4 keys to 'keeping vibes high,' sparking another Twins turnaround

CLEVELAND -- It’s been a rough few days for the Twins, who came out of the All-Star break with good feelings but have now lost four in a row. A 5-2 defeat to the Guardians at Progressive Park on Tuesday was the latest, and the closest, as a team that briefly touched .500 is now slipping further from the playoff places.

The good news -- yes, there is some -- is that the Twins have been here before. Less than six weeks ago, they’d lost 10 out of 13 and had fallen to eight games under .500. They were seven games out in the American League Central and 4 1/2 in the Wild Card, and they surged back into contention. No one in the clubhouse is conceding anything.

“I still think vibes are really high in the clubhouse,” designated hitter Josh Bell said. “Obviously, the last four games haven’t gone the way that we’ve wanted them to, but we’re still in the hunt. We still have a lot of unfinished business out there. It’s still really early. Just keeping vibes high, rinse, repeat, come back tomorrow ready to play.”

Still, they all know that time is getting short. Minnesota has 11 games before the Aug. 3 Trade Deadline to convince the front office and ownership to add to the roster rather than subtract. Here are four keys to righting the ship, starting Wednesday evening at Progressive Field.

Get an early lead
The Twins have trailed after three innings in each of the four losses, and they have been outscored by a combined 21-4 in those innings. They’ve had one lead at any point during the stretch. Ryan Jeffers hit a solo homer in the first inning on Tuesday, but Minnesota didn’t add on and trailed, 2-1, by the end of the third.

A big inning at any point would obviously help, but a big early inning? That would be like a gift from above.

“That’s the name of the game,” Bell said. “That’s when we’re at our best, is getting to the starters. It seems like they’ve had the edge the last few games. But all it takes is one inning, one big inning. We’ve got guys in our lineup, top to bottom, that can leave the yard at any time, can put a double in the gap and can also take walks and move the line forward. We like our shots, and hopefully, it starts back in our direction tomorrow.”

Starters do their thing
Bailey Ober, who starts Wednesday, was the last Twin to turn in a quality start, in the first game after the break. Taj Bradley and Joe Ryan struggled uncharacteristically, and Zebby Matthews had his third consecutive game allowing at least four runs. Minnesota tried something of a piggyback game with Kendry Rojas and Mike Paredes on Tuesday, and that didn’t really work, either.

With Ober and Bradley pitching the final two games of this road trip, it begins with the starters. If they give quality innings and keep the team in the game, everything gets much easier.

“For three of the days, we didn’t pitch very well,” said manager Derek Shelton, who quickly added, “tonight, we didn’t pitch very well. We did not put people away, and that’s what we have to do to win games.”

Clean it up
This is not a top-level defensive team, but its current iteration, with Ryan Kreidler and Kody Clemens up the middle of the infield, is capable of being effective. But the Twins haven’t done the little things well enough lately, including almost putting down two tags for what would have been critical outs on Tuesday.

They need to finish off hitters when they get two strikes, turn batted balls into outs, and capitalize on chances with runners on.

Don’t panic
It’s worth saying again: They’ve been here before. More than once. The Twins were in a funk in early May and played their way out of it. They did it again in mid-June. Repeatedly this season, they’ve made it look silly to have written them off. They need to draw on that knowledge, and play with urgency but not anxiousness.

“We've lost four in a row,” Jeffers said. “We're not in a do-or-die situation right now, but we also are not naive to the fact these next two weeks are important for trying to send a message to the front office about the group we have. We're going to keep having each other's back in there and keep fighting for each other.”