For the Minnesota Twins, it's all over except for being mathematically eliminated.

The Twins (71-81) are off to the West Coast to face the Los Angeles Angels in a four-game series that begins on Thursday. While the Twins did win their finale against the New York Yankees on Wednesday, Minnesota is still 10 games under .500 and has lost seven of its last 10 games.

More importantly, Minnesota could be eliminated from both the AL Central race and the AL wild card race this weekend, depending upon how it does on the trip and how the teams ahead of them in the AL wild card race do this weekend.

Entering the series the Twins are 6.5 games out of the AL Central race and six games out of the final AL wild card berth. This is what Major League teams call “playing out the string.”

Twins Probable Starters for Angels

Here are the probable starters for the Twins going into the series:

Thursday: Twins: RHP Taj Bradley (11-6, 3.81) vs. Angels: TBD

Friday: Twins: LHP Connor Prielipp (5-7, 5.24) vs. Angels: TBD

Saturday: Twins: RHP Joe Ryan (6-10, 3.84) vs. Angels: TBD

Sunday: Twins: RHP Dean Kremer (3-5, 5.35) vs. Angels: TBD

The Twins were one of the more active teams at the trade deadline in August, but it appears to have been for nothing. One of those deadline acquisitions, Kremer, will start the finale against the Angels. Minnesota also acquired closer Jeff Hoffman to help them down the stretch. The reality is the team was still too flawed, including a hip injury that ultimately required surgery for center fielder Byron Buxton.

The Twins have made some moves designed to bolster their future, including calling up two of their most ballyhooed prospects, Kaelen Culpepper and Walker Jenkins. Both have given Minnesota fans some excitement down the stretch, but neither has appreciably impacted the franchise's ability to contend for that final wild card berth.

After the Twins wrap up their four-game series in Anaheim, they'll hop on a plane and head to San Francisco for a three-game series with the Giants that begins on Monday. Minnesota gets an off day to travel back to the Twin Cities where it will wrap up the regular season with the three-game series against the Texas Rangers.

The Rangers are close to both the AL West lead and the final AL wild card berth so it's possible the Twins could play spoilers that weekend.