Twins running like a charm in 2nd-half opener

DETROIT -- The Twins finished atop the American League Central in the first half of the season, but did so with a feeling that there should have been a lot more to celebrate after the first 94 games.

Stacked with talent, Minnesota surely appeared in position to capitalize on its potential and rebound from last in the division to first. There were no glaring holes in the game plan, but like any team that realizes the playoffs are not only a realistic goal but an achievable one, the Twins were left wanting at the All-Star break and ready to prove their worth.

Saturday’s 8-4 win against the Tigers at Comerica Park revealed a lot of little things done right.

“We kind of control it all,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “… We're going to get where we want to be, and we're going to have an opportunity to play for the World Series, but it comes down to us doing our jobs and doing well from here on out.

“We have a half of baseball to play. We played a good one already, and we're looking for an even better one going forward.”

Here are three ways the Twins showed on Saturday that they’re ready to take control in the second half:

Rookie rising
To say that Joe Ryan has been outstanding during his first full season might be an understatement. The righty has allowed two runs or fewer in 11 of his 15 starts, and has pitched to a 2.05 ERA in four July turns after getting a bit off-track in June.

Ryan sparkled on Saturday, too, holding Detroit to one earned run on four hits and a walk while striking out seven to boost his team-leading total to 73. The Tigers managed just two singles off of the 26-year-old before Riley Greene tripled into the right-center-field gap to open the sixth, leading to the only run Ryan allowed.

“Change felt good, slider felt good, heater felt good,” he said. “It was exciting for me, and I'm just trying to keep everything the same.”

Bullpen sound
Ryan never really got into trouble, but he was lifted in favor of Emilio Pagán with two outs in the sixth. On paper, the Twins’ relief corps is middle-of-the-pack this season, with a combined 3.90 ERA that is 15th-best in MLB. The cracks seemed to show when it hurt worst though, and the bullpen struggled mightily against division opponents in the first half, so Saturday was a good first litmus test.

Of those who got up, Pagán (1/3 IP), Tyler Duffey (1), Trevor Megill (1/3) and Jhoan Duran (1) were flawless. Jovani Moran allowed three runs in the eighth inning, but it didn’t sting so much because of Minnesota’s …

Timely hits
Despite an offense that ran hot and cold during the first half, the Twins know how to pack a wallop when they need to, with 429 runs (an average of 4.52 per game) that rank fourth in the AL.

That was the case in Detroit, when Minnesota rode a 2-0 lead into the sixth behind a sac fly from Max Kepler and Carlos Correa’s 12th home run, then delivered knockout blows in the seventh and another in the eighth, with a trio of runs in each.

The offense came from a multitude of places. Luis Arraez collected two RBIs and finished 3-for-5 for his 33rd multi-hit game of the year, just three behind MLB leader Austin Riley. Gio Urshela also had two RBIs, Correa and Alex Kirilloff each had a pair of hits and five Twins had RBIs in the victory.

Arraez’s two-RBI knock with two outs in the seventh was the turning point, as his offense has often proved to be this season. The 25-year-old’s .342 average not only leads the team by more than 60 points, it’s tops in baseball by nearly 10 points as well.

“I told you,” he said. “This is baseball. This is my season; it's just starting again for me.”

It remains to be seen if this is the Twins’ season as well, but if Game 1 of the second half is any indication, Minnesota is in fine shape.

“We’ve got a great opportunity in front of us right here,” Baldelli said. “I mean, we have everything that we need. We have everything kind of laid out in front of us and now we just have to go out there and do our part. We have to go out there and play well.”