Twins Vs. Yankees: Familiar Faces Lead To Familiar Results

Describing something inevitable as being akin to "death and taxes" is an old cliché. It needs an update. Something like, "nothing is inevitable except for death and the Yankees beating the Twins." If it seems incomplete without the taxes part, the simple fix would be to mention that Twins fans probably would rather fill out tax forms in triplicate rather than watch another Twins/Yankees game. The Yankees defeated the Twins, 4-3, in their inaugural meeting of the season.

Scott Baker, normally known for his plus control, struggled with his command all night. After getting Mark Teixeira to an 0-2 count with two outs in the first inning, Baker lost control of a slider, hitting Teixeira in the foot. Alex Rodriguez followed with a two-run home run, the 615th of his career, to give the Yankees an early 2-0 lead. In the second inning, Baker walked Nick Swisher to set up another two-run homer, this time from Jorge Posada. The two blasts gave the Yankees a four-run lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

Ivan Nova pitched six strong innings in his first start of the season. The Twins chipped away at the lead in the fourth inning, with Jim Thome driving a two-run double to right-center field, and Tsuyoshi Nishioka following with an RBI double in the fifth inning. The New York bullpen, however, shut the door over the final three innings, limiting Minnesota to just two singles

Despite averaging 89 wins over the past five seasons, the Twins are 11-26 against the Yankees in the regular season over that stretch, including a 3-15 record in New York. The Twins look to turn their misfortune against the Yankees around tomorrow, with Brian Duensing going against C.C. Sabathia.