From first to worst, the Twins have done themselves in.

I hate giving up before the end of the season, but the Twins are not going to come out of it this season. Their elimination number is one, meaning one more loss, or one more Tiger victory, and they're out of contention. The losses to the White Sox yesterday put the Twins a half-game, or four thousandths of a percentage point behind the Royals, but that's enough to be in last place.

The only chance the Twins have to make it to the post-season is to win the remainder of their games. Additionally, the Tigers must lose all of their remaining games. In the middle, the Indians, White Sox, and Royals must also lose the right portion of their games.

They do have opportunities to improve their record yet to stay out of last place, but there's a 12-game gap between the teams fighting for second place and the teams fighting for last place. The Indians and White Sox are about 8 games back, and the Royals and Twins are about 20 games back.

Technically someone will be in fifth place, but it's looking like Tigers for first, Indians and Sox for middle, and Royals and Twins for last.