The Minnesota Twins' first round playoff series with the New York Yankees is even at one game apiece as the teams head to the Twin Cities for two games. New York evened the series by pulling out a 4-1 victory at Yankee Stadium.
The Minnesota Twins' first round playoff series with the New York Yankees is even at one game apiece as the teams head to the Twin Cities for two games. New York evened the series by pulling out a 4-1 victory at Yankee Stadium.
WILLIAM WILCOX: Game two was similar to game one in that each team's starting pitcher threw the ball well. The Twins Brad Radke pitched better after a rocky first inning in which the first three Yankee batters hit singles. Radke said he was glad to get out of that inning while allowing only one run.
BRAD RADKE: Damage control. I was happy with one run. I would have been happier with no runs, but against the Yankees, bases loaded, no outs in the first, I'll take one run any day.
WILLIAM WILCOX: When Radke left the game in the seventh inning, the Yankees still had only the one run, but the Twins had also scored only once. Designated hitter Matthew LeCroy says it was a shame to waste Radke's effort.
MATTHEW LECROY: Just an unfortunate thing. I mean, we just couldn't get any runs for him, so that's just the way it goes.
WILLIAM WILCOX: That's how it often goes when Andy Pettitte is pitching for the Yankees. Pettitte mastered the Twins for seven innings, striking out 10 batters and allowing only four hits. Shannon Stewart and Torii Hunter divided Minnesota's hits between them, with Hunter's home run accounting for the Twins only score. Lecroy, who was 0 for 4 with a strikeout, says Pettitte's cut fastball was effective, and he kept hitters guessing by throwing it in various locations.
MATTHEW LECROY: He's throwing a good cutter inside and he throw away, just mixed it up, kept you off balance. But he made his pitches when he had to.
WILLIAM WILCOX: Pettitte left the game after the seventh, but the Twins did no better against reliever Mariano Rivera. Minnesota's relief pitching, on the other hand, failed to help Radke. LaTroy Hawkins had dominated the Yankees for two innings in the first game on Tuesday, but in game two, he pitched to three batters and got none of them out, giving up two hits and committing a throwing error in the field.
Hawkins says the Yankees deserve credit for bouncing back from their game one loss. He reminded reporters that after taking the first game, the Twins were restrained in their satisfaction because they knew the Yankees would fight back.
LATROY HAWKINS: They knew what they had to do. They had to win, and they went out and won the game. That's big. And I told y'all Tuesday night they're not going to lay down. They're a good team, and we're a good team. It's going to be a dogfight, and that's what it was. It's a good game until I came in there. [CHUCKLES]
WILLIAM WILCOX: Hawkins could still chuckle at himself because the Twins played the Yankees to a standoff in Yankee Stadium. That has the effect of reducing this best of five series to a best two out of three. And the next two games will be played in the Metrodome in front of 60,000 or so hanky waving Midwesterners. Outfielder Jacque Jones says the Twins are looking forward to it.
JACQUE JONES: We've been on the road for a long time, it seems like. It'll be good to go home. We came in here and we played as well as we could play. We won one, and lost one, and we know the guys came out smoking today like we expected them to. And it should be interesting when we get back home.
WILLIAM WILCOX: If the teams also split the two games in the Metrodome this weekend, then a decisive fifth game would be played Monday night in New York. Saturday's game three starts just after noon, with pitcher Kyle Lohse of the Twins facing the Yankees Roger Clemens. I'm William Wilcox in Minnesota Public Radio.
Digitization made possible by the State of Minnesota Legacy Amendment’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, approved by voters in 2008.
Views and opinions expressed in the content do not represent the opinions of APMG. APMG is not responsible for objectionable content and language represented on the site. Please use the "Contact Us" button if you'd like to report a piece of content. Thank you.
Transcriptions provided are machine generated, and while APMG makes the best effort for accuracy, mistakes will happen. Please excuse these errors and use the "Contact Us" button if you'd like to report an error. Thank you.