Are Twins ready to take step to postseason?

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Considering they could be approaching their fifth playoff appearance in seven years, the Minnesota Twins are a little light on pennant race experience as they enter a month that will test their endurance physically and mentally.The Twins open their September schedule Tuesday night in Toronto, tied with the White Sox in the AL Central and three games behind the Red Sox in the wild-card standings.For Nick Blackburn, Brian Buscher, Brendan Harris, Kevin Slowey, Denard Span and Delmon Young, this is their first major league pennant race.Others have been part of one before, albeit in lesser roles.The Mets used Carlos Gomez sparingly during their collapse last September.Glen Perkins, Alexi Casilla and Jason Kubel were with the Twins when they went 18-11 in September 2006. But Perkins was a reliever, not a starter. Casilla was a reserve infielder, not the starting second baseman. And Kubel barely played because of knee injuries.Francisco Liriano is new at this, too, as an elbow injury derailed his magical 2006 season in early August.Span, Randy Ruiz and Matt Tolbert are among the rookies who never have played a big league game in September."A lot of these guys have gone home in September (after their minor league seasons)," hitting coach Joe Vavra said. "But the pennant race brings a renewed energy to the clubhouse. In '06, we had some guys who weren't used to it, but they kept up the pace pretty good."This year, Vavra's hitters had a difficult April (3.78 runs per game) before averaging 5.36 runs during May, June and July."I really expected us to go down (in August) because of stress and fatigue," Vavra said.But the Twins averaged 5.59 runs per game in August and went 17-12.Perhaps the drop-off could still come as the stress and fatigue build.And then there's the pitching staff. None of the current starters had pitched a full major league season before 2008.Perkins and Blackburn, both rookies, have pitched more innings this year than in any previous professional season. Blackburn has pitched 163 innings. His previous career high, set last year, was 160.Perkins has pitched 165 innings, including 33 for Class AAA Rochester. This, after missing 3 1/2 months last year because of a left shoulder injury."I feel good," said Perkins who faces Toronto tonight and is 10-1 in his past 13 starts. "I know at any point, you can go through a tired arm or a dead arm, but it feels like May to me."Slowey and Scott Baker each spent close to a month on the disabled list early this season, which had the side benefit of saving wear and tear for September.Liriano is in uncharted waters after missing all of 2007 recovering from elbow surgery. He is 4-0 with a 1.23 ERA in his past six starts and showing no signs of slowing, but counting his time in the minors, he has racked up 170 innings this year.Recognizing the danger signs ahead, Twins pitching coach Rick Anderson had all the starters curtail running, throwing and weightlifting between starts last month. They were each throwing two bullpen sessions between starts, but now they do one.Endurance aside, can these young pitchers -- Baker, who turns 27 on Sept. 19, is the oldest -- continue showing the poise of wily veterans as the stakes build?"Definitely," Perkins said. "The meaning (of each game) maybe will change, but as far as how we pitch, nothing changes. We still want to get the ball to the bullpen with the lead."Baker is the only current starter who was part of the September 2006 rotation, and he didn't even make the playoff roster. Boof Bonser was 4-1 with a 2.63 ERA that September. Now he's in the bullpen.The turnover has been dramatic since the Twins went 71-33 that year to overtake Detroit for the division title on the final day of the season.Of course, MVP Justin Morneau is back along with batting champion Joe Mauer and Joe Nathan, who had eight saves and a 0.73 ERA in September 2006.But gone are Torii Hunter, who hit 10 home runs and 29 RBI that month, and Johan Santana, who went 3-1 with a 1.78 ERA, and so many others.Mike Redmond and Adam Everett are the only current Twins with World Series experience, and Eddie Guardado is back with the team he helped reach the American League Championship Series in 2002.Michael Cuddyer, who batted .305 with 19 RBI in September 2006, is out with a broken foot."We were so locked in as a team in '06, we felt like we were going to win every game," Morneau said. "It's pretty close to that right now. But that team was something special."If this team continues its unexpected climb, it will be remembered fondly, too.Of the 25 games remaining, none loom larger than the final three against the White Sox -- Sept. 23-25 at the Metrodome."We know what's in front of us," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "Everybody points toward the three games with Chicago, but there's a lot of baseball between now and then."And a lot more to be learned along the way.(Contact Joe Christensen at jchristensen@startribune.com.)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)