Minnesota Twins

Surging Twins look to sweep White Sox (Aug 31, 2017)

Published Aug. 31, 2017 4:24 a.m. ET

MINNEAPOLIS -- On Aug. 3, the Minnesota Twins lost 4-1 to the Texas Rangers and were 51-55 overall while looking up in the American League standings at Texas and nine other teams.

The playoffs appeared a long shot and Minnesota had followed the logical path of trading left-handed starter Jaime Garcia and All-Star closer Brandon Kintzler. Twins manager Paul Molitor wanted to see his team reach .500 before getting too involved in postseason scenarios.

Molitor and his team can entertain those possibilities as they head into Thursday with a chance to sweep the Chicago White Sox. Minnesota is 18-8 since that time and owns the second wild-card spot in the American League. The Twins are just one game behind the New York Yankees for the first wild card after beating Chicago 11-1 on Wednesday.

"I think that .500's always a mark that you can't get too serious until you're at or above," Molitor said after Wednesday's win, Minnesota's third in a row. "The overall American League play has allowed .500 to be competitive this year. But at the end, that's not going to be good enough. Somewhere along the way, you've got to make some kind of run.

"Over the last 20 games-plus, whatever, we're starting to put it together where we're building over .500. That's what you've got to do if you want to keep it through September."

The Twins owned one of the AL's worst home records for much of this season, but they've won six in a row at home after taking the first two games against Chicago. Eddie Rosario homered twice on Wednesday to lead the 16-hit attack.

Rosario's surge has been just one aspect of Minnesota's streaking offense as the outfielder extended his career best with his 19th and 20th homers of the season.

"This team is hungry to (reach the) playoffs, to have a good season," Rosario said. "Everybody try to have a good year. That's the key."

Another surprising participant has been right-hander Bartolo Colon, who starts Thursday's finale against the White Sox. Colon is 4-1 with a 3.21 ERA in his last five starts. He's coming off a win against the Toronto Blue Jays in which he allowed one run in 6 2/3 innings.

"My speed is not there anymore, so it makes sense that I don't strike out as many hitters as I used to. I'd much rather get an easy out than throw three strikes," Colon told the Minneapolis Star Tribune after his zero-strikeout game. "If they come, they come. But if they don't, that's fine too."

Colon is 11-8 with a 3.81 ERA in 23 career starts against the White Sox.

Chicago will counter with right-hander Miguel Gonzalez, who is having his own comeback stretch. Gonzalez is 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA over his last four starts. He owns a 2.93 ERA in eight starts since coming off the disabled list with AC joint inflammation in his right shoulder.

"It was pretty uncomfortable," Gonzalez told MLB.com. "I don't want anyone to feel what I was feeling. Now I feel great. ... We're doing a good job."

Gonzalez is 2-2 with a 4.25 ERA in five career starts against Minnesota.

The White Sox own the fewest wins in the American League but have shown signs as they've gone to their youth movement following trades of Jose Quintana, Todd Frazier, Melky Cabrera and five relievers. Chicago had gone 7-4 in the 11 games before heading to Minnesota.

With a win on Thursday, the White Sox could post their most wins in a month (currently 11-16) since going 13-10 in April.

"It means a lot. It means a lot to our teammates," Gonzalez told MLB.com after his last outing. "We have a lot of talent here, as we all can see and we know. And it's only going to get better. Giving my team a chance to win, that's my goal every time out there."