KTTC Rochester, Austin, Mason City News, Weather and SportsCasilla's hit in 12th lifts Twins over Tigers

Casilla's hit in 12th lifts Twins over Tigers

MINNEAPOLIS (KTTC-DT/AP) -- Alexi Casilla's one-out single in the bottom of the 12th inning scored Carlos Gomez from second base and the Minnesota Twins beat Detroit 6-5 in the AL Central tiebreaker Tuesday night, completing a colossal collapse for the Tigers.

The Twins raced onto the field and mobbed Casilla, leaping for joy and screaming.  Catcher Joe Mauer, a native Minnesotan, led the Twins in a victory lap around the Metrodome field waving championship t-shirts like flags.

The Tigers became the first team in baseball history to blow a three-game lead with four games left. The Twins went 17-4 to pull even on the final weekend, then emerged with their fifth division title in eight years.

Baseball's only real pennant race this season needed an extra game, and extra innings to finish off a thriller that got better with every pitch.  The game see-sawed back and forth like a heavyweight slugfest, with high drama on virtually every pitch.

As Homer Hankies spiraled around the Metrodome, the Twins celebrated. They have 21 hours to get ready for Game 1 of the AL playoffs at Yankee Stadium. 

KTTC's C.J. Spang and Chuck Sibley were on the field with the Twins at the Dome and captured the amazing scenes of the celebration.  Because of prohibitions by Major League Baseball, KTTC is not able to post their work on the Internet, but it will air on the NewsCenter at 12 noon, 5 p.m. and 6 p.m.

As a consequence of the New York Yankees' decision to begin the playoffs on Wednesday in the Bronx, the Twins caught a plane and flew in the wee hours to get to New York, arriving at 4 a.m.