It’s just the 22nd time the Twins have ever had a winning streak of at least eight games.
The Twins capped off a perfect 6-0 homestand on Sunday afternoon when seldom-used outfielder DaShawn Keirsey Jr. slapped a walk-off hit up the third-base line to beat the Giants in the tenth inning.
Dating back to their weekend series in Boston, they’ve won eight games in a row, which is tied with the Cardinals (also active) and Dodgers for the longest streak in MLB so far this year.
After dropping to 7-15 three weeks ago, the Twins have turned their season around and gotten above .500 at 21-20. Their Fangraphs playoff odds, which were down below 28 percent, are back over 50 percent, not far from where they were coming into the season.
Where does this streak rank in modern franchise history? It’s just the 22nd time they Twins have won at least eight games in a row since moving to Minnesota in 1961 (we’re going to exclude their history as the Washington Senators for the purpose of this exercise).
If they can continue to extend it this week in Baltimore, it’ll reach rarer and rarer air. Here’s a look at how many times the Twins have ever reached winning streaks of various lengths, starting with the current eight games. (Note: this only includes streaks within a single season).
8-game winning streak: 22 times
This is the Twins’ longest winning streak since they ripped off 12 in a row from April to May of last year to recover from a slow start.
Before that, they hadn’t won at least eight straight since June 2011. The 2006 Twins, who won 96 games, had a record three different streaks of at least eight victories. Here’s how many times they’ve done this in each decade:
- 1960s: 6 times
- 1970s: 2 times
- 1980s: 3 times
- 1990s: 1 time
- 2000s: 6 times
- 2010s: 2 times
- 2020s: 2 times
9-game streak: 11 times
The Twins won exactly nine games in a row twice in the 1960s and then again in September 2004, when they were on their way to a third consecutive AL Central title.
Minnesota can hit that mark for just the 12th time ever on Tuesday night against the Orioles.
10-game streak: 8 times
Before last year, you have to go back to June 2008 to find the Twins’ last winning streak that reached double digits. That was one of the few Twins teams of the 2000s that didn’t win the division, thanks to a 1-0 loss against the White Sox in a Game 163 tiebreaker.
The 1985 and 1963 Twins also had streaks come to an end after exactly ten games.
11-game streak: 5 times
If the Twins can sweep the Orioles again this week, which will be quite difficult, they’d become just the sixth Minnesota team to ever win 11 in a row.
It happened in 1980, 1991, 2003, 2006, and 2024.
12-game streak: 3 times
Last year’s run tied the 1980 Twins for the second-longest winning streak in modern franchise history.
It’s probably worth noting that the 2024 Twins got seven of those 12 wins against the White Sox, who went on to lose a historic 121 games.
Another three came against the 99-loss Angels. This run, which includes wins over Boston, Baltimore, and San Francisco, will probably age more impressively than that one even if it ends on Tuesday.
13 games or more: Once
The 1991 Twins hold the franchise’s longest winning streak (excluding a 17-gamer by the 1912 Senators) at 15 games.
It started in Kansas City on the first day of June, included four straight sweeps, and was one strike away from reaching 16 when the Orioles’ Randy Milligan delivered a walk-off double off of closer Rick Aguilera. It’s one of just seven winning streaks of at least 15 games by any team since 1961.
That ’91 team, led by Kirby Puckett, Chili Davis, and some excellent pitching, went on to win the Twins’ second World Series title (and the most recent MLB/NFL/NBA/NHL championship by a Minnesota franchise).
