Weekend Buzz: Tale of two AL Central rivals

The Weekend Buzz while you were making that one last run to the beach before school starts. ...

The Twins are 40-27 since Alexi Casilla became their regular second baseman. (Getty Images)

1. Alexi, or Alexei? Game on in the AL Central, where the only remotely common thread running between the Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox is the first name of each club's second baseman.

Alexi Casilla was welcomed back by the Twins this weekend after missing three weeks with torn thumb ligaments.

Alexei Ramirez, who singled home the game-winning run Sunday against Tampa Bay, might be the White Sox's best overall athlete.

Otherwise ... the Twins and White Sox are as similar as a county fair greased-pig catching contest and a WWE wrestling match.

And it couldn't be any more fun. The White Sox moved back into first place in the AL Central on Sunday when they beat Tampa Bay and the Twins lost to the Angels, but by the time you finish reading this sentence, it may have flipped again.

It was the eighth time the two have swapped first place this month in baseball's most compelling divisional race.

And ... opposites? Oh, my:

•  The Twins, entering Sunday, led the majors with 147 infield hits. The White Sox ranked dead-last among the 30 major league clubs with 76.
•  The Twins led the majors with 55 bunt hits. The White Sox, with nine, were tied for 23rd.
•  The White Sox led the AL with 192 homers. The Twins ranked 12th with 93.
•  The White Sox were second in the AL with a .457 slugging percentage. The Twins were ninth at .412.

The White Sox rake, the Twins poke and prod. The White Sox shoot for the moon, the Twins shoot the gaps. It's brawn vs. daring, muscle against vapor trails.

In Friday night's opener in Anaheim, Minnesota led off with outfielder Denard Span followed by Casilla, and batted shortstop Nick Punto eighth and center fielder Carlos Gomez ninth.

On nights when manager Ron Gardenhire's mix-and-match lineup includes those four, the skipper likes that the Twins have some "serious speed. We'll probably do a lot of irritating of people on the base paths if we can get them on."

Left for dead by many this spring after they traded Johan Santana and lost Torii Hunter to free agency, the Twins spent much of April and May searching for the right combination. They found it -- or, at least, much of it, on May 19, when Casilla became the regular second baseman. They're 40-27 since.