An awesome, exhausting day of baseball!

MINNEAPOLIS — The Twins took home another AL Central championship on Sunday and Joe Mauer became the first catcher to win an American League batting title by getting two hits in Minnesota's 5-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox.


About 35 minutes after Minnesota's game ended, the Kansas City Royals completed a big comeback and beat the Detroit Tigers 10-8 in 12 innings — giving the Twins their fourth division title in five years.


After starting the season just 25-33, they will open the playoffs at home Tuesday against AL West champion Oakland with ace Johan Santana on the mound.


The Twins huddled in the dugout after their game to watch the end of Detroit's game. When Esteban German got the go-ahead hit in the 12th for the Royals, Minnesota players leaped from the bench, spilled onto the field and starting high-fiving and hugging in a mass celebration.


Fans at the Metrodome who were still on their feet cheered loudly, "Lets Go Royals!" and exchanged high-fives with players who went into the stands to give congratulations.


The Twins began the day tied with Detroit for first place, but they needed a victory AND a Tigers loss to win the division title because Detroit won the season series against the Twins.


Detroit takes the AL wild card and will begin the postseason Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium.


Mauer went 2-for-4 to finish the season at .347, beating out New York's Derek Jeter (.343), for the batting crown, and Torii Hunter homered for the Twins, who trailed the Tigers by 12 1/2 games on May 27.


All but left for dead, they finished the season a stunning 71-33 to come into the final weekend all square with Detroit. Both teams lost the first two games of their respective series, and more than 45,000 in attendance at the Metrodome were hoping the Royals could help their club just one more time.

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