More than 51,000 fans and dozens of players from Metrodome lore turned out yesterday to say goodbye to this big, dingy building after 28 weird, wacky, and wonderful baseball seasons.
Hang on to those Homer Hankies: The Metrodome showed this weekend that it still has some of that old magic left.
Jason Kubel got those white towels waving with a pair of three-run homers as Minnesota beat Kansas City, 13-4, putting the Twins into a one-game playoff with Detroit for the AL Central title.
The Twins and Tigers, who beat the White Sox, 5-3, will meet at 5 p.m. tomorrow with the division title and a postseason date with the Yankees going to the winner.
Scott Baker will start the tiebreaker for the Twins against 20-year-old rookie Rick Porcello.
“He’s been young all year and he pitched awful good against Minnesota the other day,’’ Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. “I know one thing for a fact - he will not be scared. He’ll be excited.’’
The teams get a day off because the Minnesota Vikings host Green Bay tonight. Detroit is hoping to win its first division title since 1987.
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.
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.
Earlier in Detroit, Justin Verlander (19-9) pitched into the eighth inning, Ryan Raburn hit two homers, and Fernando Rodney got the final four outs for his 37th save in 38 chances.
Angels 5, Athletics 3 - Mike Napoli hit his 20th homer and Joe Saunders (16-7) pitched five strong innings as visiting Los Angeles prepped for the postseason with a sweep of Oakland.
Yankees 10, Rays 2 - Alex Rodriguez homered twice and drove in an AL-record seven runs in a 10-run sixth to help playoff-bound New York finish the season with a victory at Tampa Bay.
Rodriguez hit a three-run homer off Wade Davis, giving the AL East champions a 3-2 lead. He added his 18th career grand slam later in the inning after Andy Sonnanstine issued an intentional walk to Mark Teixeira to load the bases.
The major league record for RBIs in an inning is eight, set by Fernando Tatis, who hit two grand slams in an inning for St. Louis April 23, 1999.
Rodriguez moved into a tie with Mark McGwire for eighth on the career list with 583 homers. It also gave him at least 30 homers and 100 RBIs for the 13th time - including the past 12 seasons.