Yankees put away Twins in three
Mariano Rivera got the last out, sealing yet another October triumph. Jorge Posada trotted out to mound, and the Yankees came out of the dugout in a businesslike manner to shake each other’s hands.
No crazy celebration, at least not yet.
Postseason step No. 1 accomplished. Two more to go before the New York Yankees’ big party can start.
And yet another quick October exit for the Minnesota Twins.
Phil Hughes pitched seven shutout innings, Marcus Thames and Nick Swisher homered and the Yankees beat the visiting Twins 6-1 Saturday night to complete yet another three-game sweep of Minnesota and return to the AL championship series.
“We have a a long way to go,” Derek Jeter said. “We gained a lot of confidence, the way we did last year in the playoffs.”
Even newcomers sense only part of the mission is complete.
“That’s three down,” said Thames, whose fourth-inning homer blew open the game, “but we’ve got eight more games to go.”
For starters, though, the Yankees sped past the Twins with ease. It’s not just a pair of playoff victories for New York against Minnesota, but four in the last decade — all in the first round.
The AL Central champion Twins lost their 12th straight postseason game dating to 2004, one shy of the record set by the Boston Red Sox from 1986-95. Minnesota’s last nine losses have been against the Yankees.
“This is not much fun at all, to come up here, being knocked out, knowing your season is over with again after three games in the playoffs,” Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said. “We’ve had that a few times.”
New York begins the ALCS on Friday at Texas or Tampa Bay. With the short first-round series, the defending World Series champions put ace CC Sabathia in position to start the opener.
Rays 6, Rangers 3: Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Texas, was buzzing in anticipation of a long-awaited celebration and Tampa Bay had been dreadful at the plate.
Five outs from elimination, the Rays changed everything — and get to play another day.
“The fight showed up again, and that’s a good sign,” Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said.
John Jaso lined a tiebreaking RBI single in the eighth inning after Carlos Pena had already delivered a rare clutch playoff hit for the Rays, who avoided elimination in the AL division series with a victory over Texas.
“I was so nervous, hoping we didn’t get swept,” said Carl Crawford, who homered for the Rays. “I feel so much better. It feels like we’re winning the series right now.”
Limited to a total of one run and eight hits while losing the first two games at home, Tampa Bay broke loose in the late innings.
The Rays, the AL’s best team in the regular season, forced Game 4 today. A win would keep them alive for a deciding game in the best-of-five series Tuesday at Tropicana Field, where Texas had two impressive victories to start the series.