2008 American League Central Tie-breaker Game - Aftermath

Aftermath

With the victory, the White Sox earned their first playoff berth since their win in the 2005 World Series. However, they lost to the eventual pennant-winning Tampa Bay Rays, three games to one. Statistically, the game counted as the 163rd regular season game. Thome's home run, for example, was his 34th of the season. This total brought him a tie for fourth most in the league. Danks lowered his earned run average from 3.47 to 3.32 in the game, which moved him from a tie for tenth-best in the league with Zack Greinke to fifth place. Mauer, Morneau, and White Sox outfielder Carlos Quentin won Silver Slugger Awards for their offensive performances in the 2008 regular season. Mauer also won a Rawlings Gold Glove Award that year. This was the last tie-breaker with home field determined by a coin flip. Following the 2008 season MLB amended their rules, leaving future tie-breaker sites to be determined on a series of performance-based criteria beginning with the head-to-head record between the teams.