Twins bullpen has gone from a liability to a strength over the season

There's nothing more comforting to a baseball team than knowing a seventh inning lead is going to hold up.

And there's nothing more dispiriting than to have a win slip through your fingers because of a leaky bullpen.

The Twins, bearing down on the AL Central title, are about to find out if their bullpen will hold up in the heat of October baseball.

"One of the things someone told me when I took this job is, 'What will drive you crazy sometimes is bullpen construction,'?" Twins Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey said. "In terms of how you do it year over year and injuries and dealing with some guys going up and down ... it's a challenging part of our game."

Bullpens can be volatile. What worked one year can be a disaster the next. Sometimes it can swing from month to month. In the Twins' case, their bullpen has congealed from the hot mess it was into a unit that just might be capable of holding up in the postseason.

Overall, Twins relievers have a 4.22 ERA, which entering Monday ranked 10th best in the majors. The trouble months were April (4.63 ERA) and July (4.78). Since the end of July, Twins relievers have stepped up their game, posting an 3.88 ERA. In August, their 3.68 ERA was the fourth-best in MLB.

Before giving up a home run Saturday in a loss to Kansas City, Taylor Rogers had given up only one earned run over his previous 12 appearances. Now the primary closer, the lefthander has 28 saves, ranking 12th in the majors.

Since Aug. 1, Trevor May has a 1.50 ERA with 32 strikeouts in 24 innings while holding opponents to a .123 batting average.

Tyler Duffey has topped both of them with a 22?-inning scoreless string, the longest current streak in baseball. He has 38 strikeouts during the run and has not walked a batter over his past 11? innings.

Even Zack Littell, called up five times this season, has an 0.53 ERA over his past 14 games.

"These guys have been, just frankly, they've been dominant," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "And they've been really good for a long time now. I have no issue saying that. I would anticipate it to continue. Patting people on the back, I don't believe in jinxing anyone. Failing to call it what it is I think would be wrong. They've been excellent."