In the end zone with Jim Johnson: It comes down to tonight for the Minnesota Twins

Impulse buys can usually be associated with a candy bar, a classic DVD or if you really want to get in trouble — a 60-inch plasma television.
But how about a Minnesota Twins game 300 miles away?
Count me in ... twice.
Before the Twins surprised everyone with their “remember where you were during the three-game sweep” of the White Sox last week, I had weekend plans to mow for the last time before winter and get some hours in at a local part-time job.
Then Tuesday happened (9-3 Twins — 1 1/2 games back).
And Wednesday (3-2 Twins — 1/2 game back).
And roughly three hours after I got the OK Thursday to head down for the Twins’ final weekend series at the Metrodome, I couldn’t sit down after listening to Alexi Casilla knock in the game-winning run following an improbable comeback to put the Twins 1/2-game up on the White Sox.
No one, including myself, gave the Twins a shot to even finish third in their own division this season and now they sit nine innings away from a date with the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Divisional Series.
Quick, name the Twins’ opening-day starter, who defeated the Angels 3-2 on March 31. If you said anyone but Livan Hernandez, you’re wrong.
That’s how far this team has come. From Hernandez, who threw 85 mile-per-hour beach balls, to Nick Blackburn, who most people didn’t even know at the beginning of the season.
“Coming out of spring training we knew we had a lot of talent,” Blackburn told the AP recently.
“In our mind we thought we were going to make a run at it.”
Now Blackburn gets the start tonight and must beat the law of averages — the same laws his teammates have been trumping all season. This will be the fifth time Blackburn faces the White Sox tonight and it’s not a lineup you can tip-toe around.
Chicago led both leagues in home runs this year with 233, while the Twins came in 29th with 111.
The Twins scored more runs than the White Sox — 829 to 802 — but Chicago is 53-28 at home and will be much more comfortable than at the Dome.
But if this season has taught Twins fans anything, it’s that anything can happen.
Honestly, I don’t have a good feeling about tonight with the game on the road and with Blackburn on the bump, but it’s no different than my feeling last week when I made plans to work and mow.
But the lawn still got mowed and I’m still employed and the Twins are still alive.
Hopefully that formula that worked last week can kick into gear tonight and leave the South Siders by the wayside.
It would not only give numerous fans the opportunity to make it back to the Metrodome for a raucous, playoff atmosphere, but they could be impulsive about pass on the candy bar next time.