BH67

April 27, 1980 at the Forum in Montreal. The four-time defending Stanley Cup champions, with their elite goalie retired and their stars aging, face Game 7 in the quarterfinals against some upstarts in green and gold trying to overcome years of mediocrity and inferiority. It's happened before.

It is said that luck is where preparation meets opportunity. These Twins are surely prepared -- but they are surely good, too.

Two weeks ago I wrote that these Twins have emerged in September as a perfect example of Bud Grant's second Vikings team in 1968. Disciplined, tenacious, confident, and getting better quickly. That applies even more so after Game 1. This is the most mentally prepared Twins team since Tom Kelly left the dugout. That speaks well not only for this postseason.

Ozuna gets 306 for the Braves in the bottom of the 3rd. Still up by one.

With one day to go in the 2023 regular season, the score reads: Bomba Squad 307, this year's Braves 305. Rooting loudly for the Washington Nationals' pitching staff Sunday afternoon.

My enthusiasm accelerated when I saw Austin Martin on the honorable mention list. It's like the moment in "Field of Dreams" when Timothy Busfield's character suddenly sees all the baseball talent around him and wonders where they came from.

Bye-bye, bye.

Texas wins. The only path to the bye given the current tiebreakers is: Houston hangs on to win tonight, without which it's over anyway. The Twins and Mariners go 4-0 Thursday-Sunday. Houston loses at least twice to Arizona. (UPDATE: Step 1 achieved successfully. At least the permutation phase of this is done. The mind-blowing permutations happen if Seattle sweeps four from Texas -- depending on the results of Blue Jays and Astros games, both Seattle and Texas could win the division, be a wild card, or miss the playoffs entirely.)

Crow à la Rocco. It's what's for dinner.

Seattle's win over Houston means that the West Division winner will have at least 89 wins. Thus, one more Twins loss ensures first-round playoff action at Target Field, and this is likely even if the Twins win out. So it's essential to prepare for next week. To that end, the Twins did marvelously today. Seeing Brock Stewart back was particularly heartening, and seeing Bailey Ober dominate put a big smile on my face. Twins starters in September (23 games and 123.1 IP): 3.50 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 1.97 BB/9, 9.92 K/9.

The Triple 88 minimum is achieved at last with the Rangers beating the Angels -- but only if the Astros sweep Seattle and are then swept at Arizona, while Texas goes 0-6. More importantly, Texas is already at 88, so the magic number for the 3-seed is now 2. Toronto is three wins from clinching their place. Here are the head-to-head records in a triple 88: Houston: 14-12, Seattle: 13-13, Texas: 12-14. Good news for the Twins. The Mariners look to be in freefall, but both Houston and Texas were at some point during the last month. I'm now looking forward to the Twins beating the two that make the playoffs.

It is my solemn duty to report that the New York Yankees have been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention.

Wallner with a single, double, walk and an HBP. Would that be considered a "poor man's cycle?"

Both the Vikings and Gophers football seasons have ended, and it's still a week before the baseball playoffs. Go Twins!

I surely don't want to "strain out a gnat" (Biblical phrase) about this possibility happening, especially as the Twins now can top out at 89, but it's sure been fun to consider what if. A team that may pull off something similar to get into the playoffs are the Padres, who've won eight in a row and have great pitching. Their magic number for elimination is 4 after today's Cubs win, but the teams ahead of them seem set on doing their best to give the third wild card spot away. (UPDATE: Case in point -- the Reds blew a nine-run lead Saturday against Pittsburgh.) As for the Twins' quixotic hopes, a Houston win today against KC would mean that 88 prevails in the West only in a three-way tie, with 89 becoming very likely the target number. And determining that tiebreaker is impossible without a supercomputer as Seattle is +1, Texas .500 and Houston -1 in games against each other so far. That this conversation is even happening speaks volumes about the Twins' rapid improvement. This October will be fun with a potentially large upside.

The only thing not clicking today was clutch hitting. Farmer gets two hits and throws out a runner at the plate. Gray looks fantastic save for one pitch, and the bullpen again keeps the Twins in it. And I admit knowing Taylor's penchant for winning hits that I thought he was going to walk it off in the 9th. And that's what's so fun about these Twins now. Even when understaffed they're fighting and learning from the mistakes. I'm excited about October.

Nine of twelve, you and I have both pointed out the 88-88-87 scenario as the optimal situation. 263 wins among the AL West trio is at this moment the fewest possible, so hoping for the Royals and D-backs to beat Houston and for the Angels to beat Texas provides the most flexibility for the Twins to pull this off. And of course, if the top team after the smoke is cleared is Houston or Texas, the Twins win the tiebreaker against either. Seattle holds the one-on-one tiebreaker against Houston.

No Correa. No Lewis. No Buxton. Pablo López throws a horrible inning. So does Caleb Thielbar. So does Jhoan Duran. At least thrice the Twins leave runners on both second and third base. And the Twins win, unlike the Astros, Marlins or Reds who badly needed a W to maintain control of their playoff destinies. Great day to get a lot of occasional bugs out of the system, and still claim a major achievement. Division champions.

There's also a race between the Twins and Brewers tonight to see who clinches first. A Brewers win at Miami clinches their playoff spot; if the Cubs lose their matinee today, that win would clinch the NL Central as well.

Clase escapes. And we'll see you tomorrow night.

Hold the phone. Clase has allowed the first two Orioles to reach base in the 9th.

There's a jersey photo that would be appropriate tonight if Cleveland loses but Detroit is still alive, and it would honor the Veeck family as well: Number 1/8th, Eddie Gaedel.

Detroit beat the Dodgers late Wednesday night, so both Cleveland and Detroit must lose Thursday to start the party. Guardians home vs Baltimore, Tigers at Oakland.

The biggest statement win of all during this September, given what was at stake. The Reds brought out the man selected immediately after Royce Lewis in the 2017 draft, and he showed today his Cy Young potential for a long time to come. And the Reds badly needed to win in chasing an NL wild card berth, though losses by the Marlins and Cubs this evening softened the blow. But the Twins, who have struggled hitting starting pitchers the last two weeks, stayed close enough with great pitching of their own until the hitters could feast on the Reds' bullpen. This was the bridge they didn't cross a week ago in the final game of the Rays series, but they did so today, and how fitting thus that Griffin Jax closed the door. This team is confident and ready for October. The Tigers must lose either tonight to the Dodgers or tomorrow to the A's along with Cleveland losing to the Orioles for the party to start tomorrow night. Because the Mariners and Rangers won today, however, the first-round bye isn't happening. Both teams have 84 wins and they face each other seven times in the next eleven days. The most optimistic scenario from our perspective has Texas winning four and nothing else, for 88 wins, and the Mariners doing likewise for 87, in which case Houston also would have at least 88. And this presumes no other wins from the Astros or Rangers in their other series. With all that, the magic number is 3. Hard to see even 9-0 surmounting all three teams. But I don't think the Twins care. After today, neither do I. (UPDATE: Detroit beat the Dodgers, so both the Guardians and Tigers must lose Thursday for the Twins to clinch. Probably Friday then. Congratulations also to the Midwest League champion Cedar Rapids Kernels.)

I may cancel my plans for Friday night and party with Junior Ortiz instead. Or maybe Thursday night.