Enemy Intel Report

After a week where the Twins took 4-of-6 from the White Sox and Tigers, and briefly moved into a tie for the wild card lead, things don't let up. Here's the report for the next week:

Minnesota Twins
3 games vs. Texas (Mon-Wed)
4 games @ Kansas City (Thu-Sun)

Detroit Tigers
4 games @ Tampa Bay (Mon-Thu)
3 games vs. Cleveland (Fri-Sun)

Chicago White Sox
3 games @ Kansas City (Mon-Wed)
Off Day (Thu)
3 games @ Toronto (Fri-Sun)

New York Yankees
Off Day (Mon)
3 games vs. Toronto (Tue-Thu)
3 games @ Baltimore (Fri-Sun)

So the Twins have to play the newly Carlos Lee-enhanced Rangers for three games before going to Kansas City for four. While the Kansas City series should be very manageable for the Twins (especially if, as expected, the Royals make some more trades and get rid of some veterans), they didn't play well in KC before the break. They need to take three games in that series and win two against Texas.

Hopefully the Sox will continue to struggle, and those games against the Blue Jays aren't going to be easy for them. Four games for the Tigers against the Devil Rays are also problematic, but with the Twins trailing by 9.5 games, a Wild Card berth is far more likely. Maybe Joe Maddon and the go-go Rays will find a way to halt the Tigers; perhaps the breakdown in today's 8th inning will be a turning point in the Tigers season.