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| Yanks Take Divsion Series with Twins and Face Red Sox in the ALCS! |
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| Rematch Between the Yanks and Twins in the American League Division Series |
| The
Yankees and Twins didn't get a look at each other until mid-August,
when New York carried a 13-game, regular-season winning streak
to Minnesota. But the Twins snapped it in a hurry-winning
the first two games of the series at the Metrodome in convincing
fashion. New York was, however, able to pull out a dramatic
win to salvage the series finale, defeating Twins closer Joe
Nathan.
When the two teams met again in September
at the Stadium, the Yankees swept all three games. However,
the Twins rested several regulars during that series and
limited their starting pitchers to only five innings.
Both teams clinched their division titles,
with the Twins closing their regular season with a record
of 92-70 as the Yanks eclipsed the 100-win mark for the
eighteenth time in their existence (101-61). After last
year’s loss to the Florida Marlins in the World Series,
the Yanks hope to return to the World Series for a chance
to win their 27th World Championship.
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Yankees'
Featured Player
New York
Yankee right-hander Mike Mussina has lost to the Twins just
four times in his 14-year career. Mussina, who spent most
of July and August on the disabled list because of elbow stiffness,
pitched at least six innings in his last seven starts and
posted a 2.14 ERA during September, while finishing the year
with a 12-9 record and a 4.59 ERA. Right-fielder
Gary Sheffield has had an MVP-caliber season, as he is ranked
third in the American League for runs scored (117), second
in walks (92), and has hit 36 home runs, 121 runs batted
in, and posted a .290 batting average. During the season,
Sheffield had four ninth-inning home runs that either won
or tied a game, as he has a chance to be the Yankees' first
AL MVP candidate since Don Mattingly in 1985. In six games
against the Twins this year, Sheffield has eight RBI including
a two home-run game at the Metrodome in the Yankees 13-10
victory on August 19th.
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Twins Featured Player
All-Star
pitcher Johan Santana has taken over as the team’s ace
and has been instrumental in leading the Twins to their third
consecutive Playoff appearance. Santana compiled a 20-6 record—going
13-0 with a 1.21 ERA since the All-Star break—and led
the AL with 265 strikeouts and an impressive 2.61 ERA for
the season. Joe
Nathan, acquired in the offseason from San Francisco, has
done an excellent job replacing Eddie Guardado as the Twins'
closer. Nathan ranked third in the AL with 44 saves and
led all American League closers with a 1.62 ERA this season.
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| REGULAR
SEASON TEAM STATS (MLB Rank) |
| YANKEES |
vs. |
Twins |
| .268 |
BA |
.266 |
| 897 |
R |
780 |
| 1483 |
H |
1494 |
| 242 |
HR |
191 |
| 863 |
RBI |
735 |
| .454 |
SLG |
.431 |
| Pitching
Statistics |
| 4.69 |
ERA |
4.03 |
| 59 |
Saves |
48 |
| 1058 |
K |
1123 |
| THE 2004 DIVISIONAL SERIES vs. MINNESOTA TWINS |
| Game |
Team |
Score |
Pitcher |
| Game 1 - Home |
Yankees |
0 |
Mussina (12-9, 4.59 ERA)
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| Tue. 10/5-8:00pm |
Twins |
2 |
Santana (20-6, 2.61 ERA) |
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| Game 2 - Home |
Yankees |
7 |
Lieber (14-8, 4.33 ERA) |
| Wed. 10/6-7:00pm |
Twins |
6 |
Radke (11-8, 3.48 ERA) |
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| Game 3 - Away |
Yankees |
8 |
Brown (10-6, 4.09 ERA) |
| Fri. 10/8 8:00pm |
Twins |
4 |
Silva (14-8, 4.21 ERA) |
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| Game 4 - Away |
Yankees |
6 |
Vazquez |
| Sat. 10/9 |
Twins |
5 |
Santana |
Game 1 - Yanks Fall in Game One
The Minnesota Twins don't beat their opponents with great offensive performances, they win division titles with excellent pitching and defense. For those two reasons, Minnesota grabbed a Game One victory on Tuesday, October 5th, by a score of 2-0 over the New York Yankees in their American League Division Series at Yankee Stadium.
Twins pitcher Johan Santana allowed no runs on nine hits, which was the second-most number of hits he has allowed all season. However, the Twins defense held up behind him with five double plays and a great catch from centerfielder Torii Hunter to quiet the home crowd in first of this best-of-five series. The only two runs of the game came off an RBI single by Shannon Stewart in the third inning and a Jacque Jones home run in the sixth inning. Both runs were charged to Yankee pitcher Mike Mussina.
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Game 2 - Rodriguez Silences Skeptics
The Yankees evened their series against the Minnesota Twins with a come from behind 7-6 12 inning-win on Wednesday, October 6th at Yankee Stadium. The Twins had taken a 6-5 lead in the top of the 12th, but the Yanks pushed across two runs in the bottom half of the inning when Alex Rodriguez hit a game-tying double and Derek Jeter dashed home with the winning run on Hideki Matsui's sacrifice fly.
After falling behind in the 12th on Torii Hunter's home run, the Yankees responded with a championship-caliber rally. No surprise, because New York set a major-league record with 61 comeback wins during the regular season. Corey Koskie keyed the Twins' eighth-inning comeback with a tying double against Rivera, who blew a save in the postseason for only the third time in 33 chances.
Game 3 in the best-of-five AL series will be Friday night at the Metrodome, with Kevin Brown starting for the Yankees and Carlos Silva starting for the Twins.
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Game 3 - Yankees Take Series Lead 2-1
There was no sign of an injury despite Kevin Brown’s recent back pain and broken hand only a month ago as he pitched six innings and allowing only one run on hits in Game Three. That score came on a first-inning home run by Jacque Jones. Brown finished the game by facing the next 23 batters without a walk.
The same could not be said for Twins’ pitcher Carlos Silva who allowed six runs on 10 hits over five innings. Reliever J. C. Romero replaced Silva in the sixth inning to stop a bases-loaded situation with no outs. By the time the inning was over, the Yankees had a 7-1 lead. Although the Twins would rally to score three more runs in the ninth inning, the Yankees got the win by a score of 8-4. Both Derek Jeter and Hideki Matsui led the way with three hits each and combining for four RBI. Bernie Williams also added to his postseason home run record with the 20th of his career.
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Game 4 - Yanks Set Sights on the Sox
For the second consecutive year, the Yankees eliminated the Minnesota Twins in four games and will face the Boston Red Sox in the ALCS. After being down by a score of 5-1 through seven innings against Twins’ Ace Johan Santana (seven strikeouts and one earned run in five innings) and reliever Grant Balfour (no runs in two innings), the Yankees were able to erase the four-run lead in the eighth inning after some timely hitting and a Ruben Sierra three-run home run to tie the game at 5-5.
The game ended in the 11th inning when Yankee third baseman Alex “A-Rod” Rodriguez scored on a passed ball following his double and stolen base put him on third base
The Yankees will now prepare to face their archrivals, the Boston Red Sox, in the ALCS, which will begin on Tuesday, October 12th at Yankee Stadium in what will certainly be another epic battle.
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Last Updated On: Tuesday, October 12, 2004
GO YANKS!!
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