The Twins are in the afterglow of a month of May in which they went 20-7 - just the fifth time in Twins history there was a month with that many wins - and in first place in the A.L. Central.

We've talked about their success with runners in scoring position. We've noticed what the starting rotation has done. We've seen how they have pulverized opponents during the first three innings of games.

What does it all mean? All those factors are reflected in the run differential over the last month - he difference between the runs a team has scored and has given up. In recent years, the Twins have been well into the negative. For instance, last year, the Twins finished with a minus-62 run differential. They just posted a plus-40 for May alone.

Here's a list of May run differentials, thanks to Bill Arnold of the Sports Features Group.

Rk Team RS RA Diff
1 Giants 148 108 40
2 Twins 139 104 35
3 Dodgers 115 86 29
4t Cardinals 117 94 23
4t Indians 146 123 23
6t Nationals 125 105 20
6t Rangers 158 138 20
8 Blue Jays 146 128 18
9 Pirates 119 103 16
10 Rays 105 93 12
11 Angels 112 105 7
12 Royals 105 101 4
13 D-backs 137 134 3
14 Mariners 107 108 -1
15 Braves 108 112 -4
16 Padres 120 125 -5
17 Astros 116 122 -6
18 Orioles 95 104 -9
19t Mets 95 105 -10
19t A's 112 122 -10
21t Rockies 119 130 -11
21t Tigers 106 117 -11
23 Cubs 106 120 -14
24 Yankees 119 134 -15
25 White Sox 115 132 -17
26 Brewers 122 140 -18
27 Reds 102 121 -19
28 Phillies 94 121 -27
29 Marlins 97 128 -31
30 Red Sox 82 124 -42

Some thoughts:

  • No wonder the Giants are hot right now.
  • Cleveland is starting to get its act together.
  • The Rangers might not be the disaster some people thought they would be.
  • No wonder the Blue Jays and Twins had three white-knuckle games this past weekend.
  • The Twins are catching the Red Sox and Brewers this week at their worst.

I'll open the floor to discussion....