--RHP Nick Blackburn will start Tuesday in Chicago in the one-game playoff with the White Sox, manager Ron Gardenhire said. The Twins had planned to use RHP Kevin Slowey, but Gardenhire decided Slowey, who was struck with a line drive in the wrist in his last start, won't be ready to pitch.
--C Joe Mauer has all but clinched his second American League batting title. Mauer finished Sunday's game 2-for-4 with a .330 batting average. The only player within striking distance is Boston's Dustin Pedroia at .326. With the Twins playing a one-game playoff against Chicago on Tuesday, that will count toward Mauer's regular-season average, but he'd have to go 0-for-7 to lose the title. --With Sunday's attendance of 42,942, the Twins' season total was 2,302,431, their largest regular-season attendance figure since 1992 and the third-highest in team history.
--Minnesota's left-handed relief corps of Craig Breslow, Dennys Reyes and Jose Mijares have a combined ERA of 1.05 in September. Since Aug. 16, Breslow has a 0.54 ERA with an opposing batting average of .145. Mijares has allowed just one run over nine innings.
BY THE NUMBERS: 3 -- Hits in the last 27 at-bats for struggling 1B Justin Morneau, through Sept. 28.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "We just have to come back tomorrow and find a way to win two games. We have to take care of our own business." -- OF Denard Span, following a disappointing loss to the Royals on Sept. 26.
