I can’t tell you what was better — watching the Twins bounce back to beat the Royals in the afternoon or watching at Joe Senser’s in Bloomington as the Mighty Whiteys took care of Detroit and turned the AL Central into a tie. As the Detroit loss grew closer, more and more people turned their attention away from the other TV games and cheered on Chicago, a very strange feeling even when done for totally justifiable reasons. (Is it the best of both worlds when the White Sox win and AJ goes 0-for-5? That means he’s due for a big hit or two today, right?)

They were both better, and all the more because the Twins have total jurisdiction over their fate. If they win today and (if Detroit wins too) follow up by winning the one-game playoff on Tuesday, the Twins end this improbable stretch run with the division title and a postseason trip.

And they will end it largely owing to the unexpected heroics of Delmon Young and Michael Cuddyer. After going grand-slam deep against sad Lenny DiNardo on Friday night, Delmon opened the Twins lead from one run to four with a bases-loaded double off Zack Greinke, who should be as certain a choice for the Cy Young Award as Joe Mauer should be for M-V-P. At the time, it was a break-open-the-game hit. In time, it became incredibly needed because Jose Mijares again looked like a compilation of all the dreadful lefties who have pitched relief at the Dome over these 28 seasons.

And Cuddyer, reveling in the late-game decision to keep an overmatched left-handed September call-up on the mound in the eighth, got another of the clutch hits (his 31st home run) that run counter to the puke-spewing from some of those who pull apart statistics like string cheese.

Those people are not haters, they’re simply wrong — and somewhat stubborn.

For all of the grumpiness that has been a part of the season — including quite a bit that I have put forth — we are now in the final stages of a fantastic voyage. It’s like getting on the airplane thinking that you’re going to Cedar Rapids or Decatur and ending up in London or Paris. No matter the ultimate outcome, we will always have this ride to remember.

We watched Nick Blackburn pitch like a stud for the fourth straight outing, when excellence was needed, and we should be able to forgive his midseason horrors — all the while challenging him to pitch like this for enough of future seasons that he becomes the well-above-.500 pitcher that many of us think he can become. We are watching Delmon make a pitch for becoming a no-brainer choice in the outfield after this season, even when Justin Morneau returns to health. That would turn Carlos Gomez into a fourth outfielder and supreme high defensive replacement. We are seeing Denard Span gun himself into being one of the elite young outfielders in the majors, a .300+ hitter who plays well in center and dazzles in the corner outfield spots

We are seeing a team that still needs enhancements and improvements for 2010 and beyond. But it is a team that may find those moves easier to make, especially when it comes to free agents, because of the pluck that is being shown by the current roster. If you’re Chone Figgins and want out of L.A. … (Wait, that’s getting ahead of ourselves. Way ahead.)

By sundown, one of three things will happen — a division title, a one-game playoff or a mad rush that ends in disappointment. This from a team that was seven games behind the Tigers a month ago and 5 1/2 games back three Sundays ago. In two of those three outcomes, the Dome gets an extended farewell beyond the formalities of the regular-season finale.

I suspect that some of the members of the ‘87 Twins who are part of this weekend’s festivities see a little bit of themselves in what’s happening right now. And we all know how their season turned out.

As much as many of us have declared the season all but over, I’m perfectly willing and ready to be wrong.

I am ready to be the best White Sox fan you can imagine for a weekend.

I will never boo A.J. Pierzynski again if the White Sox sweep the Tigers.

I am prepared to believe in Jeff Manship tonight.

I will not cringe at Tolbert and Punto being in the lineup.

I want to donate nine more items to the k-bro foodshelf challenge. (The total is 47, as of today.)

I will double that number to 18 if the Twins sweep and the Tigers get swept.

I will expect Delmon Young and Jose Mijares to hug it out.

I believe Zack Greinke will get smacked around on Saturday.

I know Gardy will use his bullpen well.

I expect Jason Kubel will end the season with 100 RBIs.

What are you doing?

The flight attendant didn’t grab my Crackberry last night even though I ignored the first couple of warnings to turn off all electrical devices because the plane was going to take off soon. I was getting the 15-second refresh on mlb.com and the Twins had the bases loaded … and I figured that a 2-0 start was a good thing even though Jose Morales grounded into that double play. Unfortunately, the Gamecast gave no sense that Delmon Young’s bases-loaded single was anything other than a routine hit, so I didn’t know that the Twins would have led 5-0 in a ballpark if they hadn’t been playing in Comerica’s  jumbo-sized center field.

Then, as soon as the wheels hit the ground in the Twin Cities, I fired up the C’berry and …

DET 7 , MIN 2 (seventh inning)

$#!+The bad news was what happened, the good news was that I didn’t have to watch Carl Pavano serve those meatballs to Inge and Ordonez and the others.

Because  it’s pretty unfair to comment of what I didn’t see go down, I will let Joe’s game story and Jim’s column stand in for me.

For now, I’ll say out loud what I suspect most of us understand: Missing their first baseman, third baseman and 60 percent of their anticipated rotation and having underperformers playing daily in left field and at second and third bases, the Twins dragged out this thing for a long, long time in September. You can win with a cobbled together and mirror-filled lineup for a period of time. But not indefinitely.

And that definitely has caught up with the Twins this week.

Now, there’s nothing but hope.

That was a lot of baseball to watch and play to end up in the same position as where you started the day. The  Twins came that close to sweeping the Tigers, going up against two of their three best starters and battling until the final out on a great and maddening day of baseball that made you want to smack and salute — at various times — the person who created the concept of the doubleheader.

When it comes to pitching, doubleheaders are managed differently — even with the longer pitching staff of a September roster. Joe Nathan was likely to be the only significant pitcher who was going to see action in both games, which can be just about the only reason I can think of for bringing in Bobby Keppel with two outs and the bases loaded in the fifth inning of the nightcap. The Twins were losing 3-0 at the time and I was hoping for Gardy to spend Jesse Crain in that situation. As mediocre as Keppel has sometimes been, however, the one strength among his statistics is that he had allowed only 3 of 14 inherited runners to score this season — until the single by Brandon Inge made it 5-0.

Otherwise, the expanded roster  is mainly an illusion for a team in a pennant race. This time of year is a bit like basketball in that a manager pretty much shortens his bench for the home stretch. Redmond, Buscher and some others haven’t seen significant action for weeks, which explains why you only saw one pinch-hitter in the ninth inning when they Twins scored their final run — courtesy of two Detroit misplays. Yes, I was among those cringing when Nick Punto came to bat with two outs in the ninth (before his fly-ball double), but the way things have been played out lately, I don’t think there was a better option in that situation. No, not even Brendan Harris, whose on-base percentage has dipped below Punto’s and who has struggled more than usual against right-handers. The Twins were fortunate that Alexi Casilla returned from exile in Game 1 and doubled in the ninth to give the Twins a good chance to win without going into extra innings.

There have been several times this season when we have reached what we thought was a crossroads, when the Twins had to absolutely and totally win or else.

Today, we have reached the final, for-sure crossroads.

The Twins look to have favorable pitching match-ups today and Thursday and they … must … win … them … both.

To be two games down with three games to play (including a start against Zack Greinke) would mean that the White Sox would have to be our enablers this weekend, as they were last weekend when they took 2 of 3 from Detroit, and I’m just not willing to bet on that. I don’t even want to think about Friday’s game with Kansas City, when Gardy will have to anoint a starter that will leave us squeamish no matter whom he chooses. (Thanks to the Royals for choosing to start Greinke on Saturday, when he will likely face Nick Blackburn, and Lenny DiNardo, with his 7.52 ERA, on Friday.)

Risks will have to be taken that all of us would rather avoid. For example, does Gardy get Harris a start today or Thursday to get another bat ready for the weekend, at the expense of the decreased range that comes when he plays third base and Orlando Cabrera plays shortstop? I can argue both sides of that one, based both on past results and current performance. My answer means nothing compared to Gardy’s, which is why his stomach is churning — and I’m enjoying this belated ride, however frustrating it sometimes (often) becomes.

Finally, this is really it.

On the road and watched the last three innings in a bar in Granville, Ohio. No Dick ‘n Bert. Just Pink Floyd in the background.

No deep thoughts cuz writing on a Blackberry precludes such things.

More tonight! Stay away, rain!!