The Minnesota Twins lost the pivotal Game 3 against the Houston Astros on Tuesday, at Target Field.
Still, they are still alive and are two games from their first Championship Series appearance since 2002.
The Astros are even closer, and that’s the problem for Minnesota: with one more win, the Astros would advance to their seventh consecutive AL Championship Series.
The Astros are very good, and the Twins have been very bad recently when they are facing elimination in the postseason.
“The Twins have lost their last nine postseason games when facing elimination dating back to 2002. That is the second longest losing streak of its kind in MLB history, behind Cleveland’s current 11-game streak,” OptaSTATS tweeted.
The Twins have lost their last nine postseason games when facing elimination dating back to 2002.
That is the second longest losing streak of its kind in MLB history, behind Cleveland’s current 11-game streak. pic.twitter.com/fT9rm3SmrN
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) October 11, 2023
Their performance in these defining instances are probably the main reason why they hadn’t won a playoff series since 2002 before eliminating the Toronto Blue Jays in the Wild Card round a few days ago.
This is a new Twins team now, unlike the ones that disappointed postseason after postseason in the last 20 years.
We don’t know if they are going to eliminate the Astros or if they will go home, but Minnesota is competitive, deep, and talented.
On Wednesday, they will be sending Joe Ryan to the mound.
Ryan struck out 197 hitters in the regular season, and even though he had a 4.51 ERA, he is a good option to take the ball and challenge the Astros’ excellent lineup.
A Twins win on Wednesday would mean that a winner-take-all Game 5 would be played in Houston on Friday.
NEXT: Twins Tie Series Against Astros Behind Masterful Performance From Their Ace
