DETROIT _ It was the final weeks of August, and a baseball team was struggling. The lineup featured All-Stars, and the team had a playoff pedigree, and still, it did not matter. For close to five months, they lingered around .500, treading water and teasing their fans with moments of hope.
The losses mounted. So did the injuries. The natives grew restless. As the calendar pushed toward September, the fans in a Midwestern city prepared for an October without playoff baseball. If this sounds like the 2016 Kansas City Royals, you would be not be mistaken. But in this case, the story is about the 2009 Minnesota Twins, the last team to make the playoffs with a sub .500 record after 120 games _ and now the model for what the defending World Series champions are trying to do.
This is a story with precedent _ but barely. This is a trip to the Roulette wheel at midnight. In 2009, the Twins sat at 58-62 after 120 games, 5 { games back in the American League Central. Six weeks later, they were crowned American League Central champions, finishing 87-76 and taking down the Detroit Tigers in a one-game playoff. Seven years later, the Royals believe they are capable of something similar.
"It's not easy, obviously," said reliever Wade Davis, who is still confined to the disabled list. "I think you probably need some help along the way. But you got to do a lot of the work yourself. It'll be hard, but for sure, we can."
The parallels between the 2016 Royals and 2009 Twins are hardly perfect. For one, the Twins were dealing with a much more manageable challenge in the American League Central. But for now, the Royals are doing their part. On a Tuesday night at Comerica Park, they took down the Tigers 5-1, improving to 10-5 in the month of August and 4-1 on a six-game road trip. Left-hander Danny Duffy tossed another gem, lowering his ERA to 2.73 and burnishing his credentials as a bona-fide ace. The offense popped four homers, including three solo shots against Detroit starter Justin Verlander. The Royals (59-60) climbed within one game of .500 as they prepared to play their 120th game of the season on Wednesday.
There is nothing particularly magical about the 120-game mark, of course. But there is this fact: In the last 10 years, 88 major-league teams have made the playoffs. Just two were at or below .500 after 120 games.
The Royals are trying to become the third.
"All you need is a little window," Davis said. "You don't need much to motivate to push, you know. Obviously, if you get into the last week and you're seven games back, that'll be tough. But as long as you're within some kind of striking distance and you play those teams enough, which we happen to, I think that gives us an opportunity to stay motivated and keep playing."
