CHICAGO — Mark Buehrle gave the White Sox the veteran performance they needed on short rest. Now it's up to a youngster to keep their season going against a familiar foe.

Buehrle pitched seven strong innings and, backed by four double plays, beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-1, yesterday to keep Chicago in the race for the AL Central.

The White Sox (87-74) still trail the Twins by a half-game after Minnesota beat Kansas City, 6-0, meaning they must play a makeup game at home today against Detroit. If the White Sox win that one, Chicago would host a tiebreaker game against the Twins (88-74) tomorrow for the division title.

"You play 161 games and today is supposed to be the last day of the year," Buehrle said. "Everybody is going home, a lot of people are going to the playoffs and here we got to play another game that matters for us and not for the other team."

Gavin Floyd will take the mound for the White Sox against the Tigers' Freddy Garcia, who won three games for Chicago during the 2005 postseason, including the clinching Game 4 of the World Series against the Astros.

Garcia is also a close friend of White Sox manager and fellow Venezuelan Ozzie Guillen.

"Freddy is not going to go there and just pitch, he's going to try and beat us. I know him real well and he's going to try and show he can still pitch," Guillen said.

Buehrle (15-12), coming off a 121-pitch outing, made his third start on short rest this season and his second in September. He allowed one run and nine hits in seven innings, struck out six and walked one, throwing 111 pitches.

Indians third baseman Jamey Carroll made a key error that allowed the go-ahead run to score in a three-run second inning.

Jhonny Peralta's second-inning homer put Cleveland ahead. But Bryan Bullington (0-2), starting because 22-game winner Cliff Lee was scratched with a stiff neck, couldn't hold it.

Paul Konerko's second-inning homer tied it, and Chicago loaded the bases when Ken Griffey Jr. doubled, Alexei Ramirez walked and A.J. Pierzynski singled.

Twins 6, Royals 0: Scott Baker scattered four singles over seven shutout innings, pitching host Minnesota past Kansas City.

Delmon Young's two-run single and Joe Mauer's two-run triple gave Baker (11-4) some extra insurance, and relievers Jose Mijares and Joe Nathan finished the final two innings.

Brandon Duckworth (3-3) walked four and hit two more, but he yielded only two hits — one of them an RBI double by Denard Span with two outs and a full count in the second inning.

Yankees, Red Sox split doubleheader: Mike Mussina became the oldest pitcher to win 20 games in a season for the first time, reaching the milestone as New York beat host Boston, 6-2, in the opener of a day-night doubleheader.

The playoff-bound Red Sox won the second game, 4-3, on Jonathan Van Every's bases-loaded single with two outs in the 10th off Jose Veras (5-3). Devern Hansack (1-0) pitched the 10th for the win as Boston prevented the Yankees (89-73) from reaching 90 wins for the seventh straight season.

The 39-year-old Mussina (20-9), finishing his 18th major league season, allowed three hits in six shutout innings. Previously, the oldest first-time 20-game winner was Jamie Moyer, who was 38 when he went 20-6 for Seattle in 2001.

NOTES

Red Sox: Josh Beckett's first start in the AL first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Angels was pushed back to Game 3 after the Boston Red Sox ace injured his side throwing a bullpen session Friday. Jon Lester will pitch the opener for the Red Sox at Los Angeles on Wednesday night, followed by Daisuke Matsuzaka on Friday night, manager Terry Francona said.

Mets: After a 4-2 loss to Florida yesterday knocked New York out of postseason contention, a person familiar with Mets management discussions said there's a very good chance manager Jerry Manuel will be brought back next season. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because a final decision had not been made.

Dodgers: Los Angeles lefty reliever Hong-Chih Kuo will not pitch in the NL division series for the Dodgers as a precaution because of a possible condition with his circulation. Kuo warmed up in the bullpen to pitch in relief Saturday night at San Francisco but said he couldn't feel his fingers and didn't enter the game.

Nationals: The last-place Washington Nationals fired five coaches yesterday, a complete overhaul of manager Manny Acta's staff going into the 2009 season. Bench coach Pat Corrales, base coaches Tim Tolman and Jerry Morales, bullpen coach Rick Aponte and hitting coach Lenny Harris were all told they would not return.

Tigers: The Detroit Tigers' disappointing season cost two coaches their jobs. Manager Jim Leyland said pitching coach Chuck Hernandez and bullpen coach Jeff Jones were fired.