October 6, 2009 [LINK / comment]

Twins win AL Central tie-breaker

The tie-breaking game held in the Metrodome this evening turned out to be quite a thriller, with the lead going back and forth. The Minnesota Twins went ahead 4-3 in the seventh inning, and then the Detroit Tigers tied the game 4-4 in the eighth, leading to extra innings. In the 10th inning, both teams scored one run, and in the top of the 12th inning the Tigers had the bases loaded with one out, on the verge of taking control. The Twins prevented any runs from scoring, however, and pinch-hit single by Alexi Casilla (??) in the bottom of the 12th inning gave the Twins the winning margin, 6-5. The Twins thus become the AL Central Division champions after 163 games, and face the Yankees in New York tomorrow night. See MLB.com. Tonight's game would have been played last night, except that Monday Night Football was taking place. (The Vikings under Brett Favre beat Favre's former team, the Packers.) Stadium workers had to do a rush job in converting the Metrodome back to baseball use today. Another baseball postseason in the Metrodome: here we go again...

On the other side of downtown Minneapolis, meanwhile, Target Field is apparently ready for baseball.; see baseball-fever.com. (Hat tip to Bruce Orser.) They ought to force the Twins to play their post-season games there, if you ask me. And speaking of which, I gotta get crackin' on that diagram...