MLB Insider: Best September drama

September can be the worst month to be a baseball fan — or it can be one long joyride.

It can be tough to follow teams that are out of contention, as fans of teams like the Twins know all too well.

We like to look at September differently. This is when you don't want to miss a pitch. One pitch could end Oakland's playoff dreams. One pitch could end Miguel Cabrera's chase after back-to-back MVP awards. One pitch could move Clayton Kershaw's ERA over 2.00.

It's not time to turn away from baseball. It's time to turn to it. Here are five things to watch for during the final month of the regular season:

Twins closer Glen Perkins was asked if he would pay more attention to Cabrera's chase for a second consecutive triple crown or the pennant races. "The pennant races," he said. "I just think all of it coming down, like 2008 with the Red Sox and Rays." Get ready for more Boston-Tampa Bay drama this season. Chris Archer and Alex Cobb have saved the Rays' rotation. Can they chase down the Red Sox, where David Ortiz refuses to age?

Francisco Liriano has been marvelous in his first season with the Pirates. Andrew McCutchen is an MVP candidate. Mark Melancon has been a key reliever. But can they run down the Cardinals, where Adam Wainright and Shelby Miller protect against losing streaks and the offense knows how to drive in runs? "I'd like to see how the Pirates end up," Perkins said. "They've lost longer than the Twins did when I was growing up. So there's some sympathy there."

For the second consecutive year, the A's and the Rangers are battling for the AL West title. The A's have fought off injuries and now get ageless Bartolo Colon back for the stretch run. Texas has made its annual trade for a Cubs pitcher — Ryan Dempster last year, Matt Garza this year — and hope they can get a little more out of Alex Rios down the stretch.

Detroit should have the AL Central wrapped up. All eyes will be on Miguel Cabrera, who leads the league in batting average and RBI and trails Baltimore's Chris Davis by four for the league lead in homers. It took long enough for someone to win the triple crown once. Back-to-back years is mind-blowing. The only thing that could slow Miggy is if he's benched to get healthy for the postseason.

Enough about Yasiel Puig. Dodgers lefthander Clayton Kershaw is aiming for his third consecutive ERA title, which would make him the first pitcher since Greg Maddux (1993-95) to achieve that. He's 13-8 with a 1.72 ERA. His ERA would be the lowest by a starter since Maddux's 1.63 in 1995. Kershaw, only 25, has emerged as a dominant force.

Central Intelligence

Torii Hunter has fit in well in his first season with the Tigers, but now he's starting to flash a little power.

Miguel Cabrera left Thursday's game with Oakland with an abdominal injury, and Max Scherzer was on the hook for a loss that would drop him to 19-2. But Hunter connected on a walk-off three-run homer to lift the Tigers to a 7-6 win.

Hunter has been to the ALCS before, including 2002 with the Twins, but has not reached the World Series.

"I wake up in the middle of the night and think about it," Hunter said. "I wake up in the morning — I think about it. I drive down the street — I think about it. Every phone call, I have I talk about it.

"So it's in my heart and in my soul. I ask God for that all the time, and I can see Him setting things up the right way. I believe it's going to happen."

Hunter hit .346 with seven homers and 35 RBI in the first half of this season. He's batting .270 the second half, but already has nine homers. His homer Thursday came against ex-Twins teammate Grant Balfour, the A's closer.

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The Royals stole three bases against the Twins on Thursday to give them 121 in 133 games. They entered the weekend leading the majors by four over Milwaukee and have a chance to lead the league in steals for the first time since the strike-shortened 1994 season.

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Cleveland expects righthander Josh Tomlin to join the team early this week. Tomlin was 11-7 in 2011, but he missed half of 2012 and all of this season so far after Tommy John surgery. He's posted a 1.61 ERA in 22⅓ innings in four stops in the minors
Three observations …

• Coming up with a helmet to help protect catchers from foul ball-induced concussions should be a high priority for MLB but, realistically, is there anything out there to always stop a 95-miles-per-hour fastball from doing damage when tipped back into a facemask?

• Miguel Cabrera has been intentionally walked 17 times this season — that's way too low. Why let him beat you?

• The group of Twins prospects heading to the Arizona Fall League have, collectively, the most upside of any group the Twins have sent there.

… and two predictions

• I'm still picking the Rays to win the AL East. David Price will surge and Matt Moore will return from the DL.

• Twins manager Ron Gardenhire will win his 1,000th game during the Sept. 19-22 road trip to Oakland.