MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Twins have been chasing the Chicago White Sox most of the season in a tight AL Central race.

Well, it's come down to the final week, and the young Twins are busy showing the White Sox how to thrive in the clutch.

Nick Blackburn fought through five innings and the maligned Minnesota bullpen didn't flinch, pitching the Twins past Mark Buehrle and the White Sox, 3-2, last night to pull within a half-game of first-place Chicago.

"It was just a big mind boost for me," said Blackburn, who acknowledged overthinking his struggles during a recent slump. "I just tried to convince myself to make a pitch and not try to press and overthrow anything."

Buehrle (14-12) gave the Sox the big game performance they needed after he fell behind 3-1 in the second inning. He didn't have much help, though, beyond a homer and two RBIs by Ken Griffey Jr.

Blackburn (11-10) gave up eight hits and two walks, but he was tough enough when it counted to hold the lead. Craig Breslow, Boof Bonser and Jose Mijares followed, and Joe Nathan handled the ninth for his 39th save of the season and 200th of his career.

"You couldn't ask for anything better than that," Blackburn said. "They came in, did their job and got those guys out. No drama. It was great."

Rays 11, Orioles 6: Akinori Iwamura had two hits and three RBIs as visiting Tampa Bay rallied from an early 5-0 deficit to complete a four-game sweep of Baltimore.

However, Boston's win over Cleveland meant the Rays will have to wait at least until today to celebrate their first AL East title. One more win by Tampa Bay or a loss by Boston will provide the Rays their first division crown.

Red Sox 5, Indians 4: One game after clinching a playoff berth, Boston jumped on Fausto Carmona for four runs in the bottom of the first inning, then pinch-hitter Jeff Bailey tripled and scored the go-ahead run in the eighth to beat Cleveland.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Braves 10, Phillies 4: Chipper Jones hit his second career pinch-homer as visiting Atlanta beat Philadelphia, which remained 1 1/2 games ahead of the New York Mets in the NL East.

The Phillies, whose magic number for winning the division dropped to three, will finish the regular season with a three-game series against last-place Washington starting tomorrow.

Cubs 9, Mets 6: Derrek Lee blooped a go-ahead RBI double in the 10th inning off Luis Ayala, Aramis Ramirez followed with a two-run homer and visiting Chicago rallied from a four-run deficit to defeat New York, which dropped into a tie with Milwaukee for the NL wild-card lead.

New York plays Chicago today and ends the regular season with three home games against Florida.

Brewers 4, Pirates 2: CC Sabathia (10-2) gave up four hits over seven innings while striking out a season-high 11 and host Milwaukee rallied past Pittsburgh to pull even with the New York Mets in the NL wild-card race.

Milwaukee won its 11th straight over Pittsburgh in its desperate quest to make the postseason for the first time since 1982. The two teams play again today and Milwaukee finishes the regular season at home with three games against Chicago starting tomorrow.

Dodgers 12, Padres 4: Manny Ramirez and Nomar Garciaparra homered, and host Los Angeles beat San Diego to clinch a tie for its first NL West championship in four years. Los Angeles has a four-game lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks with four games remaining.

The Dodgers can clinch their fifth postseason berth since 1988 this afternoon if the Diamondbacks lose at St. Louis, or tonight when they face the Padres in their final home game of the regular season.