Sep 30, 2008 - 7:59 AM
2 shoutsMinnesota (88-74) at Chi White Sox (88-74), 7:30 pm EDT
CHICAGO (Ticker) -- A rigorous 162-game schedule wasn't enough to settle the American League Central Division.
The Chicago White Sox host the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday in a one-game playoff to determine which team will claim the division title and final playoff spot.
The winner of the contest will advance to face the AL East champion Tampa Bay Rays (97-65) in a best-of-five series, beginning Thursday.
The White Sox fizzled in a crucial three-game series between the teams last week as the Twins earned a sweep and transformed a 2 1/2 game deficit into a half-game lead.
However, Chicago did its part to force this game by defeating the Cleveland Indians, 5-1, on Sunday and the Detroit Tigers, 8-2, on Monday in a makeup game.
The White Sox, who won a coin flip earlier this month to secure home field for this showdown, are 7-2 at U.S. Celluar Field against the Twins.
''I think there will be a sense of respect between both teams,'' White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko told to the Chicago Sun-Times. ''We know how hard we worked all year to get this far, so we respect the Twins for doing that, too. "And we were both the underdogs in this division. We were both picked three and four - I'm not sure which order - but we weren't supposed to be here.
''Who knows? Both teams have played really well at times this year and really bad, especially in the last week. So one game, we'll go out and leave it on the field and, hopefully, we come out on the winning end.''
John Danks (11-9, 3.47 ERA) takes the mound for Chicago on three days' rest hoping to turn around his fortunes against Minnesota. In his four starts against the Twins this season, Danks has gone 1-1 with a 7.91 ERA.
The Twins counter with righthander Nick Blackburn (11-10, 4.14), who yielded two runs and eight hits in five innings during Wednesday's 3-2 victory over the White Sox.
Blackburn, one of five Twins starters under the age of 27, has given up three or less runs in seven of his last 10 outings.
This will be the fourth one-game tiebreaker that has been played in the AL, the last coming in 1995, when the Seattle Mariners beat the California Angels 9-1 for the AL West title.
Last season, the Colorado Rockies moved past the San Diego Padres, 9-8, in a 13-inning marathon in an NL wild-card tiebreaker game.
From the Bleachers
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MINNESOTA: 0
CHICAGO: 1
Final
Sep 30 9:57 PM -
AL
AT CHI WHITE SOX - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY JIM THOME (34) TO CENTER WITH 0 OUT IN THE
7TH OFF NICK BLACKBURN.
CURRENT SCORE: MINNESOTA 0, CHI WHITE SOX 1
DUE UP FOR CHI WHITE SOX: P KONERKO (.240, 0-FOR-2)
Sep 30 9:19 PM -
Twins 0, White Sox 0 Bot 7
jllanclos
This might be an instant classic had it been on Espn
Sep 30 9:18 PM -
