Twins own unreal record when leading in the 9th inning

Most teams hang on to win when leading in the ninth, but none are as close to a sure thing as the Twins.

Apr 25, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Twins pitcher Griffin Jax (22) and catcher Ryan / Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports

When the Minnesota Twins get to the ninth inning with the lead, they almost never lose.

Since the start of the 2023 season, the Twins are 86-1 when leading entering the ninth inning, according to Inside Edge. It's pretty normal for teams to win at a very high clip when leading in the final inning, but Minnesota's .989 winning percentage in such situations is well above the MLB average of .947.

What was the lone loss?

You have to go back to Aug. 30, 2023 when the Twins led the Guardians 2-1 entering the ninth inning. Sonny Gray has delivered seven shutout innings and left with a 2-0 lead. Griffin Jax gave up a run in the eighth and then Jhoan Duran blew the save in the ninth and the Guardians wound up beating the Twins 5-2 in 10 innings.

It certainly helps when you have one of the best bullpens in the game and the Twins bullpen's earned-run average of 3.07 ranks sixth in the majors in 2024. Twins relievers are also striking out 11.2 batters per nine innings, which is second in the majors and trailing only the Mets (11.48 K/9).

The Twins have won 13 of 14 games to go from 7-13 to 20-14, just 2.5 games behind Cleveland (23-12) for first place in the AL Central.