Ok, I was gonna title this "Will the Twins intentionally blow the division?" but that just sounded wrong.

"The Minnesota Twins pounded the Kansas City Royals 8-1 to clinch at least the American League wild card on Monday, assuring a fourth playoff appearance in five seasons and, if they so choose, a chance to win the AL Central. That's a choice they should decline".

An interesting perspective worth reading . The author doesn't suggest they will tank it, but does suggest they would be better off if they go to N.Y. as the wild card team.

Biting into the Big Apple - MLB - Yahoo! Sports

Ernie harwell said on the radio today that it's better for the Tigers to face the Yankees now. The team playing well will win. The team playing poorly will lose. Better to get the bad guys out of the way.

As an aside, t's been so long for Tigs fans that people may not know this but the Tigers have a 2 game lead on the Twins.

1 game in the standings, and 1 game for head to head. The only time there is a one game playoff is for a Wildcard spot. Division titles are decided on head to head records, which the Tigers hold over the Twinkies.

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Actually, the Twins might have an easier next six games: KC and unmotivated Chicago team, that has been eliminated from the playoffs. I hope the ChiSox bring it, like professionals.

Some talk show analysts on Yahoo said that the A's and Yankees would much rather face the Tigers than the Twins because the Twins are playing better over the last couple months and all but two of the Tigers have no playoff experience to speak of.

Tigers up 2-1 top of the 4th.

Tigers up 4-1 with the 7th inning coming up.

Twins down 2-1 in the 4th.

I was at the game tonight. It was my first time at Comerica. Good seats, really nice stadium, but the game was kind of boring.

No home runs and almost all of the runs for both teams came on errors or miscues.

Its too bad Halladay was out, I'd have loved to have seem him pitch. Glaus and Johnson both sat out as well, except for 1 pinch hit each. (by the way, I'm a Jays fan)

The Tigers have some good, young arms. They could be a contender for years to come.

Ok, the magic number is 4.

So given the info you shared, with both teams having 5 games remaining, I figure the Twins lose one.

So if the Tigers go 3-2 and the Twins lose one game, we reach our magic number (3 Tiger wins plus 1 Twin loss =4). We win the division because there is no tie breaker.

I think it's possible we can hold them off.

Yep. The Twins have to win 1 more game than the Tigers to win the division.

__________________
To all of my friends, comrades and companions at PF.com

Thank you for another great season!

The Twinks just won't die. I think Beckett sealed the deal for us when he beat Santana last week. We have a chance for best record (cough). Let's play everybody at the "Co".
Is Polanco back for good?

Twins lose tonight and Tigers lose too.

This is not so bad.
Magic number is now reduced to only 3