Twins just handed playoff spots to rival Royals, Tigers with embarrassing extra-innings loss

The Minnesota Twins' no-good, very bad month of September reached a new low on Thursday night. Two games out of an AL Wild Card spot with just four games to play, the Twins knew they'd need all the wins they could get to have a shot at the postseason. But hey, at least the lowly Miami Marlins were in town, right? Surely Minnesota would have no trouble with a team that had already joined the 100-loss club.

Alas, the Twins decided to turn their golden opportunity into an extended Keystone Kops routine. Minnesota's struggling offense stayed cold, managing just one run in five innings against Marlins starter Valente Bellozo. It seemed like the tide had finally turned when Brooks Lee delivered a two-run, game-tying double in the bottom of the eighth, but all that did was give the Twins more chances to squander: Minnesota put the potential winning run on third base in each of the ninth, 10th and 11th innings, and each time it failed to cash in, including two groundouts from star third baseman Royce Lewis.

It felt like the Twins had to finally break through in the 12th; Minnesota held the Marlins scoreless in the top half, meaning all the team had to do was get the ghost runner in from second to get out of Target Field with a win. And then disaster struck:

Not only did Ryan Jeffers pop a bunt attempt directly to Marlins first baseman Jonah Bride, but Carlos Santana got caught inexplicably wandering off of second base for one of the most mystifying double plays you'll ever see from a team ostensibly competing for a playoff spot. From there, the writing was on the wall: Miami broke through for three in the top of the 13th, and Minnesota took a brutal 8-6 loss.

Of course, all of the above would've been bad enough on its own. But to add insult to injury, the Twins' heartbreak was their division rivals' joy — and might be the reason why two other AL Central teams move on to October.

Twins loss shaves Tigers, Royals magic numbers down to one

Minnesota is chasing both the Kansas City Royals and the Cinderella Detroit Tigers for one of the final two AL Wild Card spots. And with the Twins' loss on Thursday — coupled with K.C.'s win in Washington and the Tigers' sweep of the Rays — they're now three back with three to play. That means that Detroit and Kansas City's magic number is down to one: One win in their final three games, or one more Twins loss, and that's all she wrote.

It is technically possible that the Twins to win out while either the Tigers or Royals lose out. The schedule, however, isn't doing Minnesota any favors, with three games against the Baltimore Orioles on tap. The O's don't have all that much to play for at this point — Baltimore is locked into the third seed — but they're still a team with plenty of talent. Even if Kansas City drops all three games against the Atlanta Braves this weekend (the Tigers get the Chicago White Sox, so they won't be getting any help there) it's tough to imagine this Twins team running the table this weekend in its current form.

Barring a true miracle, it seems like Minnesota will be heading home at the end of the week while two hated rivals play on. And if that does come to pass, the Twins will only have themselves to blame.