When it comes to the MLB postseason, the Minnesota Twins are synonymous, for all the wrong reasons. The Twins have three World Series titles to their credit, but they haven't won one since 1991. The Twins have made it to the postseason in recent years, but have usually seen their time end quickly, particularly to the New York Yankees.
But on Oct. 3, 2023, the Twins have finally won a playoff game.
The Twins defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 3-1 to take a 1-0 AL Wild Card Series lead. Minnesota was led by designated hitter Royce Lewis who hit two home runs in his first two at-bats of the game. Starting pitcher Pablo Lopez did his thing as well, throwing 5.2 innings, where he struck out three batters and allowed just one earned run on five hits. The bullpen closed things out, not surrendering a run, striking out five batters, and issuing one walk.
With this victory in the books, when was the last time the Twins won a postseason game?
When was the last time the Twins won a playoff game?
The last time the Twins won a playoff game was back on Oct. 5, 2004. That was Game 1 of the ALDS against the Yankees. Minnesota picked up the 2-0 victory to take a 1-0 series lead.
Minnesota scored both runs on an RBI single by Shannon Stewart and a solo home run by Jacque Jones off Yankees starting pitcher Mike Mussina.
Twins starting pitcher Johan Santana surrendered nine hits to the Yankees, but gave up zero runs and struck out five batters on 93 pitches in 7.0 innings of work.
Unfortunately for the Twins, they lost their next three games to the Yankees and were eliminated from the playoffs. Since Game 1, the team had not won their next 18 games. Here's how each postseason trip went, starting in 2004:
- 2004: Lost 1-3 to New York Yankees in ALDS
- 2006: Lost 0-3 Oakland Athletics in ALDS
- 2009: Lost 0-3 to New York Yankees in ALDS
- 2010: Lost 0-3 to New York Yankees in ALDS
- 2017: Lost to New York Yankees in one game AL Wild Card (4-8 score)
- 2019: Lost to New York Yankees in ALDS 0-3
- 2020: Lost to Houston Astros 2-0 in ALWCS.
The 18 postseason game losing streak is finally over in Minnesota. Now, they look to earn that second win to earn their first playoff series win since 2002 when they beat the Athletics in five games.
