The Minnesota Twins did something that only one other MLB team has done this season, and that is sweep the Atlanta Braves. Minnesota controlled the series against the first place Braves and handed them three straight losses which hasn’t been done since June 24th when the Padres swept Atlanta. That alone stamps this series as maybe the best of the year for the Twins, however, on a separate level, this may have also been the most important three-game stretch of the year for Minnesota. They may have just saved their entire 2026 campaign.
Coming into the series against Atlanta, the Twins were coming off a three game sweep the other direction against Philadelphia. It all started in the Field of Dreams game when Minnesota got embarrassed on the national stage. A 7-1 loss was more of a nightmare than a dream. The Twins would drop the following two weekend games after the day off, and dropped momentarily all the way back to fourth place in the AL Central. It felt like the series with Atlanta turned from important to crucial very quickly.
Going into game one of the Braves series, the Twins knew they had to stop the skid. If they were to drop another series, or even get swept, their chances of fighting for the division would be all but dried up. With only a few weeks left of baseball to play, trying to climb out of a 7 or 8 game hole would be virtually impossible. Not completely out of the realm of possibility, but it would be more likely to happen in a Hollywood cinema rather than in the AL Central itself.
After sweeping Atlanta, the Twins were able to jump back into second place in the division. They now sit four games behind Chicago as the Twins head west to take on the Padres and A’s over the next two series. However, the really important baseball comes in September. After their western road-trip, the Twins will come back home with five, yes five, straight AL Central series. They will host the first place White Sox, followed by a visit from the third place Detroit Tigers. After that, they will play both teams again in the span of six games, this time on the road before coming home to take on Cleveland. That stretch of games is what will likley decide the division.
They often say about golf tournaments that it can’t be won in the first or second round, however, it can be lost on those days. That is the same scenario the Twins faced against Atlanta. They couldn’t win the division in those three battles, but they certainly could have lost it. Which is why the Twins sweep of the Atlanta Braves might have been the biggest three games this team will play all season.
Comments