MINNEAPOLIS -- Paul Molitor isn't surprised by his team's success. Neither is Torii Hunter.
With Saturday's 6-4 win over Tampa Bay, the Minnesota Twins are five games over .500 with a 21-16 record. They've now won more series (seven) than they've lost (five) and are turning some heads following four straight losing seasons.
It hasn't always been pretty, but the Twins continue to find ways to win. Friday, it took a sacrifice fly off the bat of Brian Dozier to score the go-ahead run. Saturday was a similar story, only it was Kurt Suzuki's sac fly that put Minnesota back on top after the Twins relinquished their two-run lead.
There have been plenty of times this year where Minnesota could have responded poorly to adversity. Saturday was another such instance after blowing a lead. But like they've done many times before, the Twins bounced back in a favorable way. That resulted Saturday in a 6-4 victory, Minnesota's 14th win at home in 19 games this season.
"It's just all positive energy. When we come home, we feel good about it," Hunter said. "And also maybe the smoke that we have and the laser show that we have every time we win here."
The fog and lights Hunter alluded to fill up the Twins' clubhouse after every home win -- and there have been plenty lately. By the time the media is allowed to enter after the game, the fog from the fog machines has started to settle, the lasers have been turned off, and the dancing has stopped. But the good times for Minnesota's players continue to roll.
That energy seems to be carried over from one game to another as the Twins have shown to be a resilient bunch. The latest example Saturday came after starter Trevor May let a 3-1 lead slip away when he served up a two-run home run in the top of the seventh inning to Tampa Bay's Tim Beckham. May exited after 6 2/3 innings, the longest start of his young career, and didn't factor in the decision.
Minnesota's offense picked up May in the bottom of the inning. Suzuki's sac fly off Rays reliever Kevin Jepsen made it a 4-3 Twins lead, and Eduardo Escobar's fourth hit of the game put Minnesota up 5-3. Brian Dozier's solo homer in the eighth -- his second in as many days -- provided yet another insurance run, allowing Glen Perkins a three-run cushion to work with as he earned his 101st career save and 13th of the season.
Earlier in the game, though, Minnesota had a chance to give May more than a 3-0 lead. The Twins had runners on first and second with just one out in the fourth but didn't score. In the sixth, Suzuki led off with a walk and moved to third on Escobar's double. With nobody out, Minnesota appeared in prime position to tack on a few more runs. But Eddie Rosario, Aaron Hicks and Danny Santana all went down swinging to end the Twins' threat.
It was after that scoreless sixth inning by Minnesota that the Rays rallied to tie it. Not the least bit rattled, the Twins' offense atoned for the previous inning with two big runs in the seventh.
"It's great. I think that's kind of a huge testament to how we've been," May said of the response from Minnesota's offense. "We do that a lot to teams. It's finding a way to win and going to get them like games tonight where picking me up in that situation and coming right back out after they tie it and scoring a few, you do that 10 times a year and that completely changes your season. It's a thing that we can do, and it's fun to watch."
The Twins finished with 11 hits Saturday and are now 15-2 when the offense puts up 10 or more hits. When Minnesota's lineup scores four or more runs, the Twins are 15-4.
Those runs don't always come easily or in the most pretty of fashions. Minnesota doesn't have a ton of big power bats in its lineup. But like the Twins showed Saturday, they have confidence in themselves to score runs when they need to. Minnesota was only 3 for 13 with runners in scoring position in Saturday's win, but the chances they did convert on were crucial.
"I like the fact that we're doing it now. You hope that they remember the feeling and the confidence that they displayed in a couple of these games," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "I just think that, like any other part of the game, when you do it a few times and get good results, hopefully you've got positive thoughts next time you're in that situation."
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