Magic numbers, 9/18/2013

Tuesday's results:

Baltimore 3, Boston 2
Texas 7, Tampa 1
Detroit 6, Seattle 2
Oakland 2, LAA 1

If Boston wins 4 of their remaining 10 games (4-6, .400, 96 wins):

Tampa Bay cannot tie
Baltimore cannot tie

Detroit must go 8-3 to tie
Oakland must go 7-4 to tie

AL East:

Any combination of Boston wins and Tampa Bay losses totaling 3 ensures that Boston finishes ahead of Tampa Bay
Any combination of Boston wins and Baltimore losses totaling 1 ensures that Boston finishes ahead of Baltimore

Best record in AL:

Any combination of Boston wins and Detroit losses totaling 8 ensures that Boston finishes ahead of Detroit
Any combination of Boston wins and Oakland losses totaling 9 ensures that Boston finishes ahead of Oakland

Thoughts:

• The Uehara run ended, as it had to.  Not only did he give up a hit, he gave up a run and took the loss.  The frustrating part was that it was a ball that Ellsbury would have caught, and Victorino should have.  He was there and just missed it.  If he catches that, they go to the bottom of the 9th tied, and the Uehara streak is at 40 consecutive batters retired.  Ah, well...
• It was interesting to watch the final at-bat.  Johnson missed with the first two pitches, but the umpire called the second pitch a strike.  Johnson then threw two more pitches in the same spot as the second one, and Bogaerts went ahead to swing at them.  If the second pitch is (correctly, IMO) called a ball, then it's 2-0, and he probably doesn't swing at the next two pitches.  Ah, well...