-By Anthony Crupi

TBS on Tuesday night set the table for its postseason Major League Baseball coverage, as the network’s telecast of the AL Central tie-breaker drew 6.54 million viewers.

In the first AL play-in game to go to extra innings, Minnesota second baseman Alexi Casilla knocked in the winning run in the bottom of the 12th, earning the Twins a trip to the American League Division Series. Per Nielsen live-plus-same-day ratings estimates, some 11.4 million viewers were tuned in for Casilla’s plate appearance.

The Twins’ 6-5 victory over the Detroit Tigers marked the second consecutive season the team has played––and won––its 163rd regular-season game. Tuesday night’s play-in outdelivered last season’s Twins-White Sox one-off by 57 percent (4.16 million viewers).

Locally, the tie-breaker drew a 27.1/44 HH rating/share in Minneapolis, marking a 56 percent increase over the year-ago 17.4/28. The game registered a 24.6/38 in Detroit.

The Twins win now stands as the ninth most-viewed MLB telecast on TBS since the network began airing postseason games in 2007. Tuesday night’s ballgame also marked the second straight night the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome hosted a ratings blockbuster. On Monday night, ESPN notched the all-time cable record, as 21.8 million fans tuned in to watch the Vikings-Packers grudge match.