Minnesota Twins wouldn't quit, while the Detroit Tigers finished their historic fade. And there was little time for the Twins to celebrate, because the New York Yankees are waiting.
Alexi Casilla singled home the winning run with one out in the 12th inning and the Twins rallied for a 6-5 victory in Tuesday's one-game playoff, completing the Tigers' colossal collapse.
"This is the most unbelievable game I've ever played or seen," Twins shortstop Orlando Cabrera said.
As Gomez scored from second - ahead of a late throw from right field - Homer Hankies spiraled. The Twins celebrated and scrambled: They had 21 hours to get ready for Game 1 of the AL playoffs tonight at Yankee Stadium against New York ace CC Sabathia. He'll face rookie Brian Duensing.
The Tigers head home instead. They became the first team in history to blow a three-game lead with four games left.
"I guess it's fitting to say there was a loser in this game because we lost the game, but it's hard for me to believe there was a loser in this game," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "Both teams played their hearts out. You can't ask for anything more than that."
The Twins overcame a seven-game gap in the final month, went 17-4 to pull even on the final weekend and won their fifth division title in eight years.
"We just feel like we have nothing to lose," Twins outfielder Denard Span said.
Both teams had chance after chance to end it earlier, and each club scored in the 10th. Casilla was thrown out at the plate to end that inning by left fielder Ryan Raburn after tagging up.
The Tigers thought they'd taken the lead in the 12th. But with the bases loaded, plate umpire Randy Marsh ruled that Brandon Inge was not hit by a pitch by Bobby Keppel. The replay appeared to show the pitch grazing Inge's uniform.
"No matter what we did, it seems like it wasn't meant to be," Inge said. "This is the best game, by far, that I've ever played in no matter the outcome."
It was the first AL tiebreaker to go to extra innings, making up for Minnesota's disappointment last year when it lost 1-0 in Chicago to the White Sox in a tiebreaker. Had the Twins lost, it would've been the final baseball game at the Metrodome. Instead, the Twins get the Yankees - 7-0 against Minnesota this season.
"We're not afraid. I can guarantee you that," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said.
A day after Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings beat the Green Bay Packers at the Dome - "Monday Night Football" delayed this tiebreaker - the Twins pulled off a Tuesday Night Frenzy.
Gardenhire and Leyland made so many moves for defense and relief that the lineups and pitching staffs were depleted by the end.
Fernando Rodney (2-5) worked his longest appearance of the year, getting the last two outs of the ninth. But he didn't have enough to get out of the 12th. The Twins rushed out of the dugout in celebration even before Gomez reached the plate, and their comeback from a seven-game gap with 20 to play was complete.
Catcher Joe Mauer, who heard thunderous "M-V-P!" chants from the largest regular-season baseball crowd in Metrodome history throughout the game, led the Twins on a sprint around the warning track as they slapped hands with fans in the first rows.
"One of the best games I'll ever play in," said Mauer, who wrapped up his third AL batting title.
Keppel, Minnesota's eighth pitcher, loaded the bases with one out in the 12th. After the non-call on Inge, second baseman Nick Punto then scooped Inge's grounder and fired home in time to get the runner on the force. Then Keppel struck out Gerald Laird to squelch that rally.
Twins closer Joe Nathan found trouble in the ninth when consecutive singles put runners at the corners, but he got a strikeout and a line-drive double play to end that threat.
Inge's two-out double in the 10th gave the Tigers a 5-4 lead, but Michael Cuddyer sliced a triple past to left and scored on Matt Tolbert's single through the middle in the bottom of the inning.
On the potential winning sacrifice fly, Casilla strayed a bit too far from third and was thrown out by Raburn trying to score to end the inning. The split-second Casilla needed to retouch the base might have cost him the run.
He more than made up for that mistake later.
According to sports researcher STATS LLC, only three teams since 1901 have blown a three-game lead in the standings with four games left. The Houston Astros lost three straight games to Los Angeles in 1980, but they recovered to defeat the Dodgers in a tiebreaker game for the NL West. Milwaukee lost three in a row to Baltimore in 1982 to force a tie, but beat the Orioles in the final regular season game to win the AL East.
Rookie starter Rick Porcello pitched well beyond his 20 years for the Tigers, and Miguel Cabrera's two-run homer against Scott Baker in the third made it 3-0.
The Twins crept back, though, and Orlando Cabrera's two-run homer in the seventh gave them a brief lead that Magglio Ordonez ended with his leadoff homer in the eighth.
