AL wild-card chase: Tigers, 3 other teams fighting for 2 spots

Although the results of Friday night's games were disappointing and potentially costly for the Detroit Tigers, they did offer some more clarity about where things stand with eight games left in the regular season.

In the American League, four teams are competing for the final two wild-card spots.

The Kansas City Royals (82-72) and Minnesota Twins (81-73) would make the playoffs if the season ended today. The Tigers (80-74) and Seattle Mariners (79-75) are still in the race.

The Red Sox (76-78) and Tampa Bay Rays (76-78) have not been officially eliminated from contention, but their odds are so minuscule that we're no longer including them in the playoff picture.

WILD CARD STANDINGS (final two spots)

The Tigers were drubbed by the Baltimore Orioles on Friday night . Then there was an agonizing wait to see what would happen to the Twins, who were locked in a 1-1 battle with the Red Sox.

The Red Sox missed multiple opportunities to win in extra innings and the Twins ultimately triumphed 4-2 in 12 innings .

The Twins picked up a game on the Tigers and also gained ground on the Royals, who fell to the San Francisco Giants, 2-1 , for their fifth consecutive loss.

The Royals have gone from playoff locks to potentially vulnerable in about a week.

The Mariners, who beat the Rangers on Friday night , have the smallest margin for error of any of the four teams, but they're still hanging around.

(final two wild-card spots)

The Twins have another advantage: They won the season series over the Royals, Tigers and Mariners, so they would win .

The Tigers lost the season series to the Twins and Royals but would win a tiebreaker over Seattle. That means the Tigers could sneak into the playoffs in a couple of unlikely three-team ties.

Most of the tiebreakers are already settled. The only ambiguity involves the Royals and Mariners, who tied their season series 3-3.

Here are all 11 potential tiebreaker scenarios involving the four teams still in the hunt.

Two-team tiebreaker:

Twins over Royals

Royals over Tigers

Twins over Tigers

Twins over Mariners

Tigers over Mariners

Royals likely over Mariners

Three-team tiebreaker:

Twins over Royals and Tigers; Royals over Tigers

Twins over Royals and Mariners; Royals likely over Mariners (see above)