Joe Mauer

The Minnesota Twins were the first MLB team to punch their postseason ticket on Tuesday night after defeating the Cleveland Indians 6-4 at Target Field.

The Twins are currently a game back of the Yankees for the best record in baseball after their division clinching victory improved them to 91-60 on the year.

Minnesota clinched their second straight AL Central title, and they will be one of the top World Series contenders when the playoff get underway in October. 

We are in the home stretch of the long, arduous MLB season. The Minnesota Twins have wrapped up the AL Central, while five others (New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, Philadelphia Phillies and Cincinnati Reds) are all pretty much guaranteed spots.

That leaves the quartet of the Atlanta Braves, San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres and Colorado Rockies jockeying for the final two postseason spots: the National League West Crown and the NL Wild Card.

With just a few weeks left in the 2010 baseball season, teams will begin to rest players down the stretch, unless their division won't be decided until the last few days.

For those that have their division well in hand, days off will help their most productive players get ready for another month of baseball.

It won't be a easy stretch and not having those players could be detrimental to any World Series chances.

Here are 10 players that need to be healthy for their teams to make a legitimate October run.

Coming into this week's series against the Chicago White Sox, it was a do-or-die situation for the Sox. They needed to take at least two from the Twins to stay afloat in the American League Central pennant race.

The Twins went ahead and stepped on the head of the White Sox. Race over.

At the All-Star break there were questions surrounding the Minnesota Twins line-up.  They didn't have an every day third basemen who could contribute offensively.  Justin Morneau had just suffered a concussion one week prior and it was unknown when he might return, if at all.

Game after game, we see a hitter's numbers versus the pitcher on the mound pop up on the television screen, and we usually dismiss it.

Of course, each batter varies from pitcher to pitcher.

Even the best have a few pitchers they simply can't hit.

For Joe Mauer, however, it seems as though anytime those stats pop up, he's hitting, at the very least, .330 against the pitcher on the mound, no matter who it is, no matter which arm they throw with, and no matter how many at-bats he has against them.

When the Twins struggled their way into the All-Star break, going 8-13 and falling to third place in the American League Central division, things were looking pretty bleak.

All-Star first baseman Justin Morneau hasn't played a game since July 8 after suffering a concussion. 

Currently infielder Nick Punto and Gold-Glove second baseman Orlando Hudson are on the disabled list.

During a year in which pitchers are being sold for remarkably low prices, the Minnesota Twins announced last night that they had traded Wilson Ramos to the Washington Nationals for closer Matt Capps. On the face of things, it seems a very high price to pay for a closer.

With inconsistency taking a death-grip over Minnesota's starting rotation this year, the Twins are rumored to have been interested in just about every pitcher on the market. Unquestionably, Dan Haren and Roy Oswalt are the two most coveted trade targets this season, and the Twins would no doubt love to bring in some pitching help.

Rumors are one thing; feasibility is a whole different animal.

The Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Indians just concluded a three game series at Target Field.

Some big issues were being made over the smallest of plays—the bunt.

It started in the first game of the series when Cleveland left fielder, Trevor Crowe, was at the plate. With two outs and nobody on base he had the audacity to bunt for hit.

Television color commentator Bert Blyleven and dugout reporter Roy Smalley both questioned Crowe's tactic.