence and showed what kind of baseball this team can produce even with a short season remaining. There are no limits anymore.
“We knew it wasn’t going to last forever; we knew at some point you lose some games here and there, but I think we played great,” said Carlos Correa. “We were very consistent for a long time and hopefully we can start a new one on Monday and just keep on with the approach, keep on with the same discipline, keep up with the same work and keep up with the keep up with the same mentality.”
Joe Ryan, the starter for the Twins, remarked that he finds it very enjoyable to watch the lineup gel during the current winning run. The run, according to Correa, was “special” and would boost the team’s confidence going ahead.
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Concerns have been raised about the summer sausage possibly reaching its expiration date. Baldelli had previously stated that it had not been kept chilled for a considerable amount of time.
Now that the streak has officially ended, what will happen to it?
Baldelli remarked, “It might be in the trash by now,” immediately following Sunday’s defeat. “Really, you understand where it belongs. We have a box of them somewhere, and we can always acquire another one. The guys who are flinging sausages will be prepared to go. Believe me.”
That merely validates a statement made not too long ago by Ryan Jeffers: “It’s the concept of the sausage. It’s the significance of the sausage. As the days pass, we will discover more about the sausage.”
As they’ve turned things around, the Twins have undoubtedly gained more knowledge about the squad.
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