ChiSox Win Playoff for AL Central

Jim Thome’s seventh-inning home run propelled the Chicago White Sox to a 1-0 victory tonight over the visiting Minnesota Twins in a one-game playoff to decide the American League’s Central Division. The White Sox bullpen made it stand up in clinching the South Siders a berth in a first-round series against Tampa Bay, to begin Thursday in St. Petersburg, Fla., the Tribune reports.

Lefthander John Danks went the first eight innings for the White Sox, allowing no runs on two hits before turning the game over to closer Bobby Jenks. Jenks recorded a 1-2-3 ninth to eliminate Minnesota. The victory means both Chicago teams are in the playoffs for the first time since 1906; the North Side’s Cubs face the Los Angeles Dodgers in a first-round series to begin tomorrow at Wrigley Field.
(More baseball playoffs stories.)