Detroit’s magic number is two, so the Twins can’t possibly survive the weekend, can they? The Twins would have to sweep the Royals (including Zack Greinke on Saturday) and hope the Tigers lost at least two of three to the White Sox, just to force a one-game tiebreaker.

Or, hope the Tigers get swept at home (where they are 50-28), while taking two of three from Kansas City.

But it’s worth recalling 2006. The Twins and Tigers were both headed to the playoffs (one with the wild card), but they were tied atop the AL Central entering the final weekend. The wild card winner was headed to New York to play the Yankees, and the division winner would host Oakland, so those last three days were important.* And what happened?

Friday: Twins lose to White Sox, but Tigers lose to Royals. Still tied.
Saturday: Twins lose to White Sox (geez!) … but Tigers lose to Royals. Still tied.
Sunday: Twins defeat White Sox, Joe Mauer wins first batting title … and with Twins players watching with their fans on the Jumbotrons at the Dome, the Royals come back to sweep the Tigers. Twins win the AL Central.

(* The Tigers won the season series over the Twins that year 11-8, so Detroit would have been crowned division champ if they finished with the same records.)

Note: Head to La Velle’s blog this afternoon for tonight’s starting lineups.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 2nd, 2009 at 11:48 am and is filed under Twins thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.