It’s safe to say that anything less than a championship will do for the New York Yankees, and it’s expected that their run towards their first World Series title since 2000 will begin with an easy series win over the fatigued Minnesota Twins.
Not only do they have that stacked lineup, the best closer in the business, and an extremely talented (and expensive) front end of their rotation, but they’re facing a team who had to play a 12-inning play-in game, fly to New York, and then take the field for Game 1 in the span of a little more than 24 hours.
There’s also a sparkling 7-0 mark against the Twins this season, not to mention their similarly sparkling mark at (new) Yankee Stadium this season.
However, no one should be surprised if the Twins leave New York with a split, and at the very least, make the Yankees have to work for their trip to the ALCS.
Tonight, the Twins send rookie Brian Duensing to the mound, and while being a rookie starting Game 1 of a playoff series on the road against the Yankees is one daunting task, CC Sabathia has more pressure on his shoulders than the rookie.
Sabathia was on a roll down the stretch, as the Yankees won 11 consecutive Sabathia starts, but he comes in off the heels of a horrid start to end the regular season, as he allowed nine runs in just 2.2 innings at Tampa Bay on Friday.
More concerning than what should amount to a relatively insignificant start in the big picture is his postseason record. Sabathia is 2-3 with a 7.92 ERA in the playoffs, with 22 runs allowed and a 24:22 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 25 innings.
The Twins may be tired, but they’re on fire, the adrenaline is high as can be, and though they’re missing Justin Morneau, they have hitters who are more than capable of taking advantage of the homer haven that is Yankee Stadium.
Besides, it’s not as if, you know, Duensing was pitching just last night, so fatigue won’t be an issue for him.
It’ll be important for the Twins to not fall behind early and to take advantage of the scoring opportunities they get (which they didn’t do just now), but if they can stay in this one heading into the late innings, don’t count out Minnesota magic taking its act on the road.
0-0 after 1. I’m going to kick back and watch, but I’ll have observations on Game 1 between the Yankees and Twins and the day’s other playoff action later tonight/tomorrow morning.
