First pitch: Minnesota Twins tie first-inning mark, eye comeback record

The Minnesota Twins might have broken a record Tuesday if they weren't playing in a National League park. But getting eight hits in a row to start their game at San Francisco -- merely tying a record -- isn't the history they're aiming for.

Remember those 1978 Yankees -- they of the Bucky Dent home run at Fenway Park? They were 14 games behind Boston in July before winning the AL East. Or the Bobby Thomson Giants of 1951 --13 behind the Dodgers in August.

Not that anyone reading this has first-hand memories, but the record for a deficit made up by a postseason team is 15 games, by the 1914 Boston Braves -- the "Miracle Braves" who won the NL pennant by a remarkable 10 games. (For those who might recall the 2009 Rockies being further out of first place, it's true, but they only won the wild-card, a race in which they were never as many as 10 games back.)

See where we're headed here? See where these Twins could be headed?

Minnesota was 16 1/2 games behind first-place Cleveland -- on June 2. They're 6 1/2 back this morning. They've won eight in a row after Tuesday's 9-2 win at San Francisco when Giants starter Madison Bumgarner couldn't get an out until he struck out Twins pitcher Carl Pavano.

"It was pretty pathetic," Bumgarner said of his one-out outing.

Those top eight in the order all had hits and scored in the inning, the first time that's happened since the 1990 Yankees against Baltimore.

The Twins becoming the first team to make up such a large division deficit is looking less and less far-fetched for a team that was 20 games under .500 less than three weeks ago. They're 15-2 since, including 8-1 against division opponents.

They're still seven games under .500 and in fourth place, but this is a team coming off back-to-back division titles and beginning to look a lot more like those recent winners.

Catcher and former MVP Joe Mauer had two hits Tuesday, his first multi-hit game since April 7 and only his fourth game of any kind since April 12 because of leg weakness that he couldn't shake coming off December knee surgery.

More help could be emerging from the disabled list soon:

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