Pettitte, with 15 post season wins, tied John Smoltz for the most all time, tossing 6.1 fantastic innings while only allowing 1 run. He didn't allow a hit till the 5th inning and struck out 7. The Twins finally broke through on Pettitte in the 6th with a 2-out rally, although it appeared he was squeezed on a couple of pitches by the umpire. Joe Mauer singled in his only run of the series to put the Twins out front for the third game in a row. But, as the Bombers did all series, they quickly struck back.
For 6.1 innings, ex-Yankee, Carl Pavano, baffled the Yankees, throwing his fastball routinely in the 92-93 mph range. Suspicious, since he usually tops out at 90-91, but where Pettitte was getting squeezed a bit by the strike zone, Pavano seemed to benefit from a very generous one. He struck out a season high and a Twins playoff record, 9 Yankees. ARod once again rose to the occasion, launching a full count pitch over the RF baggy to tie the score at 1. ARod went 5-11 in the series with 2 dingers and 6 RBIs. 2 batters later, Posada put the Yankees up 2-1 with an opposite field shot of his own. The Metrodome faithful and their riduculously outdated homer hankies fell to a hushed whisper as they stood dumbstruck, just moments after starting the inning by unoriginally chanting "Yankees Suck".
For some ungodly reason, manager Joe Girardi removed Pettitte in the 7th after he struck out Jason Kubel. The move immediately looked horrendous when Joba Chamberlain surrendered a double to Delmon Young on a weak-ass slider on a 1-2 count. Joba would escape without further trouble and turned the ball over to Phil Hughes to start the 8th.
Hughes once again embarrassed himself mightily when he allowed the weak-hitting Nick Punto to lace a double to left center. I'm still dumbfounded as to how Punto hit .444 with 3 walks in this series. Hughes then allowed Denard Span to single up the middle, but Jeter fielded the ball before it left the infield. For the second game in the row, the Twins pulled a horrendous base running gaffe. Punto practically ran through the 3B coach's stop sign, before stopping midway to home. Jeter threw to Posada, and Posada threw a bullet to ARod at third to nail a scrambling Punto. Twins manager, Ron Gardenhire, nearly ran into the clubhouse to throw up. Punto went from improbable hero to goat in a matter of seconds, as a hush and utter disbelief quickly overcame the Twins faithful. It was time to put away the useless homer hankies. Hughes retired Orlando Cabrera on a fly ball, and Girardi, not fooling around, brought in the great Mariano to face Mauer. Mo shattered Mauer's bat with a nasty cutter, getting him to ground out to first and began putting in the final nails to the Twins coffin.
The Yanks rallied for 2 more insurance runs in the 9th, with Posada and Cano singling in a run each. The Twins pitchers, who hadn't walked anyone all game, walked the bases loaded before the run scoring singles. Mariano nailed down the save after allowing a leadoff single and the Yanks are on their way to face their nemesis, the Angels, in the ALCS this Friday.
In the meantime, if anyone has seen Johnny Damon, who had the Golden Sombrero today, or Nick Swisher, please let them and their .083 batting average know the playoffs have officially started and their presence would be appreciated. The same can be said to Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera and to a lesser extent, Mark Teixeira. They're all hitting .167. Those numbers won't cut it against the Angels and their offense.
Yankees Post Season Record: 3-0
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