Bronx, N.Y., October 7, 2009 — It seemed pretty clear that the overwhelmingly underdog Twins had one not so bad chance playing Game One of the ALDS in Yankee Stadium Wednesday. Sure, they were whipped, having played must-win games for a month, won out to make up a deficit, and finally slipped past the Tigers just 20 hours before first pitch. Sure, they were set to play the 103-win Yankees in a ballpark in which the Bombers have quickly learned to dominate. And they would be facing 19-game winner CC Sabathia, and a hostile Yankee crowd almost 50,000 strong.

But having to win every day had been a tonic for them to this point. They were playing well, or they wouldn’t be here. The Yanks on the other hand clinched a playoff spot weeks ago, both 100 wins and the AL East 10 days back. Baseball history is rife with teams that clinched early not being able to revert to their fine play after a break. The Yanks played (and won) a mere three days ago, but if it felt much longer than that to this fan (and it did), perhaps it did to the New York players too.

The Twins could come in and steal at least a game, IF. With their pitching overextended through 12 innings Tuesday, lefty Brian Duensing would have to pitch effectively if the visitors were to stand a chance. Once Sabathia pitched around a leadoff double and the first of two Jorge Posada passed balls in the top of the first, Duensing got off to a bad start when Derek Jeter lashed his first pitch past shortstop for a single. But the rookie did not let it get to him, and actually did a great job. And he did it in the simplest of ways: He threw strikes, just three off the plate in both the first and second innings, combined with 24 strikes. He featured a 91-mph fastball, slider around 80 and change up in between, and threw all three over the plate. Even though the Yanks finally did get to him, when he was pulled with two down in the fifth, his strikes/balls ratio was stellar at 59/20.

Southpaw Sabathia, on the other hand, was being challenged from the very beginning. He pitched around the first-inning double and a second-inning single by striking out four batters, all of them swinging. CC relied on his fastball early, mixing in a darting slider, but the upstart Minnesota club reached him for four hits and two runs in the top of the third. It could have been worse, but following his one-base hit Nick Punto was removed on a 5-4-3 dp started by Alex Rodriguez. But three straight singles from Orlando Cabrera, Joe Mauer, and Michael Cuddyer gave the Twins a 1-0 lead. Then Posada’s second passed ball, a confusing affair where Jorge seemed so unsure of the task at hand that Mauer was able to score after stopping halfway home, resulted in run number two. CC deserved better, as he struck out Jason Kubel four pitches later; the second run should not have scored.

With the Yankee catcher in a fog and the offense on seeming soft-contact cruise control, anxiety levels rose in the Bronx. The lone potential losing scenario was unfolding right before the fans’ eyes, as Duensing retired seven in a row following the Jeter single on two groundouts, a called third strike, a popup and three outfield flies. Cheers went up when Melky Cabrera reached on an infield single with one down in the third, but it wasn’t well hit; what would it lead to? Perhaps Duensing sensed even better than the hometown crowd the danger Jeter represented though, as he wild-pitched Melky to second on the next pitch. Melky’s position on the basepaths instantly became a moot point, however, when Jeter jacked the next pitch deep to left, a no-doubt-about-it bomb that knotted the score at 2-2 in an instant. Although he continued to throw lots of strikes, Duensing’s mastery was over. Following their Captain’s lead, the Yanks started to play like the team that dominated the last five months.

CC had his first of just two one-two-three innings in the top of the fourth, making Delmon Young his sixth swinging strike out victim leading off. Sabathia would throw just 15 of 28 first-pitch strikes on the night, and his 72/42 ratio was adequate, as were the eight hits allowed through 6.7 frames. But the big Yankee lefty did take control of this game in the one way that was working for him from the outset. He got the visiting hitters to swing and miss at his pitches. The seven misses in the first inning alone were more than many starters get pitching their teams to a win. But although he wouldn’t match that number later, Sabathia did get the Twins to swing and miss 23 times, truly dominant work. With the Minnesota offense stymied, it fell to the offense to take Jeter’s cue.

And that they did. Posada lofted a single over first with one down in the fourth, and Robbie Cano forced him at second. The baserunner exchange worked perfectly because Cano was able to score the go-ahead run on a Nick Swisher double into the left field corner, with Robbie making a beautiful slide at the plate. Jeter led off the fifth, and Duensing walked him this time, the only free pass he allowed. Moved to second on a fielder’s choice, Jeter made it 4-2 Yanks when Alex drove him in with his first of two, two-out base hits in consecutive at bats. That was it for Duensing, and struggling southpaw and used-to-be starter Nelson Liriano came on to face Hideki Matsui. The strategy backfired when the Yankee DH blasted his fourth pitch over the wall into the left-field side of Monument Park, 6-2 Yankees.

Even with the four-run lead though, things got tense in the seventh. CC hit Matt Tolbert with a pitch, and Punto’s hot shot caromed off his glove to put two on. A wild pitch during Span’s at bat moved the runners up, and Swisher fired a throw to home once Span flied to right to thwart any thoughts Tolbert had of scoring on a sac fly. With the righty-hitting Cabrera due up with two hits already, Joe Girardi replaced CC, who received a nice ovation. Phil Hughes got it done, but it took 10 pitches to whiff Cabrera to end the frame. Mauer battled Phil through another nine throws before singling leading off the eighth. Hughes struck out Cuddyer, Phil Coke retired Kubel on a liner to first, and Joba Chamberlain got Young to ground out to short throwing 95-mph heat. Mariano Rivera finished Minnesota off with two quick strike outs, then a ground out following a walk and a single, and the Yanks were up in games one to none.

Despite the slow start, there were a number of Yankee heroes on the night, none gutsier than the hard-throwing Sabathia. Swisher delivered the go-ahead run with his two-out, fourth-inning double, and Cano made a few nifty plays in the field. Matsui, well, he was Matsui. If you’re watching A-Rod to see how he’ll handle playoff pressure, well, he singled hard off the wall in right to knock in the seventh Yankee run with two outs in the seventh. Two-out rbi’s win games, and Alex had two of them.

It’s October, so of course there’s plenty of Yankee history. On the good side, Herb Pennock retired the first 22 Pirates in an early bid for the accomplishment Don Larsen would achieve three decades later when he beat Pittsburgh 8-1 on October 7, 1927. The Yanks complted a sweep of the Phillies on this day in 1950 too. Less enjoyable is the memory of the brain-lock Chuck Knoblauch had in the 11th inning of the 4-1 ALCS loss to Cleveland on this day in 1998, as the Yankee second baseman argued a blatantly missed call by Umpire Ted Hendry as Omar Vizguel crossed the plate.

But with kudos to CC, Alex, Hideki, Nick, and the Yankee pen a given, the October 7, 2009 Yankee victory in Game One of the ALDS goes to Mr. Jeter, baseball’s first Mr. November. This day represented the 160th anniversary of the death of the brilliant writer, poet and critic Edgar Allan Poe. Among the more macabre of his brilliant works is the short story The Pit and the Pendulum. The pendulum of momentum was swinging very much against the Yankees following the Twins’ two-run third-inning rally. But the Captain took care of that with one mighty swing, the highlight of a night where he had two hits, two walks, two rbi’s, and three runs scored.

Now that Jeter has the pendulum swinging the Yankees’ way, perhaps the team can keep it going that way for the next four weeks.

BTW,TYW

YANKEE BASEBALL!!!