A.L. Divison Series Game#3: Yankees at Twins

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A.L. Divison Series Game#3: Yankees at Twins

October 11, 2009 by Kevin Rozell

Andy Pettitte

Yankees (2-0) vs. Twins (0-2)

Pitching Matchup:

LHP Andy Pettitte (0-0, 0.00ERA) vs RHP Carl Pavano (0-0, 0.00ERA)

Lineup

Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Posada C
Cano 2B
Swisher RF
Cabrera CFThe partial schedule:

3:25/4:25 p.m. Twins Batting Practice

4:30/5:30 p.m. Yankees Batting Practice

6:07/7:07 p.m. First Pitch

Game News & Notes (Courtesy of the LoHud blog)

Pretty terrible. Temps in the 30s, sporadic snow showers and biting wind chill. Good thing the Twins have a roof on the Dome.
Sweep-ish. The Yankees are up 2-0 in the best-of-five series and are one win away from the ALCS. The Twins came into the postseason as the hottest team, but the Yankees have cooled them off in two different ways: With a gem from CC Sabathia in Game 1 and an 11-inning thriller in Game 2.
Andy Pettitte is making his 36th postseason start tonight, which means the veteran lefty has basically pitched one full season in October during his career. His numbers? 14-9, 3.96 ERA. His regular-season averages? 17-10, 3.91 ERA. In other words, he’s one of the best at making the biggest games seem just like every other. Pettitte also owns the Twins – the last time he lost a game to Minnesota was April 30, 2001.
Alex Rodriguez seems to have forgotten whatever it was that plagued him in previous Octobers, busting out for five RBI in the first two games of the series including his “Yankee Moment” in Game 2 when he crushed a two-run homer in the ninth inning to tie the game. A-Rod is 4-for-8 in the series.
Playing in the Dome is supposed to be a big advantage for the Twins but the Yankees seem more at home there than Minny does. The Twins have lost seven straight home playoff games, four of which were to the Yankees during the 2003 and 2004 first rounds.
Despite being up 2-0, the Yankees haven’t gotten much production from the vaunted lineup. Other than A-Rod and Derek Jeter, no Yankee regular is hitting over .300 in the series. Mark Teixiera and Jorge Posada have two hits in the ALDS; Nick Swisher, Melky Cabrera, Hideki Matsui, Robinson Cano and Johnny Damon all have just one.
In case you hadn’t heard, former Yankee Carl Pavano is standing between the Yankees and the second round. Pavano occasionally played – I use the term loosely – for the Yankees from 2005-08, then signed with Cleveland this year and was traded to the Twins at the deadline. Assuming he doesn’t suffer a debilitating hangnail early, he could do some damage against the Yankees: In two starts against them this season, he allowed just four runs in 13 1/3 combined innings.

The game is taking place at The Metrodome in the Minneapolis, MN. The game will start at 7:07PM ET. The game is being televised on TBS. The game can also be heard on the radio on WCBS 880 & ESPN Radio. Enjoy the game. Go Yankees!

Come join us on the forum to take part in our Gameday chat

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WFAN bids a fond farewell to its leaky basement in Astoria / Instant replay…

Yankees Short Hops: Game 2 / Houdini act sets up Teixeira’s heroics

Easy as pie: Yanks mastering walk-off / Gardner finds a niche and runs with it

Pettitte has no plans of allowing Game 4 / A-Rod letting results come to him

Well, That’s Kinda Odd / One Complaint / The 2009 John Sterling Mix

Could Matsui and Mets be a match? / A-Rod’s Surgeon: 2nd Operation Unlikely

Mauer’s “Foul” Ball / Bad for Yankees, Pavano’s been a boon for Twins

Tex: I thought it was a double / Alex: It feels so good

Should MLB use instant replay more often? / Nady along for the ride in October

A.J.’s 1st playoff outing solid, short / An A-Bomb, a Tex message, Yankees win