Minneapolis ? The Minnesota Twins rekindled some of the intensity they’d lost since clinching their division.

And more importantly, Eric Milton found his rhythm.

Minnesota's Michael Restovich, left, bear-hugs teammate Mike Ryan after Ryan scored the winning run against Cleveland in Minneapolis. The Twins won Tuesday, 4-3.

Bobby Kielty hit a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning Tuesday night to give Minnesota another comeback victory, 4-3 over the Cleveland Indians.

“We’re just trying to get back to playing our kind of baseball,” said Kielty, whose Twins were playing their first home game since clinching the AL Central in Cleveland Sept. 15. They were swept in Chicago last weekend to finish a 4-5 road trip.

“We were getting after it a lot better than the last few games,” manager Ron Gardenhire said. “Guys were out there smiling, having a little fun.”

Milton was able to crack a smile, too, after his best outing since a knee injury that put him on the disabled list for a month allowing a run, six hits and a walk while striking out three and throwing 95 pitches in 623 innings.

“I was just trying to get back into game shape,” said Milton, who still hasn’t won since Aug. 1 his last start before he got hurt. “Trying to get my focus on every single pitch.”

Even Jim Thome’s 48th homer, second in the AL, came on a decent pitch a fastball low and away leading off the fourth inning.

“His fastball had more pop than a week ago,” Thome said. “He threw some really nice breaking balls. Sure, he’s just off the disabled list. But he’s still a big guy they can count on because he does such a nice job.”

This was a critical start for Milton, who was pitching like Minnesota’s ace earlier this summer before tearing his left meniscus in August and then missed a month. He’s scheduled to pitch Game 4 of the Twins’ division series, if it’s necessary.

“I’m really, really proud of Eric Milton,” Gardenhire said. “He’s been working very, very hard to get himself back into position.”

The crowd of 21,634 was treated to a pregame ceremony honoring the Twins’ first postseason berth since 1991.

Highlights of the team’s champagne-drenched clinching celebration in Cleveland were shown on the scoreboard, players and coaches came out on the field to acknowledge the Homer Hanky-waving fans and a red banner that read “2002 AL Central Division Champions” was uncovered behind the foul pole in right field.

Rangers 2, Angels 1

Arlington, Texas The Anaheim Angels once again failed to clinch a playoff spot, losing their third in a row.

Anaheim dropped 3 1/2 games behind Oakland in the AL West with its sixth loss in eight games. The Athletics, already assured a playoff berth, played at Seattle later Tuesday. The Angels’ magic number for wrapping up their first playoff spot since 1986 remained at one.

Rookie Joaquin Benoit (4-4) held Anaheim to just five hits in seven innings.

Red Sox 4, White Sox 2

Chicago Nomar Garciaparra and Manny Ramirez each had RBIs for Boston, which won its fifth straight and kept its slim playoff hopes alive.

A Boston loss or an Anaheim win eliminates the Red Sox from the AL wild-card race.

Casey Fossum (5-4) allowed two homers among six hits in six innings.

Yankees 6, Devil Rays 0

New York Jason Giambi hit his 39th and 40th homers and Mike Mussina (17-10) pitched a two-hitter and struck out a season-high 12 in his second shutout of the season.

Raul Mondesi added a two-run double and Bernie Williams had his 200th hit of the season the Yankees, who snapped a four-game homerless drought their longest since 1998.

Blue Jays 11, Orioles 1

Toronto Carlos Delgado homered twice, and Roy Halladay (18-7) won his third straight start, combining with Brian Bowles and Jason Kershner on a four-hitter.

Delgado reached 30 homers for the sixth consecutive season and became the first Blue Jays player with five straight 100-RBI seasons when he hit a three-run homer off Sean Douglass (0-5) in the third inning. Vernon Wells went 4-for-5 with four RBIs.

Mariners 8, Athletics 7

Seattle Down to their last few outs, Seattle rallied to keep its faint playoff hopes alive, with Scott Podsednik’s RBI single giving them against Oakland.

A loss would have eliminated the Mariners from postseason contention. Instead, Podsednik’s two-out single capped a four-run comeback in the eighth inning and kept Seattle in the wild-card race.

The defeat dropped the A’s behind the New York Yankees in the chase for home-field advantage throughout the AL playoffs.