The Minnesota Twins come into their weekend series as one of the hottest teams in the league, winning eleven straight games in a row; the Twins haven't seen much movement up in the Central Division standings due to the Tigers, Guardians, and Royals playing great baseball as well.

The Twins, however, have climbed into one of the three wild-card spots, with a 0.5-game lead on the Texas Rangers. The Twins have done everything during this winning streak and received contributions from the whole lineup. Byron Buxton continues to hit; he was in a little 0-12 funk before hitting his 10th home run of the year against Baltimore; he even added three walks in that series as well. He now maintains a respectable slash line of .261/.312/.522.

Brooks Lee had a couple of home runs, including a well-timed home run against Baltimore on Wednesday that started a four-run 4th inning. He has come up with some clutch hits but made a few mistakes at second base, resulting in his first three errors in the field. His flexibility to play 2B, 3B, and sometimes SS will help the Twins with their rotations. Trevor Larnach has found his swing over his last seven games, batting .322 with 3 HR and 8 RBI. Trevor has struggled to find permanent playing time with the Twins in his 5th year; he has been set back by inconsistent batting and injuries. Larnach has averaged 75 games played in four seasons from 2021 to 2024. So far this year, he has played 43 out of 44 games. Larnach is finally healthy this year, and with a logjam in the outfield between the Twins and their Minor Leagues, it will be interesting to see what the Twins' plans are for Larnach. Larnach commands a team-friendly contract of $2.1 million this year; he would be eligible for arbitration after this season.

The Twins got a few surprises from their complementary players, including Kody Clemens, DaShawn Keirsey Jr., and Christian Vazquez. These three don't wow you with their high batting averages and big homerun totals, but they add another element for the Twins that most teams don't have. Clemens had two home runs in this 11-game stretch; one was to break a tie against Boston, and the other one resulted in a game-winner against Baltimore. Clemens is still battling to get his average over .200, but it has been climbing; he also plays 1B, 2B, LF, and RF, something the Twins need, especially with the recent injury news; in yesterday's game, Clemens played three different positions in one game before going back to second base for a fourth position switch. Keirsey Jr is another one who isn't hitting well but has provided some meaningful at-bats during this run. He had a game-winning hit against the Giants in extra innings and added two insurance runs with a home run against Baltimore in yesterday's game. I don't know what the future provides for Keirsey, considering the outfield depth the Twins have; Keirsey Jr also provides excellent speed for the Twins in certain situational times, but with injuries to Buxton and Bader, he could stay a little longer or bring up a hot hitting Carson McCusker, Austin Martin, or they could call up their #2 prospect Emmanuel Rodriguez if they deem he's ready. Also, a rare Christian Vazquez go-ahead three-run homer gave the Twins the 6-3 win against Baltimore. Vazquez doesn't provide much hitting for the Twins, but he does give the Twins a good veteran backup catcher. He can help Ryan Jeffers and the Twins pitchers with a solid game plan.

The pitching staff has continued to dominate this season, outside of Simeon Woods Richardson, who was optioned to Triple-A yesterday for Zebby Mathews. Mathews will start Sunday in Milwaukee.

Over these 11 games, the Twins starters have a 3.27 ERA, 55 K, 14 BB, and .902 WHIP, and they only gave up 23 ER over 63.2 innings; 8 of those runs were by SWR. Joe Ryan is in the top 20 in ERA (2.74), K's (54), and 3rd in the MLB in Whip (0.83). Pablo Lopez would also be up there, but he missed three starts due to a hamstring injury.

Chris Paddack has had the most significant turnaround. He has a 2.06 ERA over his last 39.1 innings. He gave up nine earned runs in his first season start; since then, he's given up 12 runs in 8 starts.

The bullpen has been dominant all season long as Griffin Jax has battled back after a slow start. Jax has only given up 2 ER in his last 12 appearances. His 30:8 K/BB ratio is a good formula for getting hitters out. Jorge Alcala has looked good when he throws strikes, but has battled control issues so far this season and throughout his career. He has the pitches to be effective, but you don't know what you will get. The Twins have been able to mix and match different pitchers; the combination of Danny Coulombe, Cole Sands, and Jhoan Duran has seen hitters almost unhittable. Through 54.2 innings, these three have allowed 34 H and 7 ER, with an incredible 56:17 K/BB ratio. You can also mix Justin Topa, Louie Varland, and Brock Stewart; they all are strike throwers, and Stewart has a very live fastball, topping out at 96 MPH with good movement. Duran has converted all eight saves and is one of the best closers in the game right now. The Twins' pitching staff is now in the top 10 in six major categories. 5th in ERA, 9th in Hits, 5th in ER, 7th in K, 1st in BB, and 3rd in K. The Twins, all of a sudden, have one of the best pitching staffs in the MLB while also making a change in their rotation because of Woods-Richardson's ineffectiveness. With the hitting much better as of late and the pitching as dominant as it's been, who knows how long this streak can go, 12 games? 15 games?, 20?

The Twins head to Milwaukee for rivalry weekend.

A weekend series in Milwaukee is always something a Twins fan looks for on the schedule. Going on baseball trips as a kid with my dad, we would always take the nice 4 1/2 hour drive to Milwaukee to watch the Twins play the Brewers; as we get older, we look for the weekend series for specific reasons: beer, the not having to take off numerous days of work and oh yeah, beer. American Family Field, formerly Miller Park, is a great place to watch baseball, knowing that the game will almost certainly be played, as they have a retractable roof, and people who don't like flying can jump in their car and take a nice weekend vacation.

The Twins will put out their top two starters, Joe Ryan and Pablo Lopez, on Friday and Saturday, and making his 2025 debut will be Zebby Mathews, who will pitch on Sunday. He was inserted after the Twins demoted the struggling Simeon Woods-Richardson to Triple-A. Mathews has been good in his seven starts at Triple-A, going 2-1 with a 1.93 ERA. Mathews can hold on to that #5 starter spot if he can throw strikes, mix in his cutter and changeup effectively, and execute his two-strike approach.  

The Brewers will send out Chad Patrick, who's making his ninth start of the year. Patrick is 2-3 with a 3.19 ERA. Patrick isn't a big strikeout pitcher, but he has minimized the big innings.

The 17-year veteran Jose Quintana was supposed to start Saturday's game but was put on the IL Wednesday with a right shoulder impingement. Quintana is the seventh Milwaukee starter on the shelf, prompting the team to acquire Quinn Priester from the Red Sox. Tobias Myers was recalled from Triple-A and will likely get this start.

The Brewers will start RHP Freddy Peralta. Peralta has always been a good pitcher and is also off to a fast start this year. He is 4-3 with a 2.66 ERA on the year. He pitched a six-inning, two-hit shutout against the Twins at Target Field last year. The Brewers are 21-23 in the National League Central and trail the Chicago Cubs by four games for first place.

The Twins will look to win their 12th game in a row and try to make it five straight series wins in Milwaukee starting tonight. Considering all our injuries in the Baltimore series, it will be a very different lineup card tonight. Buxton and Correa collided in the outfield when it appeared Buxton hit his head into the back of Correa's head; both of them are in the MLB concussion protocol.

Bader is still experiencing groin soreness; Bader left in the 3rd inning vs. Baltimore and didn't play in the second game of the doubleheader or yesterday's game. Ty France left the same game after fouling a pitch off his foot; he didn't play in the second game against Baltimore but was forced to come in yesterday's game when Buxton and Correa left with injuries. France was 0-2 with a strikeout. No move has been made yet, and there is no injury news as of right now.