A little over a month ago, I wrote about five different occasions that fans (and some media members, let's be honest) had declared the Twins were about to slide into irrelevance — only to have Minnesota come back each time.

The lesson I preached was that this is a resilient team and we couldn't give up on them until the last out was recorded in whatever game officially eliminated them from playoff contention.

Then I ignored my own advice and assumed after that awful West Coast trip and trade deadline selling that the Twins were — two months early — finished.

Fooled again.

These Twins are flawed in multiple areas and might not have any business being in the playoff race, but here they are. They won again Sunday — a game that felt like it was slipping away, a day after one had definitely slipped away — just to make sure we all remembered how resilient they really are.

Read Michael Rand's blog at startribune.com/randball. michael.rand@startribune.com.