Detroit media on the wild-card race: 'The Twins have the stink on them'

The Tigers were 11 games behind the Twins on Aug. 11. Since then, they own baseball's best record.

Jul 28, 2024; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Bailey Ober (17) sits in dugout in the ninth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images / Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

How fast have the Detroit Tigers crept up on the Minnesota Twins in the wild-card race?

Consider this: Entering play on Aug. 11, the Twins were 65-51 and held an 11-game lead over the Tigers, who were 55-63. Since then, the Tigers are an MLB-best 23-10 while the Twins have have gone 14-20.

The result? Detroit enters play Tuesday just 1.5 games behind the Twins. But that 1.5-game deficit is more like 2.5 because the Twins own the tiebreaker, which could be a godsend considering the Twins have lost 19 of their last 28 games.

"Once you get the stink on you, it's really hard to get it off. The Twins have the stink on them," said Evan Petzold on the "Days of Roar" podcast from the Detroit Free Press.

Detroit got hot on Aug. 11 and since then they own an MLB-best 2.57 team ERA. Tigers starters have a 3.25 ERA since Aug. 11 while the Detroit bullpen has combined for the best ERA in the majors at 2.11.

The Twins' bullpen ERA is 4.83 (ranks 24th) since Aug. 11. But Minnesota's problems didn't start on Aug. 11, they began with a loss to the Rangers on Aug. 18. Since then, the Twins' bullpen is tied for the second-worst earned-run average at 5.47 and the starting pitchers rank 22nd with a 4.55 ERA.

Getting Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa back in the lineup should help over the final 12 games, but the pitching will need to improve. Pablo Lopez and Bailey Ober have been outstanding, but the trio of rookies also in the rotation aren't giving Minnesota many innings and the result is an extremely taxed bullpen.

David Festa has gone six innings in just one of his 11 starts. Zebby Matthews hasn't gotten past five innings in any of his six starts. Simeon Woods Richardson hasn't gone six innings in eight of his past nine starts and he's failed to get through five innings in four consecutive outings.

The Twins claimed left-hander Cole Irvin off waivers from the Orioles on Monday and he's expected to pitch out of the bullpen. Right-hander Jorge Alcala was sent to Triple-A St. Paul to make room for Irvin on the roster, so Irvin will at least give the Twins another long reliever to rely on if any of the starters can't provide a quality outing.