Twins top Tigers 5-4 in 10th, sit half-game behind White Sox

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — As a gift from third baseman Josh Donaldson, each of the Minnesota Twins now have dark blue jersey-style bathrobes with their name across the back.

Nelson Cruz even started draping his over the shoulders of each teammate who hit a homer. With the division race as tight as ever and a first-round home series on the line, the Twins couldn't be more relaxed in their defense of the AL Central title.

“I can’t wait to lounge in it in the bubble. I’m going to be doing a lot of that from now on,” said Max Kepler, who hit the tying home run in the eighth inning and the game-winning single with two outs in the 10th to give the Twins a 5-4 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night.

The Twins pulled to just a half-game behind the division-leading Chicago White Sox.

“With the scoreboard behind us, there’s a few glances in between the pitching changes, where you’re like, ‘All right. Let’s go. Keep this thing going,'" said Byron Buxton, who also homered along with Mitch Garver for the Twins.

Minnesota (34-22) has all four remaining games at home, where the Twins have the best record in baseball at 22-5. They wrap up the regular season by hosting Cincinnati this weekend.

The White Sox (34-21), who squandered a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the 10th inning and lost 5-3 at Cleveland, play twice more against the postseason-bound Indians before hosting a three-game weekend series against the crosstown first-place Cubs. The White Sox hold the tiebreaker over the Twins based on a better intradivision record. The teams split their 10-game season series.

If the Twins don’t retain their division title, they would still host one of the four best-of-three AL wild card series if they stay ahead of the New York Yankees (32-23).

After Jeimer Candelario's...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Twins-top-Tigers-5-4-in-10th-sit-half-game-15589537.php