NEW YORK (WCBS 880 / AP) -- The New York Yankees will start the AL playoffs tonight.
Skipper Joe Girardi has picked CC Sabathia to start their AL Division Series opener against Minnesota, followed by A.J. Burnett for the second game and Andy Pettitte for Game 3.
Jorge Posada will catch for CC Sabathia, but Jose Molina will catch for A.J. Burnett.
SEE: Photos - New Yankee Stadium Decorated for Playoffs; Old Yankee Stadium Being Demolished 
The Yankees, holding home-field advantage throughout the postseason, had the choice of starting either today or tomorrow at 6:07 p.m. EDT against the Tigers-Twins winner. They picked to get going right away at Yankee Stadium.
With the schedule they chose, the Yankees will get a day off between Games 1 and 2. The other AL playoff series between Boston and the Los Angeles Angels out West, will now start tomorrow night.
A 162-game schedule couldn't decide the American League Central title, and Tuesday's one-game playoff went into extra innings.
The Minnesota Twins are the division champs after Alexi Casilla provided a walk-off single in the bottom of the 12th to complete a 6-5 win over the Detroit Tigers. Casilla's base hit ended a seesaw marathon in which the Tigers led in the seventh and 10th innings before falling.
The Tigers appeared to have a handle on the division crown after Brandon Inge (ihnj) laced a tiebreaking double with two out in the top of the 10th. But Michael Cuddyer (kuh-DY'-ur) led off the bottom half of the inning with a triple and scored on Matt Tolbert's one-out single, which also put Casilla on third as the potential winning run with one out.
Casilla tried to score the series-winning run from third on a liner to left by Nick Punto, but outfielder Ryan Raburn caught the ball and nailed Casilla at the plate to complete a double-play that extended the game.
Miguel Cabrera's two-run blast put the Tigers ahead 3-0 in the third before the Twins stormed back. Orlando Cabrera slammed a two-run homer that put Minnesota ahead 4-3 in the seventh. The lead was short-lived as Magglio Ordonez countered with a solo blast in the top of the eighth to force extra innings.
Bobby Keppel picked up the victory, getting the final out of the 11th and working in and out of a bases-loaded jam in the
12th. Fernando Rodney was the loser.
The game was a comeback within a comeback for the Twins, who trailed the Tigers by seven games on September 6 and were three games back with four to play. Minnesota forced the one-game playoff by winning four straight while the Tigers were dropping three of four.
Minnesota now readies for the New York Yankees and the AL division series, which begins on Wednesday. The Twins went 0-and-7 versus the Bombers this season and haven't beaten them since August 13, 2008.
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