Twins sweep Giants by playing 'complete baseball.' Jake Cave has four RBI

The Twins trounced the Giants handily Friday, 9-0.

They came back in the bottom of the ninth Saturday to force extra innings and ultimately win 3-2.

And Sunday, it was a back-and-forth game for half the innings, until a five-hit, five-run fifth sealed an 8-3 victory.

It's not just the series sweep that impressed Twins manager Rocco Baldelli. It was the way in which the Twins navigated it.

"This is probably one of our best series of the year. I don't know any other way to boil it down," Baldelli said. "The last three games are as good a three games as you can expect a team to play. Whether we were putting up runs or playing close ballgames, staying in the game, pitchers coming in and doing their jobs. Complete baseball."

It's a big turnaround from the six-game losing streak the Twins entered this homestand on, with clutch hitting absent and playoff hopes shrinking. But in front of 25,285 announced Target Field fans Sunday, the Twins inched back closer to the American League Central lead. At 65-61, they're two games behind Cleveland in the top spot and now a full three ahead of the White Sox in third.

Several players who have been a bit maligned for their recent performances were the ones to come through against the 61-65 Giants. Carlos Correa, the team's marquee offseason signing who hasn't quite wowed offensively, posted eight hits through the three games, driving in four runs. Max Kepler, who has struggled at the plate since returning from a broken toe earlier this month, drew three walks and smacked four hits with two runs and an RBI in the final two games of the series.

"Sometimes you get a little ahead of yourself and get too excited in certain settings," Kepler said. "There's times where I get excited, and I swing at bad pitches. I think the team can do that, too, as a whole, and not just be patient and hunt their zone and their pitch that they can do damage with.

"So yeah, it's baseball. You get hot. You start hitting the ball really well for a week straight, and one day, you'll swing at bad pitches because you're overly excited."

Jake Cave was 0-for-21 until he entered Saturday's game late after an injury. And in those 12 innings, he hit four times for five RBI. On Sunday, he blasted a two-run homer and a two-RBI double, the latter of which was part of the four-double fifth.

All these players have experienced how quickly momentum can change, for better and worse. The Twins were 1-4 on a West Coast road trip to start this month but returned to sweep the Royals, only to then start the six-game skid. But they're determined this series sweep won't be the last good feeling for the next week or so.

"We can't come off a sweep and be like, 'Oh, we're going to sweep the next series. We're going to sweep this.' We're going to win [the next game]," Cave said of the team's mentality. "That's all we're looking to do. If you keep looking past that, then you're getting away from the goal.

"… We want to win as much as possible. We want to get to the postseason."

Starter Aaron Sanchez, who has filled in for the injured Tyler Mahle, said Joe Ryan and Sonny Gray, who pitched before him against the Giants, were helpful in preparing him. Sanchez allowed six hits and two runs in his 3⅔ innings, but he said stringing together three-consecutive victories was everything the Twins needed.

"We're getting down into September. We know every win matters now at this point," Sanchez said. "Just continue to play great baseball."