Trevor Larnach slugged a grand slam while Max Kepler, Eddy Julien and Matt Wallner all homered in the Twins’ 14-6 win over the Colorado Rockies on Saturday night.
The victory moves the Twins to 87-74 entering the final day of the regular season on Sunday, when they will also find out if they’ll face the Astros or Blue Jays in the playoffs. Minnesota went 4-2 against the Astros during the regular season while they split six games with the Blue Jays.
Twins vs. Houston if…
- Texas, Houston, Blue Jays all win
- Texas and Toronto win, Houston loses
- Texas and Houston lose, Toronto wins
- Texas wins, Houston and Toronto lose
- Texas, Houston, Toronto all lose
Twins vs. Toronto if…
- Texas loses, Houston and Toronto win
- Texas and Houston win, Toronto loses
- Texas and Toronto lose, Houston wins
The Twins cannot face the Rangers due to tiebreakers that would put the Astros or Blue Jays in the third Wild Card spot.
Sunday will be all about scoreboard watching.
- Toronto vs. Tampa Bay, 2:07 p.m. CT
- Houston at Arizona, 2:10 p.m. CT
- Texas at Seattle, 2:10 p.m. CT
Minnesota clinched the AL Central more than a week ago and they’re simply waiting to find out which team they’ll host in the best-of-three Wild Card series beginning Tuesday at Target Field. The Mariners lost to Texas on Sunday and with the loss they were eliminated from contention.
The Rangers, Astros and Blue Jays all clinched playoff spots Saturday.
It’s now just a matter of who wins the AL West and which teams wind up as the second and third Wild Card teams. Minnesota will face the third Wild Card team. The West champion gets a first-round bye. The second Wild card seed will travel to Tampa to face the Rays in a best-of-three series.
Entering play Sunday, the Rangers (90-71) lead the AL West by 1 game over Houston (89-72). Houston can win the West with a win over Arizona and a Texas loss to the Mariners.
The Twins wrap up the regular season at Colorado, with the first pitch set for 2:10 p.m. CT.
