CHICAGO – If the Minnesota Twins couldn’t win the AL Central title at home, Chicago was the next-best place for a party.

Torii Hunter and Corey Koskie each hit a two-run homer in the first inning, and the Twins clinched their third straight division crown on their main rivals’ home turf, beating the Chicago White Sox 8-2 Monday night.

Henry Blanco and Luis Rivas also homered. When Timo Perez popped out to shortstop Cristian Guzman for the final out, the Twins rushed onto the field for hugs and handshakes at second base.

The scoreboard flashed congratulations to the Twins. It’s the first time Minnesota has won three straight division titles in its 44-year history.

As if watching the Twins celebrate in their own park wasn’t bad enough, the loss officially eliminated the White Sox from the playoffs. They have lost seven games in a row to Minnesota.

And it could have been worse. Carlos Silva (13-8) had a shutout going until the seventh inning, when Jose Valentin hit a two-run homer. Silva scattered seven hits over seven innings to win his third straight start.

Mark Buehrle (14-10) got hit hard in losing his second straight start, both to the Twins. He gave up seven runs, four of them homers, and 10 hits in eight-plus innings. He’s now allowed a career-high 32 home runs this season.

Buehrle also walked three and struck out three.

Blue Jays 6, Yankees 3

NEW YORK – Gustavo Chacin became the first lefty starter to win his major league debut against the Yankees in the Joe Torre era, pitching the Toronto Blue Jays past New York 6-3 Monday night.

With a shaved head, a 19-2 record in the minors and fresh off a playoff win at Double-A, Chacin held the AL East leaders to a mere four hits before leaving in the eighth inning.

The loss to last-place Toronto was just the Yankees’ fourth defeat in 15 games. They were coming off an emotional two days in which they battered Boston, outscoring the Red Sox 25-5.

A crowd of only 10,732 saw a game rescheduled less than two weeks ago.

Cubs 5-2, Marlins 1-5

MIAMI – The Chicago Cubs’ 24-hour visit to Miami included a brief stay atop the NL wild-card race. Then they lost their lead because they couldn’t beat David Weathers.

The journeyman right-hander, making his first start in six years, limited Chicago to two hits and one run in five innings, and the Florida Marlins won 5-2 for a split of their doubleheader Monday.

Mark Prior allowed just five hits in 7 2-3 innings and out-pitched Carl Pavano in the opener to help the Cubs win 5-1.

The Marlins, who had hoped to gain ground with a sweep, instead remained 4 games behind San Francisco. The defending World Series champions have no games left against any of the four teams ahead of them.

Tigers 3, Indians 1

DETROIT – Mike Maroth pitched splendidly into the seventh, and Dmitri Young and Brandon Inge homered to give the Detroit Tigers a 3-1 win over the Cleveland Indians on Monday night.

Maroth (11-11) pitched 6 2-3 scoreless innings, allowing six hits while striking out three.

Detroit took a 2-0 lead in the first on Young’s two-out, two-run homer.

Inge led off the fourth with a homer to make it 3-0. He drilled the first pitch of the inning from Scott Elarton over the fence in left-center.

Royals 6, Devil Rays 3

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Calvin Pickering hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the eighth inning Monday night to help the Kansas City Royals defeat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 6-3.

Brian Anderson (5-11) allowed three runs and seven hits over 7 2-3 innings to win his third straight decision. Shawn Camp got the final out in the eighth and Jeremy Affeldt pitched the ninth for his 12th save in 15 opportunities.

Aubrey Huff and Carl Crawford homered for Tampa Bay.

, which has lost 17 of 21.

Pickering’s opposite-field drive off Jorge Sosa (4-5) put the Royals up 5-3. He appeared to hurt his left leg earlier in the at-bat and trotted slowly around the bases.

David DeJesus made it 6-3 in the ninth inning when he hit a double and scored on a two-base throwing error. Crawford fielded the ball of the left-field wall and attempted a throw to second base, but the ball squirted out of his hand into center field. DeJesus came all the way around, beating Rocco Baldelli’s throw to the plate.

Tampa Bay led 2-0 after one inning on Huff’s two-run shot. He needs two more RBIs to become just the second Tampa Bay player to drive in at least 100 runs in consecutive seasons.

The Royals tied it at 2 in second on an RBI double by Pickering and Alexis Gomez’s run-scoring single.

John Buck gave Kansas City a 3-2 lead with a third-inning sacrifice fly. The rookie catcher has 10 RBIs over his last seven games.

Tampa Bay drew even at 3-all when Crawford homered in the fifth.

Devil Rays right-hander Dewon Brazelton gave up three runs and six hits over six innings. He is winless in his last five starts.

Notes: Pickering’s homer was his first in 15 games. He had hit four homers in eight games before the draught. … The announced crowd of 8,315 was the smallest this season at Tropicana Field. … Anderson has given up 27 homers in 150 innings this season. … Devil Rays SS Julio Lugo misplayed Angel Berroa’s grounder in the first for his sixth error in his last six games. … Pickering did not strike out for the first time in 22 games. … Fred McGriff was the last Devil Ray with consecutive 100 RBI seasons in 1999-2000.

AP-ES-09-20-04 2148EDT