DETROIT -- A few hours after the celebration ended, baseball begins again as the Twins face the Tigers at Comerica Park (12:10 p.m., FSN).
Lefthander Devin Smeltzer will pitch for the Twins against Jordan Zimmermann.
Ian Miller is searching for his first major league hit and will lead off for the Twins and play left in and outfield with Ryan LaMarre and Jake Cave.
LaMonte Wade Jr. is at first base.
There was a brand new first baseman's mitt on Wade's chair when he arrived in the clubhouse this morning. Has he ever played the position, as he is scheduled to do today, for the first time as a pro? "Sure, in college," five years ago, Wade said with a smile.
"We want to win every game," manager Rocco Baldelli said dutifully, but it's clear that becoming second Twins team ever to win 100 games, or tying the 1965 team's 102-win record, isn't a priority now. The only thing that can possibly be decided in final four games would be home field should the Twins and Atlanta end up playing in the World Series.
The Twins have a chance to become the first major league team to hit 300 home runs in a season. They're tied with the Yankees, their likely playoff opponent, at 299.
The plan to pitch Jose Berrios tomorrow in Kansas City remains intact, Baldelli said, and the Twins will script predetermined innings for each potential postseason reliever for the weekend series, as they do in spring training. Baldelli said there are "lots" of roster decisions to make.
The celebration was festive, and the players enjoyed it.
Here's RandBall's take on the clinching game Wednesday night, and why it was perfect.
Jim Souhan was in the clubhouse for this column.
