Alexi Casilla's Hit Ends Amazing Marathon, Gives Twins AL Central Crown

With one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, Minnesota Twins shortstop and second-place hitter Orlando Cabrera stepped to the plate. His team was behind by one run to the Detroit Tigers in the season’s 163rd game, and running out of outs with which to work.

Cabrera, 34, has always been a dependable player, but also a winner. That’s why the Twins traded for him midseason. They needed someone with veteran leadership, a steady defensive shortstop, a clutch hitter, and a great clubhouse guy. All that they received in Cabrera.

Ron Darling, calling the playoff tiebreaker on TBS, said before Cabrera stepped into the box that “he’s a winner…he always seems to get that big hit.” Cabrera then made Darling look like a genius by delivering that big hit. Tigers reliever Zach Miner, who had already allowed two singles and hit a batter in his outing, uncorked a first-pitch slider, which hung in the inner portion of the strikezone. Cabrera, righthanded, turned on the offering and laced it into left field. Ryan Raburn raced back to the warning track, looked for the wall, then, after a feeble leap, watched the ball fly over it and amongst the jubilant Twins fans.

Cabrera sprinted around the bases as the sellout crowd waived their white rally flags, and, with his teammates in the home dugout jumping for joy, slapped hands with his third-base coach, relishing in one of the biggest moments of his baseball life. He received congratulations from Nick Punto, who had led off the inning with a single, then celebrated with his elated teammates as the crowd continued its wild applause. Minnesota led, with a fantastic chance to win the American League Central and make the playoffs, something that seemed impossible not a month ago.

But the lead could not be held, as the resurgent Magglio Ordonez led off the eighth with a solo shot off Twins reliever Matt Guerrier, tying the game at four. The contest remained deadlocked entering the ninth, as Minnesota closer Joe Nathan, who obtained the final two outs of the eighth after being ushered in to clean up Guerrier’s two-on, with two out mess, returned to the mound and found himself in another predicament. Ramon Santiago slapped a bunt down the first base line for an infield single to begin the frame, then hustled to third as leadoff hitter Curtis Granderson made Nathan’s fastball-happy strategy backfire.

The Tigers had the go-ahead run 90 feet away with nobody out, but couldn’t push it across as Nathan buckled down. The 34-year old who entered the season-ending or season extending battle second in the American League with 47 saves managed to regain the movement on his fastball against Placido Polanco, a contact hitter who rarely strikes out. The Tigers gold-glove second baseman worked the count even at 2-2 and saw nothing but fastballs. Surely he would get another, as Nathan thought highly of his 94-mile per hour heater, but he guessed wrong, as Nathan fooled him with a filthy slider down low. Polanco went chasing, and down for the first out. A double-play would get Nathan out of the jam, and did, but not the tradition sort. Ordonez, looking for his third rbi of the game, lined a fastball sharply to Cabrera at short. Cabrera made the snag, then, alertly caught Granderson napping at first and fired a bullet to Michael Cuddyer for an incredible inning-ending double-play.

Nathan vehemently pumped his fist and screamed violently. Mauer pointed at him with determination. Cabrera ran off the field thrusting his fists in the air. The Twins, already winners of 16 of their past 20, weren’t about to let game 163 slip through their fingertips. They were determined to send the Tigers home, a foe they have looked up to in the standings since the early dog-days of summer.

It didn’t appear they would, however. Cabrera, with the winning run on second base and one out in the ninth, sharply hit a grounder that seemed destined for left-field. Third baseman Brandon Inge had other ideas, making a brilliant full-extension dive to his right, then throwing a strike to first to retire Cabrera and keep Punto motionless at second. The inning ended harmlessly after speedy center-fielder Carlos Gomez grounded into a force out, sending the game to the 10th inning still tied at four.

It wasn’t enough an extra game had to be played. These two eerily similar teams had to send it to extra-innings, too. That was fine by me, considering what transpired.

In the top of the tenth, Jesse Crain replaced Nathan and easily retired the first batter. The rest of his appearance didn’t go as smoothly. He hit pinch-hitter Aubrey Huff with a slider on an 0-2 pitch, and, after striking out Ryan Raburn, faced Brandon Inge, who made him pay for mislocating a fastball. The pitch, on a 1-1 count, was supposed to be thrown well inside, possibly even brush Inge back, but it caught too much of the plate and hung up for Inge’s liking. The third-baseman crushed the mistake down the left-field line. On the Metrodome turf, the ball bounded and quickly reached the wall. Delmon Young, with a cannon of an arm, came up with it, threw a frozen rope to Cabrera, the caught off man, who in turn did the same to Mauer, waiting at the plate. But Don Kelly, who pinch-ran for Huff, beat the throw, sliding safely into Mauer, who had the plate blocked but without the ball. The Tigers dugout exploded, and young Kelly was mobbed upon entering.

They celebrated just as Cabrera and the Twins had in the seventh, except this time the 55,000 that packed the Metrodome were silent. The celebrations were similar in another way: both were premature, and disappointment soon followed.

Minnesota, down to quite possibly the final three outs of their season, put their faith in Cuddyer, Young, and Brendan Harris, the three who began the bottom half of the tenth. Two of the three reached: Cuddyer led of the frame with a triple, then after Young grounded out, Harris walked. Harris was replaced on the basepaths by Alexi Casilla and, after a meeting on the mound between reliever Fernando Rodney, his infield, and manager Jim Leyland, Matt Tolbert stepped to the plate.

After swinging through a changeup and watching a fastball fall in for strike-two, Tolbert fought off the third offering. It bounded past the mound, then barely evaded Polanco’s stab to crawl into center-field. Cuddyer scored easily to tie the game. The Metrodome went crazy once more. It wouldn’t be the last time, too.

The Twins couldn’t push across the winning run in the tenth: Raburn snared Punto’s liner then, with help from catcher Gerald Laird, gunned out Casilla on a close play at the plate. Both teams put zeroes on the board in the eleventh as well, though not in such dramatic fashion.  That drama returned in the twelfth. Minnesota reliever Bobby Keppel ran into trouble in the top half, allowing a one-out walk, then a single, which forced him to intentionally award Raburn first base, giving the Twins a chance to get a force out at any base. They took advantage of that, as Punto collected Inge’s scolded grounder and fired home to retire the slow-footed Miguel Cabrera. Keppel’s job now was to get Laird out, and he did, striking him out to end a six-pitch battle and the inning.

Then came the ten minutes of baseball the Twins were waiting for. Gomez led off the frame with a single, then moved to second on Cuddyer’s well-placed groundout. Because he was in scoring position, Rodney elected to walk the ever-dangerous Young to set up a double-play possibility. Casilla, who’s batting just .202 in limited playing time, was taken lightly by the Tigers and Rodney.

He made them wish they’d pitched to Young, as he conjured up one of the biggest hits in Twins history, rivally the home-run hit by the late great Kirby Puckett to win Game 6 of the 1991 World Series, the last time the franchise won a championship. After taking a changeup for strike-one and one outside, he watched as a 95-mile per hour fastball came his way. The fans stared in anticipation, some waving their towels, some silent. Casilla decided to swing, and see where it led. He turned on the high pitch and saw it bound through the right-side of the infield. The crowd let out a single yelp of joy as Gomez flew around third. Right-fielder Clete Thomas didn’t come up throwing, managing just a dejected jog to the white sphere that rolled to him on the turf. The yell from the crowd grew louder, and reached its pinnacle once Gomez spread his arms as he reached home-plate. His teammates were right behind him, and mobbed him after he slid face-first into home. Casilla was surrounded as well, while the Tigers, losers of five of their last seven games, walked somberly off the field and into a depressingly quiet clubhouse.

The Twins had won the American League Central. A month ago, when they were behind the Tigers by seven games, their season seemed lost. With four games to go, they were three back in the standings, and their season appeared lost. Many times in this amazing marathon, it appeared their season would end. But they persevered throughout the first 162 games, and did the same in the 163rd to accomplish a feat they and their fans always believed possible.