What's actually carried Minnesota through this stretch is Royce Lewis, who built a career-long hitting streak through August and is running a 1.304 OPS for the month, and Ryan Jeffers, who hit two homers in the series opener. Detroit's lineup has had no answer for either of them, and the price on this game reflects a Twins club that looks like the healthier, hotter team walking in.
Whether that gap is as wide as the last two scorelines suggest is the real question for the finale. Minnesota won those two games 11-1 and 15-2, and blowout margins like that are notoriously hard to repeat — a team doesn't usually get outscored by 10 two nights running and then do it a third time. Anderson gave Detroit a competent-if-erratic start against a much better Dodgers lineup last time out, which at minimum suggests he won't just hand the game away.
None of that changes the bigger picture in Detroit. Hinch has been blunt about it publicly, and a club that once looked like a playoff lock has bled its rotation depth and multiple outfield starters at the same time it's lost 3 in a row. Minnesota, at 67-72, isn't playing for much beyond pride and evaluation time either, but right now it's the club playing with confidence — and that shows up on the field a lot more than it shows up in either team's record.