Look at the splits: the Twins went 59–55 (.518) against the American League but just 18–30 (.375) against the National League. If they'd played interleague games at their AL pace, they'd have gone about 25–23 and finished 84–78 instead of 77–85. That's the same record as the White Sox, who took the last Wild Card spot. We'd have lost the tiebreaker (5–8 head-to-head), but we'd have been playing meaningful games on the last day instead of being eliminated September 20. With the payroll cuts over the last couple of years, I have to wonder whether advance scouting of NL teams got scaled back or cut entirely. Getting swept by the Reds, Dodgers, Phillies, Pirates, and Padres looks like a team that didn't know its opponents.
