2009 American League Central tie-breaker game
Detroit Tigers 5
Minnesota Twins 6


Tuesday, October 6, 2009—4:08 p.m. (CDT) at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Team

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

 10 11 12

R

H

E

Detroit

0

0

3

0

0

0

0

1

0

 1 0 0

5

12

1

Minnesota

0

0

1

0

0

1

2

0

0

 1 0 1

6

12

0

WP: Bob Keppel (1–1)   LP: Fernando Rodney (2–5)
Home runs:
DET: Miguel Cabrera (34), Magglio Ordóñez (9)

MIN: Jason Kubel (28), Orlando Cabrera (9)



@ retrosheet.org

The 2009 American League Central tie-breaker game was a one-game extension to Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2009 regular season, played by the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins to determine the champion of the American League's (AL) Central Division. It was played at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on October 6, 2009. The Twins won the game 6–5 in extra innings and advanced to the 2009 AL Division Series where they were swept by the New York Yankees; the Tigers failed to qualify for the postseason.

A tie-breaker was necessary after both teams finished the season with identical win–loss records of 86–76. The Twins, who had won the regular season series against the Tigers, 11 games to 7, were thus awarded home field due to a rules change prior to the 2009 season. It was the third tie-breaker played in MLB from 2007–2009, an unprecedented number. It was also the second consecutive tiebreaker for the AL Central title after 2008, when the Chicago White Sox defeated the Twins to win the division. In baseball statistics tie-breakers are counted as the 163rd regular season game played by both teams and all events in the game are added to regular season statistics. This was the Twins' final regular season game at the Metrodome as the team moved to Target Field for the 2010 season. The tie-breaker was later named the Best Regular-Season Game of the Decade by Sports Illustrated.

Twins' catcher Joe Mauer won the 2009 American League batting title, and his final batting average for the season moved from .364 to .365 in the game. The Tigers became the first team in MLB history to have a three-game division lead with four games remaining and lose the division.