Late last week the Cleveland Guardians attempted a show of force while down five games in the AL Central by claiming three top players from waiver wire. Five days later the only force being shown was by the Minnesota Twins who once again blew out the Guardians while delivering what may be the knockout punch in the division race.
On Monday that Twins scored 20 runs, chasing Lucas Giolito and utter embarrasing Cleveland. Minnesota continued to put the Guardians in their place a day later, winning 8-3 and essentially wrapping up a division title with a month of baseball left to play.
Glorious doesn't even begin to describe the feeling.
In a must-win series, Cleveland is getting outscored 28-9 by Minnesota. The script couldn't be more flipped than where things were last year when it was the Guardians ending the Twins season in a must-win series to wrap up the division.
What is the Twins magic number? (Updated September 5th)
There's still a lot of baseball left to be played, but it's truly starting to feel like a case of when not if Minnesota wins the AL Central. After Tuesday's win, the Twins magic number is down to 17 with 24 games left to go.
It's a perfect spot for Minnesota to be in, as the Twins have remaining games against White Sox, Rockies, Angels, and the A's. Barring some sort of absolutely massive meltdown, the division race appears to be over.
Rather than look at the Guardians in the rearview, the Twins should now be focusing on what's happening out west. The Mariners and Astros are locked in a battle for the AL West title, but Minnesota is well within striking distance of the No. 2 seed.
If the good times continue to roll, the magic number the Twins need to watch is how close they can get to snagging that second seed and earning a first-round bye. Right now Minnesota is lined up to host a Wild Card series, but they'd be sitting even prettier if they could avoid that opening round altogether and begin the postseason in the ALDS.