Both the Twins and the Giants are streaking.

They are just going in opposite directions.

Including Minnesota's 9-2 victory against San Francisco on Tuesday, the Twins have won eight in a row and 15 of their last 17 games.

It's a remarkable turnaround when you consider that the Twins were 20 games under .500 at the start of the month but are now only seven victories away from breaking even. They still trail the Indians, Tigers and White Sox in the American League Central standings, but the club's recent success is hard to ignore.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire tried to explain his club's newfound winning ways Tuesday night.

"I'd like to say it's preparation; it makes me feel better," he said. "But it's just when you get on a roll and guys are swinging a little bit better, guys have more confidence and they carry it on the field."

For their part, the Giants have lost a season-high five games in a row and now trail the first-place D-backs by a half-game in the National League West standings.

Nobody is panicking.

"That's going to happen through the course of the season with any club," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said of the losing streak. "What's important is how you deal with it, and this club's done a great job of handling adversity and the ups and downs. I don't look at it because it's happening now. It's probably going to happen again -- I hate to say it. There's going to be more that we have to deal with the right way and keep moving."

Like Minnesota, San Francisco's recent stretch of games is also eye-opening, albeit for completely different reasons. The Giants have scored nine runs in 46 innings over their past five games and have scored three runs or fewer in 13 of their past 17 contests. The club has one hit in its last 32 opportunities with runners in scoring position.

"We know we have a lot of room for improvement," Bochy said. "There's no getting around that -- offensively, baserunning, defensively, pitching -- you're always trying to get better. We certainly have a ways to go to get these bats going. We're at the bottom of the league with our offensive output, and that's got to get better if we're going to win."

The Giants' offense should expect another challenge Wednesday from Twins starter Nick Blackburn. He pitched eight shutout innings against the White Sox in his last start and has a 1.77 ERA this month in three starts.

San Francisco will counter with Ryan Vogelsong, who pitched six strong innings and struck out six in a no-decision against the D-backs in his last start.

"We're facing the World Series champions; that's always special," Gardenhire said. "It's always fun coming to San Francisco. We don't get to travel here other than when we play Oakland. But this is a different ballclub and with National League rules, so it's a little different and refreshing."