KANSAS CITY, MO. -- The Twins (21-37) have moved four games closer to the first-place Indians (33-24) over the past four days, and they'll have a chance to narrow the gap some more Monday, when they open a three-game series in Cleveland.
"We have to win inside our division, and we're a long ways under .500, so we have to do a lot of winning and a lot of catching up," Manager Ron Gardenhire said after Sunday's 6-0 victory over the Royals. "The only thing we can do is go game-by-game."
The Twins sat 16 1/2 games behind Cleveland on Thursday morning but swept a four-game series from the Royals, while the Rangers were taking four from the Indians. So the Twins are 12 1/2 back with a chance to pull within 9 1/2 by Wednesday.
"We're going to go there and try to do the same things, just try to get on base and play small ball," said Alexi Casilla, who went 8-for-15 against the Royals. "If we get a chance to steal, we're going to steal. And we have the power bats in the lineup, too -- Cuddy, Valencia, Morneau. We're going to try to do the same thing that we did here [in Kansas City]."
Scott Baker (2-4, 3.86 ERA) pitches for the Twins on Monday, opposite Indians righthander Josh Tomlin (7-2, 3.27 ERA). La Velle has our coverage from Cleveland, so check his blog for updates.
