The Minnesota Twins were not supposed to be in this position. Back in March, one MLB.com preseason projection had them finishing last in the American League Central, and by June 9 that kind of pessimism looked justified. Minnesota was 30-38, had dropped five of six, and sat a season-worst eight games under .500.
Two months later, the Twins are 63-65 and holding the American League’s final Wild Card spot. That climb has been built on a few stubborn, memorable wins that say a lot about how this team has hung around.
One of the clearest came in the Bronx, where Minnesota finally knocked down a wall that had stood for years. Joe Ryan worked seven scoreless innings, gave up three hits and struck out nine in a 6-1 win over the Yankees. The Twins got that done even after Byron Buxton left in the first inning with an aggravated right hip.
That victory carried extra weight because it ended a long drought at Yankee Stadium. It was Minnesota’s first series win in the Bronx since 2014 and its first series win over New York anywhere since 2023. The bigger burden has been even harder to ignore: the Yankees knocked the Twins out of the playoffs six times from 2003 to 2019, going 16-2 against them in those series.
New York has been a brutal matchup for Minnesota for a long time, but the Twins left the Bronx with two wins in three games and a little more belief in what this season could still become.
The most dramatic example of that fight came against Kansas City. Royals starter Noah Cameron took a no-hitter into the seventh, and Minnesota was staring at the bottom of the ninth down 3-0 with only one hit. It looked like the kind of night where fans start drifting toward the parking lot.
Instead, Ryan Jeffers was hit by a pitch, Royce Lewis singled and Josh Bell walked. Then Kody Clemens changed everything with a 407-foot walk-off grand slam that gave Minnesota a 4-3 win. It was the first time in MLB history a team broke up a no-hitter in the seventh inning or later and still won on a walk-off grand slam.
That victory pulled the Twins back to .500 at 55-55 and within one game of a Wild Card spot.
"Until they say the game is over and you lost, I have belief that we're going to win every game," Lewis told MLB.com afterward.
Minnesota’s sweep of Atlanta offered another reminder of how quickly the season can turn. The Twins came into that series after being swept by Philadelphia, including a finale in which they blew a five-run lead and fell out of playoff position. Atlanta arrived at Target Field looking like the kind of opponent that could send Minnesota right back into the ditch.
Instead, the Twins took all three games. The last one was the toughest.
Minnesota built a 4-1 lead, watched Atlanta erase it in the sixth, and answered right away. Clemens delivered a go-ahead RBI single in the seventh, and Brooks Lee added insurance in a 6-4 win.
That sweep moved Minnesota into sole possession of the American League’s final Wild Card spot. There are still 34 games left, and plenty of teams are waiting for the Twins to stumble, but the spot they spent months chasing is finally theirs to defend.
This team had every reason to fold. It did the opposite. Now the challenge is finishing the job and maybe sending a fan base that expected a quiet October into postseason baseball instead.
In Other News...
Twins Make A Surprising Roster Choice As Playoff Questions Grow
With playoff questions beginning to hover around the roster, the Twins made a curious-looking move by adding catcher David Bauelos from the St. Paul Saints and bringing him to the majors. The decision gives Minnesota a fourth catcher on its 26-man roster, a choice general manager Jeremy Zoll framed as a matter of flexibility as much as anything else, with the club already carrying three catchers and looking for ways to keep its options open.
The move also says something about how the Twins are balancing the present and the future. Rather than push top prospect Walker Jenkins into the mix, the organization opted to leave him in Triple-A for more development, even as the major league roster takes on a little more protection behind the plate. Bauelos may not be in line for immediate playing time, but his promotion shows Minnesota is willing to use an uncommon roster wrinkle to give itself another layer of coverage as the season enters a more uncertain stretch. [Read more 🡒]
Twins Just Sent A Message With Sweep Of First-Place Braves
Wednesdays finish at Target Field gave the Twins another reminder that this group can make noise even when it is still trying to settle in. Culpepper turned in the first three-hit game of his career, and Minnesota used his timely bat to help fuel a 6-4 win over the Braves, finishing off a three-game sweep of a first-place club. His work in the middle innings helped get rallies moving, including a go-ahead run in the fifth that shifted the tone of the afternoon.
Minnesota kept pushing from there, adding insurance in the seventh and then leaning on strong relief pitching to hold the lead in the eighth. For a Twins team looking to stack meaningful wins early, sweeping Atlanta at home carried the kind of weight that goes beyond one afternoon in the standings. It also left Culpepper's breakout performance and the way the lineup responded as the bigger takeaway, even with plenty of season still ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Twins Already Have An Early Catching Debate Worth Watching
The Twins have spent the early part of the summer getting a close look at two of their most intriguing young catchers, both of whom are already logging regular work for Low-A Fort Myers. Vahn Lackey and Carson Tinney, the clubs top two 2026 draft picks, are off to very different-looking starts, which is part of what makes the situation worth following. Lackey has brought steady plate discipline and athleticism, while Tinney has flashed the kind of raw power that tends to stand out immediately in the lower levels.
For now, the comparison is more about traits than finished products. Lackeys early line includes a .205 batting average and a strong ability to control the running game, while Tinney has paired a lower average with patience and some legitimate thump. Both are still early in their pro development, and the Twins are in the useful position of letting the two catchers build their cases side by side before anything resembling a long-term answer has to be made. [Read more 🡒]