Twins, Tigers to play 1 more time

MINNEAPOLIS — More than 51,000 fans and dozens of players from Metrodome lore turned out on Sunday to say goodbye to this big, dingy building after 28 weird, wacky and sometimes wonderful baseball seasons.

Hang on to those Homer Hankies: The Metrodome showed this weekend that it still has some of that old magic left and isn't ready to let the Minnesota Twins go just yet.

Jason Kubel got those familiar white towels waving with a pair of three-run homers, and Minnesota beat Kansas City 13-4 Sunday, putting the Twins into a one-game playoff with the Detroit Tigers for the AL Central title.

"The place doesn't want to go away quietly yet," Kubel said.

The Twins and Tigers, who beat the White Sox 5-3, will meet at 4 p.m. CDT Tuesday, with the division title and a postseason date with the New York Yankees going to the winner.

"When we need a win, where do we go?" former first baseman Kent Hrbek asked the fans during a postgame ceremony. "We go to the Dome."

They need one more.

Scott Baker will start the tiebreaker for the Twins against Detroit rookie Rick Porcello. The teams get a day off because the Minnesota Vikings host Green Bay on Monday night.

Delmon Young added two solo home runs, and Michael Cuddyer also went deep for the Twins, who overcame a three-game deficit by winning 16 of 20, including the final four, to reach the playoff.

"It's been fun to watch," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "Just a group of guys that were on a mission."

Carl Pavano (14-12) pitched on three days' rest, giving up four runs and striking out seven in 5-2/3 innings in what was supposed to be the final regular-season baseball game in the Metrodome.

The Twins move outside to Target Field next year, but they're more than happy to keep playing under the shabby white roof for the time being.

Alex Gordon homered for the Royals, who fell behind 8-1 but rallied to bring the tying run to the plate in the sixth. Reliever Jon Rauch struck out Billy Butler with the bases loaded to end the threat, and the crowd was able to exhale.

Minnesota was seven games down to the Tigers on Sept. 6 and appeared all but finished after losing two of the first three games in their four-gamer at Detroit last week.