Playoff Race - 5 To Play

West Michigan keeps winning, so that's hurting the Silver Hawks a bit more right now since the Whitecaps hold the tiebreaker and they play the TinCaps for the final three games.  If the Silver Hawks lose either of the next two games, or if West Michigan wins either of the next two, it will eliminate the Silver Hawks due to the tiebreaking scenarios and those final three games with the Whitecaps and TinCaps going head-to-head.

(If South Bend wins the next two, they'll be one game behind Fort Wayne.  However, if West Michigan wins one of the next two, then the Whitecaps will remain at least two games ahead of the Silver Hawks.  Thus, in order to surpass the Whitecaps over the final three, Fort Wayne would have to sweep the head to head series.  If Fort Wayne does that, the Hawks will jump West Michigan but stay behind the TinCaps by a game.  A bit confusing, but that's how it works.)

The playoff picture is listed below...

Eastern Division First Round
Dayton (Second Half Champ) vs. Lansing (First Half Wild Card)
Bowling Green (First Half Champ) vs. TBA (Second Half Wild Card)

Western Division First Round
Burlington (First Half Champ) vs. TBA (Second Half Wild Card)
Quad Cities (First Half Wild Card) vs. TBA (Second Half Champ)
*Clinton and Kane County have clinched spots, but it's not determined which one will be the champion yet.

**Eastern Division Wild Card Race** (Note, this is only for the wild card since Dayton has clinched the championship)

Team	W	L	GB
Fort Wayne	35	30	--
West Michigan	35	30	--
South Bend	32	33	-3.0

Lake County and Great Lakes have been mathematically eliminated from postseason contention.

Western Division (Both Clinton and Kane County have clinched a playoff spot, they are now fighting for who will be the champ and who will be the wild card)

Team	W	L	GB
Clinton	37	27	--
Kane County	35	30	-2.5

Peoria, Wisconsin, Beloit, and Cedar Rapids have all been mathematically eliminated.

Magic Number Now One

Dayton lost to Great Lakes on Saturday night, reducing South Bend's magic number to one.

South Bend will clinch the final playoff spot with:
1) One win in the final two games vs. Lansing
2) One Dayton loss in their final two games @ Great Lakes

Looking very promising...but it's not wrapped up yet. Get one tomorrow, and the Hawks will be in.

Additional Playoff Information

As the comments section of the post below this one noted, the magic numbers are somewhat tricky.

If Dayton wins tonight, technically their magic number is two, but the head-to-head tiebreaker reduces that to one. Thus, if the Dragons win tonight, the only way South Bend makes the playoff is
1) Winning the final two vs. Lansing
AND
2) Dayton losing their final three vs. Great Lakes.

If South Bend wins tonight, techincally the magic number is three, but the head-to-head tiebreaker in this scenario goes to South Bend, reducing the magic number to two. Thus, if the Silver Hawks win tonight, they would need any of the following to happen to clinch
1) Win two games
2) Dayton lose two games
3) Win one and have Dayton lose one

Any of those three scenarios would give South Bend the playoff berth, provided they win tonight.

So in a word, tonight's game is HUGE!

Playoff Race - 5 to go

One spot remains in each division. One important note: South Bend could actually clinch a playoff spot by winning two out of three in the series with Dayton. Under that scenario, Dayton could still tie the Hawks' second half record, but South Bend would have the head-to-head tiebreaker wrapped up.

Eastern Division Playoffs
West Michigan vs. Great Lakes
Fort Wayne vs. TBD

Western Division Playoffs
Cedar Rapids vs. Peoria
Kane County vs. TBD

Today's Matchups with Playoff Implications
South Bend @ Dayton
West Michigan @ Lansing (Lugnuts are barely alive still)
Clinton @ Burlington
Beloit @ Quad Cities

Race for Second Half Wild Card in East
................W...L...PCT..GB
South Bend...30..34...469..--
Dayton........28..35...444..1.5
Lansing.......26..38...406..4.0

Magic Number
South Bend magic number for the wild card spot: 5

Games Left for South Bend (In order):
3 @ Dayton
Off Day
2 vs. Lansing

Games Left for Dayton (In order):
3 vs. South Bend
3 @ Great Lakes

Games Left for Lansing (In order):
3 vs. West Michigan
Off Day
2 @ South Bend

West Division Update
First Half Champion: Kane County Cougars
First Half Wild Card: Cedar Rapids Kernels
Second Half Champion: Peoria Chiefs
Burlington leads the wild card by 4 games over Clinton with six to play. Quad Cities is five games back while Beloit is 5.5 back.