updated 8:54 p.m. ET Oct. 1, 2006

MINNEAPOLIS - The Homer Hankies will be waving in the Metrodome again this postseason, and a little sooner than expected.

The Twins took home another AL Central championship on Sunday and Joe Mauer became the first catcher to win an American League batting title by getting two hits in Minnesota’s 5-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

About 35 minutes after Minnesota’s game ended, the Kansas City Royals completed a big comeback and beat the Detroit Tigers 10-8 in 12 innings — giving the Twins their fourth division title in five years.

After starting the season just 25-33, they will open the playoffs at home Tuesday against AL West champion Oakland with ace Johan Santana on the mound.

When asked if there could be a better script written, Michael Cuddyer said, “Yeah, we win the World Series. That’s a good script right there.”

The Twins huddled in the dugout after the final out to watch the end of Detroit’s game. When Esteban German got the go-ahead hit in the 12th for the Royals, Minnesota players leaped from the bench, spilled onto the field and starting high-fiving and hugging in a mass celebration.

More than 30,000 fans at the Metrodome stayed to watch the end of the Tigers’ game and cheer in a euphoric scene.

“They said we couldn’t do it!” Torii Hunter exclaimed over and over again in a champagne and beer-soaked clubhouse. “I’m going to buy the whole Kansas City team a bottle of champagne! Every one of them! Dom Perignon.”

The Twins began the day tied with Detroit for first place, but they needed a victory AND a Tigers loss to win the division title because Detroit won the season series 11-8 against the Twins.

The Tigers get the AL wild card and will begin the postseason Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium.

Mauer went 2-for-4 to finish the season at .347, beating out New York’s Derek Jeter (.343), for the batting crown, and Hunter homered for the Twins, who trailed the Tigers by 10½ games on Aug. 7.

All but left for dead, they finished the season a stunning 71-33 to come into the final weekend all square with Detroit. Both teams lost the first two games of their respective series, and more than 45,000 in attendance at the Metrodome were hoping the Royals could help their club just one more time.

They certainly did.

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Asked if he’d seen anything like this in all his years in baseball, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said, “Not as a manager, not as a coach, not as a player, so I guess not. Ninety-six wins, that’s a division title right there.”

In a wild atmosphere at the Dome, the crowd was at once cheering on hometown boy Mauer and the Twins while keeping an eye glued on the scoreboard to watch the play-by-play being posted for the Royals and Tigers.

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The energy was sapped early when Detroit led 7-4, but the crowd was energized when the Royals rallied to take an 8-7 lead in the eighth.

It was the fifth inning when that score popped up on the board, and Mauer, who was the DH on Sunday, had to step out of the box and call for time to let things settle down. He stepped back in and calmly ripped a single to left.

Mauer came into the day leading Jeter by just .001 in the AL batting title race. Jeter went 1-for-5 against Toronto to finish at .343.

The St. Paul native with the sweet left-handed swing and sideburns struck out in the first inning, but doubled down the left-field line to start a rally in the fourth and clinched it with a single in the fifth.

Only three catchers have won the batting title, the last being Ernie Lombardi with the Boston Braves in 1942. Lombardi won it with Cincinnati in 1938, and Cincinnati’s Bubbles Hargrave was the first to do it in 1926.

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