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[? WILLIAM WILCOXEN: ?] It was an up and down year for the Twins, actually, more like a down and up year. Expectations were high when they opened the season with most of the same players who fought their way into the American League Championship Series last year.

The frustration was keen when they floundered through the first half of this year, going into the mid-season All-Star break with more losses than wins. But since then they've turned things around, winning more games after the All-Star break than any other team. Pitcher Kyle Lohse says getting knocked onto their collective backsides and having to get up again may have been good for the Twins.

KYLE LOHSE: We've done a great job of battling. We've had some-- still in the second half, even though we had a great record, we still had some tough times there where we could have just shut it down. But I think we learned a lot about ourselves what kind of heart we have.

WILLIAM WILCOXEN: Heart is exactly what many critics said the Twins lacked during their tepid first half. Attendance at the Metrodome lagged in early summer. Manager Ron Gardenhire responded to the uninspired play of his starting shortstop by keeping Cristian Guzman on the bench for a few games.

Some sportswriters and broadcasters began expounding on why the Twins would not defend their division title. By September, though, the Twins bandwagon and their stadium were full again as they wrapped up the division title with an 11 game winning streak. Outfielder Dustin Mohr says the team seems to do better when it's not expected to win.

DUSTIN MOHR: I think early on in the season, being the favorites was something that I don't want to say. We weren't ready to handle it, but I don't think we knew how to handle it. And as the season went along and in that second half, we were underdogs because everybody thought we were just going to fade away.

WILLIAM WILCOXEN: The Twins benefited from a mid-season trade that brought outfielder Shannon Stewart to Minnesota from Toronto. But the biggest difference on the field is improved play of those who have been here all year, particularly the starting pitchers.

Last year's top pitcher, Brad Radke, went into the [? All-Star ?] break with [? 5 ?] wins and 9 losses. Since then, he's won 9 out of 10. Radke says the moral of the story is half a season is only half a season.

BRAD RADKE: We know we had a bad first half, came out second half. Didn't have any carries. Just went out and played our game and look what happened. Mohr says the key to the team's recovery was the players refusal to lose confidence.

[? DUSTIN MOHR: ?] You just have to remember what you've accomplished as a team. You never want to live in the past, but sometimes you have to look back at it. And just to show yourselves that you did do it, and you can do it.

I can't really-- there's no explanation for the funk we were in before the All-Star break. But whatever it was, those three days off with the All-Star break helped us out quite a bit, and we came out guns blazing in the second half.

WILLIAM WILCOXEN: Last year's Twins surprised the baseball world when they took over first place in May and never looked back, winning the Central Division with a 13-game lead. But Mohr thinks this year's rise from the ashes should rank as an even bigger surprise. Having to come from behind also meant this year's team played and won several crucial late season games, something that Mohr says had the Twins feeling good as they headed into New York.

DUSTIN MOHR: We'll go into New York with a lot of confidence, and they'll have a lot of confidence too, so I think it'll be a good series. I know it's documented that we haven't beat them in two years. But that kind of stuff has to go out the window, I think, in the playoffs.

WILLIAM WILCOXEN: The Twins lost all six of their games with the Yankees this year and all seven games against them last year. The Yankees finished the regular season with the American League's best record, but Gardenhire says the Twins will be ready for them.

RON GARDENHIRE: Everybody knows what New York's got, so you'll have to try to figure out how you can match up with them and how you can beat them. And that's what we'll do. We'll put up a good plan, and we'll go from there.

[? WILLIAM WILCOXEN: ?] The Twins will open the series with Johan Santana pitching. Santana finished the season with 12 wins and only 3 losses. Mike Mussina will pitch for the Yankees. Through his career, Mussina has dominated the Twins, beating them 20 times and losing only twice. I'm William [? Wilcox ?] in Minnesota Public Radio.