What the heck is going on with the - well, this can go one of two ways.

We could, I guess, start with the Twins, and the shock would have an absurdly negative connotation. But instead let’s start with the Lynx, who are no less shocking, but in a good way.

A few weeks ago, we pointed to the Lynx’s current six-game stretch - Vegas, Washington, at New York, two at Connecticut, home against New York - as a potential back-breaking stretch. Coming into it, Minnesota was 1-8 on the year against teams with winning records, and all four teams had winning records. And when the Lynx lost to Vegas to start things off, giving up 98 points in the process, it seemed like the past was going to predict the future.

Minnesota did pull off a win in the second game, outgunning Washington 97-92 behind a double-double from Napheesa Collier and 21 points from Diamond Miller, but Collier - the team’s best player and sole All-Star - turned her ankle late in the fourth quarter. And so Lynx fans braced for the weekend, expecting disaster.

What the heck is going on with the Lynx? They went out east and beat both New York and Connecticut, without Collier, in two of the most surprising results of the WNBA season.

Kayla McBride, who’s sort of been the third fiddle in the Lynx offense this year, was the one to pick up the slack, leading the team in scoring in both games - and doing it in a hugely efficient manner, shooting 11-for-14 against New York and 7-for-10 against Connecticut, scoring 26 and 19 in the two games. Miller had a career-high 22 against New York, too, and the Lynx got a bunch of contributions down their lineup. Dorka Juhász had a double-double against the Liberty and made the key defensive play against the Sun. Lindsey Allen had 16 points in the New York game. Aerial Powers came out of nowhere and had 14 points off the bench against the Sun.

Unbelievably, Minnesota is back to .500 on the year, at 13-13. They’re ahead of Washington in the standings. They’re only a game and a half behind Dallas for the fourth seed, somehow. They’re the second-worst defensive team in the league and fifth-worst on offense, but they win a lot of close ones.

Are they the basketball Vikings? Maybe they are! Maybe it doesn’t matter! Barring a total collapse, they’ve cemented themselves into that second tier of the WNBA. We’re going to have to start wondering whether they can get home-court advantage in the playoffs, not whether they can maneuver themselves into the draft lottery.

What can you say about the Minnesota Twins that hasn’t been said about the Hindenburg? Getting swept by the Royals should mean that they get fined by the league, or forfeit some draft picks.

This whole season has been a wild see-saw, and every time you count the Twins out they come back somehow and are resilient, but as the trade deadline approaches… this is starting to feel a lot like 2022, with a total collapse for the entirety of August and September. And if that happens, you do have to think that there are big changes coming - in the manager’s office, in the front office, everywhere. It’s not fun to see!

Just one note, on someone we’ve talked about a lot: Matt Wallner has hit four home runs in five games, and gotten zero other hits; he’s struck out 12 times in his last 24 plate appearances. He’s gone native. He’s lost. He’s more Bomba Squad than man now.

A quick note on Minnesota United FC, whose Thursday loss to Chicago I covered for the Pioneer Press. Despite losing that game to the Fire, it still means they’re guaranteed to finish in the top two of the three-team Leagues Cup group, solely due to the fact that they beat Puebla by more goals than Chicago beat them. This helps show why three-team groups are dumb - are you watching, FIFA? - but it’s good for the Loons, who have at least one more Leagues Cup game coming.

What Minnesota doesn’t know who is who they’re playing in that Leagues Cup game, or where it will be, or when. More will be clear after Chicago plays Puebla tonight. The three possibilities are that the Loons could travel to Columbus (meh), play Columbus at home (better), or play Club América at home (!!!).

Even though they’d be favored to get crushed by Club América, it’s hard not to root for that game. The Mexico City giants are, arguably, the biggest club in North America (note: I said arguably, there are lots of arguments here, I’m willing to hear them, now is not the time to hash them out), and hosting them at Allianz Field would be one of the biggest games in United history. It’d be an amazing atmosphere. It’d be a great memory for fans. You can tell what I’m pulling for here.

TODAY’S SLATE

Nothing! Hope you’ve got something better planned for Monday!

ON DECK

TWINS at St. Louis, Tuesday
LYNX at Connecticut, Tuesday
SAINTS at Columbus, Tuesday
LOONS in the Leagues Cup, who the heck knows