ALDS GAME 1
Twins 2
Yankees 0
Only Steve Howe, suspended seven times for drug use, had more chances than the Yankees last night.
With Twins starter Johan Santana begging to be punished due to location malfunctions, the Yankees failed to cash in on multiple opportunities to dent the Cy Young candidate in Game 1 of the ALDS and paid dearly for it.
Nine hits, a walk and a hit batter weren’t enough to beat Santana as the Twins danced out of Yankee Stadium with a 2-0 victory that negated a solid effort by Mike Mussina and stifled a crowd of 55,749.
Not only did the Yankees ground into three double plays, Jorge Posada was thrown out at home plate by Torii Hunter trying to score on John Olerud’s fly to center in the second, and Alex Rodriguez was an easy out at third running on a 3-2 pitch in the first that Bernie Williams took for a strike.
“It was one of those funny games,” said A-Rod, who had two singles and was robbed of an extra-base hit by Hunter climbing the wall in the eighth. “We hit the ball hard, but the five double plays kept [Santana’s] pitch count down. You have to tip your hat to him, and tomorrow is another day. Nothing has been easy for us all season and we don’t expect it to start now.”
With a skinny margin of error, the Yankees tonight turn to Jon Lieber, who makes his first postseason start, against Brad Radke. It’s the same 1-0 ditch the Yankees were in last year before winning the next three games. However, the Yankees had Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens and David Wells behind Mussina then.
“This is what I have been waiting for, for 11 years,” said Lieber, who was 11-3 at the Stadium. He beat the Twins, 5-4, on Sept. 29 in his only start against them. “This is what it’s all about.”
The Twins believe it’s going to be different this year.
“I think this time we are going to be ready,” Hunter said. “We know what to expect. Those guys never give up.”
The Yankees’ formula to beat Santana, whose last loss was July 11, was for Mussina to keep them close and to scratch out a few runs. Mussina obeyed, allowing two runs and seven hits in seven innings. However, Santana never allowed a Yankees cleat to touch home plate.
Ruben Sierra came close, narrowly missing a homer in the seventh; the ball originally was called fair then was correctly changed to foul after an umpires conference in left field.
Juan Rincon worked through the meat of the Yankees’ order in the eighth to get the save chance to Joe Nathan in the ninth. Hunter helped with a catch at the wall on A-Rod before Sheffield walked and Williams hit into a double play.
“I was surprised, but I knew if the ball stayed in the park Torii would catch it,” A-Rod said.
Jacque Jones, who rejoined the Twins yesterday after traveling to California for his father’s funeral, gave Santana a 2-0 lead with one-out, opposite-field homer to left in the sixth. The Twins’ first run was plated by Shannon Stewart’s single in the third.
“I was able to throw the right pitch at the right time because I know that my teammates can make some plays,” Santana said. “That’s the way we are. Tonight we proved what the Minnesota Twins are all about.”