Well, now we know: A 163rd game to the 162-game regular season, the first time the Twins have been involved in such a one-game playoff.

Gavin Floyd, on thee days rest, was better than I expected. Freddie Garcia was more effective than I expected but about as durable as expected as well. The Tiger bullpen did what the Tiger bullpen has done pretty much all season. And the White Sox ran away from Detroit in the middle innings.

So it's Nick Blackburn vs. John Danks on Tuesday evening. Here's the thing about Blackburn: While he's given up 22 home runs in 187 innings this season — not a good rate — eight of them came in two outings (June 27 at Milwaukee, Sept. 14 at Baltimore) totalling 8.6 innings. Exclude those two games, and it's 14 homers in 178.3 innings, which is a good rate.

This is particularly important against the White Sox, because they score almost half their runs on home runs. Their record in games in which they don't hit a homer is abysmal. The key to beating the White Sox is to keep them in the park. Blackburn, if he's on, is as good a bet to do that as anybody in the rotation.

The key phrase in that last sentence is "if he's on." His September ERA is an unsightly 6.75. He's well past his career high for innings pitched.

It's asking a lot of him to stop the Sox. But that's his job.

e-mail Edward Thoma