A Playoff It Will Be: Jason Kubel Has Big Day to Help Twins Force 163rd Game

On the scoreboard in the Metrodome, it read, “Tigers 4, White Sox 0, Fifth inning” when Minnesota Twins right fielder Jason Kubel strode to the plate with one out in the first inning.

Two men were on, as Denard Span and Joe Mauer both walked in between Orlando Cabrera’s groundout. The sold-out crowd was buzzing, hoping Kubel could continue his magnificent season and put their Twins in front.

He took a sinker from Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Luke Hochevar outside for ball one, and then he got his pitch.

Hochevar grooved in a high fastball, served on a platter for Kubel, who entered the at-bat with 25 homers and 96 RBI.

Kubel’s eyes glazed over as the offering came his way. As it neared the plate, he began his swing, and then connected, launching a deep drive to right. It was gone off the crack of the bat.

The crowd rose to its feet, and then jubilation spread from the stands to the announcing booth, as Twins play-by-play man Dick Bremer yelled the home run call with pure joy.

It was a three-run bomb, and with that, the Twins were well on their way to another win in another must-win game.

When Delmon Young settled into the batter's box with two out, the Tigers' lead was still 4-0 in the top sixth. When he left the batter's box, the Twins led by the exact same score. His solo shot that cleared the short porch in left field and capped off a dream of an opening inning.

Now, all their starting pitcher had to do was hold it.

That pitcher was Carl Pavano, so the four-run lead was far from safe. He hasn’t exactly been the most dependable pitcher this season. He allowed seven earned runs in his previous start, a loss to Detroit, and has a 5.10 ERA on the year. The Twins fans were just hoping he wouldn’t implode, and would manage to keep the team ahead.

Pavano, to my surprise, was impressive. He got out of multiple jams, including a two-on, one-out situation in the second inning, and though he still managed to allow four runs, his offense scored 13. So, he was in good shape.

Despite being hit a bit, he walked only one and struck out seven over his 5.2 innings. Not a bad performance in the most important game of the Twins’ season.

Kubel and Young supported him throughout. The former hit his second three-run homer, a drive in the third, and Young hit his second solo shot in the fifth.

Then the Twins supported his relief. After Pavano relinquished three runs in the top of the sixth, Minnesota scored at least one run in each of the final three innings, including three in the eighth—an RBI double by Cabrera and a two-run shot by Michael Cuddyer—padding an already comfortable lead.

The Detroit Tigers won in the middle of the Twins' run-scoring barrage, doing so thanks to an incredible season-saving play by centerfielder Curtis Granderson.

Starting pitcher Justin Verlander dominated the Chicago White Sox for the first seven innings, but found trouble in the eighth. The Tigers held a 5-0 lead entering the frame, but the Cy Young candidate, fatigued having already thrown over 100 pitches, had difficulty holding the advantage.

Alex Rios and Alexei Ramirez hit consecutive singles with one out, and then Ramon Castro doubled home Rios and moved Ramirez to third. Brent Lillibridge followed with a two-run single, bringing the tying run to the plate.

That potential tying run, Scott Podsednik, popped out, but the White Sox had life once Jayson Nix walked, sending Carlos Quentin to the plate. Their second-best power hitter had a chance to make the Metrodome erupt by hitting a go-ahead three-run shot.

All he could muster, though, was a sawed off pop-up to shallow center field. Yet it appeared it would get the job done and tie the game, as it was dropping fast.

But then Granderson, who had already made great catches in the first and second, swooped in. He dove face-first and snagged the dying quail, as it is dubbed.

It was a risky play, considering two or possibly three runs would have scored if the ball eluded him, but it was a chance a player for a team playing for its postseason life had to take. Luckily for Granderson and the Tigers, it worked out.

That diving catch by Granderson helped keep Detroit’s season alive, but it only delayed the inevitable.

This Tuesday, the Twins will be playing a one-game playoff in the Metrodome, and backed by 51,000-plus fans that have witnessed magical performance after magical performance over the past month.

The Twins will give their raucous fanbase one more magical victory, a win for the ages.