Considering Joe Nathan missed all of last season and Justin Morneau did not play after July 7, it’s amazing that the Minnesota Twins made the playoffs.

Yet there were the Twins, winning the American League Central championship for the second consecutive season. If the Twins are going to win a third-consecutive Central crown in 2011, good health would help the cause.

Nathan is back, the Twins’ closer sidelined for all of 2010 after arm surgery. Morneau suffered a concussion and did not play in the second half of the season. He’s back as well, part of a lineup that looks solid.

The Twins added Japanese Pacific League batting champion Tsuyoshi Nishioka to the lineup, and Joe Mauer returns as one of the top players in the game. In the bullpen, Nathan joins Matt Capps, the closer acquired in a trade-deadline deal with Washington.

The Twins begin the regular season April 1 at Toronto. Following a seven-game road trip through Toronto and New York, Minnesota opens the home portion of its schedule April 8 against Oakland.

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Might four games in August be a prelude to October?

With the Minnesota Twins and the Texas Rangers on top of their respective divisions, the two teams’ meeting in a four-game series starting Monday night in Arlington indeed could provide a glimpse toward baseball’s most important month.

The Twins and Rangers square off with both teams looking to further bolster their holds on tickets to baseball’s postseason party. Minnesota rides its recent red-hot ways into the series, having won eight of its past 10 to build a five-game lead over the White Sox in the American League Central.

Meanwhile, Texas has cooled after a torrid summer, dropping six of its past 10. Still, the Rangers’ good work earlier this season has resulted in an eight-game advantage over the Angels and A’s in the AL West.

Texas just wrapped up a 2-5 road trip, but only lost one game off its cushion in the process. Minnesota comes in playing its best baseball of the season, and is a robust 17-6 against the AL West this season.

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Joe Mauer picked the right time to break his season-long homerless streak at home.

Blasting his first roundtripper at Target Field, the All-Star catcher went 4-for-5 and helped moved the Minnesota Twins to a season-high five-game lead in the AL Central on Tuesday with a 7-6 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

The Twins have won six games in a row, and improved to 9-1 in their past 10 games. The surge has given the Twins breathing room in the Central, and pushed Minnesota’s record to 70-50, 20 games over .500 (also a season high).

Down 5-3 in the middle of the fifth, the Twins took control. Mauer finished with two RBIs. Michael Cuddyer added three hits for Minnesota.

Matt Capps hung on in the ninth to earn the save.

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He left the Midsummer’s Classic as the winning pitcher. Now, Matt Capps has a chance to earn a save in a postseason game.

It was laughable to say that last week, when Capps found himself with the lowly Washington Nationals. But the right-handed closer was dealt in advance of baseball’s trade deadline from the cellar-dwelling Nats to Minnesota, a team squarely in the hunt for the AL East title.

The Twins sent Washington minor-league catcher Wilson Ramos and minor-league pitcher joe Testa.

Capps converted 26-of-30 save chances for Washington, going 3-3 with a 2.74 ERA. He earned his first save chance for the Twins on Friday, earning his 27th save of the season.

The back end of the bullpen was a big concern for the Twins coming into the season, after Joe Nathan was lost for the season due to injury. Jon Rauch did an admirable job closing the door, going 2-1 with a 3.05 ERA and 21-for-25 in saves.

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Pavano stranded the game-tying run on third base in the ninth inning, getting Carlos Quentin to ground out to end his fourth complete game of the season and give him his 11th win to just six losses.Pavano’s performance was particularly important because the Twins were largely unable to solve Chicago starter Mark Buehrle. The White Sox ace pitched a complete game of his own, allowing three runs on nine hits. Remarkably, neither starting pitcher issued a walk on the night.

Minnesota scored all three of its runs in the second inning, stringing together four consecutive hits. Neither team scored a run after the fourth inning.

Paul Konerko hit his 21st home run of the season in defeat for Chicago.

Minnesota held a 6-2 lead heading into the top of the ninth, but Ron Mahay and Jon Rauch allowed five runs to give Milwaukee an unlikely lead. But the resilient Twins got a ground-rule double in the bottom of the frame to score Justin Morneau, sending the game to extra innings. In the bottom of the 12th, Jason Kubel’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly gave them the victory.

The Twins tagged Brewers star pitcher Yovani Gallardo for four runs in the first inning, but could get no more off the All-Star. Morneau upped his league-leading batting average to .377 with a 3-for-5 day, and Joe Mauer went 4-for-7. They combined to score five of the team’s eight runs.

Jesse Crain worked a scoreless 12th inning to earn his first win of the season.

The Minnesota Twins opened Target Field in fine fashion, and followed that up with a pretty good opening month of baseball.

The Twins christened their new home with a 5-2 victory on April 12 over the Boston Red Sox. That kicked off a nine-game homestand during which Minnesota went 6-3.

Two wins in Kansas City following the homestand brought Minnesota’s record to a sparkling 13-5 through 18 games. Then came a little slide where the Twins closed April with losses in three out of five games, finishing the month at 15-8.

Still, the Twins finished April atop the AL Central standings by 1 ½ games over Detroit. The Tigers closed to within ½ game on Saturday as they won and the Twins lost in extra innings, 5-4 at Cleveland.

Following the series finale at Cleveland on Sunday, the Twins head back home to kick off a nine-game homestand Monday against Detroit.

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The Twins stranded 12 runners, including four in the last two innings with a chance to tie the game. Justin Morneau hit an RBI double in the ninth to bring them within one, but Michael Cuddyer and Jim Thome both struck out to end the game.

Morneau finished 2 for 4 with his fourth home run of the season, and knocked in two runs. But despite recording 12 hits, Minnesota couldn’t find a way to score.

Kevin Slowey struggled on the mound. He pitched 5 1/3 innings, giving up four runs on eight hits, walking three.

Jose Guillen connected for his seventh home run of the season for the Royals, and drove in two of their four runs.