Twins are in first and there is a one word explanation why. I would bet that the recent sweeps at Target by the Twins of Tigers, White Sox and now A's have never been matched in Twins/Senators history by simiar scores if matched at all. It does seem to be a league wide issue of overall pitching dominance but the Twins have to be at the top of the list of winning close, low scoring game after close low scoring game. The 4-3 win yesterday was an offensive outburst it seems. So the question is, how long can this keep up and will the Ws continue when offenses wake up and 2-1 becomes 6-5? Another question is, the pitching that good or is the hitting that bad? Houston coming in with identical 18-11 record so will be a good test.

37 minutes ago, Number3 said:

Twins are in first and there is a one word explanation why. I would bet that the recent sweeps at Target by the Twins of Tigers, White Sox and now A's have never been matched in Twins/Senators history by simiar scores if matched at all. It does seem to be a league wide issue of overall pitching dominance but the Twins have to be at the top of the list of winning close, low scoring game after close low scoring game. The 4-3 win yesterday was an offensive outburst it seems. So the question is, how long can this keep up and will the Ws continue when offenses wake up and 2-1 becomes 6-5? Another question is, the pitching that good or is the hitting that bad? Houston coming in with identical 18-11 record so will be a good test.

As highlighted on a couple of other threads, the Twins have turned out to have a fairly easy schedule. Houston would appear to be the toughest test for the remainder of the month. The Twins and Astros have identical records and are close in team ERA, run differential and runs allowed. The Twins currently have more injuries, but they are playing at home. It should be an interesting series. 
 

On the topic of pitching, we are approaching 20% of the season completed, certainly early, but the team has improved dramatically and it appears somewhat sustainable. They rank high in just about every key stat—runs allowed, WHIP, BB% and K%. There is never enough pitching, but the Twins have gotten good performance from almost all of the staff. I think they need to add a bullpen arm to get Pagán out of save situations and probably add a starter, too, particularly if Paddack is on the shelf for more than a couple weeks. 

The ball is dead but generates just as much spin. This will be a poor year for offense league-wide.

36 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

The ball is dead but generates just as much spin. This will be a poor year for offense league-wide.

Well, it’s dead for everyone and relative to the rest of the AL, the Twins are second is the league in runs allowed, a mammoth improvement from 2021. 

With a dead ball,  an elite defense is necessary to compete,  the other is to have contact hitters.  We appear to be improving with players that can put the ball in play.   As much as pitching has improved, having quality defense that has given the opponent extra outs has been just as important.