Baseball | Mauer and rag-tag Twins making Tigers sweat in race for AL Central crown

Two weeks ago, the Minnesota Twins held a 69-69 record. They sat 6.5 games behind the Detroit Tigers in the American League Central division and were written off as a pretender in the ultra-competitive Junior Circuit.
    Then Ron Gardenhire's team lost its star first-baseman, Justin Morneau, owner of 30 home runs and a robust .878 OPS, to a season-ending back injury. The Twins' top-10 offense seemed all but certain to regress back the middle of the pack in the absence of its second-most potent hitter.
    Or so you'd think.
    Instead, the Twins went on a 7-1 roll after losing Morneau, including a series win against the Tigers that has helped propel them to within 2.5 games of the AL Central lead.
    Credit Michael Cuddyer, who has taken over at first base, for supplanting Morneau's production by delivering four home runs and 13 RBIs during those eight games. But this has been a theme for the Twins all season long; players have continuously stepped up when their teammates have gone down. And the players who have come up big have typically been ones whom fans outside of the Twin Cities have never heard of.
    Take a look, for instance, at the five members of Minnesota's current starting rotation. Scott Baker, Nick Blackburn, Brian Duensing, Jeff Manship and Carl Pavano — yes, that Carl Pavano.
    Francisco Liriano? Nope, he's been demoted to mop-up duty after performing erratically for most of the season. Kevin Slowey? No, he's recovering from surgery on his right wrist. Johan Santana? Oh wait, he was traded to the New York Mets two winters ago.
    There have been only two constants for the Twins this season. The first is closer Joe Nathan, who continues to be an elite ninth-inning stopper, arguably the most underrated in baseball. Nathan has allowed a paltry 39 hits in 61 innings of work this year, walking 20 and whiffing a phenomenal 81. He has slammed the door on more than half of Minnesota's victories this season, converting 42 saves in 47 chances.
    The other is catcher Joe Mauer, who has been the best position player in baseball this season not named Albert Pujols — or perhaps even including the National League MVP favorite. The 26-year-old leads the league in batting average at .373, is atop the AL standings in on-base percentage at .442 and soars above his competition in slugging percentage at .608.
    A left-handed hitter, Mauer has been more effective against righties than southpaws, but even against lefties he owns an .896 OPS. His worst month came in July when he posted a .309/.377/.468 line that incredibly ranked as a disappointment for the former No. 1 overall pick.
    Born and raised in St. Paul, Mauer grew up in the Twins' backyard and was living the dream when he was selected by his hometown squad in the 2001 draft, offering him the rare opportunity to continue playing baseball in front of the fans with whom he grew up. Perhaps it's fitting, then, that Mauer is now the leader of a team that is more reliant on homegrown talent than any other in the league.
    Though other Twins players, like outfielders Denard Span and Jason Kubel, are hitting around the .300 mark and have carried their weight, there is no doubt that Mauer is the most important player on his team. No matter what the standings-influenced voters ultimately decide, Joe Mauer — not New York's Derek Jeter or Mark Teixeira, not Boston's Kevin Youkilis, not Detroit's Miguel Cabrera, not Anaheim's Kendry Morales, not Tampa Bay's Ben Zobrist — is the American League's Most Valuable Player.
    Mauer's had his eyes on the prize all season. No, not the MVP hardware or the league batting title — his ultimate reward would be the Twins' first playoff berth since 2006.