It's a tie! Sort of.

Celebration
The Twins celebrate Thursday after beating the Royals at the Metrodome.
MPR Photo/Brandt Williams

This year's season for the Twins has been marked by a series of setbacks and comebacks. It seemed like before the season even started, they were behind the Detroit Tigers by 12 1/2 games.

And as they tried to catch up, they began losing key players to injury. Some, like Shannon Stewart and Francisco Liriano, will not be back this season. Team captain Torii Hunter has missed games with foot and ankle injuries. Lew Ford and Rondell White have had problems with bum hamstrings.

The Twins were also prepared to play without veteran pitcher Brad Radke, who, after playing for weeks in pain, was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his throwing shoulder.

But the Twins patched up their lineup with a crop of rookies from the farm system and have been charging toward first place since mid-June.

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Before Thursday's game, the Twins had fought all the way back to 1/2 game out of first place. And Radke had battled back through his injury to start the game. And 26,000 thousand fans came to the Dome to cheer him on.

Radke threw 57 pitches over five innings. He gave up three hits and one unearned run. But Royals pitcher Luke Hudson kept the Twins from scoring for seven innings. And with two outs in the ninth inning, were on the verge of a shutout victory.

Until Joe Mauer came to the plate.

Mauer smacked a fastball over the left field fence sending the game into extra innings. Twins closer Joe Nathan kept the Royals off the scoreboard in the top of the 10th and set the stage for a dramatic bottom half of the inning. Justin Morneau began with a single. He moved to third base on a hit by Rondell White. Jason Tyner was intentionally walked to load the bases for Jason Bartlett.

Bartlett lined a ball into centerfield which drove in the winning run.

"It was very exciting," says manager Ron Gardenhire. "Our fans were into it, our team was into it. We know what's at stake here."

Gardenhire says he was particularly excited about the performance of Brad Radke. Radke is a veteran pitcher with playoff experience. Gardenhire says the team could use him in the starting rotation for the post-season.

"We're going to see how he feels over the next couple of days. But I'm pretty excited," he says. "I know that. I don't know about other people, but I'm pretty excited because our rotation for the playoffs has been kind of --- we've been trying to figure it out as we go here as we get into the playoffs. Right now it feels pretty good. I'm pretty excited that he threw the ball the way he did. Now we have to see where he's at over the next couple of days."

Radke's return also impressed his teammates, including his catcher Joe Mauer. Mauer, who's on the verge of winning the American League batting title, says Radke's performance was inspirational.

"You know he's been hurting the last couple of years," says Mauer. "He still wants the ball every fifth day. That's amazing. He's {got} a broken shoulder and he wants to come back and throw. And if he keeps throwing like that, it's going to be a big bonus for us."

Radke says he wanted to pitch more than five innings, but was held back in order to spare his shoulder. And he says he's looking forward to being able to pitch in the post season. But right now, Radke wants to see how his shoulder will feel before making plans.

"I know I'll feel like crap tomorrow and probably the next day," says Radke. "But, I'll take it."

For Radke, Thursday's win may have been his last regular-season appearance at the dome. The 11-year veteran who's pitched more opening day games for the Twins than any other pitcher in team history, has been talking about retiring after this season. Radke fought back tears as he talked about how he tried to control his emotions as he prepared for the game.

"It wasn't easy. Just before the game. I did a lot of thinking and ... sorry," choked Radke, as he walked away from reporters.

The Twins will try to move ahead of the Tigers this weekend as they face the defending world champion Chicago White Sox. The series begins tonight at the Metrodome. If the season ends with a tie between the Tigers and Twins, the Tigers will win the division, because they've got a better record against the Twins.

The division playoffs begin next week.