Twins finally get to party on the field

CHICAGO (AP) — Brad Radke stood in a corner of the Minnesota Twins' clubhouse, spraying beer on anyone he could get. Torii Hunter could only grin as two teammates threw a cooler full of cold water on him. Manager Ron Gardenhire laughed when several players poured beer down his back.

And Jacque Jones walked around the room, smiling as he took it all in.

”This,” Jones said, ”is what it's all about.”

The Twins clinched their third straight AL Central title Monday night with an 8-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox. Threatened with contraction, forced by economics to replace more than half of their team, written off as little more than a Triple-A team — none of it seems to matter. Minnesota just finds a way to keep on winning, making the playoffs for three straight seasons for the first time in its 44-year history.

”Three times!” Hunter screamed. ”How about that?

If ever there was a year for someone else to win the division, this was it. The Twins lost Eddie Guardado, LaTroy Hawkins, A.J. Pierzynski, Eric Milton, Dustan Mohr, Denny Hocking and Kenny Rogers in the offseason, and traded Doug Mientkiewicz in July.

Yet it was the Twins partying Monday while the White Sox, the preseason favorites, trudged glumly into their clubhouse.

”They are a better team,” Paul Konerko said. ”They have proven that the last three years. No question.”

They know how to celebrate, too.

The game was all but over after the first inning, when Hunter and Corey Koskie hit two-run homers off Mark Buehrle. The Twins hung over the railing in front of their dugout for the final inning, and Ron Gardenhire inserted Jones, one of the few players left over from the team that was threatened with contraction, as a defensive replacement so the veteran could be on the field.

When Timo Perez popped out to shortstop Cristian Guzman for the final out, the Twins rushed onto the field for a group hug at second base. After bopping around for several minutes, the Twins walked toward the dugout to exchange handshakes, hugs and high-fives with the coaching staff.

After congratulating each of his players, Gardenhire turned around to salute the Twins fans who stood behind the dugout, cheering and clapping.

”That was beautiful,” Gardenhire said, his shirt drenched with champagne. ”One (title) doesn't mean more than the others. They're all great. It means everything in the world.”

Especially when so many people had counted them out.

The Twins had a clubhouse full of new faces when they arrived at spring training, and no one — even the players — was quite sure what to make of the team. Just when they seemed to get things figured out, they were hit by a rash of injuries.

Kansas City had upgraded its roster, and Chicago was stocked with pitching and hitting. Surely, one of those teams would end Minnesota's run.

”We quit worrying about the White Sox, the Tigers, the Indians,” Gardenhire said. ”We just play our game.”

And that game was good enough to beat everyone else.

The White Sox led the division as recently as July 24, but the Twins had moved a half-game in front by the time they arrived in Chicago two days later. They won their first game to extend their lead, and then delivered the knockout blow in the second game.

Late in the game, Hunter bowled over Chicago catcher Jamie Burke at the plate with a hard shoulder block. The hit not only left Burke sore, it bruised the White Sox's psyche so badly they never recovered. They lost seven straight, and 11 of 13. By Aug. 7, the Twins had a seven-game lead and the White Sox were in third place.

Minnesota is 41-22 since the All-Star break, and has won 11 of 13. The White Sox are 13 1/2 games back and were officially eliminated Monday.

”Look at all the injuries we had and look at all the guys who came up and filled those roles. They did a great job,” Koskie said. ”That's what happens. Players are going to get hurt. Young guys did a great job doing their thing.”

One of those was Carlos Silva (13-8), who scattered seven hits and two runs over seven innings to win his third straight start.

Mark Buehrle (14-10) got hit hard in losing his second straight start, both to the Twins. He gave up seven runs, four of them homers, and 10 hits in eight-plus innings. He's allowed a career-high 32 home runs this season.

Buehrle also walked three and struck out three.

”Hopefully we can look at (them clinching) and come back with a bigger heart and win next year,” Buehrle said.

The Twins will likely have something to say about that. First, though, there's the playoffs.

”You work your butts off in spring training and throughout the year season to get to this point,” Radke said. ”But it's not over. We just had to finish the year strong and play good in the first round.”