26-year old lefty swinging catcher Joe Mauer has won the American League MVP Award. He played in 138 games this season and he was 191 for 523 (.365 avg, 1.031 OPS) with 94 runs scored, 28 homers, 96 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Mauer has now played in 699 games in his major league career and he is 844 for 2,852 (.327 avg, .891 OPS) with 419 runs scored, 72 homers, 397 RBIs and 34 stolen bases. Mauer is nowhere near his prime yet and if his power continues to improve he might win more awards like this one.

The Twins have five players hitting over .360 in this series. Joe Mauer and Nick Punto are each hitting .500 in this series. Mauer is 4 for 8 with a double and a run scored and Nick Punto is 3 for 6 with 1 RBI. Next up is Michael Cuddyer who is 4 for 10 (.400 avg) with 1 RBI. Brendan Harris has swung a hot stick too for the Twins as he is 3 for 8 (.375 avg) with a triple, 1 run scored and 1 RBI. Finally, Denard Span has been a pest for the Yankees at the top of the lineup as he is 4 for 11 (.364 avg) with a double and a RBI. The Twins really need to keep hitting as the pitching staff has been having problems keeping up their end of the bargain.

27-year old lefty swinging DH/OF Jason Kubel had a great season for the Twins. He has played in 140 games for the Twins this season and he is 146 for 491 (.297 avg, .890 OPS) with 67 runs scored, 24 homers and 92 RBIs. Kubel did a fine job of giving Justin Morneau a lot of protection in the lineup. The Twins need him to finish strong if they are going to make the playoffs.

The Minnesota Twins played great today but they are still two games back of the Detroit Tigers after splitting a doubleheader with them.  The Twins won the first game 3-2 in extra innings, as Orlando Cabrera hit a RBI 10th inning single to put the Twins ahead.  The Twins had to rally late in the second game and had three runs in the last two innings.  It was not enough though and they fell 6-5.  The Twins are still putting the pressure on and have two games left in their series at Detroit, and both teams have five total games left in the season.  If the Twins are able to win these next two games it will take all the momentum and I think they will win the division.

The Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox tonight 8-6 and the Detroit Tigers crushed the Cleveland Indians 11-3, keeping the Twins 2.5 back of Detroit.  Brian Duensing got the win for the Twins, going 5.2 innings giving up three ER’s on nine hits.  The Twins are keeping their excellent play up and are really putting a lot of pressure on the Detroit Tigers.  With the Twins playing so well lately I think they are going to take three of four games in their series starting against the Tigers on Monday in Detroit.  The Twins are going to pull it out and win the AL central.