Kansas City Royals at Minnesota Twins

MINNEAPOLIS – For months now, it’s been a mission statement bordering on a mantra for Twins uniformed personnel: Play well enough to put pressure on the team’s front office when the Trade Deadline gets here. It appears they have done just that, and Tuesday’s come-from-behind 3-2 win over the Royals just cemented it. The win got the Twins back to .500 at 54-54 and kept them just a half-game out in the battle for the third American League Wild Card. They’re two games back of the White Sox in the AL Central, and indisputably a contender for a postseason berth. Prior to Tuesday’s rousing win, general manager Jeremy Zoll said in the clearest terms yet that Minnesota views itself as a buyer as Monday’s Deadline approaches. What exactly that looks like remains to be seen, but it is not a matter of needing to win some number of additional games by the end of the week. Zoll, team chairman Tom Pohlad and the team’s baseball operations staff are looking to strengthen the 2026 Twins for a postseason push. “If we go back to Spring Training, we spent a lot of time talking about \[how\