The1991 American League Championship Series was a semifinal series inMajor League Baseball's1991 postseason played between theMinnesota Twins and theToronto Blue Jays from October 8 to 13. The Twins defeated the favored Blue Jays, winning the Series four games to one. Minnesota would go on to face (and ultimately defeat) theAtlanta Braves in seven games in1991 World Series, ranked byESPN as the greatest ever played.

This was the first postseason series played entirely indoors, as both teams played indomed stadiums, with Toronto's retractable roof remaining closed for games three, four and five.

Minnesota outfielderKirby Puckett was named the Series MVP, based on his .429 batting average, two home runs, and five RBI.

As of 2026, this is the last time the Twins won the AL pennant, and is the most recent conference championship won by aMinneapolis–St. Paul-based team.

The Twins rose from last place in1990 (a 74–88 record) and finished the 1991 regular season with a 95–67 record (.586), handily winning theAmerican League West division crown by eight games over theChicago White Sox. The Blue Jays were similarly successful during the 1991 season, compiling a 91–71 record (.562) and winning theAmerican League East division by seven games over theBoston Red Sox andDetroit Tigers. The Twins and Blue Jays played their final regular season series against each other (after both teams had clinched their respective divisions and were resting their starters), with the Blue Jays winning two of the three games. Newspapers were predicting a series of tense and close contests in the following ALCS, as the Twins seemed to have the slightly stronger team, but the Blue Jays had won the season series between the two teams 8-4.

Minnesota won the series, 4–1.

Tuesday, October 8, 1991, atHubert H. Humphrey Metrodome inMinneapolis, Minnesota

Game 1 saw a surprise starter for Toronto as Blue Jays managerCito Gaston chose knuckleballerTom Candiotti to face the Twins over his new young gunJuan Guzmán and his left-handed aceJimmy Key. Twins managerTom Kelly opted to counter with All-Star Game starter andMinnesota nativeJack Morris. Gaston would draw questions later when the decision seemingly swung the series against Toronto.

In the bottom of the first,Dan Gladden singled andChuck Knoblauch did the same. After a strikeout byKirby Puckett, Twins first basemanKent Hrbek flied out to center field, moving Gladden to third. Knoblauch stole second and with two on and two out,Chili Davis singled both home to give the Twins an early 2–0 lead.

In the second, the Twins added two more runs.Shane Mack singled off Candiotti, stole second, and moved to third on a line out to right byMike Pagliarulo. He then scored on aGreg Gagne single, and consecutive singles again by Gladden and Knoblauch plated Gagne to give the Twins a 4–0 lead.

In the third, Davis walked with one out, stole second, and scored on a double by Mack. Candiotti's line read: 16 batters faced, five runs, eight hits, and four stolen bases. He was also responsible for Mack, perched on second. But relieverDavid Wells, as well as the rest of the Blue Jays relievers, shut down the Twins and held them scoreless for the rest of the game.

In the top of the fourth, the Blue Jays tried to claw back into the game. After aRoberto Alomar single,Joe Carter doubled and Blue Jays third base coachRich Hacker sent Alomar home.^[6] Two perfect throws from the Twins nailed Alomar at the plate for the first out and the squelching of the Blue Jay rally. Carter went to third and scored onJohn Olerud's subsequent ground out to make the score 5–1.

In the sixth, the Blue Jays got within a single run. Five consecutive singles byDevon White, Alomar, Carter, Olerud, andKelly Gruber with only one out plated three runs and made the score 5–4. ButCarl Willis came on to get the last two outs, and the Minnesota relief corps held the Blue Jays the rest of the way for a 5–4 victory for the Twins and starter Jack Morris.Rick Aguilera got the save while Candiotti was saddled with the loss.

The victory gave the Twins a 1–0 lead in games in the ALCS. It also put them one win short of tying the post-season record for most consecutive wins at home held by theNew York Yankees.

Wednesday, October 9, 1991, atHubert H. Humphrey Metrodome inMinneapolis, Minnesota

The number-two pitchers on each staff squared off in Game 2, asJuan Guzmán took the hill for the Blue Jays againstKevin Tapani for the Twins. A win would not only give the Twins a 2–0 lead, but would also enable them to set the record for the most consecutive home field wins in post-season history, as they had won their first seven post-season games (including the1987 playoffs andWorld Series) in the Metrodome. Unfortunately for the Twins, the Blue Jays came out swinging and held on for a 5–2 win.

Devon White began the scoring in the top of the first when he singled, stole second, moved to third on Roberto Alomar's bunt, and scored on Joe Carter's single to give the Jays a 1–0 lead. In the third, White and Alomar struck for two more Blue Jays runs when White doubled, moved to third on Alomar's single, and both scored after Alomar stole second and Kelly Gruber singled both home with two outs. The Blue Jays led, 3–0. The Twins got a run back in the bottom of the third when Chuck Knoblauch singled, stole second, and scored on Kirby Puckett's single. Knoblauch scored again in the sixth when he walked, moved to second on Puckett's ground out, and scored on a single by Brian Harper. The run cut Toronto's lead to 3–2.

Game 2 was a show for Devon White and Roberto Alomar, and in the seventh they put the contest out of reach. After Manuel Lee walked, the Twins relieved Tapani withSteve Bedrosian. White walked to put runners on first and second with one out. Alomar's single scored Lee, and White moved to third on an error by Shane Mack. White then scored his third run of the game on a sacrifice fly by Joe Carter, giving the Blue Jays a 5–2 lead. That was how the game ended.

Guzman was the winning pitcher, and Tapani the loser. Duane Ward got his first post-season save. The Blue Jays ended Minnesota's quest for a record home winning streak and both teams headed to Canada with the games count standing at one win apiece.

Friday, October 11, 1991, atSkyDome inToronto

With the series tied at one win apiece, the teams ventured across the border to Toronto'sSkydome whereJimmy Key squared off against the Twins' 20-game winner,Scott Erickson. The Blue Jays quickly jumped out to a 2–0 lead in the first when with two out,Joe Carter homered,John Olerud walked,Kelly Gruber singled, andCandy Maldonado doubled Olerud home. Erickson was able to get the third out retiringRance Mulliniks.^[7]

The Twins got on the board in the fifth.Shane Mack led off and hit a triple against the right field wall after Carter twisted an ankle trying to reach the ball and make a circus catch. OnKent Hrbek's grounder to second,Roberto Alomar attempted to get Mack out at the plate, but Mack beat the throw to score.^[8] In the bottom half of the inning, managerTom Kelly, responding to an inordinate number of throws over to first base and believing that Erickson was hesitant to pitch to Carter, took the unusual step of making a pitching change in the middle of an at-bat, bringing on relieverDavid West inheriting a 1-2 count. West then struck out Carter, Gruber and Maldonado.^[9] The Twins tied it in the sixth whenChuck Knoblauch doubled and scored onKirby Puckett's single with a head-first slide at the plate.^[10] The tie got rid ofJimmy Key asDavid Wells came on in relief.

The score stayed 2–2 until the tenth. RelieverMike Timlin came on and after retiringGene Larkin, gave up an eventual game-winning homer to pinch-hitterMike Pagliarulo, who was hitting forScott Leius. Kelly had made an unexpected lineup change havingGreg Gagne bat seventh and Leius ninth, ultimately setting up Pagliarulo to face Timlin.^[11]Rick Aguilera closed out the bottom of the tenth with a 1–2–3 inning to give the Twins a 3–2 win and a 2–1 lead in games. The ankle injury to Joe Carter, the Blue Jays' most influential hitter, proved pivotal. Although Carter played in the next two games as the designated hitter, he was in obvious discomfort and was largely a non-factor, getting only one more hit in those two games.

Saturday, October 12, 1991, atSkyDome in Toronto

For the fourth game, Morris returned to the mound for Minnesota against Toronto'sTodd Stottlemyre. The Blue Jays took the lead in the bottom of the second, whenCandy Maldonado singled to center, took second on a wild pitch by Morris, and came home on a single byPat Borders. The Twins, however, came back in a big way in the fourth –Kirby Puckett hit a home run,Chili Davis, who had doubled, scored on a single byMike Pagliarulo, and a two-run single byDan Gladden plated both Pagliarulo andShane Mack. This turn of events gave the Twins a 4–1 lead. In the sixth,Brian Harper hit a leadoff double off ofDavid Wells, then scored onMike Pagliarulo's one-out double.Dan Gladden's RBI single off ofJim Acker made it 6–1 Twins. In the bottom of the inning,Kelly Gruber doubled with one out off ofJack Morris and scored onPat Borders's two-out double. In the seventh, an error on Harper's ground ball with runners on first and second off ofMike Timlin allowed another Twins run to score. Next inning, Puckett's sacrifice fly with runners on first and third off of Timlin made it 8–2 Twins. In the ninth,Chili Davis hit a leadoff double off ofBob Macdonald and scored onShane Mack's sacrifice fly after moving to third on another fly out. In the bottom of the inning,Roberto Alomar's RBI single with runners on first and third made it 9–3 Twins beforeSteve Bedrosian retired the next two batters to end the game, putting the Twins one win away from the World Series.

Sunday, October 13, 1991, atSkyDome in Toronto

With their backs against the wall, the Blue Jays sent Candiotti to the hill for Game 5 against the Twins' Tapani. In the top of the first, Puckett hit a home run to give Minnesota a 1–0 lead. The Twins added another run the next inning, when Davis singled, moved to second and then third on consecutive passed balls by Toronto catcherPat Borders, then came home on a single by Mack.

In the bottom of the second, Tapani struck out Maldonado and Blue Jays managerCito Gaston disagreed with home plate umpireMike Reilly. He continued arguing until Reilly finally tossed him. The ejection fired up Toronto who took a 3–2 lead in their half of the third courtesy of an RBI single by Alomar, an RBI double by Carter, and a groundout by Olerud. Alomar added a two-run single in the fourth to give the Jays a 5–2 lead.

In the sixth, the Twins stormed back to tie the game. Mack singled, stole second, then moved to third on a base hit by Pagliarulo. The Jays' third baseman Gruber tried to nab Mack at the plate when Gladden hit into a fielder's choice, but Borders tagged with the wrong hand and Mack scored.^[12] Knoblauch followed by lashing a double to right field that scored both Pagliarulo and Gladden, and the game was knotted at 5.

In the eighth, Minnesota took the lead for good when Gladden singled and stole second, and after Knoblauch walked, came home on a single by Puckett, who took second on a throw home. Hrbek then drove both Knoblauch and Puckett in with a single to left, giving the Twins an 8–5 advantage.^[13] Rick Aguilera shut the door on the Jays in the bottom of the ninth, giving the Twins their second American League pennant in five years.

1991 ALCS(4–1):Minnesota Twins overToronto Blue Jays

• 1991 ALCS at Baseball-Reference
• Mike Pagliarulo Interview Discussing ALCS

• 1991 Major League Baseball season
• American League Championship Series
• Minnesota Twins postseason
• Toronto Blue Jays postseason
• 1991 in Canadian sports
• History of Canada (1982–1992)
• 1991 in sports in Minnesota
• 1990s in Minneapolis
• 1991 in Toronto
• October 1991 sports events in Canada
• October 1991 sports events in the United States
• Baseball competitions in Minneapolis
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