The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#-1: Twins (Last Week: -2).  After winning the first game of their four-game series against the Bay Rays, Tampa won the final three.  The Twinks then won two-of-three against the perennially cheap Miami Marlins.  And right now they're losing at home to the Boston Red Sox in the final trip by David Ortiz, who came up through the Twins organization but was allowed to leave as a free agent because, apparently, then-Manager Tom Kelly thought the only thing he could do was hit Home Runs.  Yep, that's all he can do ... and he will be in the Hall Of Fame because of it.

Meanwhile, Byron Buxton was called up again from AAA Rochester, but this time he may stick.  He has been a lot more patient at the plate, thus raising (even incrementally) his Batting Average.  Anything that allows Buxton to see more time in the bigs, and more games where he can start at Center Field, is a good thing.  And maybe he now has enough plate discipline to stay with this club permanently.

After finally finishing a long homestand this weekend, the Twins fly out to Anaheim for a three-game series starting on Monday ... but then come right back home for seven more games, for some reason, starting with a four-game set vs. the Yankees beginning Thursday.  Minneapolis for ten games in eleven days, then three games in Orange County for three days, then back to Minneapolis seven games in eight days?  What kind of a schedule is this?

#-Infinity: Gopher baseball (Last Week: -1).  Well, it's over in the Regionals.  They fought back from an opening upset loss to Wake Forest, eliminating Binghamton and then the Demon Deacons in a rematch.  But the regional's top seed, host, and then-#1-ranked team in the nation, Texas A&M, are all of those things for a reason, and the Gophers will have to wait to advance to the program's first-ever trip to Super Regionals with an 8-2 defeat.

Takeaways?  I don't know if this squad has anything to build on.  But getting to the NCAA Tournament for the first since 2010 is something, as is winning twice before being double-eliminated.  Minnesota had historically been one of the best teams in the Big Ten Conference; maybe, just maybe, this means that the Gophers will be one of the best teams in the B1G again.