Late Review of September and October

With the excitement late in the season, my computer being broken, and the work I had to do, this is way late. But it's here now.

September
Record: 16-11
Best record at any point (games above .500): 82-74
Worst record at any point (games below .500): 70-72
Days in first (and biggest lead): 0 (2.0 GB)
Days in last (and furthest out of first): 0 (7.0 GB)
Longest win streak: 6 games
Longest losing streak: 3 games
Runs scored/runs against: 126/104
Most runs scored/most runs allowed: 11/12
Shutouts/times shut out: 3/0
Extra inning games: 1
Longest game: 10 innings


Hitter of the month: Michael Cuddyer (103 AB, 13 R, 8 HR, 24 RBI, 4 BB:18 K, 1 SB, .282/.321/.563)
After Justin Morneau went down with his injury, with the Twins 7 games behind the Tigers, all seemed lost. It was largely thanks to Cuddyer that the Twins were able to make up the seemingly insurmountable deficit. Not only did he fill the need at first base, he hit the best he had the entire year, and did it in the clutch too. He came up with 8 games with over .100 WPA after Morneau went down, including the huge go-ahead home run against the Royals with two games left in the regular season.

Bizarro World hitter of the month: Justin Morneau (39 AB, 2 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 5 BB:8 K, 0 SB, .077/.178/.179)
I hate to pick on Morneau when he was battling through an injured back, but it just wasn't even close. Morneau had only 3 hits in 39 at bats, and every other player with more than 45 at bats had at least a .744 OPS. In order to catch Detroit, everyone had to play well; meaning that it was the one who wasn't playing then who gets this award. At least he got his 30th home run and 100th RBI before he went down for the season.

Pitcher of the month: Jesse Crain (3-0, 13.1 IP, 5 H, 6 BB, 7 K, 0.00/0.83)
Crain was demoted earlier this year, but he came back strong in September to play a role in Minnesota's comeback. Though he had a very weak K:BB ratio, he limited baserunners, didn't allow a single run, and contributed a positive WPA in 12 of the 15 games he pitched. The 3 games in October didn't go as well, since he allowed runs in 2 of those appearances, including a go-ahead run in the 10th inning of the play-in game. But that wasn't September, so it doesn't count.

Bizarro World pitcher of the month: Jeff Manship (0-1, 19.1 IP, 22 H, 11 BB, 14 K, 6.05/1.71)
Manship was booted out of the starting rotation briefly in September, and for good reason. He lasted 5 innings just once in 4 starts, and allowed at least 3 runs in 3 of those starts. All in all, it wasn't a horrible showing from a rookie making his first starts in the big leagues, but most everyone else picked up their game in the Twins' push for the postseason, leaving Manship as the recipient of this award.


October
Record: 5-0
Best record at any point (games above .500): 87-76
Worst record at any point (games below .500): 82-76
Days in first (and biggest lead): 3 (1.0 GB)
Days in last (and furthest out of first): 0 (2.0 GB)
Longest win streak: 5 games
Longest losing streak: 0 games
Runs scored/runs against: 42/23
Most runs scored/most runs allowed: 13/7
Shutouts/times shut out: 0/0
Extra inning games: 1
Longest game: 12 innings