"I gauruntee that the Twins will not Clinch tonight"-Mark Buerhle, 9-20-04
Twins clinch AL Central title
Minnesota wins third straight championship
By Mark Sheldon / MLB.com
Torii Hunter hits a double in the fifth inning against the White Sox's Mark Buehrle. (Nam Y. Huh/AP)
CHICAGO -- Talk about getting some extra satisfaction.
Not only did the Twins clinch their third straight American League Central title Monday night, but also did it at a bitter rival's ballpark.
Resigned to second place for what will be the third consecutive year, White Sox players and fans could only watch Minnesota celebrate on the field after taking an 8-2 victory at U.S. Cellular Field.
In the ninth, reliever Juan Rincon got pinch-hitter Timo Perez to hit a lazy popup near shortstop, which was caught by Cristian Guzman.
Just like that, the magic number to clinch the division jumped down from two to zero.
Players gathered in a subdued celebration near second base, exchanging high-fives before jumping up and down and coming off the field to a mixed chorus of cheers and boos from 21,991 fans.
It was the first time in club history that the Twins have won three division titles in a row -- all under manager Ron Gardenhire in his first three years on the job.
Minnesota looked like it wanted to dispense with the pre-clinch drama by immediately ambushing White Sox starter Mark Buehrle in the first inning. Torii Hunter lifted a two-run home run the other way that just cleared the right-field fence. Moments later, Matthew LeCroy doubled off the left-field wall. Michael Cuddyer reached when his grounder hit LeCroy between second and third.
That set up Corey Koskie, who powered a Buehrle first pitch into the left-field seats for a 4-0 Minnesota lead. More long balls flew later with Henry Blanco's fourth-inning homer and a ninth-inning blast from Luis Rivas.
Twins starter Carlos Silva (13-8) pitched a solid seven innings, and took a shutout into the seventh. It ended when Jose Valentin launched a two-run homer to right field.
Those were the only runs surrendered by Silva, who gave up seven hits and one walk on his way to his third straight win. The right-hander is 3-0 with a 2.02 ERA in his last six starts, which should place him squarely in front for the third spot in the playoff rotation.
Rincon closed it out with two scoreless innings of relief.
The Twins' drive to the clinch went into high gear this month with wins in 11 of their last 13 games and 15 in the last 19.