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Twins not going away despite circumstances

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Jon Paul Morosi

Jon Paul Morosi is a national MLB writer for FOXSports.com. He previously covered baseball for the Detroit Free Press and Seattle Post-Intelligencer. He began his journalism career at the Bay City Times in his native Michigan. Follow him on Twitter.

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Updated Sep 22, 2009 11:04 AM ET
     
 
Most races across the majors are decided or close to it. For many teams, this September has all the drama of a rainy, lopsided jayvee football game. But the games still mean something in the Midwest. The Tigers have led the American League Central, exclusively and continuously, since mid-May. That's longer than the Yankees, longer than the Angels, longer than the Cardinals, longer than the Phillies. But Detroit's startling inability to defeat the likes of Kansas City and Toronto has reopened the bidding for the majors' eighth postseason invite. And the Minnesota Twins are mounting a charge. Again. So there was optimism in the voice of Bill Smith, the Minnesota general manager, during a telephone interview Monday night. He was in Chicago, watching his team play the third-place White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field. "The one thing you know about us," he said, "is that this team is not going to quit." We've noticed. Smith's team won in a rout, 7-0. The deficit is down to 2 1/2 games. America, meet your underdog. As recently as 10 days ago, the Twins were 70-72. They were 5 1/2 games back. Their former American League Most Valuable Player, first baseman Justin Morneau, had just played what will stand as his final game of 2009. He's out for the year with a stress fracture in his back. Joe Crede is finished, too. But the Twins aren't. No five-game winning streak until August. No six-game winning streak until last weekend. A mediocre season, really. Yet, they're still here. They have Joe Mauer, who should win the MVP; Joe Nathan, one of the very best closers in baseball; and some rookies (left-hander Brian Duensing, right-hander Jeff Manship, catcher Jose Morales) who have done quite well in their first look at the league. Morales, a switch hitter, is hitting .358 and has recently assumed a greater role in the lineup. Morneau had another 30-homer, 100-RBI season before the pain became too much. Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel have driven in a lot of runs, and their contributions have become more vital without the big guy. And that's enough to be certifiably In The Race on the morning of Sept. 22.
Smith is proud of that. He should be. He's happy to talk about the manager who started the tradition (Tom Kelly) and the one who perpetuates it (Ron Gardenhire) and the players who have made it work despite the injuries. "Our guys have stepped up, and that's been rewarding," Smith said. "But we've got a long way to go. We can't get too far ahead of ourselves." The Twins have played better baseball lately than the Tigers. The question is whether they have enough days left on the calendar. And they have only one more chance (in a three-game, season-ending series against Kansas City) to take advantage of the Metrodome and all its synthetic trappings. Minnesota has 12 games remaining in all, including two more in Chicago. The Tigers are set to open a three-game series in Cleveland on Tuesday night. The race will probably be decided next week, when the Twins visit Detroit for a four-game series. And just to be clear, the White Sox are out of it. Manager Ozzie Guillen effectively admitted as much in his postgame news conference on Monday, after his team lost for the fifth time in six games. Earlier Monday, I asked White Sox GM Kenny Williams if he had been encouraged by Jake Peavy's Chicago debut (and win) over the weekend. His response: "I'm not encouraged about anything right now." Later, he added: "I'm probably the grumpiest person in Chicago, I apologize." You get the idea. Meanwhile, the Twins are playing just like Gardenhire scripted it on those back fields in Fort Myers. They've surrendered more than four runs only once in the past 10 days. Nick Blackburn, who entered Monday's game with a 6.90 ERA in the second half, rediscovered his best fastball and threw seven shutout innings (no walks) against Chicago. But the most important Twin during the past week has been Cuddyer, who moved to first base from his customary station in right field when Morneau exited the lineup for good. He homered in a big win over the Tigers on Friday. Then he homered in a big win over the Tigers on Saturday. He was named AL Player of the Week for his efforts. One veteran scout who knows Cuddyer well said he "might be the best makeup guy in the world." Smith didn't dispute that. "He's a tremendous player," the GM said. "Just as importantly — and sometimes more importantly — he's a tremendous human being. He's a great teammate. He's a great representative of the Minnesota Twins. He makes everybody in the organization better. "He's made some good plays in the field during the past week. He was drafted as a shortstop. He's played some first base, third base and even some second base in the past. The big thing is we want to get his bat in the lineup. He worries about the team first and himself second. He's come through big time." The only ominous sign for Minnesota on Monday night was that Denard Span, the center fielder and catalyst, was drilled in the helmet by a Randy Williams pitch. He left the game immediately, but it didn't appear that he was seriously injured. Hopefully, he's back in the lineup soon. The last, best race in baseball needs him.

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