‘Just really good vibes’: Minnesota Twins ride a long winning streak for second season in a row

MILWAUKEE – Long winning streaks typically arrive out of nowhere, but the Twins are following the same script as last year.

The Twins started the 2024 season with a 7-13 record before they ripped off a 12-game winning streak, matching the second-longest winning streak in team history. This year, the Twins have rebounded from their 13-20 start with a winning streak that has reached 13 with Saturday night’s 7-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.

What stands out during this streak is there haven’t been wild celebrations inside the Twins clubhouse. Some players have been unaware of how long the streak has lasted, knowing only they have been winning for multiple weeks.

“I think the bigger story is we did this last year, let’s avoid what we did directly after this last year,” Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers said. “We lost seven in a row [shortly] after we won 12 in a row. We’re focused, obviously, on continuing to win, but we’re going to lose again. There is no hiding that. When we do lose again, making sure we continue to do what we’re doing now and just trust that this brand of baseball works.”

Twins starting pitcher Joe Ryan, who got the victory Friday night, says the 13-game winning streak doesn’t feel like a fluke. The Twins won six games against Baltimore, a struggling team that made the playoffs last year, while starting the streak with two wins in Boston and later sweeping three games against San Francisco.

The team’s pitching has been unbelievable, but the Twins expected it to be the strength of the club. Entering Saturday, Twins starters had posted a 3.11 ERA during the winning streak. The bullpen, which didn’t give up a run through the first four games of the current road trip (14⅓ innings), owned a 0.85 ERA with nine saves.

“It’s just really good vibes,” Twins reliever Brock Stewart said. “I don’t think we’re even focused on the streak or anything really. We’re just coming in and we’re playing good baseball right now.”

Said reliever Griffin Jax: “Everyone expects themselves to do well, you know. I feel like we’re just doing the job.”

The Twins, hitting .303 with runners in scoring position during the winning streak entering Saturday, have withstood several injuries with some surprise heroes. Kody Clemens, designated for assignment by Philadelphia in April, has hit two go-ahead, three-run homers during the winning streak. DaShawn Keirsey Jr., whose role on the team is speed and defense, had a walk-off hit.

Throughout the winning streak, the Twins have had several come-from-behind victories. They even started winning low-scoring games after dropping their first 17 games when they failed to score more than three runs.

“When you trust your pitching staff as much as we do,” Jeffers said, “it makes our job as offense a little bit easier.”

Twins players who were on last year’s team said it was difficult to compare the 2024 streak — when the Twins took seven games from the lowly Chicago White Sox and swept a three-game series over the last-place Los Angeles Angels — to this year because of recency bias.

Jhoan Duran, the Twins’ closer, emphasized there isn’t much talk about stats and streaks when relievers are chatting in the bullpen. They’re just enjoying hanging out together.

“It’s pretty much business as usual each day,” Stewart said. “I don’t think we’re too worried about [the stats]. If we win 20-19, it’s still a good thing, right?”

The Twins are the first team to win at least 12 games in a row in consecutive seasons since Cleveland in 2016-17.

“I appreciate it,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “It’s not something that happens too often. You can be in the game a long time and not be a part of a 12-game winning streak, and I know that. You should find a way to appreciate it. It’s fun to be on a run like this. I know all the guys, whether they take the moment to acknowledge it or not, are kind of riding it.”