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CATHY WURZER: This is Morning Edition. I'm Cathy Wurzer. Members of the Minnesota Twins are probably still sleeping after doing some celebrating last night after the team clinched the Central Division title and made the playoffs for the second straight year.

The Twins' 4 to 1 victory over Cleveland last night at the dome, coupled with losses by Kansas City and Chicago, clinched the division title. After the Twins' game ended, fans watched the end of the other games on the Metrodome scoreboard and then celebrated the title.

LaVelle Neal, who covers the Twins for the Star Tribune, was there last night. He probably still is wiping champagne out of his eyes after the locker room celebration. And he joins us this morning. How are you, LaVelle?

LAVELLE NEAL: I'm washing all my clothes right now.

CATHY WURZER: Thanks for joining us. Well, what was it like in the dome?

LAVELLE NEAL: The great part was after the game, after the Twins game was over. They went in the clubhouse for a while, and they kind of milled around a little bit. And they all just barreled down into the dugout and hung out in the dugout for the last inning of both the White Sox and Chicago game and the Detroit and Kansas City game.

And it was great. They were right there with the fans watching the games on the screen. And everybody went bananas as soon as the final outs were made. And the Twins had their championship T-shirts and their caps ready. As soon as it got to 2 outs and 2 strikes in the Kansas City game, all of a sudden, I saw all these guys put on these new, fresh T-shirts, and they all went running out in the field and celebrate the championship.

CATHY WURZER: Now, this is the first time the Twins have clinched a postseason berth at home. Is that important to the players?

LAVELLE NEAL: I think it was great because they were able to do it. Their families, the players' wives were on the field, and people like LaTroy Hawkins and Torii Hunter, they have good relationships with some fans. And the great part was LaTroy Hawkins ran into the down to the bullpen area where he pitches a lot, and he went down and started thanking all the fans.

They were sitting-- they sat back over by that section all year. Because he told me. He said, there are times when he was down, and he seriously doubted that the team was going to get it done. He said the fans, just during the game, they chat, have light conversations during the game because they're so close to each other.

And the fans are like, no, LaTroy, you keep your head up. Things are going to turn out all right. And he said he hasn't forgotten that. So he wanted to reward it. And I think it was special for the players because there were other people around that they could celebrate it with, unlike last year when they were all in the clubhouse--

CATHY WURZER: That's right.

LAVELLE NEAL: --in Cleveland, and they were unable to get to anybody.

CATHY WURZER: Well, the Twins, obviously they won last night, but they were on a roll going into last night's game anyway. They were winning-- what, they had 10 wins in a row up to that point. What's been the key to this hot streak?

LAVELLE NEAL: Oh. It's been a lot of factors. I'm going to say, first off, their pitching staff has just been phenomenal lately. Their starting rotation has been very strong. The offense has been much better. And that's a big boost because of Shannon Stewart coming over in the trade from Toronto.

And this team raised its level of play when it needed it the most. When they were tied with Kansas City, and then they were tied with Chicago for first place in the division, and they were kind of neck and neck, and everything ended up being kind of rotated around this series at the dome last week.

When the White Sox came to town, and the Twins swept the White Sox in those three games. And I think they just haven't let up since. It's kind of like surfing. You get on that wave, you just kind of ride it out as long as you can.

CATHY WURZER: It also helps to have the fans all fired up, too, because they had good crowds last week as well.

LAVELLE NEAL: Great crowds last week, and another great crowd last night. Twins fever has finally gotten hold of the Twin Cities. It's been tough because the team was playing so crummy earlier in the season, and people weren't coming out to the ballpark. The Twins are barely going to draw more fans than they did last year. And that's only because the team looked like it was in so much peril during the regular season.

CATHY WURZER: Now, it appears they may be matched up against the Yankees. And the Yankees have beaten the Twins, what, 13 times in a row? This is not looking good if we actually have to play the Yankees.

LAVELLE NEAL: Yeah. Twins' manager Ron Gardenhire has never beaten the Yankees as a manager. So yeah, it doesn't look good on paper. But stranger things have happened. Who thought that the Yankees were going to lose to Anaheim last year in the postseason? The Anaheim ended up winning the whole thing. This Twins team has got a lot of confidence right now, and I think they're not afraid of anybody.