When you’re on an aspirational path, reaching for the stars, or stepping outside of that comfort zone, common wisdom says you’ve got to celebrate the small wins.
Starting a business? Frame your first earned dollar. Writing a book? Take your early readers out for drinks when you finish a draft. Doing 75 hard? Buy yourself a new hoodie at the halfway mark.
Trying to win a weak division? Beat the stuffing out of America’s team on its 250th birthday.
I don’t know how many times the broadcasters said it over the course of the past weekend, but permit me one final indulgence before the white-knuckle intensity of three games with the Cleveland Guardians settles on Target Field this week:
For the first time since 2014, the Minnesota Twins have won a regular season series at Yankee Stadium.
Let’s take a quick victory lap.
SMALL WINS ARE STILL A WIN
We will address the broader implications of these past three games later, but as a cross-section of the season, the Twins looked great at Yankee Stadium.
Even Friday night’s 5-2 loss was a good road loss as Minnesota tagged the recalled-to-life Gerrit Cole for two runs in his five short innings. New York put Mike Paredes’ mistakes into the right field bleachers, but Kody Clemens kept his string of production going into Saturday, adding two more 1st-inning home runs.
The Twins scored 14 more runs in the following 17 innings, raising their AL-high run total to 448, 20 runs more than second-place Chicago White Sox. They’re now tied for first in hits (762), fourth in home runs (117), and sit a mere game-and-a-half out of a Wild Card Spot.
Joe Ryan rebounded gloriously with what may have been his best performance of the year on Sunday. He had 7 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 9 K, and his fastball was unbelievable. Meanwhile, Minnesota checked off yet another item on their decades-long to-do list.
For fans in Twins Territory, these wins are a bit of a reason to celebrate. Since their first October meeting in 2003, the Yankees have won 16 of 18 playoff games against the Twins. Still to this date: They haven’t lost a postseason game to Minnesota since Johan Santana’s scoreless seven innings on October 5, 2004.
These 13 consecutive playoff losses to New York form the core of Minnesota’s now-deceased playoff losing streak, a source of shame that made its way into the conversation any time a Twins team reached the playoffs. After the bubble burst against the Toronto Blue Jays in 2023, and after the recent playoff successes from the Timberwolves and Wild, the conversation has shifted away from Minnesota’s first-round futility and back to where it belongs: the state’s major-sports championship drought.
(Do we forget the dynastic Lynx and world-class Frost have combined for six league championships between them in the last 15 years?)
In his book Thomas Hauser on Sports: Remembering the Journey, Hauser refers to Yankee Stadium as the most storied shrine in contemporary history, a monolith of the 20th century which echoes the imposition of classic temples, churches, and mosques.
The 2026 Twins, projected to miss their chance at the postseason with around 75 wins, went into this shrine on America’s 250th birthday, tallied 22 runs, and ended a 12-year drought. What fun!
Okay. Victory lap over; time to get serious.
NOT MY GRANDFATHER’S YANKEES
A more balanced view of this series suggests it actually isn’t that big a deal. The three games with Cleveland ahead of the All-Star break will tell us far more about the Twins’ current strengths, weaknesses, and playoff potential.
If you reject analogies from the 17th chapter of the First Book of Samuel, the 42-45 Twins went into a second-place team’s home grounds and took two of three in a somewhat lopsided fashion. It was fun; they hit a lot of home runs; it moved them closer to .500.
But beating the New York Yankees, regardless of October subtext, is no different from beating any other non-divisional team. By definition, they’re the Seattle Mariners, the Texas Rangers, the Baltimore Orioles: every win matters, but winning in one’s division matters far more.
The only thing going against the Twins in this series was the fact that it was the second half of a week-long road trip. Rotten odds aside, everything favored Minnesota going into Friday:
- A quick glimpse of the injury report ruled out competition from Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Max Fried, and Carlos Rodón.
- A study of the Yankees’ rotation suggested that the Twins’ bats would not have to solve AL Cy Young favorite Cam Schlittler.
- Friday’s (July 3) standings showed a Yankees team in a midsummer rut, losers of seven straight.
If the Twins were looking to finish up the road trip by plucking some low-hanging fruit, playing the Yankees might have been the sweetest option.
Minnesota’s bats and Joe Ryan delivered, but as a litmus test only. The real test comes now that they’ve built a lineup that can score lots of runs, and regularly beat struggling teams regardless of venue.
But can they win the division? I still say yes.
LET’S TRY THIS AGAIN
July haunts. This time round, Twins management and ownership have the chance to make (partial) amends for their mistakes last year.
It’s not too early to re-project the road to one of those sweet October Reign hoodies for Minnesota. It goes through one of two cities: Cleveland and south Chicago. In both cases, the July adjustments must focus on reinforcing the pitching.
The White Sox are in the conversation with the Twins for the best offense in the AL, trailing them in a few key categories (runs, OBP, slugging) and ahead of them in a few others (walks and home runs). The Guardians are nowhere close at the plate, hanging in the bottom 5 in nearly every category save doubles and walks.
We come to it again, as we have for the past three months: The Twins need definition and help on the mound.
This is where the front office can show commitment, both to an attempt to earn October games and for a robust return (whenever that may be) in 2027. Byron Buxton has made it clear he’s not interested in leaving. Another All-Star selection cements Joe Ryan, at least in the eyes of the league, as a true ace.
The Twins need another starter, a high-leverage lefty, and a proper 8th-inning fireman or closer — almost exactly what the Twins traded away last July.
How that can, and should, come together requires more research and an examination of Minnesota’s remaining schedule. They’ll have to beat the Guardians and the White Sox, certainly, but more: They’ll need to pick up wins where those two rivals aren’t. The Twins will need to collect more series wins like the two they’ve just completed against the two teams most responsible for their frequent playoff exits.
A strong bullpen is out there; if they find it, Twins’ management can win July in more ways than one. There’s no reason they can’t be that team–a 2007 Colorado Rockies, a 2011 Tampa Bay Rays, a 2023 Arizona Diamondbacks. Minnesota has the bats; they just need the arms.
So yes, celebrate this series in New York, rejoice in ending a fairly insignificant 12-year interval. But let it speak, too; let it frame a larger portrait of competition. Let it be an assurance that movement toward the true goal isn’t as improbable as it seems.
