Yankees Head Home with Commanding Two Game Lead Over Twins in ALDS

By Gary W. Marchese Jr.

Minneapolis, MN (Oct 7) – The New York Yankees defeated the Minnesota Twins this evening by the score of 5-2. Andy Pettitte made the start and was fantastic; he pitched seven innings giving up two runs on five hits with one walk and four strikeouts.

Pettitte picked up his 19^th career postseason victory, which is a league record. Kerry Wood pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning and Mariano Rivera picked up his 42^nd career postseason save which is another all-time achievement.

The offense got big contributions from Curtis Granderson and Lance Berkman. Brian Cashman looks good right now with those moves and picking up Wood at the trade deadline.

Berkman had a solo home run and an RBI double. Derek Jeter had a hit and an RBI; he has been hitting the ball hard every time he has come up to the plate. Granderson finished with three hits and an RBI, Mark Teixeira had a hit and a walk, and Alex Rodriguez had a hit and an RBI. Robinson Cano and Nick Swisher each had a hit, Berkman and Gardner each had two hits.

The Twins as they have done just about every time against the Yankees scored first. The Twins took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on a sacrifice fly by Danny Valencia. The Yankees tied the game in the fourth inning on a RBI double by Granderson.

The Yankees then took a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning on a solo home run by Berkman. The Twins tied the game with an Orlando Hudson solo home run in the sixth inning. The Yankees as usual took back the lead from the Twins with two runs in the seventh inning to make it 4-2. It could have been a lot worse, the Yankees had the bases loaded and one out, but Jon Rauch got Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano out to end the inning.

Berkman had the big hit of the seventh inning with an RBI double. Jeter also added a RBI single that made it 4-2. The Yankees scored an insurance run in the ninth inning on a RBI single by Granderson. Rivera gave up a leadoff single in the ninth but then got a double play and a fly out to end the game.

The Yankees moved to 11-2 in the postseason against the Twins. The Yankees will be looking for the sweep in game three Saturday night at home. The Yankees did not have home field advantage but won the first two games on the road anyway and now have the home field advantage.

The Yankees played like a team that was not trying to win the division in September and right now, it looks good as they are up two games to none and the Rays who did win the division are down two games to none and headed on the road.

The Yankees and Twins will take tomorrow off and then Phil Hughes will take on Brian Duensing in game three Saturday night at 8:37PM. The Yankees will try to wrap up the series and play in another ALCS with the right to head to another World Series.

The crowd will be waiting for them on Saturday night and I am sure it will be loud and intense at the Stadium. The fans and Yankees will be looking to party with a victory.

Posted by gmarchesej on October 7, 2010. Filed under Breaking News,News and Sports with Gary W. Marchese Jr.,Sports,US Sports,Yankees. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.