After a weekend of interleague play punctuated by a number of sweeps, three teams that seemed to be fading fast from pennant contention a few weeks ago are enjoying lengthy winning streaks. The Minnesota Twins, who swept series from Boston and Pittsburgh last week to improve to .500, have won seven in a row. The Florida Marlins, who no one expected to go anywhere in 2006, have swept Atlanta and Toronto en route to an eight-game run. The longest winning streak belongs to the Oakland Athletics, who have won 10 straight by having their way with the Yankees, Seattle and the Dodgers. Rookies Mike Jacobs and Dan Uggla have been critical to Florida's offense this month, while rookie starters Josh Johnson, Scott Olsen and Ricky Nolasco have been pitching more like veterans. Still, the Marlins are eight games under .500 and far behind the leader in the National League East, the New York Mets. The Twins have been sparked by Brad Radke's turnaround, the one-two punch of lefties Johan Santana and Francisco Liriano and the offensive surge led by youngsters Justin Morneau, Jason Kubel and Joe Mauer. Are the Twins ready for a postseason return? Even with the emergence of key young players, the Twins look like long shots, as they are 11 games behind the front-running Tigers in the AL Central and seven AL clubs have better records. Keep in mind, though, the big second-half turnaround by Houston a year ago. The A's have been led offensively by rebounding first baseman Dan Johnson, now-sidelined DH Frank Thomas and outfielders Bobby Kielty and Jay Payton. But perhaps what gives the A's the best chance to make good on their recent surge is effective pitching by Barry Zito, Joe Blanton, Dan Haren, Brad Halsey and Esteban Loaiza. Could they really be thinking about dealing Zito? The A's currently are getting it done with little contribution from Eric Chavez and Rich Harden, which also suggests the A's may be the best bet among these three clubs to have a second half to remember. It doesn't hurt that Oakland competes in the less-than-stellar AL West. This writer says only the A's will stay in the fray. The Twins are only 3.5 games behind the A's, but they have little chance of making the playoffs by winning their division.