Two dominant starters in Pablo López and Sonny Gray give Twins a real shot in playoffs

If the Twins maintain their current rotation through the end of the regular season, Pablo López will start Game 1 of the playoffs at Target Field on Tuesday, Oct. 3, with Sonny Gray following him in Game 2 on Oct. 4.

After a season in which López found himself following Gray.

"I have learned so much watching him throw his bullpens,'' López said Monday. "One of the coolest things is to see him throw between starts, then watch his work translate into game results. The level of focus he puts into his 'pens is like nothing I've ever seen from any other starter. He's got a plan for every single pitch. He visualizes game situations. It's so cool to see.''

On Sunday, López pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out 14, giving him the third most in the majors. On Monday night, Gray had a rougher time against Tampa Bay, the second-highest scoring team in the American League, but allowed just one earned run in four innings before his high pitch count (of 89) prompted manager Rocco Baldelli to remove him.

Gray entered the game with the fourth-best ERA in baseball and lowered it by .02, to 2.96. He also recorded his 1,500th career strikeout in the Twins' 7-4 loss. "I just wasn't very good, to be honest with you,'' Gray said.

His standards are high. The Twins haven't entered a postseason with multiple dominant starters since 1991, when Jack Morris, Kevin Tapani and Scott Erickson were carrying the rotation.

That's why this team has a better chance than many of its predecessors did of winning a playoff series — the Twins will have their two current All-Stars starting in the first two games of a best-of-three series.

Here's a list of the pitchers the Twins have sent to the mound for Game 2 of each playoff series since they began their current record 18-game postseason losing streak:

2004: Brad Radke, a quality big league pitcher who did not match up well with the New York Yankees' patient, powerful lineup.

2006: Boof Bonser would finish his career with a 5.18 ERA in four big league seasons, but he got the Game 2 start because Francisco Liriano injured his elbow late in the season.

2009: Nick Blackburn, like Bonser, pitched well in his Game 2 start, but he was another undistinguished starter forced into action by a weak rotation. He would finish his career with a 4.85 ERA in six seasons.

2010: Carl Pavano gave up four runs on 10 hits in six innings against the Yankees at Target Field.

2019: The Twins actually started Randy Dobnak in Game 2 at Yankee Stadium.

2020: José Berríos pitched in the Twins' most recent playoff game, a loss to the Houston Astros and Carlos Correa at Target Field.

Radke. Bonser. Blackburn. Pavano. Dobnak. Berríos. Since 2004, Game 2s have contributed to a third of the Twins' 18 consecutive playoff losses. While Radke and Berríos spent part of their careers as the Twins' de facto aces, Bonser, Blackburn, Pavano and Dobnak lacked the pedigree of preferred Game 2 playoff starters.

That won't be a problem this year. And, yes, with a 99% chance of making the playoffs as of Monday afternoon, the Twins will be playing host to at least two playoff games in October.

Baldelli raved about the ability of both pitchers to prepare for each start, physically and statistically.

"You can't have two more intently focused individuals than those two,'' he said. "And you don't just notice it when Pablo goes out there and strikes out, what, 14? These are very, very apparent things to everyone in our clubhouse every single day throughout the season.''

Gray is 33. López is 27. "I was coming up through the minor leagues when he was starting to become the Sonny Gray we know today,'' López said. "Being in the same locker room with him, he's one of the most competitive people I've met.''

Somehow, Gray, despite his ERA, is 7-7, proof that a pitcher's win-loss record can be as random as a nonpersonalized license plate.