The Twins, since clinching the AL Central, have done many of the things we had hoped they would do. They are resting and/or nursing back to health the regulars they will need to contribute in the playoffs. They have stated that home field advantage throughout the AL playoffs is a nice goal, but not one for which they will over-extend. And -- thanks to Seattle defeating Texas two nights in a row -- the Twins have locked down home field advantage in the ALDS, a subject that was mostly a formality but is still nice to have out of the way. So they've done almost all of what we hoped they would do ... and yet we can't help but feel at least a little uneasy right now. Not sure if they pulled back too far on the throttle or if they're just in a (hopefully short) pitching slump right now, but these last five games have been plenty ugly.
That said: the clinch might have come at the perfect time. Whatever residual junk they were saving up was hopefully, if you're a Twins fan, purged during this five-game losing streak. They still have five more tune-ups for the postseason. Home field advantage is an unlikely proposition at this point. The focus now should be on mixing those regulars back in (which is sounds like they will be able to do, with reasonable health news coming the Twins' way) and building back whatever confidence their starters lost while getting battered this time through the rotation. Playing well tonight in Kansas City and in the final four games at Target Field against Toronto won't guarantee postseason success, just as playing poorly won't doom Minnesota to fail (remember, the 1987 Twins lost their final 5 regular-season games, while the surging 2006 Twins were swept in the first round).
So let's not get too worried ... yet. But know we'll be tempted to hit the panic button if we don't see some positive signs before Wednesday. Unless, as our friend Taco used to say, we can't find the panic button because we're too panicky.
