What you need to know about the Twins and the MLB playoffs

The goal: The Twins are trying to secure a spot in the American League playoffs.

Status: The Twins are 7½ games behind first-place Cleveland in the AL Central but hold the final AL wild-card spot, leading Detroit by 1½ games and Seattle by 2. They are 2½ games behind Kansas City, which holds the second wild-card spot.

Magic number: 11. Any combination of Twins wins and their closest rival's losses that totals 11 will determine who makes the playoffs.

Remaining Twins schedule: Three in Cleveland (today-Thursday); three in Boston (Friday-Sunday); three against Miami (September 24-26); three against Baltimore (September 27-29).

Decision criteria: As of Tuesday, the Twins have had head-to-head tiebreakers against the Royals, Tigers, Astros and Mariners. The tiebreaker format is explained here.

When do the playoffs start? The last day of the regular season is Sunday, September 29th; the first playoff games will be on Tuesday, October 1st.

Team: Six qualifiers from each league participate in the playoffs, three division champions and three wildcard teams.