The Minnesota Twins looked like they were going to even their ALDS 1-1 against the Yankees, as they took a 3-1 lead going into the bottom of the ninth.  Although the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez has been struggling mightily in recent years, he was able to save the Yankees night as he hit a 2-run game-tying homer in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into extra innings.  Mark Texiera topped that with a walk-off line drive homerun in the bottom of the 11th to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead in their ALDS.

The Twins got majorly screwed on an 11th inning call by the left-field umpire, as Joe Mauer hit a slicing liner down the left field line that landed fair by about a foot and the ump called it foul.  The ball bounced up in the stands and Mauer should have been awarded a ground-rule double, but it was called foul.  Mauer was able to hit a single a few pitches later, and ended up being forced out at home.  Had Mauer been awarded second like he should have, he would have scored and the Twins would have had the lead and men in scoring position.

The ump wasn’t the only one who hurt the Twins, as they hurt themselves big-time in the 4th inning.  Carlos Gomez overran 2nd base and was tagged out right before Delmon Young was able to cross home-plate, costing the Twins a run.  The game was very close so it ended up being a big and costly mistake for the Twins.  The Twins should have won this game and it looks like this loss may have cost them this series.  The Twins are at home for game three, but the Yankees have all of the momentum and their big hitters are hot right now, so things are not looking good for the Twins.

The Minnesota Twins dropped the first game of their ALDS 7-2 against the New York Yankees and are trying to even things up tonight.  Hopefully for the Twins, Yankees’ pitcher A.J. Burnett will not handle his first career postseason start well.  With Burnett starting it also means that the Twins’ starting pitcher Nick Blackburn will not have to face Jorge Posada, as the Yankees have decided to go with Jose Molina.  In 138 at bats Molina only hit .217 with one home-run and 11 RBI.  Compare that to the regular starter and more offensive minded catcher, Posada, who hit .285 with 22 HR’s and 81 RBI.  This is good news for Blackburn and the Twins.

Blackburn is coming into this game hot, as he has a 1.65 ERA in his last four starts.  He needs to have more success than he has had in the past against the Yankees though, as he has a 5.89 ERA in four starts against them.  The Twins’ bats need to come alive as well, especially Jason Kubel who has been the Twins hero the last few weeks.  Look for a big game from Mauer, as he is 5 for 13 lifetime off of Burnett.  I’m expecting the Twins to come out with a lot more energy and urgency in this game and don’t be surprised if they steal one from the Yankees in New York and get their first win of 2009 against the Yankees.

The Minnesota Twins (0-1) could not get much going against the New York Yankees’ (1-0) ace C.C. Sabathia and lost the first game of the ALDS. The Twins did build an early 2-0 lead in the 3rd inning with an RBI single by Michael Cuddyer which also moved Joe Mauer to third.  Mauer then scored on a passed ball and the Twins were looking in great shape.  The Yankees answered right back with a 2-run homer in the bottom of the inning by one of the clutchest players in postseason play, Derek Jeter.  Jeter hit it off Brian Duensing, who made his first career postseason start tonight and got the loss.  Duensing went 4.2 innings and gave up five runs on seven hits.

The Yankee crowd exploded after Jeter’s homerun and the Yankees took all of the momentum from there.  In the two innings after Jeter’s homer, the Yankees scored four more runs with Hideki Matsui hitting a two-run homer after Alex Rodriguez had an RBI single.  The Twins did a good job building an early lead, but they need to do a better job in the later innings.  They only had four hits after there two-run 3rd inning and were not much of a threat throughout.  The Twins will look to bounce back in game two on Friday night in New York.

Less than 24 hours before the Minnesota Twins (87-76) square off against the New York Yankees (103-59) in game one of the American League Divisional Series, they still were not sure if they were even going to be a part of the 2009 MLB Playoffs.  The Twins defeated the Detroit Tigers in a one game playoff for the AL Central title last night, earning them a spot in the playoffs.  On paper, the Twins are very over-matched against the Yankees.  Everything seems to point towards the Yankees having all of the advantages, as they are rested up and are playing at home.  The Twins, however, are the hottest team in baseball right now and have a lot of momentum heading into this series.

The two biggest weapons the Twins have on offense are the always dangerous Joe Mauer and Jason Kubel behind him, hitting the best he has all year.  Unfortunately for the Twins, their great left handed batters have to go up against the 19-game winner C.C. Sabathia.  The left handed Sabathia is always a tough match-up for lefties and Mauer is only hitting .217 (5/23) in his career against C.C.  The Yankees bullpen is also rested and ready to go.

The Twins bullpen is not rested, as manager Ron Gardenhire used seven different pitchers out of the bullpen last night and had his closer Joe Nathan go 1  2/3 innings.  That means the Twins will need starter Brian Duensing to have a good and long outing.  He is facing a very dangerous Yankees line-up full of All-Star caliber players, due to the Yankees MLB high $201 million payroll.  Compare that to the Twins $65 million payroll.  The Twins are not afraid of the Yankees though and are looking to ride the momentum that brought them the AL Central title all the way to the World Series.  It will be very difficult for the Twins to come away with a win today though, as the Yankees won all seven match-ups in the regular season and are fully rested and ready to go.  I think C.C. Sabathia will be able to keep the Twins offense from doing too much and the Twins will fall short today.

What a game at the MetroDome tonight. The amazing ending to the game escapes all imagination as Carlos Gomez scored the winning run, Alexi Casilla knocked him in and Bobby Keppel won the game. Carlos Gomez led off the 12th inning with a single and he had a awful season hitting .229 but that didn’t matter tonight. He moved up to second base then Alexi Casilla ripped a hit to RF knocking in Gomez. Casilla finished the season hitting .202. Bobby Keppel pitched the last 1 1/3 innings for the Twins allowing 1 hit while walking 2 batters and whiffing 1. It was his first win of the season! The Twins better not party too hard tonight because they have a game against the Yankees tomorrow in New York. What a win and what a season for the Twins who won 17 of their last 21 games to win the American League Central.