So what are the possible outcomes, anyway?

7  games to go, 4 against the Twins, 3 against the Sox. 8 different possible records, ranging from absolute disaster (0-7), to sheer bliss (7-0). What's your best guess as to how the Tigers finish off the year?

I was just mulling over the possibilities, and playing with how the endgame might play out, thought I'd share, and see what the rest of you thought.

Worst Case Scenarios 0-7 and 1-6:

If the Tigers lose all 4 to the Twins, it's over. Minnesota would leave Detroit with a 2 game lead, and either getting swept by Chicago, or taking one game leaves no way to catch up.

If the one win occurred against the Twins, it'd still leave Detroit in dire straits, as the Royals would have to match the White Sox sweep to get Detroit to the terror dome for a one game playoff. Minnesota would host the playoff game due to a better head to head record against the Tigers.

Losing records: 2-5, and 3-4:
These scenario would all come down to WHEN the wins came. In the first situation, a 2-5 record overall, if the two wins came against the Twins, Detroit would enter the final series two games ahead of Minnesota, and the Royals would be in full spoiler mode, with one win sending the division to a playoff, and two wins handing Detroit a mostly undeserved crown. If Minnesota leaves Detroit tied with the Tigers, then the Royals would HAVE to win two game to get the division to a playoffs, were the Tigers to win only one against Chicago.

At 3-4, though, the horizons start brightening a bit for Detroit. Three wins against the Twins, and it's over...assuming that a magic number of zero mean clinching, rather than merely clinching a tie.

2 wins against the Twins, and one win against Chicago means that the Twins would have to sweep the Royals to reach the playoff.

1 win against the twins, and 2 versus Chicago, and the Tigers can limp into the playoff even if only Greinke upholds the Royals' honor.

Winning records
At 4-3, with a two game lead, there's no scenario in which the Twins can win the division outright. In their best case scenario, they take 3 out of 4 in Detroit, and leave Copa tied in the standings. However, if the Tigers Sweep the White Sox (words capped to reflect a newspaper headline I hope to see next week), the best Minnesota can do is match it by sweeping the Royals in turn. If that's the case, then we'd be off to the Metrodome for what would hopefully be its last game (again).

At 5-2, 6-1 or 7-0, it doesn't matter, the Tigers have it wrapped up.

Two wins against the Twins puts the Tigers firmly in the driver's seat going into the final series. That's what Detroit needs to do in these next 4 games. Wrapping it up entirely would be great, too, of course, but if we win two out of 4, the Twins would need a minor miracle, sweeping the Royals, and an epic meltdown on the part of the Tigers to win the division.

You'd like to think that isn't possible, but one only needs to look at the last time the Tigers won their division (1987) to see how a late lead can go spectacularly. Heck, for you younguns out there, just remember 2006, and look at the way the Tigers blundered their way into the wild card, before righting the ship in the ALC/DS