The Tigers and Twins meet Tuesday night in Minneapolis for a one-game playoff to decide the AL Central crown. It could be the last baseball game ever played in the Metrodome, with the Twins moving into the new Target Field next season. Will this winner-take-all matchup live up to its predecessors?
Yankees 5, Red Sox 4; 1978 » This goes down as one of the more famous games in baseball history. The Red Sox led, 2-0, in the seventh inning, when Boston right-hander Mike Torrez surrendered back-to-back singles to Chris Chambliss and Roy White. Up stepped Earl Russell Dent, a .243 hitter in the regular season, known as “Bucky” to most of the American League. Dent, a 5-foot-9 shortstop, popped a three-run home run over the Green Monster to give the Yankees the lead for good.
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Rockies 9, Padres 8, 13 innings; 2007 » This game had it all — controversial calls, clutch hitting, nail-biting rallies and an extra-inning meltdown thrown in for good measure. The Rockies, winners of 21 of 22 games to close the season, trailed, 8-6, entering the bottom of the 13th, before scoring three runs off Trevor Hoffman in the bottom of the frame. Matt Holliday scored the game-winner with a half-belly flop, half-face plant dive across home plate that propelled Colorado into the postseason for the first time since 1995.
White Sox 1, Twins 0; 2008 » There are quite a few Minnesota holdovers from this game who also will be playing Tuesday night. Baseball purists were treated to an old-fashioned pitchers duel last Sept. 30, as John Danks and Nick Blackburn traded zeros through the first six innings. Ken Griffey Jr. cut down Michael Cuddyer trying to score in the fifth and Jim Thome launched a massive solo home run in the seventh to give the Southsiders a 1-0 lead. Danks and Bobby Jenks combined for a two-hit shutout.
