Phil Hughes Pitches Yankees To Series Sweep Of Twins

In a series that saw plenty of drama through each of the first two games, the third was lopsided almost from the beginning, and in the end, the Yankees were able to complete an ALDS sweep of the Twins and become the first team in the playoffs to advance to the second round.

Against Phil Hughes, the Twins weren't able to build any rallies. Hughes was perfect through his first three innings, faced the minimum through four, and didn't encounter his first jam until the fifth, by which point the Yankees had already established a 5-0 lead. Hughes then worked himself out of that jam - and another jam in the sixth - before closing his outing with a perfect seventh.

Meanwhile, opposite Hughes was Brian Duensing, who simply didn't have what it took to keep his team in the game. Against Duensing, the Yankees struck first in the second inning, when Robinson Cano led off with a triple and later scored on a single by Jorge Posada.

The Yankees would score again in the third, when Nick Swisher hit a two-out double and came around on a long Mark Teixeira single off the left field wall.

However, it was in the fourth inning that New York blew it open. A two-run opposite field homer off the bat of Marcus Thames doubled the Yankees' early lead, and after Duensing was pulled from the game in favor of Matt Guerrier, the home side would add one more when Brett Gardner drove in Curtis Granderson with a sac fly.

Out to a commanding early lead, the game never felt in question from the Yankees' perspective, and the Twins weren't able to come through with a big hit until it was far too late in the game. Nick Swisher only padded New York's lead with a seventh-inning solo shot, and it was 6-0 before the Twins scored their one and only run in the eighth. They had a chance for more, having loaded the bases with one out against Kerry Wood, but neither Jason Kubel nor Delmon Young were able to come up with a big hit to sustain the rally.

Mariano Rivera pitched a perfect ninth to close the door.

For the Yankees, they'll now get a lot of time off, as the ALDS isn't scheduled to begin until next Friday night. They'll turn their eyes to the Rays/Rangers series to see where they'll be playing.