Minnesota lost 3-1 to the White Sox Wednesday night and the Cleveland Indians beat the Tigers 2-1 in 10 innings to trim the Twins’ lead in the AL Central to four games.
Cleveland (89-63) is closer, but it’s still going to take a miracle for them to tie or pass the Twins (93-59). Both teams have 10 games remaining, and it’s still going to take a near-miracle for the Twins to lose the division.
The magic number is still 7, which is any combination of Twins wins and Indians losses. Here’s a really simple way to look at it.
If the Twins go 0-10, the Indians have to go at least 4-6 to tie, or 5-5 to win.
If the Twins go 1-9, the Indians have to go at least 5-5 to tie, or 6-4 to win.
If the Twins go 2-8, the Indians have to go at least 6-4 to tie, or 7-3 to win.
If the Twins go 3-7, the Indians have to go at least 7-3 to tie, or 8-2 to win.
If the Twins go 4-6, the Indians have to go at least 8-2 to tie, or 9-1 to win.
If the Twins go 5-5, the Indians have to go at least 9-1 to tie, or 10-0 to win.
If the Twins go 6-4, the Indians have to go 10-0 to tie. They can’t win.
If the Twins go 7-3, the Indians cannot tie nor win the division.
What’s more is that the Twins now finish the season with four games at Target Field against the Royals (Thursday-Sunday), then a six-game road trip against the Tigers and Royals to finish the next next week.
The Indians have a much tougher final 10 games, with one more against the Tigers Thursday followed by three home games against the desperate Phillies and a six-game road trip against the White Sox and Nationals.
