There could be celebrations at Target Field Friday night if the Twins do what’s needed to clinch their place in the playoffs.
There was a chance that they could have clinched Thursday night only for AL Central rivals Cleveland and Detroit both to win. No worries, it means the Twins now have the opportunity to do it in front of their home crowd when the Los Angeles Angels visit Friday evening.
Here’s how they clinch their playoffs spot:
Scenario 1: The Twins beat the Angels.
Scenario 2: The Twins lose, but so do Cleveland (v. Orioles) and Detroit (@ A’s).
A loss and a win for either team will push the clinching date to Saturday.
The only way the Twins don’t get in the playoffs would be if they lose all their remaining games to finish 81-81 and one of the Guardians or the Tigers win all theirs, as both teams own the tiebreaker over the Twins.
When the Twins do clinch, they’re almost certainly be the No. 3 seed unless they’re able to overhaul the record of whomever wins the AL West. The Twins are currently 81-72 and the Astros are top of the West with an 85-68 record.
But the West remains incredibly tight, with both the Seattle Mariners and the Texas Rangers just a game back on Houston, with both of them also fighting it out with the Toronto Blue Jays for the two remaining Wild Card spots (Tampa Bay having clinched one of them).
As things stand, the No. 3 Twins would play the No. 6 Rangers in the Wild Card round, with the winner going on to face Houston in the ALDS. The No. 4 Rays would then face the No. 5 Blue Jays.
But that could all change between now and Oct. 1 with Seattle still looming, and it might be the case the Twins don’t know who they’ll face until the final day.
