Magic number: 17

Submitted by Kevin Thomas on Mon, 09/14/2009 - 05:25

Seattle beat Texas 5-0 in their late game Sunday. Now both Boston and the Rangers have 20 games to go. Here are the wildcard race standings:

Boston (84-58)
Texas (80-62), 4 games back

That makes the Red Sox magic number 17. If the combination of Boston wins and Texas losses reaches 17, the Red Sox win the wild card.

Texas plays Oakland today. Boston is off. (The Rangers are off Thursday).

The two teams' schedules:

TEXAS: 6 home games (Oakland, Angels); 4 away (Oakland); 3 home (Tampa Bay); 7 away (4 at Angels, 3 at Seattle).

BOSTON: 3 home games (Angels); 10 away (3 at Baltimore, 4 at Kansas City; 3 at Yankees); 7 home (3 vs. Toronto, 4 vs. Cleveland)

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Kevin covers baseball for the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. He first reported on spring training games for the St. Petersburg Times in 1978. He wisely moved to Maine in 1994 and now writes about the Portland Sea Dogs and Boston Red Sox — when he's not coaching Little League baseball.

He is married to Nancy, and the couple recently completed their lineup card with the birth of their ninth child.

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