How White Sox can clinch a playoff spot tonight originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The White Sox can punch their ticket to the MLB Postseason for the first time in 12 years on Wednesday night.
But it's a little more complicated than the White Sox simply winning tonight, since their magic number is down to two games.
So how do the White Sox clinch?
First, they need to beat the Twins for the tonight. Lucas Giolito is on the mound, so Sox fans have to feel confident.
Then the Sox need the Seattle Mariners and Detroit Tigers to lose. Those are the two teams sitting just outside the eight AL teams that will make the playoffs, both sitting on 26 losses, and the magic number formula is based on losses.
If you opened the link and did the math, the formula has the White Sox' magic number as 3, but it's two games because the White Sox own tiebreakers over the Tigers (via head-to-head record) and the Mariners (via intra-divisional record).
On Wednesday, the Mariners play the Giants and the Tigers play the Royals.
If the Giants and Royals don't get those wins, the White Sox winning two more games would punch their ticket and could come as early as tomorrow afternoon, if they finish off a sweep of the Twins in this four-game series.
What about the AL Central title?
To clinch the division will take a bit more work. The White Sox are three games ahead of the Twins in the AL Central standings. The formula puts that magic number at nine, but with the Sox and Twins playing two more games, it could drop quickly if the Sox win both games.
As it stands now, nine more wins would seal the title for the Sox, if the Twins were to also win their remaining 10 games, including both against the White Sox (the White Sox have 12 games left in the season).
