I looked at how the Twins' pitching has improved in recent games.

 

Over the last 13 games, including 10 on the road, the Twins have a 2.97 ERA and, not coincidentally, have gone 8-5. This started with the final series before the All-Star break when the Twins won their first road series against the New York Yankees since 2001.

 

You can read the rest of Minnesota Twins Showing Improvement in Pitching at Yahoo! Sports.

 

Is this a SSS fluke or a real improvement?

I would say both. First, the twins competition has been pretty poor. They aren't the complete bottom of the pack, but bottom half of middle. Second, they guys have been pitching better, Deduno is doing his thing, Pelfrey is making improvements month after month, and Gibson will continue to get better the more starts he gets, although most likely inconsistent. Diamond is going to be either really good or really bad and sometimes that can change after the 3rd inning so he is up in the air, and one would hope that Corria can right the ship. So, I am optimistically skeptical that they can trend better the rest of the year.

2013 ERA+ 96

2012 ERA+ 85

 

There has been improvement.

 

The middle infield defense deserves much of the credit.

 

I hope the plan is to move some of the other defensive liabilities before 2014.

Well, this was obviously a jinx.