Twins Clinch Playoff Spot With Victory

With his blue shirt soaked to the skin and champagne and beer dripping off his goggles, Torii Hunter led a toast in a circle of his teammates.

Colored bottles raised, the Twins cheered their spot in the playoffs but made clear they’re still pushing for the division title.

“It ain’t done yet!” Hunter yelled.

Minnesota capped a remarkable turnaround by clinching a wild-card spot Monday night, beating the Kansas City Royals, 8-1, behind home runs from Hunter and Justin Morneau.

Boof Bonser came up with another strong start to help the Twins reach the playoffs for the fourth time in five years -- a feat that certainly looked unlikely when they were 25-33 in early June.

“This is fun, man. Every time!” said Hunter, one of only two position players left from the 2002 team that won the first of three straight AL Central championships. “It’s sweeter, because we were written off,” he said.

After Joe Nathan pitched a scoreless ninth, the Twins streamed out of the dugout and jumped up and down in the middle of the diamond before taking the party up to the clubhouse.

Minnesota’s win, coupled with Chicago’s 14-1 loss to Cleveland, eliminated the defending World Series champion White Sox from contention. The Twins can now focus on the division race, in which they trail the Tigers by one game. With Detroit and Minnesota in the playoffs, this marks the first time that the wild card will come out of the AL Central.

Bonser is 4-0 with a 2.20 earned-run average in his last five starts, probably cementing his spot in the playoff rotation.

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ROUNDUP

at Seattle 10, Oakland 9: Ichiro Suzuki had five hits and scored the winning run in the 10th inning and the Mariners ended a 15-game losing streak against Oakland with a victory that kept the Athletics’ magic number at two for clinching the AL West title. Willie Bloomquist lined an RBI single with two out in the 10th to give the Mariners a comeback win after they rallied from a 9-3 deficit. They scored three times in the ninth against closer Huston Street to tie it.

at Cleveland 14, Chicago 1: The defending World Series champions, overtaken by two teams in their division this season, were eliminated from postseason contention with this loss, combined with Minnesota’s victory.

New York 16, at Tampa Bay 1: Bobby Abreu and Hideki Matsui hit three-run homers in the Yankees’ six-run first inning.

at Toronto 5, Boston 0: Shaun Marcum and Jason Frasor combined on a two-hitter and the Blue Jays moved into second place in the AL East.