After increasing their lead in the AL Central Division to 6.5 games this week, the Minnesota Twins have taken command of the division and are on track to earn the No. 3 seed in the American League playoffs.
The top two seeds — likely the winners of the East and West divisions — will earn a bye into the divisional round of the postseason, while the third seed, likely the Twins, will play a best-off-three series against the third wild card team.
If the playoffs started Friday, the Twins would match up with the Blue Jays. Take one look at the standings and you’ll find the Mariners and Blue Jays occupy the second and third wild cards, while the Rangers are on the outside of the playoff picture but just a half game back. Look deeper and you’ll see the Red Sox five games back and the Yankees seven back.
Can we count out the Yankees? According to FanGraphs, the Bronx Bombers have a 0.5% chance to make the playoffs. But, we all know how this story goes, right?
The Twins, of all teams, should never discount what seems impossible because in 2009 the Twins were seven games back in the AL Central on Sept. 7 when they got hot and the Tigers melted down.
Minnesota wound up beating the Tigers in Game 163 to win the division. Heck, that Twins team was three games back with four games to play and the miracle happened.
There’s talk of such miracles in the New York tabloids today. Since Aug. 28 the Yankees have gone from 11 games out in the wild-card race to seven back. They’ve won eight of 10 while the teams they’re chasing are starting to stumble.
The Rangers are 4-15 in their last 19 ballgames. The Red Sox have lost seven of 10 and face the second-hardest remaining schedule in the majors. Toronto is playing solid ball but New York still has six games left against the Blue Jays and if things are tight entering the final weekend of the regular season, the Jays will be facing the Rays while the Yankees get the last place Royals.
Yeah, that whole Yankees-Twins playoff thing isn’t as dead as it looked just a week or two ago. If New York continues to charge, there’s a shot the Bombers could be at Target Field in October against a Twins franchise that has lost 18 consecutive playoff games, 13 of the gut-wrenching losses at the hands of the Big Bad Yankees.
The nightmare scenario is unlikely but would be very Minnesota sports. If it happens, not only will the Twins face pressure to snap a playoff losing streak that dates back to the year Facebook was launched, but they’ll have to stand up and face the team that haunts their dreams.
