2009 DETROIT TIGER SCHEDULE AND RESULTS

Tigers, Twins to go beyond on Tuesday
AL Central foes to decide division title in one-game tiebreaker

By Mark Newman / MLB.com

10/04/09 4:35 PM ET

Beyond 162.

For the third consecutive year -- the longest such streak in MLB history -- the regular season will go beyond the limit and require a playoff tiebreaker to finalize the postseason field.

Detroit and Minnesota each won in their 162nd games on Sunday, leading to a one-game tiebreaker Tuesday at the Metrodome to decide the American League Central champion.

The Twins become the first club ever to play such a tiebreaker in consecutive years, having lost the AL Central tiebreaker against the White Sox in 2008. The Rockies beat the Padres for the 2007 National League Wild Card to start this now-expected extension.

Tuesday's winner will play Game 1 of the AL Division Series either Wednesday or Thursday at Yankee Stadium, and the Red Sox will be at the Angels in the other ALDS. The NL Division Series are all set, with Rockies at Phillies and Cardinals at Dodgers, both on Wednesday.

Somehow you just knew that in this season of such little day-to-day turnover atop the standings, there would still be a mad rush of suspenseful drama. Here we are again.

Alex Rodriguez even stepped in to be a big part of the story, as he was when the season began, but this time he spoke with his bat, driving in an astounding seven runs in one inning on a three-run homer and grand slam.

It also was as if A-Rod reminded the Tigers and Twins pitchers about what could lie ahead for the tiebreaker survivor in the days to come. Remember in 2006, when the Tigers came in as underdogs against the mighty Yankees, only to see Rodriguez dropped far down the batting order amid a slump, and the Bronx Bombers dropped the series?

Justin Verlander, now unquestionably a real AL Cy Young candidate (no one in baseball has more wins or strikeouts), finished the regular season at 19-9 by beating the White Sox in No. 162 at Comerica Park. It came before a giddy crowd that hopes for the city's first World Series title in a quarter-century.

The Twins built a quick 7-0 lead against the Royals on what everyone in attendance knew could be the final day of baseball in the history of the Metrodome. Their team moves into outdoor Target Field next spring. As the game progressed, it became official that the Tigers had won and that the locals had to hold up their end in order to meet in a tiebreaker. Minnesota withstood a Royals rally and did just that, and can now wonder whether there will be a third and final World Series in that facility.

The tiebreaker will be in Minnesota because the Twins won the season series between the clubs. That is especially worth noting, because in the past it would have been a coin flip that decided where this game would be played. The rules were changed this year, so head-to-head decided it. In other words, it came down to what happened on the field instead of the pure chance of a coin falling on either side.

Detroit is trying desperately to avoid the ignominy of becoming the first team in history to be in first place on May 10 or earlier and remain on top until losing the title in the final week of the season.

A couple of right-handers will be the probable starting pitchers for the tiebreaker: Rookie Rick Porcello (14-9, 4.04 ERA) for the Tigers, and Scott Baker (15-9, 4.36) for the Twins. Two of Porcello's last three outings were against Minnesota, one a loss and one a no-decision, but both were quality starts. Baker tossed five solid innings, allowing no earned runs, to beat the Tigers on Thursday.

The only other time tiebreakers happened in consecutive years was 1998-99 -- and obviously the chances of it happening at all are greater in the Wild Card era. The Cubs eliminated the Giants at Wrigley Field for the 1998 NL Wild Card, and a year later the Mets won at Cincinnati to secure the same berth. The Yankees were the last to win a playoff tiebreaker and then win a World Series, thanks to Bucky Dent's unexpected homer at Fenway Park in 1978.

There is some bittersweet and mixed emotion on this final Sunday, because for many it is time to say goodbye to the heroes of our summer. Goodbye to Jonathan Sanchez, who threw that stunning no-hitter right before the All-Star Game, and goodbye to Adrian Gonzalez and that marvelous 40-homer season for the Padres. They met again on the final day of the season, and watching them you could not help but think about what a long haul this is and how good you must be to advance.

Goodbye to Felix Hernandez of the Mariners and Scott Feldman of the Rangers, who pitched against each other in a final Sunday showcase of brilliant future stars. Their future already arrived this year. Hernandez was aiming for his 19th win and Feldman his 18th.

Goodbye to Ichiro, who amazed us again, becoming the first player to collect at least 200 hits in nine consecutive seasons. Goodbye to Hanley Ramirez of the Marlins, his wondrous year finished with an NL batting title at .342. Goodbye to Mark Buehrle and that perfect game. Goodbye to 21 clubs for a winter ahead, and you will be joined soon by either Detroit or Minnesota in the offseason ranks.

Those seasons will become memories now. For eight clubs, the game will go on. For someone like Joe Nathan, the Twins' new single-season saves leader, a tiebreaker means your statistics don't stop yet, either. Tiebreakers count in the regular season stats.

In the coming days and weeks, it will be time for postseason magic, including the 105th World Series. Along the way, you will be constantly reminded that this is Beyond Baseball -- because it is.

Right now, it is Beyond 162.

The regular season goes on -- again.

Mark Newman is enterprise editor of MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Tigers' magical ride ends
Rodney serves up walk-off single to Twins in 12th inning

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

10/06/09 10:00 PM ET
updated: 10/07/09 1:20 AM ET

Box >

MINNEAPOLIS -- History will say losing a three-game lead in the American League Central with four games to play was unprecedented heartbreak for the Tigers, as was losing a division it either led alone or shared since May 10. That sickening feeling in the Tigers' stomachs says losing a tiebreaker lead in extra innings feels worse.

"It's tough to swallow," reliever Zach Miner said.

After all the twists and turns of the past four weeks, the disappointments and the thrills, Detroit stood three outs away from its first division title since 1987. The Tigers lost its one-run lead, but the club still had a chance to pull ahead. Not until Alexi Casilla's 12th-inning single scored Carlos Gomez did the Tigers' division hopes finally die in a 6-5 tiebreaker loss to the Twins that will go down in baseball history for its own merit.

"We played our tails off. They played their tails off," left fielder Ryan Raburn said. "All in all, it was a great game, and I was glad I was a part of it. But it's just a heartbreaker, really."

With their hopes finally down to one night, having put themselves in that position with struggles down the stretch, the Tigers played one of their best games of the stretch run, if not the whole season. They just couldn't do enough to win.

As long as it went -- not just the game, but the race -- the sudden ending left the Tigers stunned. Miner could be seen in the dugout staring into space while the Twins celebrated. Miguel Cabrera broke down and cried when he tried to talk about the loss. There were very few eyes that weren't red.

"I can't believe it," said Brandon Inge, whose 10th-inning RBI double gave the Tigers their second and final lead. "We, obviously, put ourselves in that situation by having to come here to play this game. Minnesota, obviously, earned it by playing so well down the stretch to get in this position. But wow, what a game tonight was."

Manager Jim Leyland has had his share of late-inning drama on both ends, from Sid Bream's run in the 1991 National League Championship Series to Edgar Renteria's hit to win the 2003 World Series. Leyland called this one of the greatest games he had been involved in.

"I couldn't be prouder of our guys," he said. "I guess it's fitting to say that there was a loser in this game, because we lost the game, but it's hard for me to believe there was a loser in this game. Both teams played their hearts out. You can't ask for anything more than that as far as a manager's concerned. They left it all out on the field.

"So close, and so far away."

The Twins advance to face the Yankees on Wednesday night in the Bronx in the AL Division Series. The Tigers go home haunted one last time by the challenge of beating Minnesota in the Metrodome, where no Detroit lead seemed to be safe until the final out, and no final out seemed to be in sight.

It was tantalizingly close two different times for the Tigers, who had a 3-0 lead midway through the third inning thanks to Magglio Ordonez's RBI single and Cabrera's two-run homer, part of an explosive start for a slugger in a late-season skid and recent headlines. They had 20-year-old Rick Porcello throw another late-season gem in the most pressure-packed situation he has faced in his brief career.

Even after Jason Kubel's sixth-inning homer and Orlando Cabrera's go-ahead two-run shot an inning later, they forced extra innings with another clutch home run from Ordonez, his second in as many days.

They were the kinds of plays that the Tigers sorely needed down the stretch as their division lead slowly dwindled, and especially last week as it evaporated under three consecutive losses. On Tuesday, they kept the Tigers alive longer than many could've expected, and they set up the kind of drama that the actual postseason might find difficult to match.

After Inge -- his knee hurting the most it has all season -- arguably extended the season with a diving stop to rob Orlando Cabrera of a potential game-winning single, Inge's double into the left-field corner sent pinch-runner Don Kelly around to score with the go-ahead run in the 10th. But a leadoff liner from Michael Cuddyer that seemed set to fall in, instead skipped past Raburn in left field for a triple.

"I had a good read on it," Raburn said. "It just never came out of the lights."

Said Leyland: "He thought he had a shot to catch it. He went for it and he didn't get it. How can you complain about something like that?"

After a Brendan Harris intentional walk and a Matt Tolbert RBI single, Nick Punto's fly ball nearly sent the Twins to victory a few pitches later, but Raburn redeemed himself with a throw to the plate which nailed pinch-runner Casilla, sending this game longer.

"I'm telling you," Inge said, "no matter what we did, it just seemed like it wasn't meant to be." In the end, the Tigers' final inning might have served as a microcosm of their struggles this season. Miguel Cabrera's one-out walk and Don Kelly's single and an intentional walk to Raburn loaded the bases with nobody out, up came Inge needing a fly ball off Bobby Keppel to win it.

A first-pitch ball off his jersey that arguably was a hit-by-pitch instead was called a ball, but Inge still had a chance to drive in the run. He centered a 2-2 pitch up the middle that Punto fielded and made an acrobatic throw home for the forceout at the plate. Keppel then struck out Gerald Laird to end the threat.

"We had a lot of tough at-bats," Placido Polanco said of the game in general, "and then nothing. We couldn't get the big hit."

Finally, in Fernando Rodney's fourth inning of work, the Twins punched their postseason ticket. Gomez's leadoff single in the bottom of the inning started the final rally. Cuddyer's ground ball to third stayed just fair, moving Gomez to second as Inge threw over for the out at first. After an intentional walk to Delmon Young, Casilla slapped a grounder through the right side, sending Gomez home.

Just like that, the Tigers' season was over, much to their disbelief. But the final step in to their late-season fall was a fight that'll be remembered for better reasons than the games that led up to it.

"It's a tough pill to swallow, obviously," Leyland said, "but like I told my guys, there's not a manager alive that can complain about what they did today. They played their hearts out."

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.