It can’t be super easy to be a Minnesota sports fan. Your teams are always hovering around good, but rarely great. And even when they do have a great season and make it to the playoffs—the Vikings, the Wild—getting bounced early seems like almost a natural law.
Last season, the Twins were a potential contender picked to make a lot of noise in the AL Central, but a second-half collapse left them four games out of a playoff spot. That very much included their last series of the year, in which they got swept by the Orioles in three games.