Monday Morning Minnesota: The "I Hate Everything" Edition

Today at 09:00 AM

Eric Canha-Imagn Images

What's the definition of insanity again?

The Past Week on Twinkie Town:

The Twins had an important series against division leaders Cleveland, and then an opportunity to knock Boston out of the wild-card race. Instead, they dropped three one-run games against the Guardians, and then got laughed out of Boston in a doubleheader on Sunday. They now hold a 81-75 record, and for the first time this season, are on the outside looking in on the wild-card race. They are one game behind the Royals and the Tigers, who are tied, and importantly, holding the tiebreaker over both squads. The Mariners are not out just yet, as they are one game behind the Twins, the Red Sox still have an outside shot, as they are three games behind the Twins.
The Twins now finish the season at home, with series against the Marlins and the Orioles. As always, check out our Game Threads and Game Recaps! Also, check out our Series Previews!
John Foley investigates how Jorge Alcala fell from the high-leverage role to AAA pitcher.
There's plenty of blame to go around, and Ben Jones tries to appropriately assign it.
Zach Koenig looks back to how the 2004 Boston Red Sox finished out their regular season.

Elsewhere in Twins Territory:

John and Ben try to stay calm amidst a disappointing 2-5 week for the Twins on the next Pitch to Contact podcast (to be published). Spoiler alert: they do not stay calm.

Theo Tollefson at Zone Coverage looks at the AAA pitchers who might be appearing in a game at Target Field next season.
Aaron Gleeman at The Athletic explains how the Twins offseason led to their struggles last week ($).

In the World of Baseball:

Shohei Ohtani became the first baseball player to reach 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in one season with possibly one of the best baseball games ever recorded, going 6-for-6, with three homers, two steals, and 10 RBI.
In the final week of the season, Aaron Judge and Ohtani are in a tight race for the home run king. Judge currently has 55, while Ohtani has 53.
After the Royals dropped seven straight and with the Twins faltering this week as well, the Guardians have clinched the AL Central. They are currently two games behind the Yankees for the pennant lead, while the Astros have a nearly insurmountable five-game lead over the Mariners for the AL East lead.
The Phillies and Dodgers have yet to clinch their divisions, while the Brewers have secured the NL Central crown. The Dodgers have flipped the pennant race, holding a one-game lead over the Phillies, and a three-game lead over division rivals, the Padres. The Diamondbacks and the Mets are tied for 2nd in the NL wild-card race, with Atlanta only two games behind them.